Soberpete's YBR 250

[Barry]

Confession time ...

Note to self - unchain bike from other bikes before heading off.

You get the idea.

Tractor pulling with a motorcycle!

[soberpete]

I have no idea. The scooter was modified with a 200CC cylinder, clip on air filter, and high flow muffler. I was in a hurry so I just hit the gas and was like "Why is it so slow?" hit the gas some more and found myself on the ground. The bike didn't stop till I went from the concrete floor of the parking garage to the tarmac of the road. "Oh yeh, disk lock." Picked myself up, unlocked the wheel, then put the bike away and took a cab. :D

A highly powerful, modified scooter... that makes sense now. Do you still ride that thing around? . I'd kinda like to know what a 200cc scooter sounds like .

[Nuhaus]

I'd kinda like to know what a 200cc scooter sounds like .

They are ubiquitous here. Scooter culture in Shanghai is on the wain with the recent laws concerning getting fuel, but I still see them daily. No plates, big stupid mufflers that fall off, and all kinds of "sparkly bits".

[felix]

Note to self - unchain bike from other bikes before heading off.

Ahhhh, that's classic you! Hopefully you were pulling away on your CJ and it was an ebike locked to it so you didn't notice for the first few km.

[soberpete]

They are ubiquitous here. Scooter culture in Shanghai is on the wain with the recent laws concerning getting fuel, but I still see them daily. No plates, big stupid mufflers that fall off, and all kinds of "sparkly bits".

It sounds just like Zibo.
I enjoy seeing the odd scooter that is covered with decals from different manufacturing companies: Yamaha-Honda-Ducati-Suzuki... all on the same scooter. They never seem happy with just one brand; they simply must to have them all come together to create the ultimate scooter!
They also seem to have competitions as to who can get the most neon lights to fit on two wheels. They light up the roads nicely at night. This could lead to a number of the street lights being turned off and saving power around the city.

[soberpete]

Good news! I got my plates installed today!
AN181... AN in Chinese 安 means peace/peaceful. That isn't always the way that I drive but it definitely suits the sound emitted from the engine, or lack of it.
The code for Zibo is C so on the rear plate it reads CAN181.
CAN!

I gave my friend a ride on the back this evening. Got a nice clear stretch of road and was up to 120kph easily (at 7800rpm), although, not as easily as it could without the extra body on the back but that goes without saying.
240km on the clock now. I think I'm going to take it for a spin with ZMC888 this weekend, sometime on Sunday afternoon when he has time.

To those who are interested; I'm going to be legally married on Monday. All the documents are in place and I'm going down to my wife's home town to get the marriage certificate first thing in the morning. After they stamp the paper we will be married by law ... well, Chinese law.
The family dinner and ceremony has been booked by the father in law for May 30th. I think I'm going to find a few of the traditions uncomfortable but I have complete trust in the family so I'm going to do everything that they instruct me to .

[Lao Jia Hou]

I'm going to be legally married on Monday.

WOW! Congrats! Smart guy ... Yamaha YBR ... Chinese wife ... life is good.

I think I'm going to find a few of the traditions uncomfortable but I have complete trust in the family so I'm going to do everything that they instruct me to .

We're your other family. It is a biker-laowai-in-China (BLIC) tradition that you buy ALL the beer during your first year of marriage. OK, maybe I am making that up, but traditions have to start somewhere, right?

Again, congrats!

[soberpete]

WOW! Congrats! Smart guy ... Yamaha YBR ... Chinese wife ... life is good.



We're your other family. It is a biker-laowai-in-China (BLIC) tradition that you buy ALL the beer during your first year of marriage. OK, maybe I am making that up, but traditions have to start somewhere, right?

Again, congrats!

Hahaha . I liked your post so much that I laughed out loud and the wife wanted to know what was funny. I translated it for her and she told me to pass on a message to you: 滚!!!
She loves to swear. I've learned a lot of 'ma hua' from her over the past year .
Thanks for the comment . I like the sound of BLIC. We should all get some kind of 'BLIC' decal made, post it on Taobao and stick it on our bikes.

[soberpete]

wow this thing is quiet, super quiet, it seems more like a high-end sewing machine. You're not going to set off car alarms with this bike in stock form.

Actually I did last night, right here outside my home in Wan Fu Jia Yuan. I was just pulling into the apartment complex and roared (like a kitten) passed a parked car in first gear at high revs. Alarm went off and I felt pretty proud of the YBR. Even though the sound is quiet, the vibrations are still powerful... come to think of it that way; the wife did say that the bike felt very 'comfortable' .

[soberpete]

It's getting a little bit boring now to be honest . I've had the YBR for a couple of weeks and there have been no problems to fix.
A few weeks after getting my new JD150-15 in 2009 I was dealing with a chain that kept coming off, bad rear wheel bearings, a brake pedal that kept going loose by itself, buttons that fell off, mirrors falling off and strange noises that came from god knows where. That was just the first page of a big "catalog of problems" - quoted from ZMC888 during his review of my bike.
I can't say that I'm disappointed, I'm simply not used to a bike with no problems.