Hi everyone,

Tim from Germany here. Been lurking on this forum every now and then since a couple of years. Now I finally decided to convert my European license to a Chinese one to explore Beijing surprisingly beautyful surroundings on two wheels.

I‘m hoping to get more time outside of the city that way, and also do some extended voyages. Would love to do the Lhasa Chengdu highway for instance, I know tho it‘s not without hassles.

Anyway, parallely to preparing for the license test, I am researching on bikes suitable for me. I did a couple of km on a BMW F800GS, with panniers and girl on the back and thats pretty much my ideal. Now, I can‘t afford a new one in China and there seem to be some weird rules to the max lifespan of a motorbike in Beijing.

I heard a bike can be max 11-15 yrs old? Can anyone confirm that or even better, name a source? That might ruin my plan for getting a GS for under 60K.

Besides that, some Chinese bikes are interesting too. JH600 (bit weak), CF 650 MT (seems small), SWM SD650ADV (expensive). Not considering the Benelli adventure bike, I just hate the design. The JH is fugly too, but in an honest and authenticly Chinese way.

I saw Yamaha XZR 1300s incredibly cheap used, obviously not really what I am looking for but for in between I might consider one - if I was sure about how that used thing works in BJ.

Any feedback highly appreciated.

Cheers, Tim