Newbie from Ohio,USA

[Doogle]

The last couple of years I have been wanting to see China. I want to travel by motorcycle for a couple months. But people told me it was too difficult to get a license. I almost gave up. Then I read some threads on this forum. Mostly encouraging. And one that added a new concern. "To apply for a (E) motorbike DL you must be under 60 years of age and at the age of 70 you can no longer ride a motorbike, every year after 60 years you need to obtain a new medical exam." I am 67 years old. I've been riding for 50 years. Does this mean I can't get a license in China?

[culcune]

Just from reading the threads on here the past 8 or 9 years, it used to be extremely easy for foreigners to ride China back then. It seemed, all you had to do was find a Chinese citizen, put a bike in his/her name, and ride off! Of course, just like growing up in California in the 1980's, the freedoms one had, seemed to go bye-bye year after year. There are tours and what not, and many ex-pats from Europe and N. America do ride, so hopefully they will chime in with details.

[ZMC888]

Doogle, yes the legality is true, at 70 your China motorcycling days are supposed to be over and new licenses won't be issued after 60. However these laws change all the time. When a sizeable number of people get to 60 and want to keep riding critical mass will change the age limit upwards, this just happened, in fact with cars. You could try riding on an international license and claim ignorance or try finding some organisation that could help you get a temporary license. A temporary car license would be better than nothing.

Also remember that, for sure the bigger the city, the more rules are enforced. I wouldn't want to ride in Shanghai in daylight hours without being 100% legal. However being in the countryside having registration, insurance and any sort of license from any country would be a miracle for most of the locals.

To sum up I would say; yes you likely can't be legal. If your dream is to ride in cities or between them, then I also would say no, it might be a bad idea. However if you are happy to ride in rural areas and villages you would probably be OK if you had a legal insured and registered bike, but I'm not condoning you take any risk, just that the risk is to my knowledge fairly low.

[Doogle]

Doogle, yes the legality is true, at 70 your China motorcycling days are supposed to be over and new licenses won't be issued after 60.

Does that mean if I already have a motorcycle license in the USA and am between 60 and 70 I could get a temporary license? Or does it mean no one between 60 and 70 can get a license-other than renewing a current Chinese license? If I can't do this legally I'll probably be looking at other countries. But I really want to ride China.

[ZMC888]

I don't have enough knowledge to answer your question. I have no idea whether they'd issue you with a temporary driving license. In China this all depends on the mood of the person in authority, and the relationships and connections with the people asking. Sorry to answer in such a wholly and inaccurate way, but this is the nature of Chinese bureaucracy. There may be agencies that specialize in obtaining driving licenses or obtaining temporary ones for tours that can give you a yes or no answer.

If you want to ride totally legally and experience everything China has to offer culturally, there is always the option of Taiwan, but the riding is not as extensive, obviously.

[Doogle]

I don't have enough knowledge to answer your question. I have no idea whether they'd issue you with a temporary driving license. In China this all depends on the mood of the person in authority, and the relationships and connections with the people asking.

prince666 just turned 60 and went to ask police in Yantia about license. They told him the age was raised to 71.

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...2470#post82470