Hi, I've been researching doing a short ride in China (between 2 and 4 weeks), and would love any advice from somebody who's done it before me.

For a ride this short, the red-tape involved in buying a bike is probably not worth the hassle. As such, I've been looking into doing a 'guided' ride. I've sent emails off to half a dozen company's, and the prices quoted seem astronomically expensive for a developing country. I have ridden with Offroad Vietnam before (on two separate occasions), and loved the experience. My last ride with them was for 2 weeks, covered around 2,000kms and cost $1,000USD (all expenses covered - including guide). The cheapest price I've been quoted for a ride in China is around $5,000USD!!! Can anyone recommend someone whose price is a little more agreeable? Is there are reason it's so expensive?

Of course, there's always the option of buying (or maybe renting) a local Chinese bike (I have ridden solo on my own bike in India before as well) - but all the research I've done thus far seems to indicate that the Chinese Government will make this sort of travel pretty difficult for a solo rider - particularly in the Tibetan region (which I'd love to see).

Any help, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated,

Jimmy

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Jimmy
http://blokesonspokes.com/

Thanks for your reply Wuming - it would be great for you to keep me posted on any progress you make, thanks! I'm looking at riding in June of this year. Ideally, I'd like to make my way to Lhasa, but I totally understand that this might be even more of an undertaking than getting a bike in the first place. I figure to just take it one step at a time! Of course, any local knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

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Jimmy
http://blokesonspokes.com/

sorry guys as i do not have any concrete info. but in 2003 when i was in kathmandu, there was an agency there who was taking groups into lhasa from kathmandu on enfields. when i was there they had a group of about 112 americans and the agency had done all the paperwork for them.
again sorry, but i do not remember the name of the agency. i think the trip was for only 10 days or so. maybe too short for your liking.
hope it helps

I've talked with a few people on other forums about this and privately too. In fact we are a loosely grouped motorcycle club in China, mostly foreigners who are western teachers, a lot of people come and go as the majority of people work here only for a year or two. We have a couple of ratty but road legal small bikes no body owns hanging around. If you want to join us and use facebook we are here........
Zibo Motorcycle Club | Facebook

I'd love to be able to help people ride in China, but want to help them do it as legally as possible, as the consequences of breaking the law can technically speaking be quite bad.

I soon hope to investigate the possibilities of temporary driving licenses for foreign riders, I speak Chinese and have lived here for a long time, and have a reasonably well developed understanding of Chinese traffic rules and how to obtain licenses if they can be obtained.
Anyone who needs more info about riding in China use this thread.

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National Motorcycle Club in China: http://www.the-fmcc.co.cc

G'day,

We looked at all the alternatives, that being 3 major ones:

Taking our own bike, doing a tour with a hire bike, buying a bike.

By far the easiest and least expensive from all accounts is to buy and then resell. This is for several reasons. 4 weeks is a long time for a tour, most operators will only do 1-2 weeks and if you hire then this is expensive and you have to worry about dropping the bike and paying for insurance. If you buy then you can add crash bars at a cheap price and when you fall, you will because motorcycles aren't allowed on highways or expressways or freeways and the side roads are really bad then you have to ride dirt.

Think about it and read up about a few blogs, there is a Melbourne guy called Gary who is on the HUBB and he has a good blog and is very friendly. There are people willing to help buy a bike and you don't need paperwork, once the police see you are a westerner then you get off almost any issue with paperwork. You don't need a drivers licence and permits are just nice to have unless you got to Tibet.

Hope this helps.

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Turbocharger, yes you can successfully ride around China without any paperwork.

You can also ride around China without a crash helmet!
You'll probably get away with it, the cops are friendly, and if you don't get in an accident, you'll be just fine and feel that you saved all that money from not buying one!

The law is harsh in China, 99.9% of the time you won't get stopped or asked any tricky questions if you are a foreigner. If you get in an accident, it might not be your fault as pedestrians have right of way at all times.

But you could get:

-Bike impounded
-Forced to pay costs massively at massively inflated prices
-Fined by the cops
-Put in a detention centre for up to 15 days
-Deported

But basically it all comes down to money, if you get in an accident and the cops say you must pay so much money and you don't have it then the nasty stuff will happen.

I'm not trying to be a killjoy, over at mychinamoto this is the consensus opinion of many long term and short term riders, who have done hundreds of thousands of kilometers all over China, and the result of knowing what actually happens when things go wrong.

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National Motorcycle Club in China: http://www.the-fmcc.co.cc