Hi Brick and welcome!
I have to go to work now, but briefly:
[quote=“brick”]1) Maps! I saw joseax talking about a nice volume of maps he has. Do they have any romanisation, or only characters? What exactly do I have to look for if I want to find them? Are they detailed enough to allow auto-navigation most of the time? Fortunately my Mandarin is coming along nicely ;)[/quote] Has you seen my post on this at;
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 860#138860](Pinyin and Characters of Same Map for Taipei and Taiwan?
Even in the beginning, when you don’t know any characters, you can still get by OK using a combination of one of the 1:100,000 book form road maps, and a single-sheet one with some romanisation. The road numbers are very helpful and generally they’re pretty well signposted, except in cities sometimes.
[quote=“joesax”]What’s the name for the fake Harley part bolted on to this engine? mcttw.tripod.com/fake_Harley.jpg
Is it supposed to be part of the crankcase?[/quote]
can’t view that image, boss…says ‘IMAGE HOSTED BY TRIPOD’…
I have to get the front brake on my Dio overhauled, and I want to get regular service jobs done at the same time. Obviously I’ll get the tyre pressures checked; what else should I ask Eric to have a look at?
I read somewhere that in addition to keeping the 2-stroke oil topped up, there’s another kind of oil you have to change from time to time; is that right?
I’ve never looked at the drive - I’m presuming it’s some kind of direct or belt drive rather than a chain. Does that need looked at?
Read in LP about Highway 7 down to Shimen Dam that offers quite nice views and camping sites. Anybody out there that have done it and can offer advice? I wouldalso like to know about drives in and around the Toayuan City area. Would really like to get ou of the city! No real motorcycle though, only a 125cc.
You can get to Shimen Dam in about 30-40 minutes on your scooter. But don’t stay there. It’s horribly crowded on weekends. Don’t know if they still have campgrounds but there is a visitor’s centre now so you can go ask.
If you want to know about the taoyuan area head out to the county visitor centre just before Tzuhu, the place where Chiang, Ka-Shek is emtombed. Basically just drive to Daxi (Dashi) and then get on the number 7 highway. This will lead you right to the centre. They have good English brochures on the sights along the highway (waterfalls, giant cave, ancient trees, terraced fields, natural hotsprings) and on Taoyuan in general. Usually there is someone who can speak English working. In any case, the brochures are good and there are large pictures in the centre showing you what Taoyuan has to offer.
The #7 highway is fantastic and you’ll have a good time cruising it. A 125 scooter is fine.
I saw some place around Xiao Wulai Waterfall that looked like a campground last month but it was closed (probably only open in winter). The Youth Activity Centre in Fushing has dorm rooms (NT300 a night). Fabulous views from the coffee shop patio. Some people camp down by the river around Fushing Suspension Bridge.
There’s good hiking at the Tungyehshan Forest Reserve just past Fushing on a side road. No camping though.
Get a copy of “Taipei Day Trips II.” Lots of info about hikes on or around the #7. Also lots of hiking info in general about the north of Taiwan. All accessible by public transportation.
Drives in Taoyuan City? I can only think of Hutoushan (Tiger Head Mountain). It’s the only place in town to hike.
Sleepoverbandit, as an addition to Mucha Man’s advice, which is excellent as usual, can I refer you back to Michael J Botti’s post on this subject, earlier in the thread:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 749#107749](Motorcycle touring
joe, where can i get that book? Spoke to botti too and looks like he’ll serve as my guide one of these good days.
just want to make sure about highway 7. some chinese folks said it was nothing special but i think they were referring to the dam itself. so what your saying is it would be great for picnicking, hiking, sightseeing and getting out of the city down that way?
been to dashi (daxi) by car once but i am sure we did not take any #7 road to get there or does it only start beyond dashi? need some good directions from taoyuan city coz i see two #7’s on the map i’ve got.
I mentioned the book and you can get it at the 24 hour Eslite in Taipei. It’s published by the community services centre in Tienmu so maybe if you call them they can tell you where else you can buy it.
Highway 7 starts at Daxi. There is a spur Highway 7 (almost all highways have spurs, look for the little symbols under the number) running from Sanxia to Sanmin, just a little before Fuxing. Do you know how to get to Sanxia or Yingge? I can direct you from there, but it’s been too long since I lived in Taoyuan. I’ll see later if my wife remembers.
As for your Chinese friends, don’t listen to them unless they are the type of people who get out every weekend. I am constantly introducing Chinese friends to new places. Places they have never even heard of in some cases. Taiwan is fast changing. There’s been an immense ammount of work done in the past two years to improve the place for tourism.
As I said, go to the tourist office just before Cihu (Tzuhu) and find out everything you can see on the highway. As I said, in addition to the fabulous scenery, I know of a forest reserve for hiking, one of the most beautiful falls in Northern Taiwan (with natural pools for swimming in summer), a huge old bat cave, natural hotsprings, an old tree reserve, a bungee jumping bridge, and a couple cafes with breathtaking views. Is this enough for you?
[quote=“mungacious”][quote=“joesax”]What’s the name for the fake Harley part bolted on to this engine? mcttw.tripod.com/fake_Harley.jpg
Is it supposed to be part of the crankcase?[/quote]
can’t view that image, boss…says ‘IMAGE HOSTED BY TRIPOD’…
[quote=“cybertai”][quote=“mungacious”][quote=“joesax”]What’s the name for the fake Harley part bolted on to this engine? mcttw.tripod.com/fake_Harley.jpg
Is it supposed to be part of the crankcase?[/quote]
can’t view that image, boss…says ‘IMAGE HOSTED BY TRIPOD’…
-chris[/quote]
You wanna get one for yourself?[/quote]
Ha Ha! Wouldn’t suit actually: my FZ is a fake sport bike, not a fake cruiser.
Now let me take this opportunity to let people know about the new Hartford VR200:
It’s an enduro-style bike with a 200cc engine and the price is around 90,000NT. hartford.com.tw/hartford_cht … ooters.htm (Don’t know how long this URL will stay valid: at present it goes straight to the VR200 page but sooner or later someone may realise the VR200 is not a scooter.)
Now if you look at the specs you will see it does not have that much power. In addition, Hartford as a relative newcomer to the market may or may not have decent quality control. But, you’re getting a 200cc four stroke engine in a light, chuckeable bike which can also do some offroading. It’s tall and this height would be nice in traffic. Looks like good fun, and the cheapest new bike over 150cc I believe (how much are those Majesty 250s?)
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“cybertai”][quote=“mungacious”][quote=“joesax”]What’s the name for the fake Harley part bolted on to this engine? mcttw.tripod.com/fake_Harley.jpg
Is it supposed to be part of the crankcase?[/quote]
can’t view that image, boss…says ‘IMAGE HOSTED BY TRIPOD’…
-chris[/quote]
You wanna get one for yourself?[/quote]
Ha Ha! Wouldn’t suit actually: my FZ is a fake sport bike, not a fake cruiser.
Now let me take this opportunity to let people know about the new Hartford VR200:
It’s an enduro-style bike with a 200cc engine and the price is around 90,000NT. hartford.com.tw/hartford_cht … ooters.htm (Don’t know how long this URL will stay valid: at present it goes straight to the VR200 page but sooner or later someone may realise the VR200 is not a scooter.)
Now if you look at the specs you will see it does not have that much power. In addition, Hartford as a relative newcomer to the market may or may not have decent quality control. But, you’re getting a 200cc four stroke engine in a light, chuckeable bike which can also do some offroading. It’s tall and this height would be nice in traffic. Looks like good fun, and the cheapest new bike over 150cc I believe (how much are those Majesty 250s?)[/quote]
Majesty 250s are around 200 thou, Grand Dink 250s are 109,000, Ego’s are 120,000.
grand dink now comes with Xenon HID lights(6000K) and power mirrors standard. fugly as hell though.
anyone got a quote on a used Ducati Monster, preferably 620 or 750 ccs?
Six months? That means they were more likely on the regular 150cc versions I think. I don’t think the 200s have been out that long. As usual though, I’m probably wrong.
In any case, there can’t be a lot of difference between 150 and 200 (although at least the 150 only costs around 60K as far as I remember). I like the rear disc though.
[quote=“sandman”]Six months? That means they were more likely on the regular 150cc versions I think. I don’t think the 200s have been out that long. As usual though, I’m probably wrong.
In any case, there can’t be a lot of difference between 150 and 200 (although at least the 150 only costs around 60K as far as I remember). I like the rear disc though.[/quote]
I think the rear disc has been stock on the 150 for a while.
So the 200 makes its maximum power and torque at lower revs than does the 150. I would guess that the top speed would not be that different but that the 200 would be more flexible in terms of gear selection in the mountains, and hence a little more relaxing to ride. With such low demands on the engine it seems to me that it could last a long time.
Is there any list of travel times about Taiwan by motorcycle.
I’m interested in knowing how long it takes to get to Taichung from Taipei. You can drive on the 1, suggested by all Taiwanese people. You can also go by Provincial Highway 3, as suggested by forumosans. How long would it take to get to Taichung?
I should defer to Joesax for this one as he’s done it recently…
You really don’t want to be stuck on highway one all the way to Taichung, all you’ll be doing is stopping every hundred yards for traffic lights and heading straight through the downtown of every city on the way. Highway three skirts the foothills most of the trip, is much less frantic traffic-wise and is far more scenic.
From here in Yangmei I’ve done it in about 2 hours. However, that’s cruising at a pretty good clip (90-110K) the whole time. If you’re on a scooter from Taipei 4 hours is probably realistic. You don’t want to be in too much of a hurry on a motorcycle in Taiwan anyway!
