Warning : XRZR's Fairing Badly on the Small Screen

Just failed an owner-transfer vehicle inspection. I was expecting trouble because the bike looks a bit of a nail, leaks on all 4 shocks, billows smoke from where the exhaust pipe doesn’t really mate with the cylinder exhaust port, etc, etc, but they didn’t apparently care about any of that.

What they DID care about was that it doesn’t look like its official database picture. NO FULL FAIRING.

I guess this might be a manifestation of the “crackdown on illegal modifications” discussed extensively in Redwagon’s sticky, (Mods may want to move this post there or elsewhere if it doesn’t merit its own thread) and so it might be a relatively new development.

Unlike ad hoc “field inspection” by the cops, this bureaucratic, computerised manifestation seems unlikely to simply go away because it becomes unfashionable, and is presumably likely to pop up at every vehicle inspection. Anybody else experienced similar (YET)?

The vehicle inspection guys (at least one of whom seemed to be a cop?) had apparently been on a course and taught to deliver the phrase “We cannot help you” with due gravitas, which was (putting aside the irritation for a moment) quite funny, since they were all smiles the rest of the time. For forms sake I explained that it was an old, cheap (er…ish) bike and it wouldn’t be worth it to get a fairing, and they agreed in a “That’s the essential zen beauty of it” kind of a way.

I dunno how easy it is to score a fairing, but I’ll do some sniffing around. I was starting to doubt if I have the resources (time, space, patience, language, money) for the required restoration anyway. If I have to retrofit clipons I may just set the whole thing against my stupidity supertax for this year, and there’ll be some more XRZR spares on the market.

I propose the term “XRZR” for RZR’s that have been “converted” (which will have various interpretations) to RZX’s, so they are no longer RZR’s, but apparently will never be RZX’s either.

Mine went the other way; according to Jeremy of Bikefarm it started life as an RZX and was made into an RZR. Never had any problems with passing inspections, though. Jeremy’s giving it a makeover now, though, and the color will be changing, which I expect might make a different as the registration says “black and red” and it will only be “red” after he’s done with it.

Well I suppose there could be problems in the future the other way as well, (with an “XRZX”) but its probably easier to take a fairing off if you have one, than it is to put one on, if you havn’t.

I’d also guess there are likely to be more XRZR’s around than XRZX’s because (a) People break fairings, and (b) RZX’s seem to be considered more rideable.

It could just be the local (Tainan) DMV being jobsworths, but the involvement of a computer database, and Redwagon’s “Crackdown on Illegal Mods” sticky makes me think not.

Edithglow, mine was a conversion as well…Never had any problems. Started life as an RZR, converted to RZX, then morphed between the two when I combined two different RZ’s together.

As long as the ViN tag on the engine matches your registration, I don’t see the hiccup. Just tell them the truth, the damn mounting bracket rusted through for the original fairing, so it was replaced with an RZX assembly. Same bike, same registration number. If they continue to hassle you, then simply ask them to source an RZR fairing for you…Good luck.

They have obviously read Civil Service English for a New Russia by Franz Kafka and Soren Kierkegaard

Stop calling me Edith Glow

Well, as the title and text suggests, the post was intended as a warning for those who still have these machines (OK, and a bit of a whine as well).

I THINK this might be a NEW DEVELOPMENT.

Now you’re screwing up my classification system, but I suspect that “officially” nothing happened unless you changed the registered description, and I bet its a truly Confucian Contradiction attempting to do that.

Hmm…What beaurocracies are you familiar with? Perhaps the Administrive Elves at Santa’s Toyland, The North Pole? (Or South Pole, I can never remember. Spose that’s why the letters don’t get there.)

You force me to extreme measures. I’m going to quote “Da Man” at you. Yes!

REDWAGON

(cue “Also Sprach Zarahusthra” / Appollo Mission theme tune - how come we don’t got sound on here?)

“If the bike doesn’t look like the photo the cop has, he can write you a ticket. Simple as that.”

(This is in the “Crackdown on Illegal Modifications” thread which I incorrectly referred to as a “sticky”.)

The context is slightly different but I suspect the same MO is being applied.

Perhaps NOW you’ll take this SERIOUSLY?

Stop calling me Edith Glow

Well, as the title and text suggests, the post was intended as a warning for those who still have these machines (OK, and a bit of a whine as well).

I THINK this might be a NEW DEVELOPMENT.

Now you’re screwing up my classification system, but I suspect that “officially” nothing happened unless you changed the registered description, and I bet its a truly Confucian Contradiction attempting to do that.

Hmm…What beaurocracies are you familiar with? Perhaps the Administrive Elves at Santa’s Toyland, The North Pole? (Or South Pole, I can never remember. Spose that’s why the letters don’t get there.)

You force me to extreme measures. I’m going to quote “Da Man” at you. Yes!

REDWAGON

(cue “Also Sprach Zarahusthra” / Appollo Mission theme tune - how come we don’t got sound on here?)

“If the bike doesn’t look like the photo the cop has, he can write you a ticket. Simple as that.”

(This is in the “Crackdown on Illegal Modifications” thread which I incorrectly referred to as a “sticky”.)

The context is slightly different but I suspect the same MO is being applied.

Perhaps NOW you’ll take this SERIOUSLY?[/quote]

Ok, point taken.

But, seriously, it’s not a performance modification…I don’t see how/why a simple half-fairing conversion would make any difference.

I’m not seeing llary having any problems with mine…PM me and we’ll see about getting the RZ riders together to source a fairing for you. But as I mentioned earlier, it’s not so much the fairing itself so much as that pesky upper fairing mounting bracket that rusts itself into oblivion and is impossible to find.

Now, you are claiming I have little experience dealing with these matters…I beg to differ after owning more than two dozen vehicles here over the last two full decades.

Go back to the DMV…Tell them your situation; ie the parts for the original are no longer manufactured and haven’t been since 1993.

If they still won’t budge then start hitting the junkyards…I found several parts that way.

I might know somebody that still has one…Let me give him a call and get back to you. Also, I have one speed pipe for an RZ, free to good home including muffler.

Providing I still get to call you Edithglow of course. :smiley:

They’ve definitely gotten a lot stricter, in Kaohsiung anyway. When I bought my RZR 2 years ago, they didn’t even look at it. Just went in with the previous owner, transferred the papers, and that was that.

When I sold it in August, just before I left Taiwan, it had to go through the whole checkup. This involved checking out a stock RZR picture on their computer system, and checking my bike ALL OVER veeeerryy carefully. They asked me if I had changed anything on the bike, said no, they checked over it again, and gave it the OK (this was after I had taken my speed pipe off and put the stocker back on…good thing I kept that)

If you go to yahoo.com.tw auction and browse for NSR150s, pretty much all of them have aftermarket bodywork (which is generally a lot cooler looking than the ugly, chunky KYMCO fairing & tailpiece). Not to mention that most of them seem to have performance pipes. I’m guessing there’s no way they’ll pass the licence transfer inspection, not without a bribe or two anyway.

Stop calling me Edith Glow

Well, as the title and text suggests, the post was intended as a warning for those who still have these machines (OK, and a bit of a whine as well).

I THINK this might be a NEW DEVELOPMENT.[/quote]Right. AFAIK they’ve only recently started this practice of comparing bikes to pictures of stock ones.

Aparently, sometime before I purchased my bike, the handle bars had been changed - not really that noticeable a difference really.
They sent me packing and told me to come back with the correct shape handle bars. $1,200NT later and alot of hassle saw me through the bike test.

And Ed Lithglow, I thought you were Edith Glow as well until I read this thread. You can’t fault anyone for making that mistake. :wink: :laughing:

I think we can cleary see the hand of the local industry here trying to shore up the sales of new bikes. First, you cap the availability of OEM spares for bikes more than a couple of years old. Second, you get the government to require all bikes to completely bog stock, whether there is any impact on safety or function at all. Third, ride that cash cow all the way to the bank.

Sorry, just having a cake/spook moment there. I’m sure it’s all a complete coincidence.

[quote=“MJB”]

Now, you are claiming I have little experience dealing with these matters…I beg to differ after owning more than two dozen vehicles here over the last two full decades.[/quote]

Eh What? Where? Not me guv, nor Edith neither. You show me where I say that and you get a bottle of single malt. However, your two decades was THEN and this is NOW. I think this is a NEW DEVELOPMENT, and as anybody (non-Taiwanese) who’s been to Anping beach area lately could tell you, new developments in Taiwan are often VERY BAD. (I’m not sure Taiwanese notice environmental destruction)

I think this sort of mission is doomed when mounted against any beaurocracy anywhere in the world, (as well as being a linguistic challenge here). My situation isn’t their problem, and its a situation the rules were probably expressly designed to create.

The core of the last discussion went something like:-

Bloke points at fairing on screen, grins, points at the bike and says “Meio” (sorry, dunno the pinyin), then goes all solemn and says “I cannot help you” then grins again.

I point at screen, where it says RZR, then point at bike and write RZX on a piece of paper (though I knew what was coming).

Bloke points at where it says RZR on the bikes registration document. I say “Oh”. could have said “Ah” or “Take me roughly from behind” but I dont think it would have made any difference

Solemn chorus go “We cannot help you” then grin in a “Ygoren, one born every minute” kind of a way. I rabbit on a bit, with mime, etc as you suggest above, and then leave.

[quote=“MJB”]If they still won’t budge then start hitting the junkyards…I found several parts that way.

I might know somebody that still has one…Let me give him a call and get back to you. Also, I have one speed pipe for an RZ, free to good home including muffler.[/quote]

Thats helpful. I might actually have located one locally, but there are “issues” I’ll PM. I think a speed pipe would probably scare the shit out of me though, and I have to doubt I’m a good home, since I may just cut my losses.

Its growing on me, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this whole sorry business

[quote=“redwagon”]I think we can cleary see the hand of the local industry here trying to shore up the sales of new bikes. First, you cap the availability of OEM spares for bikes more than a couple of years old. Second, you get the government to require all bikes to completely bog stock, whether there is any impact on safety or function at all. Third, ride that cash cow all the way to the bank.

Sorry, just having a cake/spook moment there. I’m sure it’s all a complete coincidence.[/quote]

Its very difficult to be too cynical, and often difficult to be cynical enough.

[quote=“Dangermouse”]Aparently, sometime before I purchased my bike, the handle bars had been changed - not really that noticeable a difference really.
They sent me packing and told me to come back with the correct shape handle bars. $1,200NT later and alot of hassle saw me through the bike test.

And Ed Lithglow, I thought you were Edith Glow as well until I read this thread. You can’t fault anyone for making that mistake. :wink: :laughing:[/quote]

Cant I? Can I fault them for miss (or mrs) spelling my second name Lithglow instead then? But I’ll let you off cos you face down taxis. I wouldn’t try that shit at home.

… your tires are black :wink:

… for anyone with concerns about such problems… remember this thread?
http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?t=49294

[quote=“redwagon”]I think we can cleary see the hand of the local industry here trying to shore up the sales of new bikes. First, you cap the availability of OEM spares for bikes more than a couple of years old. Second, you get the government to require all bikes to completely bog stock, whether there is any impact on safety or function at all. Third, ride that cash cow all the way to the bank.

Sorry, just having a cake/spook moment there. I’m sure it’s all a complete coincidence.[/quote]

Once again you have hit the nail on the head. :notworthy:

Good to see that now Taiwan’s crime problems have all been solved the law enforcement agencies are finally tackling the menace of motorbikes with non-standard fairings.

Any collective thoughts/reports on them introducing this mugshot-matching at the annnual / bi-annual inspection?
Retrofitting your way through an ownership tranfer might be a PITA/impractical, but doing it every six months just isn’t on.

I am somewhat surprised not to have heard any discontent from the rather large scooter bling-out parts industry. If the aim of the government is to prevent any modifications or devation from OE spec, then all these manufacturers and importers are going to be in a world of hurt.
Just like the blanket ban on car mods, this is simply half-assed and not thought through. Even in the most anal countries (like Switzerland or the EU) there will some way in which you can get an exception to the type approval regulations. For example, if you have an older vehicle you can apply for veteran registration and the inspection rules are relaxed. If you modify a vehicle you can submit it to a licenced engineer for evaluation, and if it’s passed as safe notes are made in your rego and the new spec is accepted. The system is not there to stifle creativity, but simply ensure that your creativity is not endangering yourself or others.
I can see how adding a non-standard fairing to a bike might endanger yourself if it’s poorly designed or constructed. But taking one off, and replacing parts from another almost identical model? :loco: Pure stupidity.

There’s always the opportunity to make a bit of cash on the side in a situation like this. Buy yourself some old, clapped-out, but totally bog standard bikes, RZXs, RZRs, NSRs etc. Doesn’t matter if they’re running or not, or if they even have an engine in them. Then you can rent out their bodywork, exhausts, fuel caps, handlebars, brake levers, fairing bolts and clips, mirrors, and whatever other miniscule items might fail the “must-be-absolutely-110%-identical-to-my-computer-picture” inspection, to people looking to buy/sell their bikes, or pass the inspections test…

I got my old NSR repainted black. It was originally red. Cop pulled me over after checking my licence plate. He noticed that my bike wasn’t red as the regos stated. I ended up at the cop shop, and it was a nightmare. They broke my double stand, leaning the bike so much. We ended up taking the fairing off to locate the serial number on the engine…

Anyways. It’s easy to go the the registery place and request a color change on your registration. They’ll inspect the bike, and issue a new registration that will show the new color of the bike.

ed,

if the previous owner of the bike is around, I suggest cleaning the spilled oil on the forks, give the bike a quick clean up, get the muffler leak fixed first. Then have the him go back to the registery place to ask for a new rego. Once he has that, transfering the bike will be a piece of cake. If the previous owner isn’t around, then try what MJB suggested, but clean the forks and fix the muffler leak, at least… Chances are if the bike is too beat up looking, they’ll find an excuse not to register it, instead of saying “your bike looks like shit” which would make you lose face. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening, but with an old bike like this, you’d better help the situation a bit… Like I said, a clean up, 200$ paid to a local mechanic to fix the leaking muffler, and you’d be doing a lot better, I think.