Buying a motorbike in Shanghai/ JLmoto Experiences?

[tasty]

tasty, if dual-purpose (enduro) is you type of ride (worthy consideration given China's terrain outside the cities) you might like to consider a Yamaha YBR250 dual-purpose trail-bike or the JiaLing JH600 600cc single, or else a BMW F650GS / G650GS at al. at much higher pricing. If scoots are your idea of a ride, then go with CFMoto's CF250T-ViP Fashion (licensed Honda Helix clone), or the newer and all-together different CF250T-6A Jetmax maxi scooter (an awesome scoot for the money IMO. If money is not a consideration for a scoot then how about a Kymco Xciting250 or a Piaggio MP3 250 3-wheeler. If road bikes are your tonic of choice, then CFMoto have a CF650 twin cyclinder road sport somewhat similar looking to the Kawasaki E6-N and they will putting out a 800cc cruiser later this year. CFmoto might also put out a larger displacement maxi scooter, though this is an unconfirmed rumour at the moment. So tasty there are other alternatives, some of which offer a product at a more affordable Chinese price or a Chinese made product or more for an imported one. There's still much more on offer for LEGAL options with a wider variety of price points than there was even just a few years ago.

Thanks for the advise and your insight into jlmoto! I was actually just looking for something small, like a Honda VTR250. something that has enough power to cruise but still nimble enough to handle in the city. I guess to have a motorbike in china you either gotta' go illegal or have a million dollars! I'll look into what you said, and do some research about locally produced bikes.
Thanks!

[euphonius]

Thanks for the advise and your insight into jlmoto! I was actually just looking for something small, like a Honda VTR250. something that has enough power to cruise but still nimble enough to handle in the city. I guess to have a motorbike in china you either gotta' go illegal or have a million dollars! I'll look into what you said, and do some research about locally produced bikes.
Thanks!

Dear Tasty,

All of us who own legal bikes in Shanghai face this dilemma. Yes, it's a lot of cash out of pocket for the plates -- probably 48,000 rmb for a downtown plate and 7,000 for a suburban plate. But here's the deal: the plates are transferable, and limited in supply and, hence, knock wood, appreciating. The plate I bought a year ago for 42k is now 48k. If I stopped riding today, I could sell my bike as a package at (current value of bike) + 48k, or I could delink them, sell the bike to a farmer for whatever, and sell the plate for 48k. Such is the nature of Shanghai's auction-based system. Supply and demand.

Several concerns: 1) It's a lot of cash to raise. 2) Since bike plates track the value of car plates (because they can always be transfered to a car), what happens if suddenly Shanghai releases a ton of car plates and the market rate drops? 3) What if the policy changes?

It's easy to understand why lots of folks just go illegal, but that can and will end up being a very costly proposition if your luck runs out and you have an accident. Under Chinese law, if you are illegal (unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured or under the influence), you bear 100% of the responsibility in an accident, regardless of the actual circumstances. So those odds suck pretty bad. And as we've seen in many cities around China, the police are getting much more assertive with random stops, checking for license, registration, insurance and sobriety.

Still, it seems like more than half of the bikes on the road in Shanghai appear to be illegal. Lots of folks playing the odds.

cheers

[Lao Jia Hou]

Somewhat related, I bumped into this website via an ad on the Beijing used bike website.

Hmmmmm.

So, I clicked over to the website's product offerings and ran it through google translate ...

Interesting assortment, including "Mysterious Blue Honda" (yeah, I'll accept that its origin is mysterious) and "Big Dog Idiot" (which, I guess you'd be if you sent these guys money)

Maybe the bikes are 1:20 scale?

[tasty]

9000 quai for a ducati 1098
Mmmm thats the dream