Gerald & Clay's Excellent Adventure
October, 2004: Gerald Gardebled and Clay Jones made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Nanchang.










Here now in Clay's own words is an account of the journey:

"Gerald and I had dinner one night with Shen Liang Qing's son and Mr. Wei. It was then and there that we decided to go to Nanchang. I had never been so Gerald invited me along. After checking with the guys in Nanchang it was a go. Leaving on an evening train and taking the only seats left in a VIP room in the most expensive car with its own bathroom, we were on our way. Those folks who bitch about the cost of some dealers' parts may not understand the difference in "cheap or fake" parts as opposed to sought-after PLA or orginal parts. But on this trip I had the pleasure of seeing it all. It may suprise some that few bikes are made in the factory. I think it would cost too much to start and stop the assembly line just for one or two bikes. And for the guys who called the factory and ordered bikes, well, they were likely made in the small streets around Hongdu Mfg. Chang Jiang is truly a cottage industry now and dealers who do not make their own bikes likely have them made in Nanchang. As to the quality, well that depends on how much the dealer wants to pay and the margin of profit he wants to make. In my case I now understand why my sidecar metal is so thin. These shots are just the beginning so hang on to your "Chang Swooshes" as we are about to enter the World of Chang Jiang."







 





"This shop was run by a pretty lady who sold me a gearbox (brand new) with a reverse for a good price—and then on to Mr. Shen's shop where they were building front ends in the back room. These stockrooms went on forever and there were nooks that had parts I have never seen before. Most of the parts used in Nanchang are for the plastic changs leaving all the really great parts for the pickin'. "

 









"This series of photos is very interesting because they show a part from its rusty birth to its somewhat polished finish. As you have seen the assembling of a front end in Mr. Shen's shop, well this is how that assembly begins. With a rough casting that is smoothed and then constructed and welled to form the final part, a leg. Notice that the drain plug doesn't exist anymore in the bottom of the front fork. So to drain the fork oil disassembly of the front forks is now required. This is one of the main factors in the argument that older parts are better than the newly constructed ones. The remarkable thing—this is the factory, small rooms that serve as a manufacturing base for many of the parts that are used in the construction of these bikes." (Be sure to read the essay on Long March MC for additional insight.)



 







"This is the young man I spoke about on Long March MC. These parts were real Chang Jiang parts but this is not the factory. His shop was a little place right next to the shop where pregnant women were making clutch plates. This construction took less than a minute and it was well done. The rubber used in these pucks was of the highest quality. The future of this kind of operation is bleak as the quality rubber pieces will run out of stock someday and he will be forced to use substandard rubber which if you have encountered, you will realize that it doesn't transfer the power to the final drive as well and doesn't last as long."

 









"Whenever Gerald goes to Nanchang he is welcomed by the folks who live and work around Motorcycle Town—the section of the city that extends for several city blocks and has every make and model of bike and the parts used to keep those bikes a-runnin'. At about noon every day these shops close their doors to enjoy the company of each other and some tasty Chinese dishes. Mr. Shen and some of the workers who support Changs got together to welcome us with lunch. Mr. Wei and I followed Gerald and Mr. Shen to a restaurant while everyone talked about the history of the Chang Jiang. These guys really respect Gerald's knowledge of this bike and often, while we ate, there were highly animated conversations about different versions and subtle changes from year to year in the production of Chang Jiang 750s. Lunch is more than a meal in China—with a good amount of the deals that take place later being struck while great amounts of food are distributed and consumed."
 







"When some of the companies that produced products for Chang Jiang went under the courts ordered their equipment sold. This gave the "cottage industries" the opportunity to buy the tooling and begin production on their own, thus allowing further production of the motorcycle when existing stock ran low. The problem again is that quality can suffer because in an effort to cut corners, thinner sheet metal is used and production quality has no specs to abide by. This tooling is for the headlight and is in storage, not currently being used."
 











"These shops have back rooms that go on forever with lofts made out of logs and boxes full of all kinds of parts that include some racing tanks of the sort recently spotted around Beijing. I also found a box of old, used short three-ring pistons and Gerald found a 6V OHV case. Shipping is done on carts and if you look closely you can see the front end that was constructed earlier on its way to complete a Chang for some customer somewhere in China."

















 







"Mr Shen has a working companion that I call "Pipeman" and we asked Mr. Shen to call him so we could have him do some work for us. Gerald has had some requests for "crossovers" and I wanted to try them on the new 6V that I am building. So we went in search of PLA pipes due to their quality and the "trueness" in which they line up with the mounting bolts. Finding only a few pairs left we quickly grabbed them and with Mr. Shen's grandson made our way to the shop to turn them into the magic "crossovers". Most of them are spoken for already but there may be a couple pairs left. If anyone is interested they should hurry because these PLA pipes are getting rare. There are few fabricators left that can do the job of "The Pipeman From Nanchang".
 







"Finally the whirlwind parts hunt was drawing to an end and it was time to ship the boxes of parts, not to mention what we took back on the plane. Yeah, getting quality parts takes a lot in transportation costs and shipping that few builders would take the time to seek out and acquire. I was sure that we would go over our limit on the plane with our bag full of metal parts. You should have seen the look on the faces of the folks that load the bags at the airport. This was a great experience for me and Gerald has promised me soon that we would take another trip to a place where there are even more goodies. And you can bet I will take a lot of cash."



 



 
A few Changs were spotted on the streets of Nanchang, mostly modern versions. This one still has a sidevalve engine though...
...but this one has an OHV.
And this is a lovely M1M with loads of character. Now I ask you—how could anyone not love a bike like this?
 
A visit with the CJ Godfather himself, Mister Shen.
Clay, Shen and a very rare bike.
It's a CJ dirt racer.
Hey, what's this?
It's powered by an OHV engine marked CJ-750X.
Even the valve covers are marked Chang Jiang, but the engine is in reality a BMW in disguise! (See the CJU engines page for more information on these particular engines.)
 
That looks like it might be a BMW final drive.
 
Look at the forks on this thing!
Old Number Five.
 
From another CJ rarity, this tag mounted on a 6V OHV casing. It says CJ-750E, 30 HP, Xiang Jiang Ji Qi Chang. Wow!
 
Looking at all those CJ parts made Gerald sleepy.
 






Here's a selection of low-resolution images from Shen's factory. You can contact him through Clay at:

hclayjones@yahoo.com