Shanghai to Paris on a GSX-R - ROUFFIAC MICKAEL

[bigdamo]

Fallwell I looked at spotme a while back their coverage of China is/was not good.Forget about it helping you in Xinjiang there is no coverage.Probably the place you need it most.Plus the signal gets bounced down to their centre in the states then they ring someone in China who? then the Chinese start doing something I wouldn't hold my breath on that and if you hit the help button you probably are.

[Fred]

Mickael, my 2 cents on this whole thread.

Why do you think you got such a "welcome" for your thread, in a forum of bikers ? No, it's not that people here are jealous of your plan, or afraid to do such thing. You have here in mychinamoto.com the riders who did the most adventurous riding in China, so please listen to them.
Why do you think you got those kind of replies ? Just to annoy you ? Naaah... It's because experienced riders in China fear for you, and try to give advices to you. What you plan to do is feasible, ok, but to clearly express the fact that you want it to be a fast trip on a fast bike, that's the problem for most of us.

Because, as I'm sure you know, speed in China = very high risks of injuries/death. You know it too, you can see it every day here : people crossing the streets without looking, tricycles cutting off the national roads (the GXXX) all the time, without looking, the errant dogs, the debris on the roads, etc. . It is absolutely impossible to avoid all this, even if you are Rossi or Stoner, if you go too fast. (BTW, one Moto2 pro racer got seriously hurt riding in his home country of Thailand a few months ago, and he's a world-class racer...).

If I may, one small example from a recent trip to Moganshan on a bike (YBR250). I was riding at around 110km/h, coming up behind a truck. From the corner of my eyes, I saw something rolling from the top of the truck, and instinctively began to swerve. One second later, a big bag full of heavy clothes fell from the top of the truck onto the road, just where I was supposed to be if I didn't swerve. The bag was not properly attached on the trucks, an usual thing in China.... If I had been up to 150 km/h (impossible anyway with the 250...), nobody can say whether I would have been able to avoid it...

No, members here are not trying to laugh at you or tell you that it is not possible. It is possible, but not with the speed you seem to want to do this at...
We genuinely care about any rider well-being, and to try to do this at more than 150km/h average speed is insane in China, we do hope you can understand that.

[ChinaV]

Best thread ever...

Beijing to Shanghai in 13 hours --- I totally believe it because Google Maps says it's 1266km, only 14 hours 50 minutes, and it's easy to beat google maps time, especially on a Gixer 600.

China said you can't have a Gixer, but you got one, and probably some shady documents with it that work when necessary. Wouldn't be my choice for this kind of trip, but can't see why it wouldn't get you there.

China said bikes on the expressay OK, expressway people usually say NO WAY, but you seem to have that under control. I think we all have success and failure stories when it comes to expressways. Rule of thumb is that you probably won't get a lot of expressway time once you get away from eastern China.

People say you're crazy and unrealistic... well you are.... but that's cool, because crazy people tend to have good adventures.

I think the pace you're setting is impossible. Even if you could stay on the expressway, things are going to change drastically as you go west. 1 big pothole at 100 km/h and your 17" sportbike rim is going to end up folded.

Your USB port is going to get destroyed from dust and rain. Move it to a point that is well protected. Your cheap plastic GPS mount will fail after a few hours on bad roads. Being that you're using your phone as a GPS, I would find some way to protect it and mount it very securely. Would suck to lose your phone and navigation in one shot.

5 liters of gas is a lot of weight for those crappy saddlebags, better think about that again. Reduce your weight as much as possible.

I would send the oil and filter to Xinjiang and change after crossing China. Good engine oil will be fine for 5000kms. Ride another 5000 after changing, and then you will be in countries with Suzuki dealers.

Anticipate where you are going to need your next set of tires and send a set there.

Buy a really good chain and chain lube, make sure the chain is 6 links too long. Cut the chain to the correct size, put the extra links and master link in with your spare parts. A good chain will last 20,000 kms. If it breaks, you can use the extra links to repair it. Why cary an entire chain.

Spare brake lever, clutch lever, clutch cable, throttle cable, compressor, tubeless tire plugs and decent tools. Why cary "power booster".

FYI... Drilling holes in your frame for your tank bag mounting straps... not a good idea.

Good luck, should be an interesting trip.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[bigdamo]

Best thread ever...

Beijing to Shanghai in 13 hours --- I totally believe it because Google Maps says it's 1266km, only 14 hours 50 minutes, and it's easy to beat google maps time, especially on a Gixer 600.

China said you can't have a Gixer, but you got one, and probably some shady documents with it that work when necessary. Wouldn't be my choice for this kind of trip, but can't see why it wouldn't get you there.

China said bikes on the expressay OK, expressway people usually say NO WAY, but you seem to have that under control. I think we all have success and failure stories when it comes to expressways. Rule of thumb is that you probably won't get a lot of expressway time once you get away from eastern China.

People say you're crazy and unrealistic... well you are.... but that's cool, because crazy people tend to have good adventures.

I think the pace you're setting is impossible. Even if you could stay on the expressway, things are going to change drastically as you go west. 1 big pothole at 100 km/h and your 17" sportbike rim is going to end up folded.

Your USB port is going to get destroyed from dust and rain. Move it to a point that is well protected. Your cheap plastic GPS mount will fail after a few hours on bad roads. Being that you're using your phone as a GPS, I would find some way to protect it and mount it very securely. Would suck to lose your phone and navigation in one shot.

5 liters of gas is a lot of weight for those crappy saddlebags, better think about that again. Reduce your weight as much as possible.

I would send the oil and filter to Xinjiang and change after crossing China. Good engine oil will be fine for 5000kms. Ride another 5000 after changing, and then you will be in countries with Suzuki dealers.

Anticipate where you are going to need your next set of tires and send a set there.

Buy a really good chain and chain lube, make sure the chain is 6 links too long. Cut the chain to the correct size, put the extra links and master link in with your spare parts. A good chain will last 20,000 kms. If it breaks, you can use the extra links to repair it. Why cary an entire chain.

Spare brake lever, clutch lever, clutch cable, throttle cable, compressor, tubeless tire plugs and decent tools. Why cary "power booster".

FYI... Drilling holes in your frame for your tank bag mounting straps... not a good idea.

Good luck, should be an interesting trip.

Cheers!
ChinaV

I would also send a couple of air filters as well.

You really should be cleaning/changing your air filters at least every 2 weeks here.

In April and May in Xinjiang it is the season for dust storms.You won't be doing 100km/h + then.At least you will see them coming but sometimes they come real quick.

I would take a good quality MTB pump for the tires.I use one back home on my motorcycles tires their small but can punch in air real quick.

Plus a good set of tyre levers.I have had a set of metzler for years work extremely well on a dirt bike don't know how they would go on a road tyres They are 8 and 3/4 inches long (220mm approx) and fit in tool bags nicely.

[ZMC888]

China V's advice is best yet. The air filter advice from BigDamo, is excellent too. Your bike also looks like it is coming together better than I thought.

If you follow this advice I only worry about how you are going to be able to get your bike across borders.

[bigdamo]

Opps your running tubeless.Their a bitch to break the bead and yes you probably need a compressor to get the bead to seat properly. Hell I'd be ditching tubeless for tube for that trip.Probably ditch the rims as well as ChinaV said they don't like potholes.

[TB-Racing]

Opps your running tubeless.Their a bitch to break the bead and yes you probably need a compressor to get the bead to seat properly. Hell I'd be ditching tubeless for tube for that trip.Probably ditch the rims as well as ChinaV said they don't like potholes.

G'Day,

Slime has some great products for DIYGOOSS = do it yourself get out of shitty situations.... http://www.slime.com

Got two Slime kits just recently for China cruising and my Aussi long distance ride later in the year, fingers crossed i never have to use them.
http://www.slime.com/shop/moto-spair-50001/

Ducati delivers new bikes with a small TipTop fix-a-flat kit (tubeless tyres) with the tool set, see pic attached.
You get what you pay for......

[Fred]

I bought this kind of tubeless tyres repair kit with plugs and CO2 cartridges, together with RideOn gel (ordered from the US), which is similar to the Slime you mentioned, but better in that it doesn't make a mess of your rim in case you need to change the tyres...

[TB-Racing]

I bought this kind of tubeless tyres repair kit with plugs and CO2 cartridges, together with RideOn gel (ordered from the US), which is similar to the Slime you mentioned, but better in that it doesn't make a mess of your rim in case you need to change the tyres...

G'Day,

Used Slime before? You can wash it away with water, used Slime many times during extreme 4x4 excursions in PRC / Australia.

PRC Slime importer / distributor sits up in Dalian of all places.
DALIAN JIURONG INTERNATIONAL TRADING CO., LTD
NO.31-9-3 LIANNING NANYUAN,LONGJIANG ROAD,SHAHEKOU DISTRICT
DALIAN, LIAON 116021 CHINA
Phone: 86-411-39791911

[998S]

Heheh, C'mon 998S, would you ever drive the wrong way down an onramp with your lights OFF?! How sensible would that be?!

Oh yeah, I forgot, you only do that in the night