|
Clay introduced me to Gerald Gardebled, owner of Long River Motor Works in Beijing and possibly one of the reigning Chang gurus in the early spring of 2004. I went to see him to talk about the Chang and its capabilities and he assured me that the Chang Jiang was capable of making such a long trip. Several people he knew had ridden Changs from Beijing to Germany; they were being ridden in America, Australia and several other countries around the world. This was a real concern since the Chang was manufactured by the Chinese military based on the 1938 BMW R 71 design. Further, Gerald assured me that while some parts would fail, they were fairly easy to replace in the field. Further, he would spend several days with us at his shop in Beijing teaching us how to field repair the
bike/bikes before we headed off on our trip.
You might ask, why would you buy a motorcycle that you knew would have problems and then take it on such a demanding ride? Maybe the real answer is that the Chang is a cool bike. I had seen classic Beemers in the US and I really like them. Also, the Chang is a strong bike built for military use, can handle off road conditions reasonably well. It also has a sidecar with a very large payload. Oh, yes, it is very inexpensive and available in China. This is a real consideration when one lives in China and cannot go to the nearest corner to pick out the touring bike of choice for less than $3,000.
While the Changs are no longer manufactured, there are many builders in China who have access to a large supply of spare parts, engines, frames, etc. There is also a growing community of Chinese and experts who share all kinds of information on the internet re the care and feeding of Changs. It is from this group that I finally became convinced that the Chang would make it from Changchun, PR China to Loreto, Baja Sur, Mexico.
I bought my first Chang in the spring of 2004 for about $3,000! The bike itself was just over $2,000 but then I added four alloy wheels to avoid the problem with broken spokes and the traditionally out-of-round wheels common in standard wheels. I also added other bits and pieces that were suggested for the trip like a front disk brake.
Then came the not-so-good news, people over 60 cannot get a license to drive a motorcycle in China! This was a real problem, but with the help of a few friends and a loophole in the traffic laws (I had a valid motorcycle license from California) I was able to get a driver’s license and register the bike (legally) in China.
I sold that bike to one of the teachers at Perfect English and bought a second Chang in the spring of 2005.
But I had a growing concern about the bike’s performance as Janet and I rode through the mountains of Central Asia, Turkey, in Europe and the American west. We were going to be quite heavy with two up on the bike carrying all the extra stuff that we were either unable or unwilling to do without. While the cost of a stronger engine was almost as much as the entire Chang, I decided to have one of the shops in Beijing, Frank’s Classic Sidecars, exchange the Chang engine for a more powerful, and perhaps more reliable, BMW engine. Frank Li and his partner Jim Bryant were the first people to convert BMW engines into Chang Jiang 750 frames and have a long history of doing so. This, I think, will prove to be a very good modification.
|
