A nightmare on Beijing streets

[prince666]

Benelli engineer is telling me 2 monthes to fix my bike because the frame needs to be replaced. 1 month to build the frame and 1 month to rebuild the bike ..... Plus it will cost at least 10000 rmb ..... When S8 got rear ended in took 7 days ..... Just seems like a crazy amount of time anything goes wrong with a Benelli in China .... My friend had to wait 3 weeks for a new engine. With no dealer support and no training to the reseller .... Parts unavailable .... No customer service or support ...... Great fun bike to ride .... But seriously ..... Bite the bullet and buy something else new ... I can get 3500 for the engine ..... Everything else is pretty much toast.

Hi Kernalpank

Why dont you have a go your self buy all the bits of Taobao . should not take longer then a week and could be fun and will be a lot cheaper to do if you was near me i would lend a hand .....maybe other menbers on here who are near you could help ??? dont like to see this happen to you after what you went throu....

[998S]

Benelli engineer is telling me 2 monthes to fix my bike because the frame needs to be replaced. 1 month to build the frame and 1 month to rebuild the bike ..... Everything else is pretty much toast.

In itself, a month for a new frame and its corresponding frame number is not so strange.
Frames will not be an item to be on stock for any manufacturer, and certainly not with your frame number already stamped in it. Getting these original and legal items arranged outside the normal production process will take time for every manufacturer, in China or abroad.

However, from a technical point of view, you should serious consider what to do.
If you bike is pretty much toast, rebuilding it in parts should be getting you much over 10.000 rmb, and then you got to doubt how well the whole job is done. Shortcuts are always taken, and in China they will only replace the parts which are really, really damaged. You still might end up with a patched up, and possibly unsafe bike.

Be very careful there, I have seen too many locally patched up bikes.
Great if you can buy them cheap and fix them by yourself, not great at all if you got to ride them unfixed.

Good luck with it!

E.

[Kernalpanx]

In itself, a month for a new frame and its corresponding frame number is not so strange.
Frames will not be an item to be on stock for any manufacturer, and certainly not with your frame number already stamped in it. Getting these original and legal items arranged outside the normal production process will take time for every manufacturer, in China or abroad.

However, from a technical point of view, you should serious consider what to do.
If you bike is pretty much toast, rebuilding it in parts should be getting you much over 10.000 rmb, and then you got to doubt how well the whole job is done. Shortcuts are always taken, and in China they will only replace the parts which are really, really damaged. You still might end up with a patched up, and possibly unsafe bike.

Be very careful there, I have seen too many locally patched up bikes.
Great if you can buy them cheap and fix them by yourself, not great at all if you got to ride them unfixed.

Good luck with it!

E.

My same thoughts exactly.
One thing I did forget about was the frame number .... That makes sense more so now.
I am waiting for a complete part list. Benelli is saying at most 10000 to fix. I am thinking repair and at the same time I will look for another scooter. I just wish there was a way to get a legal Japanese Maxi Scooter in China.

[braillce]

Peugeot is importing a 200cc (19hp) from France for 27K since a couple months.

http://www.peugeotscooters.com.cn/pr...ductId=50.html

I think that's the best registrable scoot one can get in SH (that isn't made in China).

I'm seriously considering it.

Closer from a Japanese Maxi there's a 500cc scoot on the website also but I don't think they can import it, didn't ask tho.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Really sorry to hear about the various experiences people have been having. Sad. The only good thing is that there were not any serious injuries.

Beijing TV (BTV) has a daily traffic show where they show all the blood & guts accidents (naturally, it airs at dinner time). Over the past few weeks, there has been discussion of the no plates / fake plates issue. Based on traffic camera infractions data, it is estimated that at least 1 in 5 expensive vehicles in Beijing are running around with fake plates - it is almost certainly a stolen vehicle that has fake plates on it (someone once offered me a nice Jag for 100K; the Dongbei "owner" claimed he had lost the paperwork).

Also, because of the plate restrictions inside Beijing, people with legal cars & legal plates (albeit from other provinces) have begun removing their plates. Out of province plates are very common now (to get around the plate lottery), but the cameras tag a 100 rmb fine for out-of-province plates each morning & night rush hour - that is 1,000 rmb/week for a commuter. If, by chance, one gets stopped & fined for no plates, it is a comparatively smaller penalty.

So, what we have is a bunch of cars that can do hit & runs with relative impunity. The traffic cams are picking up a number of hit & runs of cars with missing/fake plates. When these "ùnaccountable" cars are being driven by hotheads with a hate for motorcyclists, you end up with a dangerous mix.

Sigh, all that is missing is a bunch of "good ole boys" from the burbs in their F350s heading home from the KTVs with their sword collection hanging in the rear window gun rack, a pair of Tibetan Mastiffs in the bed, and fake plates (why not make them military, just for the hell of it). It will come ... I have noticed an increasing number of massive pickups on Beijing streets ... yeah, an F350 with duals - the perfect vehicle for Beijing. Provides insight into the "owner's" mentality (or penis size).

[Kernalpanx]

On another note ... I had purchased a Nolan N-44 after trying on many helmets and felt fit was best ... The Schuberth was second best, but I could get 2.5 Nolan's in Beijing for the price of the Schuberth.
My helmet had a pretty big ding in it .... I felt nothing. After inspecting it I found the inner shell was visually intact even though the outer was not. The other thing was the neck roll clasps had broken but not unlodged.
I have a round head and the N44 fit me well in a XXL .... In Schuberth I needed a XXXL .
As well the N44 had very good air flow with a very large view.
I would definitely buy again.
I was not sure where to post this little tidbit.

[Kernalpanx]

Really sorry to hear about the various experiences people have been having. Sad. The only good thing is that there were not any serious injuries.

Beijing TV (BTV) has a daily traffic show where they show all the blood & guts accidents (naturally, it airs at dinner time). Over the past few weeks, there has been discussion of the no plates / fake plates issue. Based on traffic camera infractions data, it is estimated that at least 1 in 5 expensive vehicles in Beijing are running around with fake plates - it is almost certainly a stolen vehicle that has fake plates on it (someone once offered me a nice Jag for 100K; the Dongbei "owner" claimed he had lost the paperwork).

Also, because of the plate restrictions inside Beijing, people with legal cars & legal plates (albeit from other provinces) have begun removing their plates. Out of province plates are very common now (to get around the plate lottery), but the cameras tag a 100 rmb fine for out-of-province plates each morning & night rush hour - that is 1,000 rmb/week for a commuter. If, by chance, one gets stopped & fined for no plates, it is a comparatively smaller penalty.

So, what we have is a bunch of cars that can do hit & runs with relative impunity. The traffic cams are picking up a number of hit & runs of cars with missing/fake plates. When these "ùnaccountable" cars are being driven by hotheads with a hate for motorcyclists, you end up with a dangerous mix.

Sigh, all that is missing is a bunch of "good ole boys" from the burbs in their F350s heading home from the KTVs with their sword collection hanging in the rear window gun rack, a pair of Tibetan Mastiffs in the bed, and fake plates (why not make them military, just for the hell of it). It will come ... I have noticed an increasing number of massive pickups on Beijing streets ... yeah, an F350 with duals - the perfect vehicle for Beijing. Provides insight into the "owner's" mentality (or penis size).

I have noticed a fully decked out Raptor at the silk market for ages with Hebei plates....

[braillce]

[...] Beijing TV (BTV) has a daily traffic show where they show all the blood & guts accidents (naturally, it airs at dinner time). Over the past few weeks, there has been discussion of the no plates / fake plates issue. [...]
Also, because of the plate restrictions inside Beijing, people with legal cars & legal plates (albeit from other provinces) have begun removing their plates. Out of province plates are very common now (to get around the plate lottery), but the cameras tag a 100 rmb fine for out-of-province plates each morning & night rush hour - that is 1,000 rmb/week for a commuter. If, by chance, one gets stopped & fined for no plates, it is a comparatively smaller penalty.

So, what we have is a bunch of cars that can do hit & runs with relative impunity. The traffic cams are picking up a number of hit & runs of cars with missing/fake plates.[...]

Everyone blames isolated crazy drivers while the law seems like doing a good job at enforcing harder penalties like 2000 RMB + 2 weeks jail. But I feel like such a small penalty for being invisible to the law is actually allowing anyone to become a recidivist murderer for little risk.

In the meantime traffic is improved by the tragic disappearance of a few pedestrians and 2 wheelers, and chiefly by the "educational" aspect this arbitrary & broadcasted goring of their own has on the surviving ones.

I wonder what fat brother really thinks of current events.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Good news! There has been a 393% decrease in Dangerous Driving cases in Beijing's Haidian District ...

The number of dangerous driving cases dropped significantly since the crime was written into Chinese Criminal Law in 2011, Beijing Haidian District People's Court said on Monday.

From January to June, the court has heard 27 cases of dangerous driving, a 393 percent decrease year-on-year, according to the latest statistic provided by the court.

In 2011, legislators lengthened the punishment for driving dangerously, such as speeding or drunken driving, from 15 days to up to six months in detention, in an effort to alert residents and avoid traffic tragedies, the court said.

But Ma Lin, judge of the court, said some of those jailed for dangerous driving committed the crime on purpose or had a momentary lapse in judgment due to alcohol consumption, and suggested that friends and restaurants promote sober driving.

The court joined the crime faculty under the People's Public Security University of China on Monday, aiming to combine judicial theory with practices.

Wow! The People's Public Security University of China must teach a type of new math in its judicial theory program. I'm old school, and was taught that a percentage decline was kinda limited to a maximum of 100%. Learn something new every day!

Source: Beijing TMB website

[euphonius]

Hilarious. And not only is the math troubling, I'd say it's naive to assume that because the number of cases has fallen, the prevalence of dangerous driving has also fallen. Maybe fewer dangerous drivers are getting caught. Maybe the cops are spending all their time harassing motorcyclists.