New rider British in Shanghai. Want to buy first bike

[Metalmonkey]

Hi there, I'm a fairly new user of the site. I find it very useful as a resource. I am a Brit and have lived in China for nearly six years. Last year, I was bitten by the motorcycle bug. I got my Chinese license- C1D- last October and promptly went down to Yunnan to rent a bike(Got pictures of that- six days Dali-Lijiang-Baoshan and back). This was with tibetmoto.de An outfit I'd highly recommend for rental or tours. Helmut there helped me a lot even when I had a traffic police issue. I spent six days riding in the mountains of Yunnan on that trip on a Shineray X5 400cc .It was challenging but exhilarating. Since then, I have been looking to buy my first bike in China.

This is a total obsession, something maybe you can all relate to, but it's weird having this new hobby and passion in a foreign country. I got my license after many exasperating experiences...in Shanghai.. and then the next problem of actually riding here. I had adventures in Yunnan but also an injury. Despite these problems, this bike thing won't go away.

The problems I'm having atm concern buying and registering a bike. As you know Shanghai has a crazy plate system, so I'm considering moving out of the center of Shanghai in order to follow this passion. The difficult thing also is that every time I look at a bike for sale (four ridden now-( I took time off work and travelled to Nanjing the other week) , the rabbit hole seems to get deeper. Seems that all decent bikes (IE Japanese) are actually not sold here and the apps like XianYU offer many many illegal" bikes."I say illegal but an English speaking seller last week explained to me that all Chinese are aware of this and there are ways around it. There are however Chinese agencies or individuals that can register smuggled bikes and get plates. This all seems extremely clandestine, so I'm turning my attention again to Chinese made bikes. It's frustrating though.. Chinese police and sellers seem to present different versions of the truth, so I really want a way to talk to expats and other motorcycle enthusiasts on here in English.

So I want to meet fellow enthusiasts, get advice and share stories.
Pictures from the trip mentioned above (Dali-Lijiang- Baoshan Shitoucheng) in November 2016, with the trusty Shineray x5 400ccPicture 001.jpgPicture 002.jpgPicture 004.jpgPicture 005.jpgPicture 006.jpg