Newbie in Shanghai !

**euphonius** · 03-13-2011, 03:06 AM

Originally Posted by Fred

Yeaaaaaah finally !!
Got the bike yesterday, with again a whole lotta drama... Short story : they still didn't have the plates, told me to come back on Monday, I said no way.
Pushed one of them on the bike (without plates), went to the Hami lu police station (where I passed the physical, close to the CJ750 sidecars shop) and we did the whole process in 3 hours to register everything and to get the plates. Incredibly "mafan", but it's done now !

Everything is under my name (all the documents, bikes & plates registration), I chose the plate number, and the bike is running flawlessly, handles like a bicycle, I finally can ride after all those months of paperwork, exams and wait !

I'm really really glad I did all that, glad I'm 100% legal, now I just have to try to stall less when the light turns green ! ;-))

Holy shit, Fred, you won the brass ring!

Per 5000-year-old traditions of the ancient order of Shanghai motozens, first round is on you at our next (No-)Bike Night!

I see blue sky today. Where are you planning to ride????

Congrats, and ride safe!

**jape** · 03-13-2011, 03:21 AM

Well done, sincerely. Worth the effort. Now take it easy! The worst time for danger is only the first two years while you learn, then it is fine for about a week until you get complacent and its dangerous again. In other words, you only get to enjoy by surviving but you cannot afford to get complacent. You don't seem like the type to do that though. the trick about real fun on a bike is that good, even great times do come to you, open roads, cool curves, great weather and companions. Between those times you ride safe and survive and wait. You got the Sundiro Honda wasn't it? Come on mate, pics are mandatory at this point.

**felix** · 03-13-2011, 03:49 AM

Congrats fred, another MCMer successfully going legal! We're all delighted for you!

**Fred** · 03-14-2011, 01:26 AM

Hey, the pressure from the audience is too much, I give up, here's the pic of the bike just as I arrived home, pretty isn't it ?

819473864_DvYaC-XL.jpg

Naaah, just pulling your legs, a man can dream, right ?

Here is the real one (yeah I know the protective plastic are still on the saddle, I removed them now of course...) :
SDC14013.jpg

SDC14017 (mod).jpg

Could not ride too much yesterday as I had other obligations to fulfill, but managed a 1h30 ride, going through the gears, getting a feel for the bike. I admit without any shame that I'm a total beginner, so I was rather pleased with myself not to stall once during all this ride and to get a feel for all the process of upshifting and downshifting, to be always in the right gear, plus feeling the rear drum brake, which is quite nice and predictable, not like the on/off switch of the rear brake of the cub at the driving center... I always try to be very kind with the vehicle I'm on, and I feel that my bike and I are getting along quite well for the moment ! ;-))

I also discover one rather stupid problem.... I cannot get my brand new riding boot fully under the gear selector, because the boot's too "big or high", which is inconvenient to say the least... I can only upshift with the very tip of the boot, and I already scrapped the leather doing like this. I don't have any problem with running shoes of course, but that's not very safe...
Didn't have time to really check, but is there a way to raise a bit the gear selector so I could put my boot under, without have to hyper-extend my foot ?

**euphonius** · 03-14-2011, 01:57 AM

Fantastic looking bike, and nice yellow plate there to offset the black!

Now that you've given her a good shaking, take ZMC888's advice and retighten every bolt on the bike, preferably to spec with a torque wrench. Ninety minutes should be plenty of time to shake a bunch loose -- even (especially) the engine mounting bolts!

Should be plenty of options for different shift levers. Time for a trip to scootertown (Jiaoji Lu)!

Awesome!
cheers

**Nuhaus** · 03-14-2011, 02:32 AM

Originally Posted by Fred

Didn't have time to really check, but is there a way to raise a bit the gear selector so I could put my boot under, without have to hyper-extend my foot ?

This is a really easy adjustment (as in I did it, and my mechanical knowledge is next to nil). You could do it yourself but I would just take it back to the shop and show them what you need. Careful riding in the rain (if you are today), and avoid the damn super slick paint on the roads.

So that's the 150 Honda Shadow right? Should be excellent for reliability.

**euphonius** · 03-14-2011, 02:45 AM

Originally Posted by Nuhaus

So that's the 150 Honda Shadow right? Should be excellent for reliability.

Dear Fred,

My mistake! Didn't mean to stir anxiety about loose bolts. I was thinking this was the Regal Raptor. The Sundiro Honda should be tight as a drum.

and, yes, do watch out for the white street paint. I was just out on my bicycle and it's like ice.

cheers!

**Fred** · 03-14-2011, 03:06 AM

Yes, that's the Honda-Sundiro SDH 150-16 Shadow, purring like a kitten, handling like a bicycle.

My mechanical knowledge is not completely nil, but quite limited I would say, that's why I chose this bike, to avoid having to repair it on the road-side everytime I ride it...

**jape** · 03-14-2011, 03:42 AM

Fred, it is a 30 second job. The gear shift lever should be on a splined shaft and held on by one clamping bolt. It should be very easy for you to loosen that bolt, to slide the lever off the shaft toward you and raise it up by replacing it at a higher angle. (turned further round the shaft toward you). This will become obvious if you look closely. The only thing you should look out for is if the lever is raised too high and comes into contact with the engine casing when you flick it upwards with your toe. This would be very unlikely but is a check you can do stationary.