China or bust...

[beemer boy]

Time to see..... China !!! Always wanted to see some of the wonders of China but wanted to do it my usual way, sitting on a motorcycle. It is extremely difficult to bring a foreign bike into China . So my solution was to buy a second hand bike that was from China, complete with Chinese plates.
It was bought in Laos by a friend of mine, so it was purchased sight unseen to me. Then went to Vientiane to pick it up. Was a bit rougher than I expected since the bike is less than a year old. Did a ferry trip back to Chiang Mai with the bike where I fixed it up to it present configuration as a pocket tour bike. The snarling 200 CCs of raw Chinese power is ok on the straights, but a bit wimpy on steep hills. Sure is great at the gas pumps though. Think I will be missing my KTM 950 in the Himalayas....
Plan is to cross the border, first hit Kunming, and then onto Chengdu. Get the travel permit for Tibet and then head west to Lhasa , Tibet. Should be an interesting trip........ Stay tuned !!!
Right now I am at Chang Khong, Thailand. It is in the north east corner of Thailand. Tomorrow morning will cross the Mekong over into Laos. Then head up north from there to the Chinese Laos border town of Boten, about a one day ride. Normally I go on a ride, and then post all the pictures after the ride is done. This trip I wanted to make a change by posting during the trip. It will make it seem more live I think, and any input by my fellow ADV riders more relevant.
So will start posting pictures once I am in Laos. Here some pictures of "Zippy" the wonder bike taken yesterday in Chiang Mai just before I left.

[m0x]

welcome to asia

thumbs up on this one, claps too

[wachs]

Zippy looks good - is it a 2 smoker?

[hez]

Originally Posted by beemer boy

Help !! My live report is in trouble already. I normally use Firefox on my home computer. When Smugmug is open I right click on any picture. Then the menu pops up that has save image location. I save, and then paste it into my report. Now am using Internet Explorer at an internet cafe which does not have that menu option. None of the options make any sense . " Save , copy , copy short cut, open link, etc. " What am I missing here? Every internet cafe uses Internet Explorer so I had better figure out how to save the image link. So if you guys want to see China pictures.......Tried the copy short cut link but that does not seem to work. ?????

If you right click on any image you can choose "Properties" from the drop down list. Then you can copy/paste the address from the "Address/URL" on the properties window.

[britman]

Did it come with the small running lights on the forks?

[petefromberkeley]

WITH a bike? Unless you are Chinese, I hear they don't take kindly to people wandering around on thier own transportation unless you pay for a Chinese guard to be with you.

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by petefromberkeley

WITH a bike? Unless you are Chinese, I hear they don't take kindly to people wandering around on thier own transportation unless you pay for a Chinese guard to be with you.

Where did you hear that?

I've been wandering on my own in China since 1999. Nobody ever gave me any hassles, anywhere. OTOH, I've never tried to cross into China with a Chinese registered bike that, obviously, isn't registered to me in China. That could present some issues.

Waiting for more updates from the road.


Gustavo

[GB]

Excellent!! Thanks for the links!!

[petefromberkeley]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Where did you hear that?

I've been wandering on my own in China since 1999. Nobody ever gave me any hassles, anywhere. OTOH, I've never tried to cross into China with a Chinese registered bike that, obviously, isn't registered to me in China. That could present some issues.

Waiting for more updates from the road.


Gustavo

Ahh, now I get it, the bike is registered in China. Well that ought to work. I haven't heard of this exact situation before. To answer the question above, go to www.horizonsunlimited.com where the situation is disscussed at lenth in several threads. I've been wandering around China for many years too, but you can't get a forign vehicle in there unless you pay for a guard. And they are EXPENSIVE. A couple of girls drove a tuk tuk from Bangkok to Brighton and they were able to fit the guy in the tuk tuk with them!

Good luck with the border crossing. I think technically, you do need a Chinese driving licence (and you have to take the test in Chinese) but you might be able to talk your way around that. People have done that before a lot.

[CrazyCarl]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Where did you hear that?

I've been wandering on my own in China since 1999. Nobody ever gave me any hassles, anywhere.

Gustavo

Gustavo,

That's about right. As soon as you're in, the fuzz generally couldn't care less. Where have you ridden/lived in China?

CC

[Bgunn]

Originally Posted by beemer boy

This trip I wanted to make a change by posting during the trip. It will make it seem more live I think, and any input by my fellow ADV riders more relevant.

This looks interesting! Subscribed to this report and ready! Do you speak Chinese?

[beemer boy]

Ok, I am in !!! The Chinese border guards at the Boten crossing were actually foolish enough to let me into their country. Having a very interesting time for the last three days I have been here. Now at a internet cafe that is only for gaming, so no usb ports to download pictures. I will be in Kunming tomorrow so will post my pictures and ride report. I have a feeling this will be truly epic trip. The Zipstar is a cute bike, but wish today I had my KTM....

[CrazyCarl]

Originally Posted by beemer boy

Ok, I am in !!!

I have a feeling this will be truly epic trip. The Zipstar is a cute bike, but wish today I had my KTM....

Epic will be an understatement! Still more major mountains to come. Actually, if you can get this before you leave for Kunming it may be useful.

Kunming is in the very top left. There's a fair amount of mountain/river roads until just before the city when it flattens out a bit. The highlighted road is Hwy 213.

The light grey fault like feature near "yuan-jiang" is a river which later become the Honda River of N. Vietnam and empties out into the Gulf of Tonkin.

CrazyC

[rosmoe]

Robert, Ran into you at the Soi 7 Bier Garten in BKK in late March. Was wearing the GT-Rider shirt. Wishing you a great time on your journey & looking forward to following your adventure !!!

[Ridesolo]

Enjoyed reading your report in sumatra. Im looking forward for taking us along on your trip to china.