Motokai's Inner Mongolia Ride 2011

[MotoKai]

Days 1-4

Leaving Beijing on Saturday morning was another reminder of the 2 Beijings:
1. Inside the 6th Ring (The City Proper)
2. Outside of the 6th Ring (Beijing Countryside)

The horseshoe of mountains that wraps around the city proper which is quite flat can trap the air and pollution from all of the cars purchased over the last decade. But as soon as you pierce this enclosure of smog you enter another Beijing. It's a Beijing that is filled with rolling mountains, countryside, fresh air and sunshine. Amazing.

So I jumped on the expressway to move quickly beyond the borders of city, and zig-zagging thru countryside heading towards Hebei. I stopped along the way at 玻璃台 (Bolitai) which was rather uneventful. While the road is picturesque and the nature that surrounds is astounding,

Bolitai


the concrete road that leads up the mountain does not provide the surface for good riding, nor do the over-tight corners which require too much navigational input on a surface topped with loose gravel to really enjoy. After making my way back down, I was enjoying a bowl of noodles noodles near the entrance gate and saw a group of Harleys pull up. They stopped for a photo session at the gate entrance then moved on a different direction without riding up.

I continued on thru Hebei on my way to Chengde (passing more parts of The Wall which is always so cool), when the bike stalled in a small village and wouldn't start. It was the battery. Looking for a quick fix, I planned a trickle charge that would get met to Chengde where I could further investigate the issue with a proper mechanic. Unable to find a charger I was successful to pop-the-clutch and get moving again. About 15kms later it died in front of a steel factory, luckily close to a small shop with a charger.

After about 60kms, 5 hours, and 2 trickle charges later there I was. It was 9:30pm and I was still out in the countryside at 9:30pm without juice.

Trickle Charge #3 ("Should I stay or should I go now?")


The decision was to stay put there for the night or ride the remaining 30kms to Chengde and risk breaking down again in the dark. I banked the 60min trickle charge would get me to Chengde so I moved on. Using the full moon as much as possible I rode slowly with the lights off to save the battery. I moved onto a dirt road (must be construction but couldn't see clearly), so stopped at the next gas station to confirm. The kid inside (who was busy watching porn) said I was moving the right direction - it was another 15km. Right on.

I finally crossed the bridge into Chengde and the battery died right then and there - lucky! So back to pushing the heavy machine from hotel to hotel (first 5 hotels were full) I finally found a room for the night.

As Felix said: Sounds perfectly in line with ChinaV's 'rewards and punisments' theory of china riding. You have to pay for the good stuff with equal amounts of hell.

The next 2.5 days were spent sourcing the problem (the stator), sourcing a new stator from Hefei, and sourcing the history of Chengde as a tourist.

The Fried Stator


Special thanks to euphonius and Lao Jia Hou for armchair/roadside support. They were able to access the key docs (to discuss the parts with me in both English & Chinese) and provide TIC support!

Then it was back to "the good stuff"