oowf
Member
jammerx....
Riding in China is like one of those old fashioned "Demolition Derby's" I used to go to when I was living in the States.
If you take the State Side traffic laws, (which China's traffic laws pretty much are copied from the States) and then instead of 300 Milliion people figure it at 1.3 Billion people with the number of cars doubling almost every two years and add to the mix 95% of the people ignoring EVERY road rule... you have it!
China is infested with un licensed three wheelers (usually 125 CC engines) posing as taxis and almost every household driving a small motorcycle or a motor scooter... many of them "no license required", throw donkey drawn carts on every road except Toll Road expressways, non enforcement of tail lights at night... and double yellow lines in the center of the road meaning " pass only when another vehicle is approaching" (Pun intended) youu have a small idea what it is like!
The other day I was riding and this guy came up beside me on the right (riding a 125 CC of some Chinese make) and was gawking at my ride.... even being a 98 Springer, it still looks really good... and of course mine is the only one in the entire county... so he was transfixed and eventually ran right into two pedestrians... fortunately only a few scratches and bruises...
One night a few months back I was driving (car this time... ) and all of a sudden this car about 300 meters in front of me just dissappeared. Was quite surprised so slowed way down and crawled up to about where he was when he went missing and there he was inside this huge hole they had dug during the day... un marked, un lit and deep enough for the Audi he was driving to be down inside of.... a very common thing...
So... riding in China, until one gets up in the mountains away from the masses, is totally being aware of EVERYTHING going on around you... of course, that is as it should be I suppose!
Other than that, riding here is cool. They love the Harley look and sound and no matter where I go I'm always getting the "thumbs up" from both pedestrians and other drivers. Also when parked, there is always a crowd of people standing around the bike looking and gawking and guess how much it costs and how many CC it is with the closest guess so far being 700 CC.... <grin> When i tell them it's 1340 CC they nod and smile and one knows they just don't believe it!
One more thing... In Beijing and Shanghai, long under Western culture influence, the above things I wrote are not so true... but those are just two cities in China and believe me, China is a big place!
Cheers!
Riding in China is like one of those old fashioned "Demolition Derby's" I used to go to when I was living in the States.
If you take the State Side traffic laws, (which China's traffic laws pretty much are copied from the States) and then instead of 300 Milliion people figure it at 1.3 Billion people with the number of cars doubling almost every two years and add to the mix 95% of the people ignoring EVERY road rule... you have it!
China is infested with un licensed three wheelers (usually 125 CC engines) posing as taxis and almost every household driving a small motorcycle or a motor scooter... many of them "no license required", throw donkey drawn carts on every road except Toll Road expressways, non enforcement of tail lights at night... and double yellow lines in the center of the road meaning " pass only when another vehicle is approaching" (Pun intended) youu have a small idea what it is like!
The other day I was riding and this guy came up beside me on the right (riding a 125 CC of some Chinese make) and was gawking at my ride.... even being a 98 Springer, it still looks really good... and of course mine is the only one in the entire county... so he was transfixed and eventually ran right into two pedestrians... fortunately only a few scratches and bruises...
One night a few months back I was driving (car this time... ) and all of a sudden this car about 300 meters in front of me just dissappeared. Was quite surprised so slowed way down and crawled up to about where he was when he went missing and there he was inside this huge hole they had dug during the day... un marked, un lit and deep enough for the Audi he was driving to be down inside of.... a very common thing...
So... riding in China, until one gets up in the mountains away from the masses, is totally being aware of EVERYTHING going on around you... of course, that is as it should be I suppose!
Other than that, riding here is cool. They love the Harley look and sound and no matter where I go I'm always getting the "thumbs up" from both pedestrians and other drivers. Also when parked, there is always a crowd of people standing around the bike looking and gawking and guess how much it costs and how many CC it is with the closest guess so far being 700 CC.... <grin> When i tell them it's 1340 CC they nod and smile and one knows they just don't believe it!
One more thing... In Beijing and Shanghai, long under Western culture influence, the above things I wrote are not so true... but those are just two cities in China and believe me, China is a big place!
Cheers!
