Hi from eastern Europe

[Vlad87]

Hi,

I've been lurking ChinaRiders for some time, and finally decided to register and say hello after i bought a chinese bike last week. I'm Vladimir (Vlad), a Russian guy living in Republic of Moldova (Black sea region), turning 34 this month . Got a motorcycle license last september, and that's my first ride.

It's a road bike, a sort of early 1980's Honda CM clone, with a CG 200cc single cylinder pushrod engine (164fml), and some manufacturer-added cruiser-style elements, like passenger backrest and chromed headlight with fog lights, that were not present on original bikes. It's a very cheap ride, bought it new from the "dealership" (actually, a small shop selling farm tools, diesel generators, and small tractors) for around 1300 USD.

Honestly, quality is fully matching the price - everything is quite cheap and, apart from the engine, not perfectly assembled, but, waiting for a riding season to start, i have read enough to be prepared for the pros\cons of owning a chinese bike, and while i can't say i have serious mechanical skills (previously, worked on bicycles only), i'm not afraid and really looking forward to get hands greasy, so, currently learning to do all the maintenance, fixes, etc..

Going to add photos tomorrow ) I have some questions that i'm planning to post in the corresponding forums, and i hope to be useful to CR community as well.

Wishing everyone a good weekend!

[JerryHawk250]

Welcome aboard!

[franque]

Welcome, we're happy to help! We don't get too many Moldovans around here

[Biker_Andy]

Nice to have someone from your region. Honestly I didn't even know Moldova existed sandwiched in between Romania and Ukraine. Glad to learn something new. I bet you see a fair bit of Russian built vehicles their. I'd love to get ahold of a Taurus 2 or perhaps a Hamyak https://mikeshouts.com/hamyak-all-te...ed-motorcycle/

[cheesy]

Hiya, and welcome aboard. I find your part of the world fascinating. I don't know if I will ever get there to visit, though.

[Vlad87]

Hey, thanks for a warm welcome, everyone!

Biker_Andy, we still do have a share of old soviet or modern russian vehicles, but not as much as it used to be 20 or even 10 years ago. Lada's role as affordable "people's car" is taken by Dacia Logan (Romanian-build Renault Logan), and some other european brands. Most motorcycles are second-hand Japanese, along with some european (mostly BMWs, some Ducattis, Moto Guzzis, and maybe an occasional Triumph). Few Harleys. There are at least two owners clubs that specialize in old soviet bikes, like Urals & Dniepers (old ones, not the modern Gear Up) or middle-weights like Izsh's, Jawas and Voskhods, but both of them are relatively small (although, high technical knowledge, experience, membership rules and organization makes them look more like american MCs in some ways). You can also find a lot of old soviet equipment in the countryside, mostly in the "meh" condition, but sometimes there is a rare gem that really begs for restoration ))) Chinese bikes are also mostly owned by countryside youth, so, as a city guy in his 30s, i'm more of an exception )

For some time between summer of 2016 and fall of 2018 i lived in south Russia - a port city of Novorossiysk (Krasnodar region). Due to the different demographics, financial situation, more developed road infrastructure, the whole road culture is completely different over there, and in some ways, much more closer to American - a lot of different cars, from european and japanese subcompacts to huge SUVs, from vintage cars to european supercars or american muscle cars, and of course, whole lot of motorcycles here and there, several custom shops, etc. Unfortunately, there is no such vehicle diversity in Moldova.

As far as i know, Russia still produces few offroad, all-terrain bikes and quads like the ones you mentioned, and judging from the videos i saw, they must be fun to ride )
Road motocycle manufacturing nowadays is limited to Chinese import assembling (Baltmotors, Stels, Wels, and some other companies), but i must note that in total, Russians and Ukrainians have more interesting Chinese model line available, compared to what imported to Moldova. And of course, Irbit Motorcycle Plant still producing a limited ammount of Gear Up's every year (cheesy, btw, do you still own one?).

Hope that this little post will shed some light on the current state of local road culture, and if anyone of you will ever find himself in these parts, just contact me ) I'm no professional guide (and frankly speaking, one of the reasons for buying a bike was to explore that little country i live in, but have little knowledge of, apart from capital of Chisinau/Kishinev), but i will help you in any way possible )

Speaking of the bike, spent this weekend wrenching my little donkey with the help of a friend, mostly fixing some minor flaws, like removing rust points, fixing backlashes, etc. Didn't took any pictures because of the rainy weather, and the fact that, i somehow managed to empty the battery today (i think, because i stalled in the city several times after i got the bike, and used electric starter too often), and still haven't got used to CG's kickstarter, so i left the bike at friends place until tomorrow, when i'll put charged battery back.

[Sport Rider]

Welcome! There's lots of good chinese stuff if they allow import there. Our importing here in the states is somewhat limited because of our laws. I hope this one works out well for you.

how much do the new gear up's go for over there?

[Biker_Andy]

In Canada we are severely limited by the amount of Chinese bikes that are street legal. Too small of a population that Chinese importers don't bother going through the hassle to make their bike legal here. We have lots of Chinese dirt bikes but that's about it other than CSC. So in that sense Moldova sounds like Canada loosing the selection that it's neighbors have.