Quote Originally Posted by Pfaelzer View Post
How many kilometers did you put on it by now? Any issues so far?
Hello Pfaelzer! Does this mean you've returned to our hemisphere? Long time no see! Hope you had some excellent rides in Europe.

Unbelievably, I'm already approaching the 10k mileage limit of my 1-year warranty. I'm just hitting 8k after a long round-trip between Shanghai and Beijing, the second half of which I did entirely on the expressway, and this current trip into southwest China. I'd be at 10k already if I'd ridden the 2k-plus to Guiyang from Shanghai, but instead I put her on the train and saved at least 4 days of dull riding. I'm now in Kunming, having ridden the brilliant new expressway from Guiyang. This ride put to shame the rather amazing engineering achievements of the Shanghai expressways.

Next I'm off into the wilds of Yunnan, working my way west to Dali, then north to Lijiang. From there I need to get to Kangding aka Garze, and have to decide whether to take a more westerly route north via Zhongdian aka Shangri-La, or a easterly route up through Lake Lugu. Either one goes through very high desolate country -- a real mental challenge given that I'm riding solo!

As for problems with the bike -- nothing significant. I had a bad tank of 93 octane petrol in Shandong that had me thinking the ignition was failing, but that worked its way through with the next tank. In Beijing I had the bike washed, and almost immediately had a problem with the starter motor, which simply stopped working. I'm guessing some water got in from the high-pressure spray wash. By a stroke of luck my next stop was the Beijing Jialing service center, and that's where it refused to start! So they pulled the starter motor out, pulled it apart and cleaned the contacts, and it's been fine ever since. Only other minor issue is the kill circuit in the side stand, which is preventing me from starting up in anything but neutral even when the stand is up. I'll probably disable it, but I've found that if I let the side stand snap up quickly, rather than letting it up slowly, I can start in any gear with the clutch disengaged.

Biggest discovery: The bike is a champion on the expressway! She runs at 120 kph for hours and hours at a stretch without complaint, and will still accelerate from 120 if need be. I've not even approached the 8k red line, having maxed out at 7k-plus. She's smooth as silk, with virtually no vibrations, at 120kph.

For the kind of distance touring I'm doing, with interludes off road and on very rough pavement but also long stretches of perfect expressway, she's the real deal! Very pleased!

You up in Fuzhou any time soon?

cheers!