Chang Jiang



Freddie B. from California (Newest images are at the top of the page)

	Fred started CJ Parts Depot in San Jose. He had his second and third CJs built by our friend Shao at CJ Sidecar in Beijing. What a happy looking family. It's hard not to be envious!

	Back in November, I organized my annual bike purchase where I got 12 bikes to fill a container. All bikes were built by Shao > CJS, and as always, he outdid himself once again. Each bike was sorted out in Los Angeles and delivered to its perspective owner - so more photos to come on this.
	My bike is a WWII outfit theme bike with one of Shao's custom trailers. I only had time to sort everything out and clean the bike this weekend because I've been traveling a lot these days. I will have to give you my review in a later post. All I can say is that this bike has all the goodies. Shao pulled out all the stops!
	For now, enjoy the photos... and guess what he found for me! In a few hours I'll be leaving for work again. This time in Las Vegas. If time permits, I''m hoping to meet up with Trashy. Perhaps I'll have some photos to share with you guys when I get back. ;-)


February 19, 2008
	Culinary extraordinaire, Chef Dave (northshorebistro.com) gives his nieces a ride around the Mequon property in Wisconsin. Notice the Bruce Lee T-shirt to stay with the Chinese theme. Dave received his bike last summer from Shao and has clocked over 1800km. Most of it has been his daily drive to and from work. His CJ is very special to his nieces as they were both born in China. The smiles on their faces sure tell it all. Hey, Dave... where are the helmets???
November 1, 2007
				Now available! Iron-on patches, hats and tank badges! E-mail for information: cjpartsdepot.usa@gmail.com
June 26, 2007
			"Aloha! I would like to introduce to you Richard McGern. He is a true Hawaiian and lives in Maui. Yes... there is a CJ in Maui!! How cool is that? Richard tells me that he bought his CJ from Shao at CJS and what a small world indeed. He said he is the only CJ owner out there and wishes there were more. He lives on the other side of Maui away from the tourist area and it's a hidden treasure. His home sits just one block from the local beach which is next to the only true links golf course on the Island... which I may add only the locals go. This past weekend, Richard was kind enough to show me around the beach area on his CJ and it was gorgeous. He then proceeded to take me into town for a Sunday brunch where we were greeted with a lot of "Shaka" signs from all the locals that enjoyed looking at his bike. Shaka is the sign for "hanging loose" as demonstrated by me... a sign of hello, peace, thumbs up, way to go, etc. Mahalo, Fred"
June 23, 2007
	"Today I decided to enjoy the great weather we've been having by riding my CJ up to the Santa Cruz Mountains and back. The scenery was beautiful and breathtaking. My CJ built by CJS (Shao) ran beautifully throughout my trip and as you can see from the photos below, this place is absolutely gorgeous."

June 18, 2007
	"Take a look at this old style petcock that I found in China. Unfortunately, the CJ warehouse owner did not know what bike it was made for or its history. I totally forgot about it until I was looking for a petcock for a customer friend. The packaging was still sealed in its original packing with some type of oily preservative inside. The body of the petcock is made of all brass with a brass mesh filter screen to block any debris from going into the carbs. The mesh screen is more than adequate to filter out any debris from getting into the carbs. Plus, It also has a reserve reservoir. Now, how cool is that? This petcock is very unique because it doesn't have any rubber or paper seals inside... all brass and so far no leaks. The hose fitting on the petcock also matches the fitting off my K37 24mm carbs. It looks like they were made in a similar fashion. Also you can see from my pictures that a nylon "Y" fitting was included and to be used on dual carbs. I replace that nylon "Y" fitting for an upgraded brass fitting in its place. I've seen similar petcocks from old vintage motorcycles but never on a CJ. The best thing about this petcock is that its a perfect fit on my old CJ gas tank (with female thread opening) and it hasn't leaked. " [Leaky petcocks were a big nuisance when I first started messing around with CJ750s. It seemed like whatever I replaced them with was just as crappy as the one being replaced, so I made one from brass doodads from a hardware store. It had no plastic or rubber parts and it never leaked a drop! The one Freddie has is very similar.]
	Gerald sheds some light on Freddie's unusual brass petcock. It's actually for a Donghai 750 but works just fine with a CJ. Be sure to look at the enlarged image as it shows the entire fuel tank.
April 24, 2007
			What the %$#@?! Freddie didn't tell me very much about these pictures except that this CJ is powered by an electric motor and the batteries are in the sidecar. I'd love to know more about this thing!
April 12, 2007
			These fine tonneau sidecar covers are now available from CJ Parts Depot
March 3, 2007
		Happy Chinese New Year! Yesterday I had the pleasure of having lunch with Richard Cook from the CJ Experience board. He just received a red OHV from China Sidecar. (Welcome to the brotherhood!). I thought it would nice to meet a fellow enthusiast especially since he lives near me in Northern California. We had a great time chatting about our interest and of course our passion for CJs. He had plenty of questions about the bikes but is by no means a stranger to wrenching. In fact, he taught me a thing or two. His experience on Triumphs and Nortons gave him the intuition that his forks needed servicing. As you can see from the pictures he had no problems and was able to identify the problem right off the bat. The bushings were bad and needed to be replaced. Unfortunately I couldn't help him. It's not a common part for me to carry so I referred him to Gerald and Marcus at LRM. Luckily for Richard, they had the part! In fact, it came from Marcus's personal supply. Marcus has been building his personal PLA bike for some time now but he felt that he didn't need the part as urgently as Richard did—so he dismantled his fork and removed the new bushings that he recently installed and sent it to Richard! Now THAT is service! This just shows how this group and its sponsors are willing to help a fellow enthusiast in need. Once Richard gets back on the road, we are planning to meet at a famous motorcycle hot spot (and world-known) "Alice's Restaurant". Stay tuned....
February 17, 2007
		Here's an e-mail from Fred: "Johan and Zelda Minnaar-Nel and with their riding buddies Nic and Talitha Loveday. They say that a CJ is a great bike to ride in South Africa with their fine weather and beautiful scenery. I guess that is another vacation spot I'll have to try. Count me in!" [Fred's CJ tank badges can be found just about everywhere!]
February 1, 2007
			"Take a look at these awesome tools I was able to acquire from Gerald at LRM. A "must have" to service your own CJ for a clutch and main seal replacement. Who else can in North America? The best is the alignment tool for the clutch plates. It would be very difficult to do such a job without it. Every CJ owner should own a set as part of their took kit and Gerald has them in stock." [And check out Freddie's arrow, another North American first!]
January 22, 2007
	"Look!!! It's Santa and his two elves. This is my friend Wayne and his lovely wife Patty....aka Santa's helpers and Don aka... Santa. These were taken recently at the Burlingame holiday parade and Wayne had two of his CJs there as part of the parade. Wayne is a proud owner of two CJs and has another one on its way. I guess being Santa's helper has its benefits!! Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings! Fred Balanay
December 24, 2006
	I just received a set of Fred's tank badges. These babies are GREAT! Looks like I need another bike so I can use them.
December 11, 2006
	2006 holiday wishes from the Balanays!
December 8, 2006
	Freddie's new CJS bike has arrived in San Jose and is seen here posing with his other one. Feast your eyes on that sweet looking tank badge that he had made.. You can get some just like it for your bike. Just contact Fred.
November 14, 2006
	"Well my bike is finally finished! Yes, I purchased another CJ. This now makes three that I've owned but who's counting? My passion for M1 22HP 6V flatheads lead me to purchase another bike from Shao at CJS. He really knows how to build these bikes to my specifications. This time I wanted something that will show its Chinese heritage so I decided on a PLA military green CJ. I've always admired this color very much so a month prior to my trip I had Shao start building me one. I knew it wasn't going to be done when I arrived but it was close. I even had a chance to ride it while I was there. Now how cool was that? Being able to test ride prior to its completion! In a few more days it will be ready for shipment and then the long journey to the States. I can hardly wait!"
August 3, 2006
	"Check out Jim Bryant's new ride. He scored a great find just 30 minutes away from my house. This bike and sidecar is almost exactly as the one he used his Europe to Beijing trip but in black. After some fine tuning we had a chance to sit down at a local cafe to have dinner. We had lots to talk about including our common interest in motorcycles. I was so envious to hear some of the rides he has done. I wished we had more time but shortly after our meal he had to get back on the road heading east to New Hampshire. I road alongside him on my Harley for about 30 minutes until we had to split on our own separate ways. He is indeed a great guy and I look forward to meeting up with him again someday."
May 23, 2006
	"The last couple of weekends, we finally had some great weather. It motivated me to to pull my CJ out and really give it a thorough tune up. I also replaced my wheel bearings and cleaned the drums. It sure made a BIG difference and I'm ready for the season. This past weekend, my youngest daughter and I had our monthly lunch date. She requested that we take the CJ and go to her favorite hamburger place, McDonald's. Afterwards, we cruised all over town in search for the perfect ice cream shop and later played at the park. It was a fantastic and memorable day."
May 2, 2006
	"I want to introduce you to Todd Slaughter. He lives in Monterey, California. He just received his bike from Shao. I helped him pick it up from US Customs where we had a little problem loading the crate into the trailer. The tailgate was not wide enough! Todd is one of America's finest—a solider, ready, willing and able. And it was just that. As soon as he received notice that his shipment was ready to be picked up, he got into his car right after work and came to my house, uniform and all! Time was of the essence since it was late Friday afternoon. We rented a trailer and headed to the Oakland port. Lucky for us, Todd's uniform made a big difference! The customs agent cleared him without a hitch—whoa! I was so surprised how fast the process went. No questions asked (well, only military type talk. ) It took us only less than ten minutes. Loading the crate because of the type of trailer we rented took the longest. We didn't unpack the bike at my house so Toddpromises to send more pictures for the unveiling. "
May 27, 2005
1 2 3	"Attached is Xiaogang Ji’s bike built by Shao. He is from Dallas, Texas and he asked me to forward these pictures of his bike to you. What makes his bike so unique are the three Chinese quotes. I really like what he did. He said two are his own personal quotes and the other is from Mao. (Or is it the other way around?) Either way, his Chang Jiang means business! 1. On top of the sidecar the words mean The most romantic guy is here 2. On the side of the sidecar words mean The world is mine, also is yours, but in the final analysis is still mine. Hope entrust on me. 3. On the side of the gas tank it says Man invited love, Woman invited marriage, Me? I invited riding sidecar!
January 21, 2006
	"Last weekend I had a chance to visit Eric Wolf from Alhambra, California. He just received his bike from Shao and I had a chance to see his ride. Well, as you can see from his smile, he is a new proud owner of an OHV Chang Jiang. We went for a spin around town and he was amazed on the response he got from onlookers. We got a lot of thumbs up as well as guys asking how they can get one. I got a feeling we will be seeing more Changs in Alhambra soon. Congratulations Eric! Welcome to the world of Chang Jiang. "
January 20, 2006
	"I thought you might be interested in seeing this M72's electronic ignition. It is different from the ones I've seen from other similar setups. If this bike looks familiar, it is the same bike you posted from eBay a few days ago. The motor has a lot of goodies in it and it was spotless. His 12 volt conversion was very nice and it didn't ruin the esthetics of its look. This guy did a great job!"
November 16, 2005
	"I sold my black Chang Jiang this past weekend. Here are some memorable photos from last November 2004, shortly after receiving it from Shao. This CJ was definitely a looker and a crowd pleaser. "
November 9, 2005
	"This is my friend and coworker John Hosier from Dallas, Texas. He is a proud new owner of a Shao-built bike. This week I was in Dallas on business and I had a chance to visit John and his family. Not only did I see his family but I did get a chance to see and ride his Chang Jiang M1 750 6V. Wow! His bike is a beauty. Shao did a great job in making it look like a BMW R71 replica."

October 28, 2005
	"My 22HP PLA bike rode great today! Shao did a great job building my bike. I went 200km at the cruising speed of 80 km/h (50mph). My homemade gauge read between 206-215° F (96.6-101.6° C) all day long. I had no problems at all. It certainly makes a big difference when you properly tune these bikes. For non-believers of PLA quality, you will never know what you are missing. Well, maybe a good ride."
October 3, 2005
	Oops. Fred's sidecar taillight fell off in traffic. Before he could pick it up, SMOOOSH! Fred's now thinking about a Model A conversion. Bummer.
June 24, 2005
	Here they both are, Fred's two CJS bikes. Like many of us, Fred's partial to the old 6V flatties. Just look at all that carrying capacity! As a matter of fact, the box in the sidecar of the grey bike contains a gearbox for a very similar grey 6V CJ—mine1
June 14, 2005
	"I finally got my bike and Shao did a fantastic job! I was impressed that she looked better than the pictures that Shao sent a month ago. Other than waiting for her to arrive, everything else was a breeze including US customs. Please give your readers my e-mail address and I will be happy to answer some of their questions about my experience. As you can see, I purchased a lot of spare parts to last me a while. I even bought a spare motor and trans. The only thing I didn't get were rims and drums. Other than that, I think I have it in stock. I will send more pictures, as soon as I get her running this Memorial weekend. I can't wait. Best regards, Fred"
May 27, 2005
	Two CJS bikes on their way to the dock—Fred's and MINE!
April 18, 2005
	A last peek at Silver Sled II before she starts her journey across the Pacific. That's Shao in the second picture—giving us an appropriate thumbs up. I have a feeling he's going to miss this bike... but I say that about all of them. See the rear fender reflector in the third picture? You can't help but notice how it enhances the effect of the red pinstriping. Such a small detail, yet it does a lot for the look of these bikes. It's also an authentic vintage CJ item which makes it all the more cool. In the fifth picture you can see how sharp the polished final drive looks. Also, see what you think of the powder coated black exhaust system. I think it looks fantastic. In less than four short weeks Fred will be riding around on this bike! You know he can hardly wait!
March 28, 2005
	Looks like the Silver Sled II is complete and ready to sail on that very slow boat from China. (It may not really be that slow, but it will certainly seem like it to Fred while he patiently waits for his new bike to arrive.) Terrific bike, Shao!
March 28, 2005
	Fred calls his new CJ Silver Sled II and in this picture it's nearing completion. In fact it should be shipping within the next week or so.
	The headlamp bucket with an early type ignition switch.
	And a nicely polished SV motor with a mirror-like finish.
	A vintage spark advance lever too!
	With the sidecar attached and the ammo boxes installed. This bike uses a sidecar tailight on the bike fender which is how CJs were originally equipped.
	M72-style sidecar frame! Fred also went with a toolbox fuel tank which looks superb.
	Enlarge these images to see the red pinstriping on this bike.
March 28, 2005
	This is what we start with. It's a 1960 M1 with an M72 style sidecar frame.
	The sidecar after being stripped. You can still see remnants of the CJ750 emblem if you look closely.
	The famous M72-style sidecar frame with the arch that goes over the fender.
	From another angle, after sand blasting.
	A toolbox gas tank being prepped for new paint.
	Ditto on the sidecar bucket. Fred says the color he has chosen will be a surprise. (It's not going to black.)
	This is a later Type II engine as indicated by the location of the dipstick.
March 6, 2005
	By the way, Fred is no stranger to bikes. How about this 40th birthday surprise? That's right—a brand new Harley!