Prep Round-China Bike trip, 2-up, April-May 2012

[soberpete]

Any luck with the pin wrench yet Fred?
What's the countdown timer at now?

[Fred]

Ok guys, an update !
First let me apologize as those past few weeks have been completely crazy, with finishing my work in Shanghai, preparing this trip, and basically flying over to France to sign my new contract !
But the good news are that :
- I now am officially in a 5 months holiday, while being sure of having a nice job for me in France at the end of it, which is the perfect situation to be in before starting a trip like this.
- we are starting the trip tomorrow ! At last !!

Months of preparation and general business will soon stop, as we will leave for the 1st leg tomorrow. Of course depending on the weather, which is right now awful in Shanghai with a lot of rain...

I shall soon start a thread over the ride reports section on this forum, and I will try to write the ride report as we ride, but it'll be depending on the internet access we'll find. I do have a 3G USB key also for those times without connection.

I'll also list later all the stuff we packed, and all our equipment as far as luggage go. Nothing too fancy, basically GDW saddlebags, 40 liters Adlo topcase and a tank bag.

See you soon on the ride reports section !

[soberpete]

YES!!!

It is beginning...
Bon voyage Fred!

[soberpete]

Am I the only one reading this thread now?
I'm looking forward to your reports Fred. If it's still raining then I don't blame you for delaying the trip for a bit. Just update us before you get to Shandong!

[MotoKai]

I shall soon start a thread over the ride reports section on this forum, and I will try to write the ride report as we ride, but it'll be depending on the internet access we'll find. I do have a 3G USB key also for those times without connection.

Hey Fred. Wondering where you're at and how things are going.
If you're not in a position to start a RR yet, give a "check-in" shout on this thread when you can!

[Fred]

Check-in shout !

We're perfectly all right, thanks for your concerns guys, we traveled already more than 2,500km from Shanghai to today's stop, Donglan, Guangxi province ! We have a mix of travel days (only goal is to ride to get to some interesting places) and touristic days (for example Yangshuo, Longji rice fields, and tomorrow is another one, the Chengbi Lake near the town of Baise, Guangxi).

Some teasers:
- We hit a lot of bad roads, especially in Hunan (what's wrong with them ?). Not even roads I should say, but mud and stones baths... Pics to come in the RR.
- We had rain every single f.....g day since Shanghai (April 11th), except for the last 2 days, oh how good it feels ! Best investment so far ? The motorcycle rain gear for us...
- The YBR 250 is doing fine until now, I baby it around the rough spots because it is very heavily packed. Only problem so far as I wrote over the maintenance thread is the left front fork seal which is leaking. I'm planning to have it changed + a complete maintenance in Kunming in 5-6 days.
- I found an excellent Yamaha service center in Ji'An, Jiangxi : the guys over there were incredibly nice when they learned what we were doing, they helped me to change the oil, oil filter and air filter (which I had with me as spare parts but didn't take the time to change before the start of the trip ; I still have more in spare parts, no worries), and checked a small issue on the front end. I basically had to fight to pay them and took many pictures with them.
- I hit a pedestrian in Shangrao, and managed to even yell at him... Hehe, that's a teaser... (don't worry, I did so after seeing that he was alright and standing up quickly)

And just because I'm such a tease, some pics while waiting for a proper RR !

Mudbath between Ji'an & Chenzhou, and yes, that's a G road for you (Guo Dao)... :
DSC_0066.jpg

SDC17693.jpg


The usual bike in the lobby picture
SDC17702.jpg

The usual "that's what I'm talking about, well done China" picture :
SDC17494.jpg

And the usual "here we do have it this small" picture....
SDC17305.jpg
Sorry China....

That's it folks ! Be sure I'm not forgetting you, just a lot to do every day ! I'll do the RR for sure, even if it is after the trip ! ;-)

Cheers,

Fred

[soberpete]

Hey there Fred,
I read your reports from your "URGENT - Yamaha dealer in Kuming / Leaking left fork seal" thread and I hope that's all working out for you.
FYI by the time you reach Shandong you'll have access to the following spare items of mine that I have lying around the house:
1: Front tire (only seen 2,000km)
2: Brake and clutch levers
3: Front disc brake

It'll only be very convenient for you if you're really close to the area (at the time of need) but just keep it in mind.
Anything else you might need, I can get for you within a few days. Just let me know.

[Graham]

Hey all,


Because we will ride 2-up, we'll take it easy and have distance constraints every day (cannot ride as much as solo), I'm considering 200km/day, with an average speed of 50km/h.

.
Hi Fred,

200km a day is some serious going, when Fay and me were doing the full length of Vietnam, some days we pushed it and did 150km's, some days we were lucky to do 80km's

OK, I guess the roads here in China are far better than what we had to contend with in Vietnam, but we were seriously messed up at the end of some days.

Good luck, hope to see you in Friendly Shandong.

Gra.

[Fred]

Hey Graham,

I didn't see your message for some reason...
200km/day on average was the plan, and we're sticking to it so far ! Even did a 350km day 2 weeks ago, but of course we were absolutely knackered at the end of it.
Today for example on so-so roads between Luguhu and Liangshan (Xichang), Sichuan, we did 280km in approximately 7 hours. Tired ? Yes, but the landscapes are amazing...
Chinese drivers ? Terrible, absolutely terrible... Worse are the ones on 4x4 on the mountain roads : the roads is theirs, and you have no right to be in front of them, or fastest, or even on the road...

[Graham]

Hey Graham,

I didn't see your message for some reason...
200km/day on average was the plan, and we're sticking to it so far ! Even did a 350km day 2 weeks ago, but of course we were absolutely knackered at the end of it.
Today for example on so-so roads between Luguhu and Liangshan (Xichang), Sichuan, we did 280km in approximately 7 hours. Tired ? Yes, but the landscapes are amazing...
Chinese drivers ? Terrible, absolutely terrible... Worse are the ones on 4x4 on the mountain roads : the roads is theirs, and you have no right to be in front of them, or fastest, or even on the road...

.
Hi Fred,

Just be safe, don't let your guard down for a split second.
You seem to be doing very good distances every day, I am surprised.

have you decided if your heading through Weifang, I kind'a read it was off your rout maybe?


When we did Vietnam, we were there for a month.
We did 22 days riding.

Gra.