Re: Special B-plate for foreigners

I have never heard of this one, and I doubt that it is correct. Over the past number of years, the Beijing government has been moving away from issuing special foreigner plates. In the past (stopped around 2010), the government used to issue black plates for foreigners. Foreigners now just get regular plates, identical to Chinese owners. For motorcycles, there was a period of time after the black plates stopped that the government issued yellow 京A plates starting with the numbers 47 for foreign owners. The "47" has also been discontinued.

Re: Buying a used bike with a B plate

Getting a B plate registration for a foreigner is a little tricky, usually because of the foreigner's location of residence. Also, many B plates are company registered, as opposed to being registered to an individual. Buying a used bike with an existing B plate registration from a Chinese national can be risky, unless you know the ins/outs, or use a reputable agent to deal with the plating & insurance procedures.

Re: Buying new from a Dealer

If you go to one of the larger dealers who are high volume, and who are also used to dealing with foreigners' plating issues (e.g., Dadihengtang and/or Qili Motors for Suzuki), it will be a relatively painless and pretty much risk-free experience. My personal advice would be to steer clear of the few "foreign-owned dealers" that target the expat market. Most don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, as far as plating & insurance issues are concerned, and a few will knowingly screw you.

Re: Which bike to buy

In the 250cc and under category, it is usually a safe bet to buy a Suzuki, Honda or Yamaha. Jialings are also ok, but they aren't really that much less expensive. It is easier to resell a Japanese bike.

Good luck