Motorcycling in Taiwan - From square one

Life Cars & Motorcycles
21

I have a Sym Wolf Legend (one of these, roughly) which I bought new a few years ago – I’d had a scooter for a year or so beforehand, but it was my first manual bike, and I taught myself to ride it around the streets of Taipei City.

I think it’s a great starter bike – comfortable (at 6’ tall), reliable, nice simple five-down gears (instead of that one-down-four-up crap), and with enough power to hustle a little but not enough to immediately kill yourself with.

Later I got a pimped-out NSR and had no trouble riding the heck out of it, so I guess the learning worked.

I’ve put ~24,000km on the Sym and spent a total of maybe NT$3k on repairs, mostly snapped clutch cables (is it me? How do I keep breaking them?), one melted alternator, and some hammering-back-into-shape after I dumped it at speed. I spent more than that most weeks on the NSR.

Hartfords are better, though.

22

RZRs are good both as starter bikes and for tall people. Not sure how easy it would be to find on in good condition now though.

Otherwise the only sensible choice is a Hartford. Simple to maintain, economical, easy to ride and not life-threateningly fast.

23

I bought my 1996 NSR in 2000. I hardly spent a cent on it until last year when I started taking it to the track and racing it. Now I have probably spent twice as much on it as the intial purchase price through upgrades and repairs, including NT$11,000 for one time “dumping it at speed”, not too fast, only about 90kph…

So as a stock commuter, I had no problems, but now it is a real bitch to ride in the traffic…

24

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the hell out of my NSR. It was a '94, 1st generation, meaning pretty much everything in it was dying at once and the only extant replacements were second-hand themselves. It had also been switched up to 200cc, so it had mixture problems and heat problems despite radiator upgrades and such.

Anyway, not knockin’ on NSRs, I wish mine were still alive (and sometimes think about buying another, legaller, less ancient one).

25

Thanks for the replies all, looks like I now have my work cut out for me! The plan is as follows.

Head to the DMV near Shilin on a Wednesday morning, around 730AM. I heard they have an open practice session on scooters for those who have never ridden before (me). As soon as the clock hits 830AM, they let you take the test.

The reasons I am choosing to start learning motorcycles here in Taiwan are twofold. First, its one of the cheapest and easiest places to get started building up riding experience, which right now is all I want. Much cheaper than Quebec. I know it is not a motorcycle friendly country, but it is still better than Quebec… Secondly, I’ve lived in Taiwan for well over a year, and have basically not left Taipei. This fact depresses me greatly, and I am itching to explore the island.

I’d love to grab a decent helmet (full-face), can anyone recommend a store in Taipei? I know there is a thread on this but it is a little unwieldy.

As for bikes, I really don’t care how fast it is, as long as it does not stall going up a mountain. I live in a Big apartment building in Xindian, so I guess I need a cheap looking bike to start with, seeing as how I will probably end up leaving it outside :frowning: 2nd hand Yamaha SR150’s, Kmyco, Sym, Hartford bikes are all good if they fit my 6’2 frame. It seems like its not hard at all to find an “ershou” for 2-3wan. More money for the helmet!

I really appreciate the tips guys, I was in the dark before!

26

[quote=“jaame”]If you’ve never ridden a bike before, bite the shit sandwich and get a scooter. They are excellent to learn on and you won’t look like a big girl in this country because scooters are cool.
I wouldn’t have touched one before I came here just because of fashion.
Two blokes at my work have a two year old Yamaha Cygnus X 125 scooter and a brand new Hartford 150s motorcycle respectively. The scooter pisses on the Hartford everywhere - acceleration, braking, top speed, roll-on acceleration. The Hartford is probably more stable at speed but in my opinion a scooter makes more sense than a really small bike. My 250 is only marginally faster than a pimped 125 scooter to be honest and they kill me in heavy traffic (maybe more to do with balls/stupidity but the fact remains).

Get a scooter![/quote]

Yeh, the only rational reasons I can think of not to get a scooter are fuel economy and suspension travel/wheel size. The automatic tranmission they all unfortunately come with (apart from the 2-stroke Vespa) is less efficient, and the small wheels and limited suspension travel make for a bumpier ride than a bike, dangerously so if your small front wheel gets swallowed by a deep pothole.

Semi-rational reasons related to the above are less control/a less involving ride. I like to coast, which isn’t possible on a scooter since the transmission is never disengaged while moving, but thats a personal quirk. I also like to be able to tinker, which is possible with a scooter but less convenient, because of the bodywork, and because there doesn’t seem to be so much information (manuals, etc) available.

Other than that they are safer and more practical than a bike. I should probably get one but I’m too busy breaking/fixing my RZR, and they are pretty cheap to hire in Tainan if I need one.

27

“five down gears” I would refer to as “race pattern box” if I had it!

I also love to coast down hills on the scooter, you just have to slow down enough to let the clutch disengage at the top and you’re onto a winner!

28

[quote=“jaame”]“five down gears” I would refer to as “race pattern box” if I had it!

I also love to coast down hills on the scooter, you just have to slow down enough to let the clutch disengage at the top and you’re onto a winner![/quote]

It perhaps varies with the make, or I’m doing it wrong. I’ve only ridden a couple of makes of hire scooters, and only a few times.

I found I had to actually switch off to freewheel a Kymco Jockey (4-stroke) down a mountain, though since I didn’t have a Class A mountain permit passing the checkpoint silently was a good idea anyway.

On a Yamaha Jog, (2-stroke) if you turn off and coast up to a red light, you can definately smell petrol being pulled through the engine by the clutch drag, which rather defeats the object.

I think some machines have a special off-position for pushing them, which might completely disengage the transmission, but thats not very convenient or safe, to use while rolling.

29

I often coast downhill as well, mostly to enjoy some silence in the mountains. But what i have found, whether it be a scooter or bike, is that the brakes start to fail. Any ideas as to why? I think it has something to do with sub standard braking fluid, and as the bike runs dry, the heat causes water in the braking fluid to condensate, causing air bubbles that makes braking difficult. Scary if you go downhill, and when you pull the brakes there’s nothing!

30

If you’re in a low gear going downhill then the engine is slowing you down (engine braking). If you’re coasting in neutral then you are leaving all the work to your brakes, which of course are going to heat up and become less effective. The solution is not to coast downhill :whistle:

31

My wife’s scooter is a Kymco Jockey 125 and you don’t actually have to turn it off to coast, just slow down to about 5, I usually do turn it off because it’s quiet and peaceful to do so. Having said that, compared to my CPI it’s quiet as a mouse wide open.

As for the brakes on a bike or scooter, they work exactly the same whether the engine is running or not. Cars have a diaphragm so the induction pressure increases brake force significantly (scary as a 17 year old turning the engine off to coast down hill only to find the brakes don’t work!) but on a bike or scoot the brake system and engine is independent.

32

If you’re in a low gear going downhill then the engine is slowing you down (engine braking). If you’re coasting in neutral then you are leaving all the work to your brakes, which of course are going to heat up and become less effective. The solution is not to coast downhill :whistle:[/quote]

Thats more a workaround.

Not braking would be a solution, but its not usually practical. A change in braking pattern may help, allowing your speed to build and then braking when you really need to, rather than scrubbing speed off continually. On the Rest and Be Thankfull, my favorite Scottish freewheel, the car seems to reach a (rather high)terminal velocity and you don’t need to brake at all, but thats a very long, fairly straight descent, not common in Taiwan. This approach may involve higher speeds and more extreme braking than would be comfortable.

If boiling brake fluid is an issue, brake fluid replacement, and, (on a motorcycle with a cable-operated drum rear brake) using the back brake relatively more might help. though it’ll still get hot and fade.

Truck racers use total loss water cooling for the brakes (clouds of steam from the wheel arches). Never heard of it in any other motorsport context. Maybe the weight of the coolant is an issue for lighter vehicles, or maybe its not necessary/against the rules. If one did a lot of freewheeling, rigging something like that (windscreen washer?) might be worthwhile. Never done that but I’ve driven through puddles deliberately and got brief bursts of steam from the wheel arches. I suppose warping the disks/drums is a possibility.

33

Where’s the fun in that?!

34

Just a quick update. I have not gotten the liscence yet (ARC is being renewed. Sigh, Visas…) But that has not stopped me from looking at bikes :stuck_out_tongue:

On the auction sites, there seems to be a lot of cheap Yamaha FZ150 going around. Why so many cheap ones? Are old FZ150’s more pain than they are worth? The Yamaha SR150 are fine, but half of them seem to have strange cb400 part transplants, and the other half look like they are 30 years old with drum brakes in the front and rear. Not exactly confidence inspiring, much less cool.

So, what is the word? Is the poor newbie stuck with the propane delivery mans used bike, or can I try my luck with something a bit more exciting? If so, would I need a garage to do my own work on them? I’m living in a large apartment building (the one on top of XinDian City office MRT) and I fear I am stuck leaving the poor thing in the street. I have no idea how expensive undergounrd parking is, but it probably costs a lot and is not worth it for an old bike.

Just my jumbled thoughts, thanks for all the advice so far :thumbsup:

35

Yamaha FZ150’s are said to be uncomfortable and sometimes suffer from overheating of the rear cylinder, and they are getting a bit old, but some people like them fine. The “Breeze” version has a more upright seating position and is said to be less uncomfortable.

“The Yamaha SR150 are fine, but half of them seem to have strange cb400 part transplants,”

This is because dickheads think they don’t look cool in standard form so they fuck about with them. Best avoided, I’d say.

“and the other half look like they are 30 years old with drum brakes in the front and rear. Not exactly confidence inspiring, much less cool.”"

Re “confidence” the new ones have drum brakes front and rear. People say they work just fine.

Re “cool” no comment. I don’t do cool (but see above under “dickheads”).

“I’m living in a large apartment building (the one on top of XinDian City office MRT) and I fear I am stuck leaving the poor thing in the street.”

A good reason to avoid anything that might be percieved by light fingered dickheads as “cool”.

If you are serious about doing your own maintenance, (it’ll generally be percieved as weird, and Taiwanese mechanics are very cheap), and you havn’t done this before, then I’d say

(A) DONT, AND (B) Get something that has at least a partly relevant workshop manual available in English. This, AFAIK, eliminates all the Yamaha candidates, and narrows the field to machines using clones of the Honda CG125 pushrod or CB125 OHC single cylinder engine i.e Kymco, (perhaps excluding the KTR), Hartford, or Sym. There are partly relevant manuals available from Clymer and Haynes for all these.

Edit: There are also free manuals available for the NSR, which has already been discussed above. This is (probably) “cool”, potentially more exiting, and almost certainly less practical and a bigger pain in the arse.

I have no manual for my Yamaha RZR, the first motorcycle I have done much work on, and the “learning by discovery” is getting tiresome (though I have been avoidably screwing up a lot too).

I would NEVER again buy something I couldn’t get a manual for, which incidentally eliminates the Toyota Zace stationwaggon I was thinking of buying.

I have a free SR150 manual in Chinese, so I would consider buying one of them.

Edit: Search or PM me if you want copies of the free manuals.