Quote Originally Posted by euphonius View Post
Another question: Where can I ride my 沪A plate in Beijing? Am a considered completely unwelcome, or will my plate be considered equivalent to a 京A plate? I wasn't stopped at all when I rode in town last summer, though I didn't go blazing down Chang'an Jie or through T-Square...
Good question, and a hot topic in Beijing right now because of the passenger vehicle plate lottery system. There are lots of cars from other provinces appearing in Beijing now, so questions about non-Beijing plates is often being discussed.

Although bikes are not involved in the plate lottery system, they are affected by the out-of-Beijing rules, or so it seems. Nobody really knows, for sure, including several senior Traffic Management Police people I've asked. Motorcycles are like annoying mosquitoes to them, so when I show up at the counter and start asking questions ... well, I am sure they wish they had a fly swatter.

In theory, a "foreign" bike should acquire one of the "entry permits" that foreign passenger cars need. These permits are acquired on the expressways coming into town, and are valid for various periods of time. I think the maximum is 90 days. You have to pay money for them.

However, I can only imagine what would happen if you showed up, on the expressway (if you somehow got on it), on a motorcycle, and asked for a permit. I suspect nobody would have a clue how to handle it ... therefore, they'd insist it was impossible and foreign bikes were not allowed. In otherwords, keep the mosquitoes out of Beijing.

The new plate restrictions says foreign plated vehicles can't be operated during rush hours (0700-0900 and 1600-1900) within the 5th ring road. But I have no idea if it applies to motorcycles and it seems nobody else knows either.

There are lots of Hebei and Jiangsu plated bikes in Beijing, most of which are illegal plates, but some of which are actually legal (e.g., my JH600B has a legal Hebei plate - necessary because the 600B isn't an approved bike inside Beijing). But, frankly, I think the typical policeman would look at the "foreign bike" and not know what to do (or think it was too much trouble) ... and then seeing a foreigner riding it would just cause him to look the other way. Foreign bike? Foreign rider? "No way, I am not paid enough for the hassle."

You're right ... stay away from T-Square and Chang'An, and life will be fine.

Looking forward to your return & another ride ... my JH600 is getting the laser exhaust mounted, alongside the hand protectors ... yup, I keep copying you!

BUT ... new toy ... GPS tracker arrived. We'll see how it works.