Any Beijingers up for some coffee or beers?

[Kernalpanx]

Ok the naked BJ/QJ 600 is the TNT abroad .... I thought the TNT was the one still built in Italy

[SabineHartmann]

You can get a B plate in the stores name as long as the bike ownership is your name. This is what the store I bought mine at explained as did the Beijing Licensing web site. Maybe I misunderstood, but I am pretty sure for foreigners name can not be on the plate. But if you have a company or the store will register you then ou are good for a B plate.
I thought the Benelli TNT came only as a 899 was around 189000 rmb used and the BJ600 naked was 39000.
My friend has a legal Harley in Shunyi with a B plate .... Registered under the Harley stores name.

Not true! In Suzhou my new BMW650GS is registered in my name. I am the true and only owner. My name and the plate is the same.
You need:
DL: C1D
Residence Permit in a "bike friendly" area
Visa: more than 6 month

[Kernalpanx]

Not true! In Suzhou my new BMW650GS is registered in my name. I am the true and only owner. My name and the plate is the same.
You need:
DL: C1D
Residence Permit in a "bike friendly" area
Visa: more than 6 month

I am just talking about the B Plate in Beijing where he is looking. The B plate on a foreigners bike must be registered to a company name or someone Chinese. The A plate can be in your name.

[bikerdoc]

You can get a B plate in the stores name as long as the bike ownership is your name. This is what the store I bought mine at explained as did the Beijing Licensing web site. Maybe I misunderstood, but I am pretty sure for foreigners name can not be on the plate. But if you have a company or the store will register you then ou are good for a B plate.
I thought the Benelli TNT came only as a 899 was around 189000 rmb used and the BJ600 naked was 39000.
My friend has a legal Harley in Shunyi with a B plate .... Registered under the Harley stores name.

Basically I'd say that is not quite correct. What might be implied is that if you live outside the area that would allow you to otherwise be eligible to otherwise gain a
京B plate then a shop can help get the plate.

The problem with this is that the shop or agent/company might not register the bike in your name. In which case you would need to make sure you have a water tight contract that would stand up to scrutiny and the law as it stands in PRC, that would prove your ownership of such a bike. IMO this is not a wise move, since unless you know the PRC laws, legal system and can read Simplified Chinese intimately - you're prone to be taken for a ride.

Shop owners and staff will sugar coat the facts, as they see them, to make things easier for them, to make them more money or to stiff you out of money... don't be foolish and take anything at face value. If you live inside the jurisdiction/boundary where 京B plates would be issued, and you've a valid, licence and visa etc, then there should be no reason you can't get a plate in your name, aside from plate availability and cost. Some shops might tell you different, but beAware the TIC BS!

Now the caveat to that comment is that in some circumstances the name has to be a Chinese name, rather than a foreign name. Meaning as long as you have given yourself a Chinese name then you could use that. Keep in mind though if you do, you have to consider that your Chinese name has to tie with your insurance, passport, DL and so forth. Something sometimes overlooked.

Some cities like Shanghai offer foreigners a special type of ID card that officially links the foreigners name in their passport with their chosen Chinese name. In the city I live in my first two PRC issued DL were in my foreign name, but my last renewal earlier this year, the local traffic PSB said they could only issue it in my Chinese name despite my protests - I should have pulled the guanxi card at the time, but I was just so over-it at the time. All my vehicles are in my foreign name though, and I just plated a new bike just over a week ago, and it could be in either my foreign or Chinese name - it partially depended on whether the person doing the plating processing could be bothered with the extra work it took for them to process my foreign name into the traffic management system. They were nearly going to use my Chinese name, but I insisted they use my foreign name. One phone call later and the women officer behind the computer screen completed the task as requested (confirmed by her superior to put it under my foreign name).

Really there is no need to have a shop or business register any vehicle in that entities name... to do so can leave one open to some surprises when it comes time to trying/wanting to sell, as one foreign guy with a JH600 found out within the past year.

So, what you have been lead to believe is not completely accurate or true.

For all things BJ plated or m/c related Ask JHL he'll likely set you right.

[bikerdoc]

Not true! In Suzhou my new BMW650GS is registered in my name. I am the true and only owner. My name and the plate is the same.
You need:
DL: C1D
Residence Permit in a "bike friendly" area
Visa: more than 6 month

My visa had 1 day left on it when I registered my new bike last week. My passport is in for the new visa at the moment. Now issued 15 working days compared to the old 5 working days.

[euphonius]

My visa had 1 day left on it when I registered my new bike last week. My passport is in for the new visa at the moment. Now issued 15 working days compared to the old 5 working days.

Christmas in July? Details please! (This thread is already completely hijacked....)

[Kernalpanx]

Basically I'd say that is not quite correct. What might be implied is that if you live outside the area that would allow you to otherwise be eligible to otherwise gain a
京B plate then a shop can help get the plate.

The problem with this is that the shop or agent/company might not register the bike in your name. In which case you would need to make sure you have a water tight contract that would stand up to scrutiny and the law as it stands in PRC, that would prove your ownership of such a bike. IMO this is not a wise move, since unless you know the PRC laws, legal system and can read Simplified Chinese intimately - you're prone to be taken for a ride.

Shop owners and staff will sugar coat the facts, as they see them, to make things easier for them, to make them more money or to stiff you out of money... don't be foolish and take anything at face value. If you live inside the jurisdiction/boundary where 京B plates would be issued, and you've a valid, licence and visa etc, then there should be no reason you can't get a plate in your name, aside from plate availability and cost. Some shops might tell you different, but beAware the TIC BS!

Now the caveat to that comment is that in some circumstances the name has to be a Chinese name, rather than a foreign name. Meaning as long as you have given yourself a Chinese name then you could use that. Keep in mind though if you do, you have to consider that your Chinese name has to tie with your insurance, passport, DL and so forth. Something sometimes overlooked.

Some cities like Shanghai offer foreigners a special type of ID card that officially links the foreigners name in their passport with their chosen Chinese name. In the city I live in my first two PRC issued DL were in my foreign name, but my last renewal earlier this year, the local traffic PSB said they could only issue it in my Chinese name despite my protests - I should have pulled the guanxi card at the time, but I was just so over-it at the time. All my vehicles are in my foreign name though, and I just plated a new bike just over a week ago, and it could be in either my foreign or Chinese name - it partially depended on whether the person doing the plating processing could be bothered with the extra work it took for them to process my foreign name into the traffic management system. They were nearly going to use my Chinese name, but I insisted they use my foreign name. One phone call later and the women officer behind the computer screen completed the task as requested (confirmed by her superior to put it under my foreign name).

Really there is no need to have a shop or business register any vehicle in that entities name... to do so can leave one open to some surprises when it comes time to trying/wanting to sell, as one foreign guy with a JH600 found out within the past year.

So, what you have been lead to believe is not completely accurate or true.

For all things BJ plated or m/c related Ask JHL he'll likely set you right.

B Plate in Beijing can not be under a foreigners name .... If you have a legally registered business, then it is registered to the business. Other then that it needs to be in a Citizen's name or a Companies name. Now the fapia or invoice will be in your name .... Hence it proves ownership of the bike. The B plate can be sold with the bike with out issue.
A Plate different story. This can be registered in your name company anything. B Plate foreigners can not own. Unless it is registered to a foreign company.
I have a 5 year resident visa ( my wife has great contacts at PSB) .... I could not register a Jing B plate in my name ....
Scooter Fapia in my name ... B plate in the shops registered company name ..... This is every shop in Beijing that does this. Your bike will be legal and insurable .... I have done this. Selling the bike you need the original invoice the fapia ....

[Lao Jia Hou]

(This thread is already completely hijacked....)

Oh goodie! Therefore, I have a question - will I use more gas if I ride with my headlight on? Heh heh ... just joking folks.

Seriously, the B-plate thingie is a very confusing rule, and the one over which I once had two TMB police officers arguing with each other in front of me, each asserting different positions. Think about it - if they can't figure it out, how can we?

Essentially, there is one rule that states:

1) To secure a B plate registration, your residence registration must be outside the 4th Ring Road. If you live inside the 4th Ring Road, you must have an A plate.

But there is also another rule that states:

2) If you live in one of the 6 major districts of Beijing, you cannot have a B plate registration. If you live inside one of these six major districts, you must have an A plate.

I think there is only 1 "major district" (Dongcheng) that is entirely within the 4th Ring Road (I might be mistaken). The other major districts (e.g., Chaoyang) have parts inside and outside the 4th Ring Road. In theory, applying the second rule, if one lives outside the 4th Ring Road, but in the Chaoyang District, you need to get an A plate. Further, this rule applied to everyone, not just foreigners.

However, I have bumped into a couple of Chinese people selling their B-plated bikes who have registered the bike at their home inside the Chaoyang District, but outside the 4th Ring Road. I have also seen B-plated, Chinese-owned bikes that needed a company registration, even though the Chinese owner lived outside the 4th Ring Road, but also in the Chaoyang District. So, go figure.

And there used to be another rule that stated:

3) Foreign-owned vehicles must attach a black licence plate, with white letters, to the vehicle. This applied to both cars & motorcycles. The black plates only came in the 京A variety.

I think that this rule is where the idea that foreigners cannot get B plates originated. I have had both cars & bikes registered in my name, under the black plate rule, and the black plates were all 京A. When the black plate system stopped, foreign-owned cars were just the regular blue with white letters/numbers. Foreign-owned motorcycles became yellow with black letters/numbers, but always started with the number 47 (to designate foreign ownership). 47nnn plates only came as 京A plates. Again, the 6 district rule applied to 47nnn (foreign-owned) plates.

Confused yet? Wait, there's more.

In the past, a foreigner who lived outside the 6 major districts (for example, Pinggu, Hairou, etc) could not get any foreign registration in his/her name (neither A nor B). The reason is because, as a foreigner, you had to conduct your TMB business at the Foreign Affairs department at the main TMB building (the SE 4th Ring Road). That TMB department used to say that a foreigner had to live inside one of the 6 major districts to be eligible. This rule, in the past, did not go over well with those foreigners living in Beijing, but outside the 6 major districts. Hence, the local offices would occasionally just go ahead and issue foreigners "regular" plates.

Now, the "rule" is that foreigners living in those outer districts of Beijing can get B plates on motorcycles. However, I don't think that this is actually a rule ... rather, I think it is just that nobody is strictly enforcing the prior interpretations of the confusing rules.

Further, now that foreigners can get regular plates (i.e., no more black plates & no more 47nnn plates), I think that foreigners might find it has become easier to get a B plate registered in his/her own name. However, don't jump for joy just yet ... Chinese residents are also finding the 6 district rule preventing them from getting B plate registrations. If you scan the local classifieds of used-bikes-for-sale, you will see LOTS of B-plated bikes owned by Chinese, but with the common company registration. It isn't just a foreigner thingie. In fact, it is far more common for Chinese owners to do the company thing.

I could go on and on with even more complexities, but you are probably getting the idea. Sometimes, it is MUCH simpler to just get a company registration. Hopefully, at some point in the future, someone at the TMB, in a position of authority, will clean up this mess. I am confident it will happen, because compared to how it was even just 5 years ago, the policies surrounding foreigner ownerships are becoming more relaxed, and more sensible.

We're kinda staying on topic, because A/B plates is one of the most commonly discussed items over coffee!

[Kernalpanx]

Yes to coffee ... B Jings still cannot be in a non citizens name .... Well unless it is a registered company. I forgot about the various districts thing... But that is all correct.