Can I own a vehicle without an ARC?

Life Cars & Motorcycles
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Original Title: Before my ARC?

Hey, my wife and I just got to Tainan and found work but I don’t have my ARC yet. Is there any way to get a motorcycle or scooter before I get it? What is the legality/consequences of doing this? I’m also wondering what people would be better to buy a motorcycle or scooter. We would like to be able to take it on trips out of the city to the mtns on weekends. Would a 125cc scooter be able to accomlish this, or do we need at least a 150cc motorbike? We are hoping to spend not more than 18,000 if this is possible. Thanks for any advice/info. Cheers

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You really only have two choices. You can either wait for your ARC or buy a “dubious foreigner” bike.

If you were in Taipei I’d say rent until you can buy one legally, but I’m not really sure whether or not they offer long-term rental in Tainan.

Buying a bike without papers is easy enough, but I wouldn’t recommend it. First if you have an accident it will cause you many headaches, plus getting pulled over leaves the possibilty of confiscation.

As for the choice between scooter and motorcycle, you really have to think about how much time you’re going to spend playing and how much you’ll rely on it for daily transportation. Scooters can carry more, are easier to ride, and most importantly keep your feet dry on those rainy winter days. But, it’s still a scooter.

I know people that have both. They use their scooter for daily urban transpo, and then roll out the motorcycle for weekend forays. Buy your scooter first, then consider whether or not it’s satisfying enought to take a vacation on. If not, then pick up a used motorcycle. There are plenty of people here who have done round the island trips on a 125 scooter.

18,000 should be enough to get you something decent :slight_smile:

I’d still wait for your ARC before you buy though…

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I agree with MJB. Wait until you get your ARC then get yourself a scooter. A 150cc scooter would be slightly better for your 2-up mountain trips but to get one in reasonable condition you’d probably need to spend more than 18,000NT. A 125 will be OK.

Some nice riding not too far from Tainan. The 182 gets you out of the city and into some good sweeping corners pretty quickly. Later it joins the 21 which you can take due south, then go onto the 17 heading south-east (the junction was not well signposted when I was down there last year) then join the no. 1 which turns into the 26 and takes you to Kending. Taking this route means you avoid all the built-up area around Kaohsiung. I think the 182 takes you pretty close to the salt mountains which would be worth stopping to see. I didn’t manage to find them when I was down there, but I didn’t look very hard as I wanted to press on to Kending.

Also the South Cross-Island Highway, the no. 27, is easily accessible. On my map it looks as if you have to take the no. 20 out of Tainan which joins the 27 later. I’d leave this road a while until you’ve got a bit more Taiwan riding experience under your belt, though. By all accounts the route across the mountains is pretty demanding – narrow, steep and twisty.

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Feelinirie: be VERY careful with a scooter in the mountains! especially when you ride two-up, the small wheels have a nasty habit of slipping out from under you when you brake hard dowhill. considering the amount of shit on the roads from trucks, chewed up spats of binlang, trash, gravel, potholes, leaves, dead dogs, whatever, scooters are not the ideal regular machine for fanging around the mountains.

this is due the much smaller diameter of the wheel: for two reasons. one, they get swallowed up by holes to a much greater degree than big wheels (ever see a decent trail bike or enduro bike with wheels smaller than 19"?) throws the bike way off line… and there is always a hole at the apex, just where you can’t quite see it, naaaaasty surprise!

two, when applying the brakes, any small (scooter) wheel has less torque applied to the road, due to smaller diameter than a (real) motorcycle wheel , so the wheel is more likely to pass the limit of adhesion (also enhanced by the smaller contact patch of a small tire) for any given decelleration…ergo. slip sliding away…much worse with heavier loads.

but if you buy only one machine and use it more in the city, scooters win hands down…make sure you get one with disk brakes on the front at least. a 150 if you regularly want to go in the mountains is a good idea.

that’s twenty years of experience talking here: racing, courier, joyrides, commuter, etc…i used to fall off a lot, but i’m getting better!

the salt mountains are pretty weird idea for a day out…and hard to find.

have fun whatever you choose. keep upright!

:slight_smile: hey, is irie your wife? :stuck_out_tongue:

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Are you talking about the ones up by Gangshan? They are signposted as Moonland or something like that - very strange, definately not worth a day out but worth a look if you are passing.

There are some nice roads in the south. Enjoy yourself when you eventually get your bike.

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[quote=“urodacus”]the salt mountains are pretty weird idea for a day out…and hard to find.[/quote]Well, if you take a little more care when reading, you’ll see that I wrote that the salt mountains would be worth a look when passing on the way to Kending, which latter I’m sure you’ll agree is worth a trip.

You’re right that scooters aren’t as good as motorbikes in the mountains. They’re fine if you ride carefully though. Not everybody likes to get their knees down in corners.

I’d say that added weight will place greater demands on the suspension and brakes, but will not reduce tyre adhesion in and of itself. When braking two-up, of course there’s more weight to stop, but the extra downward force will balance it out In a corner some of that extra downwards force changers to sideways force, but one should not really be attempting major deceleration on a corner on a scooter in the mountains anyway.

Another place that’s worth a look is the Tsengwen (Zhengwen) Reservoir. Take the Provincial Highway no. 20 out of Tainan then go onto the no. 3.

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I second this suggestion…The most beautiful of the cross island highways. But it might get pretty wheezy at the top doubled up on a 125 scooter. Yakou (the top) is about 2700meters in elevation. Yeah, I’d spend some time in the saddle before you tackle this one… :happybiker:

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[quote=“MJB”]I second this suggestion…The most beautiful of the cross island highways. But it might get pretty wheezy at the top doubled up on a 125 scooter. Yakou (the top) is about 2700meters in elevation. Yeah, I’d spend some time in the saddle before you tackle this one… :happybiker:[/quote]Did you find the engine got wheezy up there? I haven’t had any altitude problems up as far as 2600 metres at Daxueshan. Really, the main times my bikes have got wheezy have been in the last few hundred metres on Hehuanshan which road as you know tops out around 3200m.

The south cross-island is yet another of the roads I haven’t done yet but want to do.

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Thanks for all the advice. I think I will wait until I get my arc, hopefully it doesn’t take much more than a month. Until then, I live close enough to my school to walk and we have bikes to get around the city.
I’m looking forward to heading out onto the open road…
Is there much difference in price between a 150/125cc motorbike and a 125cc scooter?
Also I read somewhere that Taiwan has agreements with some countries for getting a license. So if you have a drivers license you can get a taiwan license without taking a test once you have your ARC. Is this true? If so is Canada on the list? Is there a difference in license if I get a motorcycle or a scooter?

Cheers

urodacus (sorry don’t know how to do the quote action) , “irie” is Rasta/Reggae for alright. :laughing: as in are you feelin irie? :slight_smile:

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[quote=“FeelinIrie”]Is there much difference in price between a 150/125cc motorbike and a 125cc scooter?[/quote]Motorbikes are a few thousand more expensive on average.

[quote=“FeelinIrie”]Also I read somewhere that Taiwan has agreements with some countries for getting a license. So if you have a drivers license you can get a taiwan license without taking a test once you have your ARC. Is this true? If so is Canada on the list? Is there a difference in license if I get a motorcycle or a scooter? [/quote]It’s true but no Canadian provinces are on the list. The only U.S. state that is is Oklahoma;
tcmvd.gov.tw/english/en_d2k_frm.htm

The test’s not that bad. Do a search;
forumosa.com/taiwan/search.php
and you’ll find lots of good info on it. There’s no difference between a scooter and a motorbike license.

[quote=“FeelinIrie”](sorry don’t know how to do the quote action)[/quote]Click on the small “quote” button at the top right of the post that you want to quote.

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[quote=“joesax”][quote=“MJB”]I second this suggestion…The most beautiful of the cross island highways. But it might get pretty wheezy at the top doubled up on a 125 scooter. Yakou (the top) is about 2700meters in elevation. Yeah, I’d spend some time in the saddle before you tackle this one… :happybiker:[/quote]Did you find the engine got wheezy up there? I haven’t had any altitude problems up as far as 2600 metres at Daxueshan. Really, the main times my bikes have got wheezy have been in the last few hundred metres on Hehuanshan which road as you know tops out around 3200m.

The south cross-island is yet another of the roads I haven’t done yet but want to do.[/quote]

Walk in the park for the RZ. :wink:

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I had a Canadian car and motorcycle license and I had to take the “written” test and the “road” test. The written test was a silly little multiple choice test on the computer and the road test was easy as well. Good luck. I enjoyed my trip up to Alishan and Yushan but I suggest you get some driving experience under your belt first. Happy riding! :slight_smile:

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yes i thought a bit more about that after i posted…the added weight will keep the wheel turning for longer. mea culpa. :notworthy:
any little wheel is still not as good as a bigger wheel…the smaller contact area is also a bugger at reducing side grip, unless you run them well under-pressure, and then you rip the tire off the rim!

and i agree, you really don’t want to brake hard into a downhill corner if you can help it, but the things you need to be able to stop quickly for are all things that sort of jump out at you in mid-corner…blue trucks, bicycles carrying entire families, dogs and cats, oil patches, banana leaves on wet road… hey, i like to ride more safely now i’m older especially in unpredictable places like cities and public roads. i usually ride a ducati, so i can and do normally turn corners more square than most people unless it’s on a track…gotta love torque![/quote]

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Hey, I just looked a motorcycle today, a Kwang Yang Custom 150, a bit of rust on the forks but runs well and has lots of new parts. The owner is asking 18000 obo. Is this a good price? Good bike? He said it cruises at about 100 with one person and about 80 with 2. I’m a newbie to the bike thing.
I don’t have my arc yet but am getting some itchy feet. He guy selling is leaving taiwan on monday and the bike is registered in his name. If I were to buy it, is there anyway of getting it registered in my name after I get my arc without first getting it registered in someone elses name?

I’ve read some of the posts on motorcylce vs scooter and I also asked about it on the tread “can I own a motorcycle without an arc”. I’m still not sure though. The bike would primarily be used on weekends and for trips out to Tesco’s and across town. I’m only a 5min bicycle ride to my school so I wouldn’t use it for commuting. But we it would be carrying groceries. I’m leaning towards a motorcycle as it sounds safer and more fun to take out of the city. Thoughts?
Thanks

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[quote=“FeelinIrie”]Hey, I just looked a motorcycle today, a Kwang Yang Custom 150, a bit of rust on the forks but runs well and has lots of new parts. The owner is asking 18000 obo. Is this a good price? Good bike? He said it cruises at about 100 with one person and about 80 with 2. I’m a newbie to the bike thing.
I don’t have my arc yet but am getting some itchy feet. He guy selling is leaving Taiwan on monday and the bike is registered in his name. If I were to buy it, is there anyway of getting it registered in my name after I get my arc without first getting it registered in someone elses name?[/quote]
Hi, the price could be OK but it’s hard to tell from what you’ve written. Depends on the age and also which particular parts the owner has replaced and which he has not.

But the thing that makes me extremely cautious is the legality thing. You don’t necessarily need the owner in person to transfer ownership but you’ll need his ARC at least. If that ARC has expired it could make things a little complicated. I would advise you not to hurry. There are plenty of secondhand bikes around.

[quote=“FeelinIrie”]I’ve read some of the posts on motorcylce vs scooter and I also asked about it on the tread “can I own a motorcycle without an arc”. I’m still not sure though. The bike would primarily be used on weekends and for trips out to Tesco’s and across town. I’m only a 5min bicycle ride to my school so I wouldn’t use it for commuting. But we it would be carrying groceries. I’m leaning towards a motorcycle as it sounds safer and more fun to take out of the city. Thoughts?
Thanks[/quote]Those Custom 150s are reasonable bikes and the saddle is nice and comfortable. But no motorbike is that great for carrying groceries. You could fit hard panniers and a top box (those blue plastic panniers that lots of the old motorbikes have are cheap and functional if you don’t mind the looks). But a scooter is probably more convenient for that as there’s the footboard and the underseat storage space.

A motorbike is a little safer out of the city and better in the mountains, but as has already been mentioned, scooters can and do get to all corners of the island. I’ve seen some pretty average-looking 125 scooters up on Hehuanshan on Taiwan’s highest public road. As for fun, the light weight, short wheelbase and smaller wheels of most scooters make for pretty fast handling. That’s fun although you have to stay within limits of course.

There’s more on the topic of motorbikes v.s. scooters here;
[Scooter riders, speak out!
and here;
[Motorcycles vs. scooters

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I was at the license offices today. I tried to do a transfer too. They pulled out a list and asked which province I was from. They had B.C. and Ontario on a list…but not my province.