brucegsrider;302409 wrote: In Australia a few years ago, stopped at a popular lookout south of Sydney and this guy pulled up on a vintage BMW with boxer engine with sidecar that he had imported from China.
Told me some story about Japs/Germans/Chinese having blueprints after WW2 and making copies of the BM for sale in China.
Looked REALLY cool I gotta say.
Does anyone know the history and how the blueprints ended up in Chinese hands?
I'm sure it would be an interesting story.
Well those Chang Jiang 750 (CJ750) are copies of Russian outfits which themselves were copies of BMW back in the day. The CJ750 come in either a 27HP or 32HP engine. The CJ750's are very unreliable, and one needs to carry a good assortment of tools on any ride, as those tools will be needed for certain. Foreigners here in PRC get pretty much ripped off and lied to, as the bikes cannot be legally plated to a foreigners' name, but many of the stealerships that deal in the model will BS to the contrary. The plating issue is related to the status of these outfits, being that they were categorised for military and public security status.
I have riding mates here who have ridden them in PRC when there weren't too many other choices 15-20 years ago. An odd few of them still do, and those that have migrated to other machines, don't look back with any fondness or nostalgia at the CJ750. I have a friend who is a neighbour who has an old 27HP in military green that I have a key to, and ride round the compound from time to time. I had another friend of a friend buy a fully restored CJ750, cost him about RMB35K, he rode it from Shanghai down to Ningbo, took him a whole day to ride the 450km. He parks it outside a pub and we are admiring it, - it didn't take long for a puddle of petrol and oil mix to form on the tarseal under the bike.
The CJ750 might look the part, but if you were to buy one, you not only get to look like you are riding a bike from a classic era, but you'd get to experience the wrenching that goes with it. YMMV.
Today there are a better alternative for a Chinese made bike for China, the Jialing JH600 which comes in either a 2 or 3 wheeler configuration. Way better technology and dependable. Not that I'd own one outside of China mind.
Everything in China is just for looking, beAware the smoke and mirrors, for nothing is at it seems.
