New member, Beijing!

[galenernest]

Thanks for the replies! If it were up to me, I'd go for the YBR 250 (or another option), but sadly my wife has put my budget at 10,000 or under. I don't really think I'll be doing too many long hauls, more just urban commuting and an occasional ride in the suburbs.

I went to where the motorcycle shop was a few months ago and... the building is half torn down. Not surprised. While wandering back to the bus stop, I found their new shop! They didn't have any Jialings, but the lady showed me a Lifan KP-150 (little sportbike) and a Yinggang 150X (enduro). The Lifan was 7800 and the Yinggang was 9800 without trying to haggle (I was just window shopping, so I usually save the energy for when I'm ready to buy). 京B plates 1500. Out of curiosity, I asked about 京A plates... dagai 90,000. Each bike comes with a 2 year warranty on the engine and 6 month warranty on other things (as far as I could understand her... my Chinese isn't stellar!)

I can't find much on the Lifan... what do you guys think of those bikes? I will go check out another shop nearby tomorrow after work, still hunting for that Jialing JH150 to see it in person.

I'm in no huge hurry... waiting for my aerostich to come anyway. Too damn cold outside.

[prince666]

If it were up to me !!!! I get a new wife !!! Well shit happens and one is left to be told what bike you can and can't have !
Good luck I am sure it will all work out in the end

[1288711]

Hello,
First congratulations to galenernest for getting his license.

I was wondering, if I don't have a license from back home, does anyone know the new regulations? how much it is supposed to cost and what not?
I've been talking to the agent that will transfer my car license, and he says the whole process is around 7 weeks, and costs around 9,000 元.
Does anyone have any info on this?
Plus if anyone is from Australia, do you know how long it takes to do the motorbike license there first?

Thanks

[1288711]

Also galenernest, you said if anyone wants to borrow the book, please ask.
Well could i borrow the book? or buy the book?
if convenient you can contact me at david[at]ecmsglobal.com
thanks

[prince666]

Sorry to say but if you pay 9000 rmb to get a Chinese C1 then you have more money
then sense IMO why you can do it yourself at a cost of less then 500 rmb and get a legal Chinese DL
It is not impossible to obtain a full C1E Chinese DL even if you don't have a motorbike category on your
home country DL .

[bikerdoc]

Hello,
First congratulations to galenernest for getting his license.
I was wondering, if I don't have a license from back home, does anyone know the new regulations? how much it is supposed to cost and what not?
I've been talking to the agent that will transfer my car license, and he says the whole process is around 7 weeks, and costs around 9,000 元.
Does anyone have any info on this?
Plus if anyone is from Australia, do you know how long it takes to do the motorbike license there first?
Thanks

A word of caution; if you have an overseas car licence, and gain a PRC DL class C1 and then later want to add a motorcycle 'class E' or three wheeler 'class D' then one may discover that the newly acquired class cannot be added until a). one year has past since the PRC DL (C1) was first issued, or else b). the PRC DL (class C1) is nearing expiry, or c). some other non-transparent hindrance... welcome to PRC... LFZ - TIC!

The regulations will likely differ dependent on you, where you are, who you talk with, the time of the day, the way the wind blows, or doesn't. It's one country, made of many many little kingdo0ms or citadels. No one size suits here, forget any cookie cutter transparency. Always say to yourself the mantra, logic free zone (LFZ), this is Ch!na (TIC [def: annoying problematic parasite that feeds of others/hosts that may cause paralysis or worse]).
You might like to start here (read various posts and threads as others who've also not had an overseas DL with motorcycle endorsement have enrolled in driving schools and successfully completed the course.
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/fo...-Making-Tracks

[galenernest]

Hello,
First congratulations to galenernest for getting his license.

I was wondering, if I don't have a license from back home, does anyone know the new regulations? how much it is supposed to cost and what not?
I've been talking to the agent that will transfer my car license, and he says the whole process is around 7 weeks, and costs around 9,000 元.
Does anyone have any info on this?
Plus if anyone is from Australia, do you know how long it takes to do the motorbike license there first?

Thanks

Also galenernest, you said if anyone wants to borrow the book, please ask.
Well could i borrow the book? or buy the book?
if convenient you can contact me at david[at]ecmsglobal.com
thanks

You can borrow/have my book. I also found a website with a practice exam that more or less resembles the actual written test. It's at www.chinese-driving-test.com

It's not perfect, but it's a good study tool. Also, 9000 yuan seems expensive. I didn't need an "agent" for any of it, but I did already have my endorsement. Total cost to me was 50 kuai for the exam, 80 kuai for the book, 10 kuai for the license and 10 kuai for the medical check.

If I were you, I'd just go to the traffic management office for foreigners and ask them what you need to do. You might have to go to the motorcycle school here in Beijing, but I can't imagine that it would cost 9000 kuai.

Take subway line 10 to ChengShouSi station, take exit C2 and walk directly across the street and turn left. Walk until you find the bus 990 stop (it's near a hotel). Take bus 990 and after it turns left, look out the window (on the right hand side) for a huge grey building with a crescent-shaped entrance, near a gas station... I think the stop is call shi ba li (something something). Bring a Chinese friend with you if your Chinese isn't so hot. There was a girl there that spoke English, but I wouldn't count on it...

PM me if you want to pick up the study book.

[1288711]

Sorry to say but if you pay 9000 rmb to get a Chinese C1 then you have more money
then sense IMO why you can do it yourself at a cost of less then 500 rmb and get a legal Chinese DL
It is not impossible to obtain a full C1E Chinese DL even if you don't have a motorbike category on your
home country DL .

Oh sorry, i didn't make that clear, the agent is doing my car license. (i don't know how much that is meant to cost by itself, but he says 1000)
And then i ask him about doing the motorbike license from start to finish and he said around 9,000.
& yeah i guess it's not Impossible to get the full C1E but, i get the feeling that it sure takes a lot of time and hassle
If you have any tips on this please, all is appreciated

[1288711]

Thank you Biker doc and galenernest for getting back to me so quickly,
@Biker doc, yeah i read quite a lot of the information a while ago, and there was one guy that said the whole process took 7 weeks.. but he didn't say how much it cost.
I've got to find that post again.
I didn't realise that it could be so troublesome to add the motorbike license to the Car one,
but yeah that seems to be generally the case of China.
(as to who i am and where i'm from, I am Australian, in Beijing, and i'll try to be nice and talk to someone nice)
@galenernest , yep i found that site too, i intended to use that to study for the car license.
Although is there much difference between the Car computer test & the bike computer test?

Yeah i'm thinking 9000 sounds a bit ridiculous. I've heard from many people that it's easier to do it back in your home country and transfer it across. But i'm guessing they're saying that because they don't know the full process to do it here.
Plus as for Australia, i doubt it will be easier because you have to wait such a long time between taking the computer test & practical and even then you only get a provisional license for a year to drive up to 600cc after a year you can do the next stage.

Anyway, i will haev a try this weekend. Thanks for the advice and especially thanks for the directions, i will follow it to the letter.

[galenernest]

Thank you Biker doc and galenernest for getting back to me so quickly,
@Biker doc, yeah i read quite a lot of the information a while ago, and there was one guy that said the whole process took 7 weeks.. but he didn't say how much it cost.
I've got to find that post again.
I didn't realise that it could be so troublesome to add the motorbike license to the Car one,
but yeah that seems to be generally the case of China.
(as to who i am and where i'm from, I am Australian, in Beijing, and i'll try to be nice and talk to someone nice)
@galenernest , yep i found that site too, i intended to use that to study for the car license.
Although is there much difference between the Car computer test & the bike computer test?

Yeah i'm thinking 9000 sounds a bit ridiculous. I've heard from many people that it's easier to do it back in your home country and transfer it across. But i'm guessing they're saying that because they don't know the full process to do it here.
Plus as for Australia, i doubt it will be easier because you have to wait such a long time between taking the computer test & practical and even then you only get a provisional license for a year to drive up to 600cc after a year you can do the next stage.

Anyway, i will haev a try this weekend. Thanks for the advice and especially thanks for the directions, i will follow it to the letter.

I wondered if there would be any difference on the exam, too. But, there wasn't a single motorcycle-related question on the 100 question exam that I took.

The office is open on Saturday and Sunday until 4pm, by the way. Good luck!