How to come into China over the KKH
 

Hello together,
after our TransAsia2005, we, Claudia and I, want to start in this summer with our LC 8 from Teheran to Nepal.
Over Turkmenistan, Usbekistan, Kasachstan, Kirgistan, across the Torugart Pass to China, Kashgar, along the KKH to Pakistan etc..
We need the following informations:

We heared about a new rule in Iran. According to this the gouvermet of Iran do not allow to come into the country with a motorbike with more than one cylinders and a special permit is needed. 2005 we had no problems with this rule.

Beyond we find no suitable company in germany with a partner in China wich can handel all the necessary forms ( chineese driving licince, number plat, guide, etc. ) for motorbike riders.
They all told us, that the chineese don´t issue chineese motorbike licences anymore, because so many accidents happend in the past.

Who can give us informations about this?

Thank you for your help



Thomas und Claudia

Riding in China
 

If you want to do this "by the book" then I would recommend Greg at the Caravan Cafe. Check out their web site and contact them. I travelled across Xinjiang Province in 2005 with chinese licence and number plates (and a driver/guide). No issues. Say Hi from me!

CaravanCafé:HOME

Ride Safe.

Adrian
Magadan to Istanbul

Never heard about this one cylinder rule. Can you tell us where you got it from?

My friend Lars was in Iran with a R100GS only 4 months ago and there was no mention of this. Maybe this rumour stems from the long-standing ban on big bikes for locals.

hello langi

we will be making a similar tour this summer.:mchappy:

a good german agency for china is: http://www.silkroaders.de/

you can also get in contact with his partner in china: • adventures und expeditions, urumqui, mr. guo, ginwei (at) hotmail.com

please make shure you are booking your china tour 3 months in advance!

I have been told by chineese tour operators that tourist on motorbikes are baned until the end of the olympic games in 2008. BUT as long as you stay in Xinjiang province it is still possible to ride your bike. (beijing is just to far away).

yours, ralph

http://asientrip.tumblr.com/

Thanks to all,
we are now in contact with caravancafe, everything looks good now.
Now we can start the detailed planing for our trip.

But how about the new rules of Iran?

@beddhist
We have this information from the website of the iranian embassy in Berlin.
There you can read:

"Für eine vorläufige Einreise mit einem mehrzylindrigen Motorrad (mehr als 1 Zylinder) muss vor der Einreise die Genehmigung des iranischen Innenministeriums eingeholt werden."

I try to translate:

For an temporary entry with a motorcycle with more than one cylinder, you must obtain a permission from the iranian ministary of the interior before you entry the country.

This rule is at the website of the embassy since 2005.
In late summer 2005 we entry with our KTM LC8 the iranian border in Dogubeyazit/TR - Bazargan/IR and nobody cared. We dont know if we had luck or we met an unknow customs officer.
But this year we want to come to Teheran by air with our bike.
Maybe the officers there a more clever.

Thomas

If this rule actually exists it is obviously not enforced, as people have continued to travel through Iran on all sorts of bikes throughout 2006. I doubt very much that customs people in Tehran are any more aware of this, as not that many people fly their bikes into Iran.

I bought my ferry tickets today and nobody asked about the number of cylinders of my bike.

Riding in China (Xinjiang via Irkeshtam, Torugart and Khunjerab Pass)
 

There situation for entering and motorcycling in Xinjiang should be the same as the last few years. The Chinese authorities are still allowing entry and travel in Xinjiang of foriegn-licensed motorcycles. It is possible that things tighten up around the time of the Olympics, but it will probably be helpful that Xinjiang is far from Beijing (though it may not make any difference).

Caravan Cafe
 

Langi, make sure you are really talking to Caravan Cafe... Last I heard they had been shut down and even their web site says they are closed.

Just don't want you to get caught in a scam.

John

clarification from Steve
 

Sorry, poor choice of words in the title of my other post "Caravan Cafe...lives on". The Caravan Cafe is closed - it closed during the early summer of 2007. The business is in the process of being sold. I, Steve, used to work at Caravan Cafe on travel-related business...and I am now back in Kashgar working with another business (Crown Inn) doing pretty much the work I did with Caravan Cafe.