It's a topic that I've been going on about for almost 3 years now, and have made little action toward, but the question is more pertinent now that my scooter and motorcycle riding "career", more like a hobby, has taken off and has generated substantial rewards.
This career all started out of necessity, since I lived and worked far out in the Shanghai suburbs in a school out that way. A convoluted trip to/from downtown ended up taking almost 3 hours using a variety of transport means, or it ended up breaking the bank. The use of a scooter reduced the trip to about an hour, and saved so much money it was incredible. Aside from that, the freedom of tootling around the countryside on a scooter, and then later a motorcycle, was unspeakably good.
However it didn't take long to figure out that the motor vehicle laws in China were very complex and contradictory, most certainly as they applied to scooters and motorbikes. The general consensus is that the city governments want the bikes out of the downtown areas, and they dictate policies that favor cars. Bikes are still very much in growing demand for rural areas, and my last post may have been overly pessimistic to say that the ban would extend to the countryside. Actually, that's how the farmers and migrant workers make their living -- getting around on motorbikes which they really depend on.
So I ended up doing most of this riding career illegally, and feeling terrible about it, but at the same time aiming to eventually get out of this and become legal. This is no easy feat, but it's worth making the attempt. I already put a dent in that plan two years ago by successfully taking the written test to acquire a Chinese drivers license for cars. I am happy to say I did this the legit way, without paying someone off who writes the test on your behalf or who bribes the traffic police.
Unfortunately I lost that license the following summer, along with my passport, two laptop computers, a graphing calculator, keys, and all kinds of other valuables. Talk about dumb eh. Not only that, but I went back home during that same summer to acquire drivers license updates and other crucial permit documents to help my 'becoming legal in China' cause. Then, due to ridiculously stupid planning errors on my part, the whole thing went belly up and I'm now back to square one.
Bottom line is that I'll have to repeat the whole thing from scratch, starting again this summer. But this time the planning will be much better and I aim to make some good progress. This is what will need to be done:
1. Replace the lost Chinese car drivers license, the only document not having been replaced yet.
2. Go back home and re-acquire a learners license for motorcycles by taking the written test again this summer
3. Take the motorcycle safety training course, skills test, and road test arranged by the company back home in summer
4. If passed, acquire a motorcycle license from back home and get it officially translated into Chinese.
5. While I'm at it, upgrade my Canadian car license to an enhanced one.
6. Go back to China and upgrade my Chinese car license so that it has a motorcycle designation
7. Move out to the inner suburbs and get police registration for a house that is outside the middle ring road
8. Apply at the traffic police office with all the other documents in hand to register the motorcycle for a suburban "C plate"
9. If successful, won't have to worry about playing those stupid cat and mouse games with police, or going on a city-wide hunt for fuel anymore.
There is much to be said about the danger of riding motorcycles in general, and much discouragement about it. If this is in a North American context, then I could not agree more. The high speeds make it very dangerous to ride back home, and it is not something I aspire to do. I only want to do the test, learn new skills, get the license, and then use it for China. As a friend put it really well regarding Canadian traffic conditions, "The cars go really frickin fast. They expect you to know what you're doing." In other words, accidents are deadly at high speeds. Sometimes I wish that the roads in Canadian cities would become so congested that people would get used to slowing down.
I haven't had a serious accident in almost 3 years of riding. While part of that is skill, the low speeds are the key factor. When it comes to riding in China, it is all about safety, safety, and safety. Safety in this context means slowing down and avoiding others, because nobody follows the rules. Cars are used to looking out for bikes, and vice versa, as everyone is attempting to avoid an accident at all costs.
So I've been schooled in this kind of environment where slow starts, cautious approaches to intersections, and a constant survival mentality are the way to go. When I take the motorcycle training course back home I'll need to unlearn some of these things and learn how to start off quicker from intersections, and get better at the gear shifting. There are all kinds of other skills that will need to be learned and unlearned, and it should be quite the experience.
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