Motorcycle madness

[LJ]

Hi!

I'm new to the site, i'm not a troll, I promise!

Just want to talk bikes in China.

Anyone have a bike? What size? What style?

Legality, what's your interpretation of the law here?

I've been riding a 125 buzz-box for 3 years and 25,000 kms, anyone got some stories?

[Raoul Duke]

Welcome, LJ!

We're a little paranoid right now with everything going on, but you're innocent until proven guilty here...

Too bad you missed China Gurl...she's back in Canada now. She bought a cool bike a bit before she left.

Any other bikers out there?

[con's fly is open]

Naw, I've seen too many of them twisted into pretzels on the highway to ever dare.

[burlives]

I'm not a biker yet, but if I stay long enough I will. I bicycle about the place and I don't like enclosed motorised transport. I recently lashed out on a 100 yuan iron donkey for going to work. My A bike is big and meant for riding fast making it no good for commuting, so I got the B bike. If this keeps up, I'll get a motorcycle for scooting around between towns.

Whadya use the bike for? How much to buy? Licensed? Do you armour up or go au naturel?

[con's fly is open]

Ai-ya! My manners!

What Raoul said. Welcome, dude! This one's on me.

[Mr Nobody]

HI, LJ. Welcome.

You have ridden 25,000 km in China?

[acjade]

Welcome to the family LJ.
Don't know anything about motorbikes.

[Canuck]

I have always wanted to get the old prewar copy of the BMW 750cc made by Chang Jiang.. problem is there are limitations to where you can ride it in BJ. One can only ride it in the suburbs unless one buys a Jing "A" license plate which costs 20,000 yuan in Beijing. So I hesitate. the Cost of a good CJ is only about 10,000 yuan.

[LJ]

China gurl, I remember her from Daves, but I don't remember her having a bike.

I like bikes because I like going where and when I like, also I dislike cars (unless they are very fast and on racetracks). Also I like to save money by not using taxis, and country sightseeing!

There are loads of other manufacturers that have the same blueprints of the WW2 BMW that Chang Jiang do. Really they are dated technology canuck, so heavy with drum brakes, and a low top speed, but I think they could do some mileage.

Some of the mangles really are due to lack of education and training. If riders are possibly drunk, and have no cultural understanding of spatial awareness, it can end in disaster. The government think they should ban bikes because of a high mortality rate, and encourage cars because they're safer, but if everyone here has a metal box of their own going anywhere will become futile.

I promise I'm not a troll, I really know a decent amount about bikes, and some of China's beauocracy, feel free to ask me detailed technical questions and awkward questions about Shandong. I know Tony from Hong Kong is starting to give his alter egos on Daves detailed character development, so it hard to tell if new users are who they say they are! By all means take me with a pinch of salt until you know me.

[Newbs]

Welcome mate

What's your name, but? On my computer I can't tell if you are L followed by a J or 3 and a half sides of a square. Anyway, welcome again and have a beer, on George's tab.

Newbs

[gengrant]

Yeah, welcome LJ...does that stand for 'Large Johnson,' perchance? I would never think to own a motorcycle in China...too many people around.

[LJ]

Large johnson?

hehe

My name is Lew, puely an initial based nickname.

[Da Dan]

What do you know about the cities that put a stop to New Licenses for motorcycles, the license plate on the bike?
Ya think this will become more common all over China?

I'm hearing some cities are trying to phase out motorcycles completely in city limits by a certain year. Already they have many streets where bikes aren't allowed & bikes registered in nearby cities get ticketed anywhere within such cities limits.

I just found out Haikou is one of the cities that don't offer new plates, it's around 4,000 for a ¡°used¡± plate.

The coppers here impound bikes that aren't legal, 300Y to get them out I hear.

The folks who told me about it didn't understand when I asked about just paying the fine each time as the odds of getting caught are only every couple months once ya learn how to spot where the road blocks are.

Do you know much about repeat offences for folks that would rather just pay the fine than pay the extra for a legal license plate or get a bike in a nearby city & ride it there?

I'll guess it is different in each province / city....

[con's fly is open]

Fines are... creative industries. Guanxi and... what's the polite Chiinese term for Bribery?

A related crooked truth: if you get into an accident and your insurance company has the cheek to raise your rates... go to a competitor and start fresh.

[LJ]

Interesting point Da Dan, it's not a question of the illegallity, it's a question of the fine, how much they are.

Where I am insurance costs 100 yuan a year, but the fine for not being insured is 30 Yuan! Also I have been in and out of many other cities, no one said a word, I was wearing a lid so nobody knew I was laowai. Around here the cops seem to be trying to fleece the car drivers, as the fines are much higher for cars. But you never know when they will have a purge.

Not every city will phase out bikes, because some cities have motorbike factories! So if you love bikes find a city with a big factory. Jinan has a Qjiang factory and there are plenty of illegal big bikes about and 125's. Some roads are banned for bikes, but I'm willing to pay the fine (20 yuan?). I think when countries get gridlocked they look for a scapegoat. in the UK they tried to scapegoat trucks, but then we realised they were just delivering food to supermarkets 80% of the time! People think that bikes use up space? One guy in a car? That's the ultimate in selfishness in my view. I think in China it's a case of the leaders have cars=cars good everything else in our way, annoying. Ban it.

In China they seem to highlight bikes, two men killed on a motorbike in the paper, is it time to ban them? Whereas car crashes, mostly ignored. It seems Beijing has decided against bikes, for now.

In the end stupid laws are ignored by Chinese, because if you have no power to change anything, the power to ignore is all you have left! That's why stupid laws should be ignored by us too! (As long as they do not involve prison or deportation, of course).

[Mr Nobody]

lj said:

I was wearing a lid so nobody knew I was laowai.

I can always tell.

[gengrant]

Yeah, Nobody knows everything and nothing at all...go figure

[LJ]

They don't look, honestly, they don't take any time to look if everything looks as usual first glance.

Some people do notice I'm a laowai but only if they really look at me at traffic lights oe something.

[Mr Nobody]

We believe you.

Does your motorcycle use windup technology?

[LJ]

[shadow=red,left,300][glow=red,2,300]Does your motorcycle use windup technology?[/glow][/shadow]

??

WTF?

Mate, go get a bike, get a full face helmet, and learn how wrong you are.

<Further comments deleted as uncharitable and unnecessary. Raoul>

[Mr Nobody]

Sorry, you missed the point. I didn't abuse you, so don't abuse me. It was a joke. You said "nobody can tell".

Check the name.

It is called humour. Don't send me another email to me telling me how arrogant I am, either.

[gengrant]

Like I said, Nobody doesn't know nothin'...I think...

[Raoul Duke]

Ah. Here it is.

One face: "Windup thingys" are an old joke on here. I think the reaction might be at least a tad excessive.

Flip side: Insulting a guy's bike can be dangerous. Don't do it- especially to a new person in town.

Upshot: This thread will be terminated if it doesn't sweeten up PDQ.
Sending harassing e-mails or PMs is grounds for termination of accounts.

[LJ]

I didn't get the joke, Mr N. I thought you meant that everyone can tell I'm a foreigner and that I was just full of BS! That's why I was so angry.

You need to be careful and understand that I don't get your 'in' jokes as I'm too new.


Gengrant, I apologise for my rudeness.

[gengrant]

no offense taken...it's easy to make fun of 'Nobody' around here...cause 'Nobody' cares much anyway...