Motorcycle touring

Travel Taiwan Travel
161

One could also do part of it on 63 and have the sea on one side. I haven’t been on that road for a while, it was quite nice the first few times (four, five years ago), but later they did some “road work” (digging for wires/pipes/whatever) and the bike track became like in most places - bumpy. Don’t know if they fixed that.

I used 63 when I shuttled between Taizhong and Xinzhu, but you can go beyond Xinzhu (didn’t test how far though, went to Taibei on number 1 from Xinzhu). You can go a bit faster there - in some places, but I guess the first time you will want to take a few looks…

162

[quote=“Michael J Botti”]You really don’t want to be stuck on highway one all the way to Taichung (Taizhong), 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![/quote]I second the recommendation for the number 3. It has lots of nice sweeping bends and is scenic and generally interesting. If you have time, stop at Shitoushan (Lion’s Head Mountain) on the way, have a walk and see some nice temples. (You have to take the 124 off the 3 – pm me if you need more precise directions).

My friend did Taipei-Taichung in 5 hours on his SYM 125cc motorbike, basically straight through with only a couple of short breaks. As Michael says, you need to take it easy whatever you’re riding: expect the unexpected to pop up around the corner.

dl7und’s suggestion about the 63 is an interesting one although of course it’s much farther west. Maybe try that on the return journey.

163

:sunglasses: :slight_smile: :smiley: :laughing:
[i][b]Wendy speaking
Hi everybody

In Taiwan every body like to travel by motorcycle. Beacuse It is very beautiful. Many places have delicious food for you. So I hope have chance to travel by motorcycle. That is very chip for you. You may not spend money a lot. Whish you have good time for motorcycle touring.[/b][/i]
:laughing: :smiley: :slight_smile: :sunglasses: …

164

Hi Wendy, welcome and thanks for your good wishes.

Sounds like you enjoy motorbike touring. Which places have you been? You are right, there are a lot of really beautiful areas in Taiwan and travelling by motorbike is a great way to see them.

Your comment about the food is interesting. When Taiwanese people talk about visiting places, they often talk about the food specialities. Indeed they often go to a place primarily for the food. My friends took me to Nanzhuang in Miaoli. Their main reason for going there was to eat Hakka food; in particular some special baozi filled with shredded vegetables.

Foreigners seem less aware of local specialities, however. I am sure there must be gastronomic travel guides written in Chinese. I hope someone can write such a book in English sometime.

165

More and more city and county websites are including places to try local specialties. The Changhua and Hsinchu websites are outstanding listing over 50 places to try local foods. The Hsinchu site even talks about the origin of each place (even if it is just a stall) and gives explanations of the ingredients and preparation of the dishes.

166

We’ve been to loads of such places, thanks surprisingly enough to Next magazine of all things. They nearly always have a section on local “food destinations.”
I’ve been hassling my wife to think about approaching Next to check out the possibility of getting permission to translate some of these pieces into English for the benefit of us linguistically challeged folk.
From what I’ve seen of her back issues, there’s easily enough already for a good-sized book.
She’s hellishly busy at the moment though, so she’s a bit unwilling to get involved with this right now.
If copyright could be sorted out it would, I think, be quite popular among the foreign population.

167

Hi,

My name is Tian, I came from Hungary, to spend a few days at my girlfriend in Tainan. I am an owner of a Suzuki GSX1400 bigbike. Can you help me where can I buy Suzuki parts for big bike such as mine in Tainan or in Taipei?

Thanks,

Tian

168

A week from now I plan to take my Vespa ET8 125 on about a 10-day trip using the following schedule. I’m wondering if anyone with experience could offer any tips as to what might be (1) a smoother trip, (2) more scenic and (3) less cars … assuming most of my travel is on weekdays, not weekends:

  1. Start Taipei
  2. Take 9 to Ilan
  3. Take 7 and then the short jump on 8 to Taroko Gorge. Stay two nights.
  4. Take 14 down to Sunmoon Lake. Stay two nights.
  5. Take 21 down to Jade Mountain. Stay one night.
  6. Take 18 through Alishan.
  7. Connect to 3 and go to Taizhong. Stay two nights in area.
  8. Continue on 3 all the way back to Taipei.

One of the tips that I got from this thread is to avoid highway 1 and take 3, as it is a stoplight every 100 meters … Any other advice like this? Granted, I didn’t spend the hours reading all 12 pages of this thread. I skimmed.

169

Sounds like an awesome trip…I envy you!

I’m not a big fan of the ghost highway (bei-ee no9)because it’s probably the most dangerous road I’ve ever ridden on…Also, you miss most of the northeast coast and have to contend with the Chiaoshi area which is a traffic nightmare especially on weekends. Why not take the 7 from Tashi in Taoyuan County instead? Much more scenic, and once you get into Chilan, just hang a right and you are on your way. Also, there is no way you’ll be able to do this leg in one day. Conversely, you could take the 106 into Fulong and continue down highway 2. Also, according to your schedule, you’ll be doing the eastern side of the Central cross-island highway twice…Once from Lishan to Hualien(not a short jump by the way), and then back up again to access highway 14…Why not take the Suao gong- lou and then go up from Taroko? (Understand too that the Ilan-Lishan route is sweet) Lishan would be a side-trip, but at least you wouldn’t have to do the same route twice in a few days…

I’ll leave the Central and more Southern sections of your schedule to the Taichung travelers…It’s been a few years since I’ve been down there by motorcycle and routes have changed.

Lastly, keep in mind that a good section of your destinations lie in mountain areas that have been flooded with 1500mm of rain over the last few days…I would guess that highways 14, 8, 21, and 18 have all suffered massive rockslides and flooding. There is also a good chance that some or all of these may be closed for some time to come…

Highway 3 is sweet, with the exception of Taichung where it turns into a confusing mess that sorts itself out again north of Fengyuan…Are there any Taichung locals out there who know a way around this section of the Number 3?

Hope this helped…

170

Sounds like a nice trip. 10 days is a good time and it’s good that you’re spending 2 nights in some places; much more relaxing and a chances to get to know places better.

A couple of thoughts;
Doing Taipei-Taroko in one journey will be tough. The coast road is often in poor condition, torn up by the gravel trucks, and the trucks themselves slow things down and and increase danger and the need for concentration. Could you stop one night at Suao or somewhere like that? You could use the time to visit the pretty fishing port of Nanfang’ao and the cold springs at Suao. The coast road Suao-Hualian is spectacular, although if you could somehow work the no.7 Ilan-Lishan in as well as Michael suggested that would be very nice.

The ride Taroko-Sun Moon Lake is also a long one although it can definitely be done. (I’ve done Taroko-Taichung in a day by motorbike but wouldn’t really like to do it again, at least until the Guguan route is re-opened). How high have you taken your scooter before? My old bike, a Yamaha SR150 had severe difficulties at 3000m and upwards. The current one, an FZ150, didn’t much like the height either – I had to use first gear sometimes and had to keep the revs up or it would stall.

Anyway, make sure the bike’s in good condition (new spark plug, clean carburettor, good oil, good brakes & tyres).

I’d say that the no.3 from Chiayi to Taichung isn’t that exciting and has a lot of traffic lights. The no.1 may be a bit faster but will be even more boring. Do you have specific things you want to do in Taichung on this trip? While your projected 2 days there means you have time flexibility earlier in the trip if you decide to or are forced to stay somewhere longer, I’d use the time to ride more in prettier places. Taichung’s only 2 1/2 hours from Taipei by public transport after all.

The section of the no.3 from Taichung to Taipei is OK. I usually go the back route along the no.129 out to Dakeng then through Xinshe to Dongshi where I pick up the no.3. It takes the same length of time and is much more scenic. I can give detailed directions out of Taichung when you need. It’s a fairly long ride and gets built up when you are still an hour or two from Taipei. There are nice places to visit – Sanyi, Shitoushan – although they’re some way off the main road.

With the possible exception of the first section as mentioned above, I think the trip is solid and would be enjoyable and for the most part relaxing. One possible alternative would be to go south from Chiayi and end up in Kending before putting your bike on the train and taking the bus back yourself. Or do the reverse.

171

Su’ao and Nanfang’ao definitely can be beautiful on a sunny day. But I tried to go just a bit south from Su’ao on that coastal highway on my 125 scooter. It scared the shit out of me with the steep hills, gravel all over the place, and trucks and buses driving like maniacs.

And normally I’m unfazed by traffic conditions. For instance, I’ve done the Bei-Yi Gonglu (in moderate rain, no less) and it didn’t freak me out as much as that stretch of road right south of Su’ao. Maybe it gets better as you get closer to Hualian, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.

172

And one more thing. The whole area in southern Miaoli (right north of Taizhong) around the 3 is really pleasant. You could check out the wood carving museum in Sanyi 三義 and the 130, which is a nice mountain road that connects the 3 and 13 and that goes by 興勝火車站, which is also scenic though perhaps pales in comparison to Taroko.

173

I’ve done the Suao Hualien route more than a dozen times by motorcyle…It’s something (despite the gravel trucks) you don’t want to miss if you’ve never done it before.

Joesax wasn’t kidding about the altitude…The first time I went over the top was with my wife on the back and full camping gear on my RZR. Up to the top of Jung-hen was no problem, but that last 9km to the top of Hehuanshan was a real struggle, first gear all the way. Second time was on my own, and the lack of a passenger and some heavy engine mods/sproket changes made the climb much easier. I imagine it will be pretty slow going on a Vespa…

alidarbac…I’m sorry you didn’t continue, and yes the first 10km or so is rough. The road smooths out after you reach the top of the first ridge between Suao and Tongao though, and the vista overlooking Tongao bay…awesome. I was down there about a month ago, and the road is in pretty decent shape, with the exception of the previously mentioned 10km which is being repaved.

Highway 7 from Ilan winds up a long valley and begins a steep series of switchbacks up to Lishan. The views from the top overlooking the valley are spectacular. Again, if you choose this route from Taipei, you’d be looking at 9-11 hours of solid riding to make it from Taipei to Hualien. If you decided to use the Suao-Hualien road, your ride time cuts down to 6 hours or so. It’s pretty much the difference between a one day ride to Taroko or two.

174

Taipei to Ilan. If you want a much more scenic and almost traffic free road during the week head from Mucha out to Shenkeng and toward Pingxi and Shifen (Joe can maybe supply the exact route names. I’m in Canada now and forgetting everything). Anyway, the route is very beautiful and has little traffic during the week. Far less than the 9 and more interesting places to stop (though Pinglin is a nice place to stop on the 9).

At Shifen turn right up a new highway (or if you want to see one of the nicest falls in Taiwan just go ahead a couple kilometers more and you’ll see a visitor centre on the right. Follow the trail behind the centre.) Go through a tunnel and then follow the road down. At the bottom of the hill go left and follow the road for a few kilometres through farm fields and past some interesting settlements of old brick houses. Very open, pretty country. At a three way you’ll see a sign for the North East Coast Scenic Area. Go right and follow the road a kilometre to the end and then go left another 200m or so to another 3 way. Go right (don’t cross the river).

Now if you want to go to Fulong Beach keep going straight and you’ll reach the coast highway just .5 kilometre from Fulong. This is the way I always go to Fulong from Mucha.

Anyway, you probably want to continue on quiet mountain roads so take an immediate right after you made the right at the 3 way. The road is really narrow and it will look like you are going into a village but follow it as it goes down and then curves right. This road will take you all the way to Daxi on the coast. It will take about 90 minutes on a scooter and during the week you will see only a few cars and very little development. Just a few farms. It’s one of the coolest and most beautiful roads in the far north for cruising. The last stretch of the road is even called 007. How cool is that.

There are turnoffs but just follow your instincts and stay on the main road. The whole route takes me about 2 hours from Mucha to Daxi by car. From Daxi continue down the coast. It’s not far to Ilan.

Oh, about halfway down the mountain highway you’ll round a bend and see a small building on the left and a sign warning against camping and fires. Stop and follow the stream up a hundred yards to a fantastic swimming hole.

As for the rest of your trip, if you head up 7 you can camp in Wuling Farm. Around Lishan there is a new campgroudn up at Fushoushan. Probably the highest campsite in Taiwan.

The area around southern Miaoli as alidarbac said is beautiful. Off the number three on county road 62 is Taian Hotspings. Beautiful area and lots of good hiking. You can camp at one of the resorts.

175

The route Mucha man is describing (Shenkang-Fulong) is the 106.

I agree it’s a far better alternative to the 9, but will add some time to your trip. But if you plan to take the 7 from Ilan-Lishan-Taroko, you won’t be able to make it in one day anyway. You could do the 106 to Fulong, follow the Bing-Hai road to where it splits in Toucheng, and spend the night in Chiaoshi at one of the Hot Spring hotels. From there in the morning, it’s only about 2 or 3 Km to the turnoff for the 7.

I use the 106 often, and can make it by car from Yangmei to Fulong in under 2 hours. The eastern side of the highway has been heavily upgraded over the last few months and now large portions of it are 4- lane. You’ll see far more big bikes on the 106 than the 9, simply because the 106 is a better motorcycling road.

If you need details for the 106 route, send me a PM…

176

Thanks for everyone’s help. Here are my replies:

Good suggestion. I didn’t consider 106 on my map, as my eyes were only focusing on provincial roads, not county roads. What I’ll do, in the interest of time (as I will have to do the Fulong thing on another trip), is to take 106 to where it splits off to to 106乙 cotinuing somewhat parallel to 9. It joins 9 at Pinlin. I can continue on to Yilan from there.

By the way, for those of you who don’t know the ABCs of Chinese, especially useful for road names, here they are. I had to learn them just now. Never payed attention at Shida:

First: 甲 jia3
Second: 乙 yi3
Thrid: 丙 bing3
Fourth: 丁 ding1
Fifth: 戊 wu4

I live in the JiuZhuang area of Nangang/Xizhi. It is a hop, skip and jump over the hill to 106 in Shengkeng. I’ll have to save the Taoyuan stretch for another day. It could add a day to my trip. But thanks for the tip. I’ll keep it in mind.

[quote=“Michael J Botti”]Lastly, keep in mind that a good section of your destinations lie in mountain areas that have been flooded…[/quote]Yea … I’ll check the road conditions tomorrow. It could be a real downer if my selected route is down.

[quote=“joesax”]Could you stop one night at Suao or somewhere like that?[/quote]I’m doing everything possible to avoid costal roads. I know not all of 2 or 9 is dangerous, but I decided once to ride on the costal highway just north of Hualian five years ago. I nearly crapped my pants. The speeding cars and booming cement trucks made me turn around and go back. Maybe some day I’ll do it with a 250+ cc motorcycle, but not on my Vespa ET8 125. Is Maoman’s bike for rent? :slight_smile: Hopefully, I’ll be sticking to the 7甲 to Lishan.

[quote=“joesax”]How high have you taken your scooter before? … Anyway, make sure the bike’s in good condition.[/quote]I’m going to have to risk it. I don’t know how my scooter will perform at such elevations. Never taken it out of Taipei County. After all, it is a scooter too. I have no gears. I wish Piaggio two strokes were still leagal in Taiwan. I have an old Vespa 1983 150 cc PX model. Having gears and a real clutch was nice. There’s just no way I’d take my old 20-year-old rust bucket on such a trip. My current Vespa bike is a 4-stroke 125 cc, two years old, 9000 Km. Got it tuned up recently. New oil everywhere. New breaks. New spark plug. New filters for everything. New tires. Checked the belt … etc. Carrying spare transformer, spark plug and computer, along with compressed air and tire repair kit.

[quote=“joesax”]I usually go the back route along the no.129[/quote]Thanks! I see it on the map. I’ll keep that route in mind.

[quote=“alidarbac”]But I tried to go just a bit south from Su’ao on that coastal highway on my 125 scooter. It scared the shit out of me with the steep hills, gravel all over the place, and trucks and buses driving like maniacs.[/quote]Yes, I remember. It doesn’t get better getting closer to Hualian, mind you, I only went a little bit north of Hualien before I pooped my pants and turned around.

[quote=“Michael J Botti”]Highway 7 from Ilan (Yilan) winds up a long valley and begins a steep series of switchbacks up to Lishan. The views from the top overlooking the valley are spectacular. Again, if you choose this route from Taipei, you’d be looking at 9-11 hours of solid riding to make it from Taipei to Hualian. If you decided to use the Suao-Hualian road, your ride time cuts down to 6 hours or so. It’s pretty much the difference between a one day ride to Taroko or two.[/quote]OK, so here’s the important question: It seems that if I choose the 7甲 to Lishan, and I don’t want a 12 hour trip. Where can I stay overnight on that highway? Any suggestions? Remember, I’ll have a full complement of high-tech backpacking toys, incuding tent, stove, food, you name it. I’m trying to make this budget, but wouldn’t cry if I stayed at a youth or Catholic center for NT$1000 and under.

[quote=“Mucha Man”]As for the rest of your trip, if you head up 7 you can camp in Wuling Farm. Around Lishan there is a new campgroudn up at Fushoushan. Probably the highest campsite in Taiwan.[/quote]You mentioned “Wuling Farm”. I’m definately interested in staying at a campground. Where exactly is this “Wuling Farm”? Also, I assume by Fushoushan you mean what I see on the map as 福壽山農場 near Lishan. Would I see signs? I could just ask around? First come first served?

[quote=“Michael J Botti”]I agree it’s a far better alternative to the 9, but will add some time to your trip. But if you plan to take the 7 from Ilan (Yilan)-Lishan-Taroko, you won’t be able to make it in one day anyway. You could do the 106 to Fulong, follow the Bing-Hai road to where it splits in Toucheng, and spend the night in Chiaoshi at one of the Hot Spring hotels. From there in the morning, it’s only about 2 or 3 Km to the turnoff for the 7.[/quote]It seems the consensus is that the Yilan-Lishan bit is too much for one day, or rather Taipei-Lishan is too much. I’ll keep this in mind, although if anyone has any suggestions where mid-7甲 I can stay overnight, that would be cool too.

So, lastly, here is another BIG QUESTION: How often will I see a gas station on such a route as the Yilan-Lishan stretch? Are they frequent enough. I figure I can get about 150 Km per tank.

Also, as suggestion to those who might not know, the Ministry of the Interior provides official topo maps that have all the highways and natural/trial features at 25,000:1, 50,000:1, and starting now to make 100,000:1. These maps are similar to the ones provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Each map costs NT$300 a piece. They are extremely detailed. I just giggle when I look at them. The offical distribor for these MOI maps in Taipei is here:

內政部土地測量局
Xinyi Rd. Sec. 3, No. 43, 2F

This terrible, washed-out pic is one of my 100,000:1 maps:

Thanks again for all your great suggestions. I’ll have to print these out and take them with me as I go.

177

It is except for the long section I described that cuts through the mountains to Daxi. Michael have you ever ridden this way?

By the way, I thought the 106 went to Jiufen? Damn I wish I had a map with me here.

Wuling Farm is part of Sheiba National Park. It is just off the Number 7, an hour or so south of Lishan. Home of the landlocked formosan salmon. Nice park, good campsite. Here’s the website so you could probably call about reserving a spot.
recreate.forest.gov.tw/forest.ph … &forest=17

Fushoushan is on the way up from Lishan to Tienchi (Heaven;s Pond). You can’t miss the campsite. Also, just stop off in Fushoushan at the Visitor Centre for more info.
Here’s the website: fushoushan.com.tw/1.html

Because Fushoushan and Wulign are within a couple hours of each other you probably will only stay at one.

Around the spot where the North Cross Island and number 7 join there is a natural hotspring just upstream. I forget the exact place but it is mentioned in Taipei Day Trips II under the natural hotspring section in the back. The area is by a creek and is a popular place to camp. I didn’t stay there but checked it out in January. This might be a good place to stop for the first night.

By the way, from Fushoushan you can take a county road across to I think just south of Wushe. I had to take this road in January as the road up to Hehuanshan was closed due to snow. This route is not anywhere near as steep as Lishan-Hehuanshan. From Wushe you could head down to Hualien passing Lushan but then you’d have to return this way to Sun Moon Lake.

178

What about gas going up in the hills, say from Ilan all the way down to the Cross-Island Highway? What are my options, as I plan to spend a couple tanks of gas worth of time in the middle of the island?

179

Pinesay, thanks for the translation and pinyin of those subsidiary road characters.

Sounds like your bike should be OK and you’re certainly well prepared. I’ve seen scooters in the high mountains and they seem to have been fine. You mentioned you’re carrying a computer, though? Surely that’s not so you can recalibrate the fuel injection settings halfway up a mountain?

I misread your original route plan and thought the Suao-Hualian road was a definite. It’s very beautiful but you’re right, it is scary. You certainly have to ride tactically and even then there are lots of conditions outside your control. Sounds like the no.7 to Lishan is just as beautiful; I hope to do it sometime. Mucha Man, thanks for the web links. I see there are rooms and cabins available at both Wuling and Fushoushan.

The no.3 or the no.129 from Taichung to Dongshi take about the same time and both are a little tricky to navigate. The 129’s much nicer though. If you decide to go that way pm me for directions.

[quote=“pinesay”][quote=“Michael J Botti”]I agree it’s a far better alternative to the 9, but will add some time to your trip. But if you plan to take the 7 from Ilan (Yilan) (Yilan)-Lishan-Taroko, you won’t be able to make it in one day anyway. You could do the 106 to Fulong, follow the Bing-Hai road to where it splits in Toucheng, and spend the night in Chiaoshi at one of the Hot Spring hotels. From there in the morning, it’s only about 2 or 3 Km to the turnoff for the 7.[/quote]It seems the consensus is that the Yilan-Lishan bit is too much for one day, or rather Taipei-Lishan is too much. I’ll keep this in mind, although if anyone has any suggestions where mid-7

180

Mucha Man: You are right, the 106 does go to Jiu-fen, to access fulong, you have to split off onto the 102 about 6km after the tunnel. You can also get to the town of Aoti (7km north of Fulong) by staying straight…Three way split. Left to Jiu-Fen, right to Fulong, and straight to Aoti.

Pinesay, we covered a lot of this last night, and by the time you read this post you should be in Chiaoshi…I have to say that you very well may be the most prepared motorcyclist to hit the mountain roads I’ve ever seen.

Fill up in Chiaoshi, and you won’t have anyproblems making it to Lishan. If you are worried about fuel, you could stop in Wuling farm, but they will be siphoning out of a barrel and charging you 50NT per liter.

Lishan to the 14 turnoff ( the top of Jung-hen) will peak out at 2,800meters. I believe Lishan is at about 1,900. You’ll be doing this climb in the space of about 40km. From there it is all downhill to Taroko. Don’t be surprised if the Vespa gets a little ‘wheezy’ above 2,500meters. This will be far worse when you come back up and go over the 14. You’ll be climbing from 2,800meters to nearly 3,300meters in the space of 9km. Also, moniter yourself for signs of altitude sickness…

Please post and let us know how your trip is going…Enjoy.