COVER STORY
China White
Author: Steven R. LaPlume
An American racer gets Shanghaied
I love motorcycles; including racing, tuning and everything about them. In fact, I even restore and resell vintage military motorcycles. (See www.marquass.com) I began racing on the street at age 16 but finally took it to the track (Willow Springs) back in 1987. Without a doubt this was the best decision I ever made. While in the United States, I raced with a bunch of clubs, including AMA, CCS, AFM, WSRA and others that I can’t even remember anymore which are probably long gone anyway. I just turned 46 and have been riding motorcycles now for a full 30 years.
 If the story I’m about to tell seems familiar, you’ve probably run across my posts before. I hang out on a lot of Internet forums, known either as ChinaSteve or China_Racer_1. One thing has led to another in my life. My family and I had a chance to move to China about 5 years ago, so we packed up and relocated to Shanghai. When I arrived here, the first thing I did was go looking for a racetrack. I found that there were some trackdays but it was nothing like the way things are in the USA. The bikes were mostly 150cc 2-strokes, which are very common here. Not many were race prepped. In fact, some were street machines that had been ridden to the track.
 Let me explain the differences between what I know to be a Western track day and what it’s like here in China. I’ll need to mix in a bit of racing as well, since over here the two are pretty intertwined. Most of the riders I see at these trackdays are either racers or wanna-be racers. As far as bikes go, it’s absolutely “Run what you brung.” Sure it’s that way in the USA but at least you have rules, such as being required to tape up the lights and mirrors for example. Anything goes here. Even in a local club race sponsored by the track there are no rules, no tech inspection; nothing more than a rider’s meeting to let you know what the flags mean. Aside from that there are no holds bared. It’s dangerous, stupidly dangerous in many cases.
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