Chang Jiang

And the hits keep coming from China… Another one from 444 design.

Things are picking up over there…

Hi,

I was fu…in proud when i found the pics of my silver Boxer-Bobber “El Diablo” on your homepage October 29th.

Pics and your comment were pretty cool.
“El Diablo” was my project No. 4
I gathered some pics of my 1st chinese custom bike “Black Widow”.
It is again a more “old scoolish” bike like “El Diablo” also. This bike was the very first which i customized and was finished in February 2009.
Following the philosophie: “A bikers work is never done” i added some more odd’s and end’s since then until i got to this final stage.
All overall i did the following modifications:
– frame sandblasted and rewelded
– Harley Footboards
– handmade handlebar
– imported frontlight
– FORD A taillight
– license plate moved to left
– custom turn indicators
– custom cockpit/gauges
– custom leather framebag
– custom exhaust
– imported carbs
– 16 inch rims
– tailor made spokes
– imported tyres
– handmade seat
– imported seatsprings
– handmade tailfender (was made out of a old plain fender with added sideskirts)
“Black Widow” ain’t one of those “Show and Shiny” rides but my daily driver which i use to get to the office almost each day.
She runs with a standard chinese 24hp Boxer Engine which is pretty reliable and already has several thousand kilometers on the clock.
With this bike i built up the first Chang in whole China running on 16inch rims which – in my opinion – gives better handling as well as a much better look than with those 19″ wheels usually used on the bikes.
Meanwhile i work on project No. 07 and No. 08.

If you are interested i will keep you updated.
Greetz from China!

PS…

Maybe you can mention my facebook account somewhere – actually i’m too stupid to set up a link.
My facebook alias is “Thomas Chang Jiang”
Thomas
http://www.4444-Chang-Jiang-Design.com

Thanks and heck Yeah I’m interested. Keep em coming!

Another Bandit 9 Home Run all the way from China!

It takes a lot of confidence to start building customs in a place like China and Daryl Villanueva, of Bandit 9 motorcycles has his second sweet build with the Magnus. As regular readers may recall we were introduced to Daryl with his first build, a Chang Jiang 750 called Loki in another recent post. And it looks like he’s continuing his theme of original and great looking customs that really do look like you could spend on them. By the way I love your paint “technique” on this one and I REALLY like the small touches like that gascap!

Another stunner Daryl. And please keep them coming!

A lot of people have taken notice of our first project, Loki. We received very positive and constructive feedback. Now with more experience here in China, we wanted to reinvent the Chang Jiang. We’re happy to present our second bike, Magnus, the second bike to roll out of Bandit9.

One of the coolest things about Magnus is it’s colour. We couldn’t go with a regular paint job since the bike’s personality needed something special. I wanted to get an appearance no other shop could replicate, which is especially important in China. I took a blowtorch and lit the tank, frame and fork on fire. After clearing the burnt outer layer, what was left was this organic pattern on the metal. The tank has a really unusual stone-like look.

The form of the bike is very different from the usual Chang Jiang. I wanted Magnus to look and to feel much lighter than the bulky style the CJ750’s often have. By taking off the back fender the bike is more sleek and agile. The seat position flows with the lines of the bike, so you can’t even see it when you’re riding it.

I’m always looking for ways to simplify and my bikes. Most CJ750’s have so many extra pieces that really don’t need to be there. I want to keep only the essentials and throw out the rest. The smaller custom air filter gives the bike’s profile a nice void. I used the same short style exhausts from Loki, this time with a chrome finish. The exposed chrome suspension gives the bike a nice finish. I’ve never seen twin headlights on a CJ, so its definitely a new touch for the bike. I took the speedometer from the original CJ headlight and used the dial by itself. The rough edges of it add to the rawness of the bike.

I had to get creative to make every inch of Magnus special, since resources are very limited here in China. I used an old crank shaft to redesign the gas cap. It’s really unique and gives it a steampunk look. It’s probably my favorite aspect of Magnus.

We hope Magnus will bring Bandit9 beyond the motorcycle world and into the realm of art. Our new site is up – www.banditnine.com – a special thanks to Niamh Daly for taking care of the site. Loki and Magnus are now officially for sale; details on the site. Bandit #3 is on the way.

Another fantastic customized Chang Jiang from China!

Thomas from China writes in with another excellent custom from China! When I read this it reminds me how good we have it here in the US. There are more parts and shops and catalogs than we know what to do with and I still catch myself grumbling impatiently on occasion from impatience. The I see a bike like this built in a country where ther is literally almost no custom support structure and I have to just shut my mouth.

Quite frankly, this is an amazing build all the more so because of where it’s from. Really excellent work!

Hi there!

Just found your article about LOKI – the modified chinese Chang Jiang …

Of course customizing scene here in China is pretty poor – not so
many people work on “real” customs but just on changing colors and
things.

Parts are hard to come bye – although a lot of the customizing stuff
sold somewhere else is produced in Taiwan – not so far but still
difficult to import from there.

I’ve been working on Chang Jiang bikes since 4 years doing all kind of
modifications – all in my off-time.

Such business not pays the rent but is more just for fun and see how
far you can go with those oldstyle Changs.

Meanwhile i add up to 5 “real” what i call “custom-bike”.

Build up some more rides anyway but they where more or less standard
Chang Jiangs.

Find attached some pics of my latest project “El Diablo” which was
just finished.

Main changes i did was to shift tailwheel to 16 inch rim, custom-made tailfender (the sheetmetal-work was a pain in the ass), custom-tank with gasoline gauge, relocated battery and exhaust and a lot of other mods.

I would be really proud to also find some pics of my creations on “Motorcycle Photo …”!

Thumbs up for the job you do.

Thomas in Beijing

—
http://www.4444-Chang-Jiang-Design.com

A Chang Jiang 750 built by Bandit9. Fantastic build from a new custom builder based in China.

Daryl Villanueva writes in with some information on his new venture. I really like this bike. Nice balanced lines and I bet it’s an excellent rider. Very well done.

Hello!
I’m Daryl Villanueva, an advertising creative director and motorcycle designer. I’ve just moved to Beijing and opened up my own motorcycle design company – Bandit9. Anyway, I wanted to share my very first build, Bandit #1: Loki, with your readers. Feel free to use the pics attached. Loki is a customized Chang Jiang 750, an old chinese military model that usually comes as a sidecar.

This was the guinea pig of the company just to see how far I can stretch my ideas in China. The language barrier makes it tough to create the perfect parts…but I’m learning to work within the box. I expect the next Bandit9 bike to kick some ass.

You can check out my temporary website and blog:
http://cargocollective.com/bandit9
http://bandit9.tumblr.com

Daryl

Chinese Chang Jiang CJ750 M1M. A close relative to the BMW1938 R71

I get a kick out of all the different “family trees” there are to the old BMW’s. It seems like after the war there were quite a few versions of some variation or another being built. Here is a gorgeous example of the Chinese model sent in by Bur Zeratsky who writes in:

Here is a photo of my Chinese Chang Jiang CJ750 M1M. This bike is a current production version of the BMW R71 from 1938. The story goes that the Germans sent their tooling to Russia after the war, where they produce Urals & Dnepr’s to the same design. Sometime later, the Russians sent the tooling to china, where the CJ750 is produced today.

Year of origin is uncertain. A good friend had it shipped here several years ago directly from China. After tinkering with it for a while, he decided to let it go and my wife was kind enough to present it to me as a 25th wedding anniversary gift. After additional tinkering by another good friend, Paul Crowe, which included the removal of 3 entire sheets of chinese newspaper lining the inside of the gas tank, it now runs like a top.
Hope you enjoy!
Bur Zeratsky

That’s Great stuff Bur. You have a great wife and a true friend there! Thanks Much!