CSC Blog

Several of you have asked what the capacity difference is between our $849.95 Tourfella accessory bags and the RX3’s stock bags.    We have a set of Tourfellas in stock right now, I found a tape measure earlier today, and here we go…

I guess I should mention that all dimensions are approximate…I was eyeballing the tape as I was doing this and trying to account for measurement parallax as best I could.  On the Tourfella bags, they won’t have that big gaudy “Tourfella” red label on them (this was just a set I photographed in China).   The aluminum Tourfella bags are elegant and they are very well constructed.   On the Tourfella bags, the left and the right bag are identical.  They are a heck of a deal at $849.95.

The stock RX3 bags are resin (that’s a fancy way of saying plastic), and they’re nice, too.   They are different on the right and the left; the right bag has a cutout for the muffler.   Here are the stock luggage dimensions…

Some of you guys have asked how many liters the bags hold.   Guys, I don’t know.   I could attempt to get liters from the dimensions you see above, but what would be the point?  Are you going to pour soda pop or something in there?   And even if I did make the calculation, it would have to account for the angled surfaces on the bags, the inside corner radii, and, well, you get the idea.

So, on to the next topic.   You know I’ve been thinking about a new camera.   Well, that’s one of the things I’m thinking about.   Like you, I’m spending most of my time thinking about my new RX3 on its way down the Yangtze River enroute to me, and I’ve been thinking about the Baja trip.   And the trips we’ll have following that ride.    It’s a good set of thoughts.   But you already know that.

Well, today I bit the bullet and I bought a new Nikon.   Actually, I bought two of them…one will be a dedicated motorcycle trip camera and the other will be my bigger one for other stuff.    I want to talk about what makes a good motorcycle camera in this blog.

I am just getting over the worst case of bronchitis I ever had, and to compound the felony, I had an adverse reaction to the antibiotic my good doc gave me.   Wowee, that’s not something I’d care to go through again!  Anyway, I’m back among the living now, and I decided to give myself a treat.  Actually, like I said, two treats.   I bought a D810 Nikon today (that’s the big flagship Nikon), and I also bought the smallest digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera Nikon makes.   That’s their D3300 model.   The D3300 is going to be my dedicated adventure touring camera.

There are lots of reasons for getting the small D3300 Nikon.  For one, it’s small.   My old workhorse D200 has served me well for 10 years, but that thing is a tank.  It’s heavy.   And it’s big.  By itself, with its case and a couple of extra lenses, it basically took up the entire top luggage case on the RX3.   Wearing it around my neck while I was riding was uncomfortable, but I needed to do that to get the best photos from the cockpit.  Nope, I wanted small and I wanted light, and that’s why I went for the D3300.

Some of you might wonder:  Why not just get a little “point and shoot” digital camera?   The short answer is that the photo quality from a point and shoot camera can’t compare to a DSLR.   The little point and shoot cameras have a time lag, too, between the time you press the shutter and the time it actually takes the photo.   Nope, this boy needs a real camera.   I demand nothing less.   So do you…the photos you’ve been seeing here in the blog for the last several years are DSLR photos.   You demand good stuff, and so do I.

So I bought the D3300 this afternoon, and I’ve been playing with it a bit tonight.   Folks, it’s awesome.   I set it up to account for the ambient lighting (it somehow figures the white balance out on its own), and snapped a few photos in my mancave to see how it would do.   In a word, it’s incredible.   Way better image quality than the D200, but that’s what 10 years of digital camera engineering will do for you, I guess.    I grabbed one shot to see how faithfully it would capture the wood grain in a few gun stocks, without flash, and well…you be the judge…

You’ll be seeing more photos here on the blog from the D3300, and I want to plant a seed in your mind.

Folks, this D3300 Nikon camera sells for $499 with the lens.   I paid $2,000 for the D200 without any lenses 10 years ago, and it doesn’t do as good a job as the new D3300.

Next thing to consider…having photos from any motorcycle adventure really adds to the adventure, both during the ride and after the ride.   I’m just more tuned into the scenery, the people, the food, the bikes, the road, and everything else when I have a camera with me.   I’m thinking about how what I’m seeing will make a great shot.   It really adds to the experience.   And then there’s what happens after the ride.  My good buddy Dick Scott, whom you read about a few blogs down, tumbled me to that fact 20+ years ago when he told me he felt like he was taking a ride all over again when he looked at his photos.   Boys and girls, you need a camera, especially if you’re going to ride with us in Baja.

Hey, that’s it for now.

Ride safe, keep an eye on the blog, and just think…your RX3 is on its way here!

Hey, if you want to track the progress of your motorcycle as it winds its way along the Yangtze River, just click right here…

You’ll get an image that shows you where the Minben is at that point in time.  Here’s where it was when I typed this blog:

And if you want to know what the Minben actually looks like, hey, we’ve got you covered there, too!

The video is stock footage of the Minben; it’s not the actual voyage that holds our bikes.   Still, if you look very carefully, you can kind of see the yellow RX3 out in front of all the others…

No need for too many words here, boys and girls…like the headline says, the CSC RX3 motorcycles are on their way!

The shipping company is the Express Line Corporation, the ship is the Minben, the Voyage Number is V.B193E, and the route is from Chongqing to Los Angeles.

You can bet we’ve been waiting to post this blog, and we know you’ve been waiting to read it!

Hanging around, nothing to do, let’s grab a few shots and play with Photoshop…

That’s it for now, folks. More news coming at you soon…

I was moving some stuff around in the house a couple of weeks ago and came across some 21-year-old photos from my very first motorcycle and photo trip to Mexico.   I’d forgotten I even had them, and when I saw them, I realized the photo quality was poor.  Part of that was me (I didn’t really know what I was doing with a camera back in those days) and part of it was the passage of time (the photos had faded badly).   Ah, the wonders of my cheap scanner and Photoshop…

What you’re seeing is a December 1994 photo of my good buddy Dick Scott and yours truly at the base of a Cardón cactus in Baja’s Vizcaino Desert.   It was my first motorcycle trip into Mexico (yep, the very first), and as you have certainly surmised, it had quite an impact on me.

The Cardón is an amazing cactus.    These plants grow to over 70 feet tall, they can weigh 25 tons or more, and they live for hundreds of years.   Yes, my friends, some of these things were around before there was even a United States.    The Cardón only grows in Baja.

We’ll see a lot of plants like that on our upcoming Baja ride plus a whole lot more (there are about 30 species unique to Baja).   The Cirio (also known as the boojum) is another one.   When you see those, you’ll think they were designed by Dr. Suess (maybe after he had a couple of shots of Tequila).  It’s all part of the Baja beauty.

I’m down with a bad bit of bronchitis (ah, sometimes the alliteration flows so freely), and I’ve been too wheezy to make it into the plant or the University this week.   So with nothing to do, I scanned a few of those 1994 photos from that first exploration south of the border and I wrote a trip report of sorts.  It’s on my personal motorcycle photography website, and if you want to read it, you can find it here.

That’s it for now.   Things are happening in China.   We’ll have good news to report soon, so like always, stay tuned.

That’s our good buddy Bill, the loyal CSC rider I told you about a short bit ago.   Bill recently bought his third CSC-150 (one of the war zone bikes recently rescued from the Middle East), and he’s already had it up in the San Gabriel Mountains.    I had this nice note and photo waiting for me when I got on the computer this morning…

Joe

This is a picture at the Cloud Burst Summit 7018 ft.  It was a great day to ride up the Angeles Crest Highway.  Newcomb’s Ranch was closed so I did not have all the BIG bikes passing me at 60 mph.

Thanks for another great scooter!

Bill

Thanks for your kind words and that great photo, Bill.   You sure didn’t waste any time getting out and about on this beauty!

And folks, there are still a few war zone bikes left.   As I recall, there are some Classics, a couple of Babydolls, a Greaser, and one desert camo Military Series bike still on the floor.   Give Steve a call at 909 445 0900 if you want a great deal!

That’s what we did, folks, on our trip out to Joshua Tree National Park yesterday.   If it looks like we had a good time…well, we did!

The idea for this ride came about when one of the reporters covering our new RX3 asked if we had done any long rides on the RX3.   I think the furthest ride I had up to that point was about 130 miles on a grand loop around the San Gabriel Mountains.   The question got me to thinking.

Joshua Tree National Park would make a good destination.   Steve and I talked about it last week, and it was a go.   Our plan was to ride all the way out to Chiriaco Summit and the General Patton Memorial Museum, top off the fuel tanks, and then pick up the road into the Park from the south entrance.   We left the plant at 6:00 a.m. yesterday and rolled out on the 210 Freeway until it merged with I-10 east of San Bernardino.

We stopped for a great breakfast in Gramma’s Country Kitchen in Banning.   Our waitress was wearing a name tag that said “Alice.”

“Alice’s restaurant?” I asked, and we all had a good laugh.   She had a good sense of humor, or she was humoring me.   As it sit here typing this, I’m guessing it’s not the first time Alice heard that question.

The Park was awesome, and the day was everything I hoped it would be from both photography and riding perspectives…low overcast clouds, smooth even lighting, and all the factors that make a photo pop.   And the riding was great, too!   It was cold, but it was fun!

We stopped to pay our admission fee at the Park entrance and I grabbed a photo of Steve’s bike.   That yellow sure looks good on the RX3.

A few years ago on a ride through Yosemite, my buddy Bob got us all in with the National Park Service lifetime senior citizen pass.    I asked Bob about it and he told me it was $10.   It allows free admission to any federal park for the rest of your life.   That, folks, is a great deal.  When Susie and I were back east visiting Fort Ticonderoga a few years later, I asked about the lifetime pass.  The Park Ranger told me I had be 62.   I told him I was.   He gave me a look that said “yeah, right” and he asked to see my driver’s license.   That alone was worth the trip…somebody who actually thought I looked younger than I am.   I bought the pass and I’ve used it a bunch of times since.

Okay, I know, I digress.   Back to the main attraction.

A little further up the road I grabbed a photo of the blue RX3 (the one I was riding).  This photo shows the blue RX3 in front of a cholla patch.   The blue really looks good, too!

When the RX3 motorcycles arrive, I’m signed up for a yellow one.  But that blue one sure is attractive. It’s a tough call.  My two favorite colors for a motorcycle have always been blue or red, but when I saw the yellow RX3 I thought to myself:  Wow!  This is a bike I need to own!   I’ve been racking up the miles on the blue RX3, though, and it is calling me.   We’ll see.

Here’s another photo near one of the rock formations in the Park.   It’s an awesome background for a beauty shot of two of the prettiest motorcycles on the planet.

Here’s a shot of the RX3 dash…not too shabby for a one-handed “on the roll” photo…

I was allowing the bike to decelerate when I took that photo, as you guys and gals will recognize from the tach (it’s only at 2,000 rpm).   At 70 mph, the bike pulls about 6500 rpm, and the engine is smooth throughout the rev range.   In fact, it was a smooth ride all the way out.   The bike rides real well and it’s comfortable.   It was a long ride, though, and I found my self using a trick I’ve used on other motorcycles…I slid back onto the stepped up portion of the rear seat.   It makes for a decent break on a long ride.

Here’s another shot from the RX3 cockpit as I rolled through Joshua Tree National Park…

And here’s one I grabbed of Steve when he was in front of me..

On the ride from Azusa to Chiriaco Summit, it’s uphill all the way.   It’s a gradual climb into what we call the high desert (that’s the Mojave Desert).   Folks, it was cold up there!   I would guess it was in the 40s for portions of our ride, and I was feeling it.   I was really glad I had my Tourmaster jacket, my motorcycle pants, a pair of extra heavy riding gloves, and my dickie.   On that last item, some of you might be tempted to laugh, but one of buddies introduced me to motorcycle dickies about 15 years ago, and I never go anywhere without one if it looks like it might get cold.   That one little bit of cloth really makes a difference!

If you’re wondering what it was like riding through Joshua Tree National Park….well, here you go…

We filled up a couple of times yesterday (the bikes had plenty of gas left when we did so, but when you’re out in these remote locations it makes sense to top off where you can).   On the last tankful, I ran the numbers.   The bike went 161.3 miles and the tank took 2.258 gallons.   Run the numbers, and you’ll find that’s a cool 71.4349 miles per gallon!   And when we returned to the plant at around 3:00 p.m., we found that our little ride racked up 343 miles.    A great day, a great ride, and a great motorcycle!

Steve and I are going to put a few miles on the RX3s tomorrow, and I’m really looking forward to it.   We’ll be posting lots more photos, so keep an eye on the blog.   There’s a slight chance of rain tomorrow. and that’s a good thing.   You’re probably thinking I’m nuts, hoping for rain on a motorcycle ride, but you get better photos on an overcast day.   It evens out the light and makes the colors pop a lot better.

Speaking of colors…you remember the CSC Stalker, the bike we did in a camo wrap for the International Sportsmen’s Expo recently.   When Steve put that bike together, he told me the color changes are  interesting.  Indoors, it looks mostly tan and brown.   Outdoors, it turns green.   I grabbed a photo of the Stalker today that shows the phenomenon well…

The chameleon-like CSC Stalker

I’ve noticed a few folks on other forums talking about the CSC logo on the Stalker, with opinions going back and forth on the CSC logo versus the Zongshen logo.     Bottom line first:   The production bikes will have a CSC logo that looks like the one you see in the photo above.    We thought about this a lot.  We originally planned to go with the Zongshen logo because we didn’t want anyone to think we were presenting the bike as something other than what it is, and, truth be told, we didn’t want to offend Zongshen.   But when I was over in Chongqing last month, our Zongshen friends brought the subject up.  They told us that most of the other countries importing the RX3 (there are about a dozen now) use their own logo.   We asked Zongshen if they had any objection to us using our CSC logo, and they said they were fine with it.

It has been a busy month for us since my return from China.  There’s a 16-hour time difference, and what that basically means is that for us it’s been a near 24-hour day every day.   Our late evening is the morning and middle of the workday for our good friends in Chongqing, and we have been communicating with them every night on the nuances associated with getting your bikes exactly the way you want them.   It’s been one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done.

Logos, check.  On to the legends portion of this blog.

The bike we want to beat is the KLR-650.   Anybody who knows motorcycles (and I’m talking about real riders here, not the keyboard commandos who have nothing better to do than post negative comments on forums) knows that the KLR-650 is a good bike.   I’m one of those guys; I’ve owned my KLR for nearly a decade and you’ve seen lots of photos of it from my past adventures right here on the CSC blog.   The KLR is a cult bike.   A legend, if you will.   That’s what the RX3 is rapidly becoming.   We’re making it a legend, and when I say we, I mean you (our customer community) and CSC.    I believe the RX3 will unseat the KLR as the best deal ever in motorcycling and the best bike for serious world travel.   I’m looking forward to reading about the first person who rides a CSC RX3 around the world.   I can’t wait to read your RX3 adventures.   I’m going to make a few epic rides myself.

Legends, check.    Now, for the lots of miles part.

Steve and I have a ride planned for tomorrow that’s going to be about 300 miles.   That’s not an enormous distance, but we have a specific destination in mind that will make for some great photography.   You’ll know more on Sunday.   I feel like a little kid right now.  I can’t wait to get out and ride.   It’s going to be great!

Baja!  That’s coming, folks.   That ride will be about 1250 miles and we’ll do it in 5 days.    My good buddy J and I are planning that one now.   We want you to ride with us.   We’ll set an easy pace (about 250 miles a day), and we’ll show you some awesome sights.   It’s part of the adventure riding deal, folks.   No keyboard commandos here…we get out and ride!   This is the real deal.   I know for many of you there’s lots of reasons why you think you can’t go.   Take my advice: Lose them.   Folks, this ride is going to be great.   You need to do this.

Baja will be the first big multi-day RX3 ride for me, and hopefully, for you, too.   But we’ll have lots more RX3 rides coming, folks, both in the US and elsewhere.   Alaska.   The Canadian Rockies.   The Oregon Coast Highway.   Hell’s Canyon.   The Black Hills of South Dakota.   The Badlands.   We are making history here.   We’re making legends.

Would you like to see a few photos from some of my past rides?   Folks, this is what we (you, me, and the rest of our RX3 rider community) are going to be seeing!

Ever ride your motorcycle to Guadalajara just to watch the puppet show? I have. Why not do it again on the RX3?

Up close and personal where the deer and the buffalo roam in South Dakota? Hey, I’m in if you are!

A ride to Oregon’s Crater Lake on the RX3? You bet! So what if there’s a little bit of snow!

Perhaps a close encounter of the RX3 kind with Wyoming’s Devil’s Tower?

The Badlands…let’s do it!

On to a brief hint at the next big ride:  It’s being secretly planned right now and all I can tell you today is that I’ll be on it.  This one is going to be about 5000 miles.    Yep, you read that right.   We’ll be announcing more about this one in a few weeks.

Later, my friends.  I’ve got to charge the Nikon batteries and get my riding gear ready!

You know our good buddy San Marino Bill and his CSC bikes from past blog entries…

Well, as it turns out, Bill faithfully follows the words that flow from these pages, and when he read about the war zone bikes, he didn’t dilly dally.

“You started it,” Bill told me when he was picking up his third CSC motorcycle (yep, you read that right…Bill now owns three of the modern Mustangs)!   And here it is, parked with Bill’s pristine US Army Willys!   What a fitting photo…two of the finest military machines ever made!

“I started it?” I asked.

“Yep, read the blog!” Bill told me…

So I did, and he’s right!  This is from our 11 August 2013 blog and it was my advice to Bill:

I know you want to get a shot of your Willys with Steve’s Sarge, so swing by any time you want…or better yet, why not buy another CSC motorcycle?   We’ve been thinking about this, and maybe you need an OD green Military Series bike to round out your collection!

Bill, thanks for being such a great customer!  You’ve got me pumped up to get out on the Baja Blaster, so how about it, guys?   Who’s up for a ride in February?

Ah, yes, my friends…your RX3s coming down the line!   The yellow one is mine!

Soon, folks.   Baja beckons…