Hello,
A quick note today about how to actually buy a BMW motorcycle in China, and what some of the regulations are that you need to know about before undertaking such a venture.
It was back in June 2010 that I decided to purchase a motorcycle, to ride around my home town of Shanghai, and throughout the countryside in China. But I didn't know where to start, and whether it was even possible.
My first step was to visit the BMW Motorrad International website, and found a country link there to the BMW Motorrad China website. From there I contacted there office and got the low-down.
First of all, China has an actual law that says all motorcycles over 250cc are illegal. The reason for this is because a decade ago major cities like Guangzhou and even Shanghai had a massive increase in crime whereby big bikes were used as get-away vehicles. Everything from robbing stores to snatching handbags. So the government simply banned them. Things for a few years were bleak, but there have always been bikes making their way up from Hong Kong and sold on the black market. Just three or four years ago the government began moving in a different direction, a chance to test new waters; and those in power started allowing Harley Davidson and BMW to export bikes in to China, under carefully monitored joint ventures, and sell them to Chinese enthusiasts (and people like me).
Why are Harley and BMW the supposed "chosen one's"? Well, there are stick emissions controls on imported vehicles and BMW and Harley have had to fine tune bikes for China, no easy task - but a task they felt was worth while and essential for long term brand building. So, essentially "made to order" bikes are available in Shanghai and Beijing for those who have the cash. But wait, this is not small purchase.
Everything that is imported to China, anything not actually built in China, has a tax on it. Consider it an official tariff, often set up to protect local industries. Tax rates vary from 20% on some electronic equipment to 60% on some cosmetics. Beyond the regular tariff is the king of all tariff's, or the LUXURY TAX. I put it in bold, because it's a bloody scary prospect. A Luxury Tax is levied on anything the government decides to be above and beyond ordinary consumption. So if you want to by a US$85,000 Porsche, well in Shanghai that same Porsche will cost you US$170,000. That's right, the Luxury Tax is often 100% of the book value of the product, and it is most often levied on automobiles as a way of protecting the growing Chinese automobile sector.
Sadly enough, BMW motorcycles somehow also fall under this category. So the Luxury Tax will push a US$12,000 BMW motorcycle to US$24,000; and if you choose your own options, will take up to three months for arrival. Messy but true.
So this is the path I have gone down. I've purchased a new BMW F800GS from the Beijing head office for BMW China. The bike should arrive in Shanghai the first week of November, about the same time I get licensed. All that remains is the bike registration and license plates, which will most likely be my next blog.
A few friends have asked me how I could rationalize paying double for my bike, but in my mind it's easy. First, I've lived in China for almost a decade, and I'm most likely going to live hear at least a decade longer or more. The Luxury Tax is a big earner for the government so I doubt their going to give it up anytime soon; so I will have to accept their rules if I want a new "legal" bike. The second is that it's a BMW, and it's China. Imagine the possibilities. If I ride my F800GS for a decade and put a couple hundred thousand kilometers on it then it will have all been worth the fuss; and what a journey it will have been. So I am biting the bullet now, and just getting on with the process. And I intend to document the journey's and continue blogging throughout.
As a final note, it is important to know that black market bikes sold in China are not legal, meaning if you get caught or in to an accident there can be serious repercussions. But if you are only interested in city riding and a bit of bumbling about in the countryside then you might actually be okay. But if you want to travel with your bike, to places like Mongolia and Vietnam, as I do, then you need to make sure you get a legal version; and that it is properly registered with the proper paper work. But wait, isn't all that stuff easy to fake? Isn't this China we are talking about here? Will, actually a lot of things are easy to fake, but this is not. Vehicle registration is taken pretty seriously in China, and having my baby (F800GS) impounded would leave me in a mode of permanent depression. Too much to risk? Perhaps. But I've always been a "by the books" kind of guy.
Stay tuned. It won't be boring.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
China BMW Rider Blog: Computer Test Stage
Hello.
Well, we are still in a wonderful holding pattern at the moment. Let me move forward and try to explain a bit.
Today, I hold an M2 motorcycle license from Ontario, my home province in Canada. And in order to obtain a Chinese Motorcycle license I must take my license from Canada in to be officially translated, plus pass a basic health check, and then make an appointment for a 100 question computer test about motorcycle rules and laws in China. No practical test is necessary if you hold a license from a foreign country.
This 100 question computer test (out of a possible 800 questions) is new on the agenda, just phased in several months ago. Before it used to be a quick ten or twenty questions. But know the government is getting serious about making licensing more difficult, for both car drivers and motorcycle riders. The testing center has a website where they have a listing for the Chinese questions and their English translations. Much of the test has little to do with actually riding a motorcycle, instead focusing on: Which government bureau to pay your fines at; and which day does the Shanghai World Expo 2010 open on. Wild and wacky stuff. But study I must. I need to get a smashing 80% correct in order to pass. It's clearly no joke. The link to the test question can be found HERE, click the last link on the page and you'll download the English package of questions.
So I had to schedule my motorcycle computer test for November 3rd, 2009. Yes, a two week waiting list. Again, you used to be able to take the test on the spot, but now because they've increased the difficulty and the time it takes to complete the waiting list has grown huge. But the wait isn't so bad because my F800GS hasn't arrived yet. Should be in to Shanghai at about the same time I pass my computer test. So, all is still on track.
With regards to the medical test, the location of the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Department and other quick questions you may have about obtaining a motorcycle license in Shanghai; you can view Lawrence's website. Lawrence, a rider in Shanghai, has offered up this website in an effort to assist those looking to get a motorcycle license in Shanghai. Follow this LINK. Some of the information might be a bit dated since they just came out with a new round of rules and regulations in September.
That is all I have to report for now. Just buying some gear and getting ready for the bike. More on that in future blogs.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
Well, we are still in a wonderful holding pattern at the moment. Let me move forward and try to explain a bit.
Today, I hold an M2 motorcycle license from Ontario, my home province in Canada. And in order to obtain a Chinese Motorcycle license I must take my license from Canada in to be officially translated, plus pass a basic health check, and then make an appointment for a 100 question computer test about motorcycle rules and laws in China. No practical test is necessary if you hold a license from a foreign country.
This 100 question computer test (out of a possible 800 questions) is new on the agenda, just phased in several months ago. Before it used to be a quick ten or twenty questions. But know the government is getting serious about making licensing more difficult, for both car drivers and motorcycle riders. The testing center has a website where they have a listing for the Chinese questions and their English translations. Much of the test has little to do with actually riding a motorcycle, instead focusing on: Which government bureau to pay your fines at; and which day does the Shanghai World Expo 2010 open on. Wild and wacky stuff. But study I must. I need to get a smashing 80% correct in order to pass. It's clearly no joke. The link to the test question can be found HERE, click the last link on the page and you'll download the English package of questions.
So I had to schedule my motorcycle computer test for November 3rd, 2009. Yes, a two week waiting list. Again, you used to be able to take the test on the spot, but now because they've increased the difficulty and the time it takes to complete the waiting list has grown huge. But the wait isn't so bad because my F800GS hasn't arrived yet. Should be in to Shanghai at about the same time I pass my computer test. So, all is still on track.
With regards to the medical test, the location of the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Department and other quick questions you may have about obtaining a motorcycle license in Shanghai; you can view Lawrence's website. Lawrence, a rider in Shanghai, has offered up this website in an effort to assist those looking to get a motorcycle license in Shanghai. Follow this LINK. Some of the information might be a bit dated since they just came out with a new round of rules and regulations in September.
That is all I have to report for now. Just buying some gear and getting ready for the bike. More on that in future blogs.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
Monday, October 12, 2009
China BMW Rider Blog: The Price at the Pump
Hello.
Whether motoring about town on 2 wheels or 4, I thought it might be interesting to do a quick comparison of prices at the pump. As reported in the economist last month, oil prices have fluctuated massively in the last 18 months and after reaching their incredible highs during the summer of 2008, things have leveled out a little bit these days.
And no one is more thankful than the busy "petrol guzzling" commuter. It wasn't too long ago that oil prices sky-rocked in the summer of 2008, which led to an increase in retail petrol prices at the pumps for consumers around the world. But China, unlike much of the west, played it cool and kept prices stable as food inflation was already making people angry enough at the time. That basically means that while commuters in the United States were bitterly coughing up over US$1.10 per liter, retail petrol prices in China maintained roughly US$0.80 per liter. Yes, there are some benefits to a state run economy.
Needless to say the state run oil companies and refineries took an absolute beating on their balance sheets, and in the stock markets, but the government achieved their goal of maintaining social stability and happy petrol consumers.
Today prices have receded to about half of what they were in summer 2008, and US petrol prices have decreased by over 25% to around US$0.69 per liter, but the Chinese are actually now paying more now for petrol than last summer; ringing in at around US$0.90 per liter. So I am actually paying more at the pump for my petrol than folks in the United States, and I live in a communist country. Imagine that.
Of course this fails to compare with the US$1.85 per liter that German's pay at the pump, but that includes a huge amount of tax. But let's hope Chinese motorists take the petrol price increases in stride, as social stability among China's 8 million new middle class car owners, per year, could be at risk; and yes, there are a few new motorcyclists as well.
As an aside, I have just a few more days left until I get my new residence card and use that to make an application for my license plate and motorcycle drivers license. I hope there will be a slew of much more exciting blogs in the near future; this latest offering was rather dry.
Stay tuned. It can't be boring, it's China.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
Whether motoring about town on 2 wheels or 4, I thought it might be interesting to do a quick comparison of prices at the pump. As reported in the economist last month, oil prices have fluctuated massively in the last 18 months and after reaching their incredible highs during the summer of 2008, things have leveled out a little bit these days.
And no one is more thankful than the busy "petrol guzzling" commuter. It wasn't too long ago that oil prices sky-rocked in the summer of 2008, which led to an increase in retail petrol prices at the pumps for consumers around the world. But China, unlike much of the west, played it cool and kept prices stable as food inflation was already making people angry enough at the time. That basically means that while commuters in the United States were bitterly coughing up over US$1.10 per liter, retail petrol prices in China maintained roughly US$0.80 per liter. Yes, there are some benefits to a state run economy.
Needless to say the state run oil companies and refineries took an absolute beating on their balance sheets, and in the stock markets, but the government achieved their goal of maintaining social stability and happy petrol consumers.
Today prices have receded to about half of what they were in summer 2008, and US petrol prices have decreased by over 25% to around US$0.69 per liter, but the Chinese are actually now paying more now for petrol than last summer; ringing in at around US$0.90 per liter. So I am actually paying more at the pump for my petrol than folks in the United States, and I live in a communist country. Imagine that.
Of course this fails to compare with the US$1.85 per liter that German's pay at the pump, but that includes a huge amount of tax. But let's hope Chinese motorists take the petrol price increases in stride, as social stability among China's 8 million new middle class car owners, per year, could be at risk; and yes, there are a few new motorcyclists as well.
As an aside, I have just a few more days left until I get my new residence card and use that to make an application for my license plate and motorcycle drivers license. I hope there will be a slew of much more exciting blogs in the near future; this latest offering was rather dry.
Stay tuned. It can't be boring, it's China.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
Monday, October 5, 2009
China BMW Rider Blog: A Border Tour without a Bike
Hello.
One of the reasons I wanted to get a motorcycle in China was to explore the country without have to sit, as a passenger, in a car or 4X4. I'm not a fan of being driven; and I much prefer two wheels to four.
So this week I am painfully reminded of how much I want my bike. I'm out in Xinjiang, in remote western China, and working on a photography project. The project has taken me from Kashgar up to the China/Pakistan border; it was my second trip up to the border, and my second trip up to border as a passenger in a Kashgar taxi. Painful to say the least.
The six or seven hour trip from Kashgar is as well posed for a motorcycle journey as any in China. The road is good, the road is empty. The corners are everywhere, the mountains are stunning, the backdrop of the Pamir mountains is as mystical as any other place in the world. Would have loved to make the ride on my BMW.
Hopefully I'll have the chance to make my way out there at some stage in 2010. And if I do, I'll hopefully get a chance to run a bit of video from it.
Stay tuned.
Ryan Pyle
Photographer / BMW Motorcycle Owner
Location: Shanghai, China
Email: ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Mobile: +86 137 9521 9650
BMW China: BMWCHINA
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