Welcome to Chang Jiang Collective

This site is dedicated to sharing information about the Chang Jiang 750, the sidecar motorcycle produced in various forms for China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) from 1957 to today.

The Chang Jiang 750 is descended from the 1938 BMW R71, by way of the Soviet army's M72. The Chang Jiang 750 comes in three models, the M1 (22hp, 6v, sidevalve), the M1M (24hp, 12v, sidevalve), and the M1S (aka M1 Super) (32hp, 12v, over-head valve). The Chang Jiang 750 is owned by enthusiasts around the world, who enjoy this living, organic connection to the design and technology of the 1930s and 1940s.

These bikes are in need of considerable and ongoing care, and this site covers everything you need to know, from the history of the bike, to the purchasing of a bike, to the importation/registration of a bike, to the assembly of the bike, to the periodic maintenance, to troubleshooting, and much more...

The Chang Jiang Collective is so named because it is community-built and community-driven. Through the help of many in the CJ community we have compiled the most complete collection of technical documents, the most complete history, and we are adding new content every day. Built upon a powerful custom 'wiki' engine we wrote, almost every page in this entire site can be edited by you, the visitor and CJ owner. You can help us become better.

So, welcome to our site, let us know what you think!

And of course our friends in the vintage motorcycle community are welcome, whether yours is a BMW R71, BMW R75, M72, K750, KMZ, Dnepr, Ural, Irbit, IMZ, Yangtsze, or other! We share a common passion.

Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved. Chang Jiang Collective / Besiex / B. 'Quincy' Cabell