Quote Originally Posted by Astoboy66
How can you tell the plate is illegal??
I was thinking before to get a similar bike in Beijing in fact there are some really great import bikes on places like thebeijinger.com classifieds.

I found a Yam XJR 400 the guy said had a plate but had lost the documents...hmmmmm:-0
I then thought maybe as I am in BJ its best be cautious and look at a new genuine plated chinese bike

Whats the deal with these ads and bikes is it a scam or just illegal import and what happens if you get caught?
as TIC guess BJ / SH are most strict cities to police this.
The Jiangsu H plates with regular bolts attaching them are a giveaway.

So the story goes like this:

In 1996 or 1998, I forget which, the government decided that all big bikes over 250cc should be made illegal. At this time there were many legally imported bikes which suit the Chinese road conditions quite well such as the gorgeous CB400 and XJR400. So plates were then removed from all these bikes that had been legally imported and registered. At the same time there was a growth in stolen bikes coming in from Hong Kong, which are usually more exotic.

So at the end of the story a Chinese cop seeing you riding a 92-98 CB400 will know that the bike was 'illegalised' and will likely be more forgiving than someone on a 2006 Sukuki 'busa that was nicked from HK.

Can a CB400 be retro-registered? Tough question, maybe yes with the right location and connections, maybe no. Better chances than a stolen HK bike for sure, and CB400s have better rider Karma too. Bike looks mint could be perfect, some are (20,000 RMB) some look perfect (10,000RMB) but have been dropped more times than a bar of wet soap.