Actually, the Chang Jiang bikes were made from the original BMW tooling that the Russians captured in WWII with the fall of Berlin. While old Ike and Monty were dancing in the streets, slapping each other on the back for what Ia fine job they'd done, Stalin's boys drew the line in the sand and took East Berlin where the BMW factory was laying, nearly untouched.
A Chang today, if it was built as a military bike and not a flimsy civilian bike from the NanChang factory, can be QUITE a ride. They are too simple to be unreliable - much like our beloved Enfields! If they are right, they'll run forever with maintenance - like an Enfield. They ARE as slow as glacial motion - ask anyone who patiently followed me in Rolla on my Dnepr - but they only had to be a little faster than the tanks they were scouting for!! Hahahaha!! (What do you call a slow motorcycle in the Infantry? Crunchy ....
) The REALLY cool thing is that you won't ever see one at a "bike night" - and an old patina'd CJ (or Enfield) will draw a BIGGER crowd than a noisy, chrome-plated, skulls and cross-bones painted V-Twin. You know - it's why we ride these silly old oddballs - WE are delightfully different, yet unrefined ....