Bigdamo is on the money with his reply.

It is one thing to be on a registered bike with insurance and an international driving license, even though you need a Chinese motorcycle license by law, on a tourist visa it's very difficult or impossible to get one, (but we are working on it) so many riders who come to China are kind of being forced to ride illegally. While I don't condone this, I can understand it. Also sometimes the traffic police may in certain areas be sympathetic if someone has tried to be legal as much as they could, but this is no guarantee that they will always be lenient in these circumstances.

But having no registration or insurance is plain crazy, especially riding on a bike which has been smuggled in, if shit hits the fan, it will hit HARD. The law has just changed for foreigners, and now road law applies equally to Chinese and foreigners, you could be jailed if you have an accident, and not released until you have paid all costs and fines, then deported.

Farquar's comments don't help, just because you rode illegally and got away with it doesn't mean that it's OK. Think about this, if I run across a busy road without looking one time, does that mean next time I will be guaranteed to be safe? It's a question of time, will I be hit by a car the 2nd time? The 20th time? Who knows.

Also things change over time, road laws and enforcement have become tougher gradually, and will continue to get tougher in the future.

Do yourselves a favor come here and buy some 250cc bikes, and get them registered and insured at the very least.

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