hello there…i’ve asked my chinese teacher this question but she didn’t understand so hopefully someone here can help.
i’m planning a motorcycle excursion next weekend and want to get my bike tuned up for the trip…basically looking over major parts, replacing anything that is suspect. ‘tune up’ a very common north american term when dealing with mechanics, but i’m unsure how it translates in chinese (if at all).
if anyone can shed some light on how to communicate this (or even off-topic, know a good taichung mechanic to do a tune-up), please enlighten the unenlightened. thanks.
The trouble is that even if I knew the Mandarin for “tune-up” (which I don’t), such an idea can be regarded in some ways as a “foreign cultural concept”, at least for a lot of mechanics. Sad to say, a lot of bikes are ridden until they have a problem, whereupon they are taken to a mechanic who does the minimum necessary to get the bike running again.
[quote=“bruin8”]…know a good taichung mechanic to do a tune-up[/quote]Save yourself major hassle and go to Eric Lin. He’s done all the work on my bikes for the last three years and I thoroughly recommend him. His shop is in Taizhong city, on Jinhuabeilu (Jinhua North Road), close to the junction with Beitvn Lu (Beitun Road). After turning off Beitvn onto Jinhua, continue until you see a BMW motorcycle shop on your right, probably with an old BMW motorcycle parked in front. Eric’s shop is about one block after that, also on the right. It has a big Yamaha sign. If you need further clarification of the directions let me know.
Out of interest, where are you planning to go on your motorcycle excursion?
[quote=“joesax”]The trouble is that even if I knew the Mandarin for “tune-up” (which I don’t), such an idea can be regarded in some ways as a “foreign cultural concept”, at least for a lot of mechanics. Sad to say, a lot of bikes are ridden until they have a problem, whereupon they are taken to a mechanic who does the minimum necessary to get the bike running again.
[/quote]
Joesax is absolutly right…you are not going to get a tune up. But I wouldn’t worry, just go on your trip. Your bike will be fine. It is not like you are going to be driving across American or Canada, Taiwan is small and there are tons of unreliable mechanics all over the island
I had this peice of crap SYM motorcycle, that I bought for $5000NT. Oh God, it was a mess, anyway I road it to Hualien and back to Chongli…without any problems. So if they didn’t break down you are fine. If you are really worried buy an extra brake cable, clutch cable, clutch handle and brake handle because those break often and if you can’t change that yourself in the mountains when it is raining you are screwed. That is my advice. Have fun man!!
Guys, stop making assumptions. I don’t think its fair to categorized any form of behaviours into foreign or non-foreign.
In fact, 保養 (bao yang) is the word you are looking for. If you look up in a dictionary: 1.maintenance; upkeep; service
2.to maintain; to service; to keep in good repair.
Just tell your mechanic that you want to “BAO YANG” your car/scooter.
Get a Taiwanese person to help you with the pronounciation.
“Bao Yang” may or may not do it. Depends what you want done. I occaisionally get my carbs balanced but I have to admit I just say “ba hua1 you2 qi4 tiao2 zheng3 yi xia” (NT$800). But if you only have one carb… possibly get it cleaned “ba huayouqi xi3 yi xi3” (NT$800), clean the tank “ba you2 gang1 xi2 hao3” (NT$800) and get a new spark plug “huan4 huo3xin1cai4”.
(Hmm. Why do all these things cost NT$800? Anyway. He siphoned out about 2 litres of water from my tank after the last typhoon. Like those filler cap drain plugs, Yamaha. Way to go.)
On the other hand, “bao yang” is what I use with my mechanic and it works fine. Just depends what you want done. I find “tiao2 zheng3” and pointing a good combination.
[quote=“Jose Miller”]Guys, stop making assumptions. I don’t think its fair to categorized any form of behaviours into foreign or non-foreign.
In fact, 保養 (bao yang) is the word you are looking for.[/quote]Thanks for the info, Jose. I was being a little tongue in cheek when I characterised “tune-up” as a “foreign cultural concept”. On the other hand, I think that all of the Vroom, vroom regulars, most of whom have far more experience of riding and maintaining motor vehicles here than I have, would agree with this statement of mine;[quote=“joesax”]Sad to say, a lot of bikes are ridden until they have a problem, whereupon they are taken to a mechanic who does the minimum necessary to get the bike running again.[/quote]The majority of foreign scooterists I know here also treat their bikes in this way – rk1951’s post above is a case in point. Also see this thread;
[Why do people ride falling apart bikes...?
You will certainly get some service when you ask for “baoyang”, but the question is will it cover all the points that need attention? There are a myriad different things that could be included – carb cleaning, balancing, spark plug cleaning or replacement (thanks for the translations Miranda) steering and wheel bearings, brake fluid, cable lubrication or replacement, pads and shoes, valve clearances, oil filter, air filter cleaning/replacement, tyre pressures/replacement, transmission oil change, chain cleaning and adjustment and any other stuff that needs to be done up to major part replacement such as shocks, starter motor or whatever.
You can either ask for all this stuff specifically or you can go to a trusted mechanic and ask him/her to check over everything.
(Let’s not forget that among mechanics there are a lot of “sharks” all over the world, but that in the west their sharkery can end up costing customers a whole lot more.)
[quote=“rk1951”]Joesax is absolutly right…you are not going to get a tune up.[/quote]Well that’s not really what I meant. You have to be careful and go to someone competent and it may be worth specifically mentioning things you want looked over. But you can certainly get a good quality tune-up with some mechanics.
The best bike mechanics I know of are Eric Lin in Taichung and Jeremy at Bikefarm in Taipei. It would be great if other people could also give recommendations for good mechanics so we can collate the information in a thread. Obviously people should try to give details as to why they feel particular mechanics are good.
[quote=“rk1951”]But I wouldn’t worry, just go on your trip. Your bike will be fine. It is not like you are going to be driving across American or Canada, Taiwan is small and there are tons of unreliable mechanics all over the island
I had this peice of crap SYM motorcycle, that I bought for $5000NT. Oh God, it was a mess, anyway I road it to Hualian and back to Chongli…without any problems. So if they didn’t break down you are fine. If you are really worried buy an extra brake cable, clutch cable, clutch handle and brake handle because those break often and if you can’t change that yourself in the mountains when it is raining you are screwed. That is my advice. Have fun man!![/quote]Well, the advice to carry extra cables etc. is good (spare bulbs would also be a good idea). But I can’t agree with you on the general principle. MJB can confirm that there are more than a few foreigners who have broken down in the mountains due to not get their bikes checked over before a trip. Normally things work out, although it’s a hassle for all concerned. Temperatures can drop and weather can change suddenly in the mountains, however, and breaking down in the wrong place at the wrong time could have serious consequences. And of course a tyre blowout or brake failure can be dangerous wherever you are!
It’s not only the safety aspect. Machines run better and longer when you look after them properly. Timely preventive maintenance also saves money in the long run.
I should slap my own wrist for three posts in a row, but I also want to repost MJB’s useful pre-ride checklist;[quote=“MJB”]Adjust and lube chain.
Check and lube clutch cable.
Top off two stroke oil. (reset my odometer to zero to moniter usage)
Tire pressure.
Check remaining fluids.
Full tank of gas.
Good to go… [/quote]If that’s all the maintenance that someone ever does, they’ll be asking for trouble. But that’s the minimum before a long ride anyway. Obviously if your bike’s a four-stroke then you shouldn’t be putting any two-stroke oil anywhere…
Think the most important thing is to find a mechanic you TRUST. I’ve taken bikes for small tune up/repair type things to shops and had the boss say “No.” :loco: . Often the shop owners are too lazy to repair a bike you didn’t buy from them. You need to make friends with someone you semi-capable…and then you bike will really begin to shine.
Another way of saying “tune-up” might be to say Jen-Cha (phonetic spelling don’t know pin-yin) chem-boo…translated into Check…everything.
Well. Mine is in Chung-Li. It’s a shop that never rips anyone off. I even told them to overcharge a guy I didn’t like…and they didn’t.
Maybe we should start a sticky thread of “trustworthy” or “competent” mechanics in Taiwan. That would be worthy of people’s attention. It’s something I sure as hell would have liked to have seen when I first got here. I changed mechanics more often than I changed my underwear.
[/quote]If that’s all the maintenance that someone ever does, they’ll be asking for trouble. But that’s the minimum before a long ride anyway. Obviously if your bike’s a four-stroke then you shouldn’t be putting any two-stroke oil anywhere… 