The reviews are coming in….

The comments and emails on the new book are coming in, and they’re good!   I don’t know which was more fun for me…writing 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM, or reading your comments on it!

Here’s one from our good buddy Texas Fred:

Hi Joe,

Just wanted to take a minute to say I really enjoyed your book.  It is very well written and I enjoy your style.  You are my all time favorite writer followed by Clement Salvadori and Bill Stermer.  At times the clarity and honesty brought tears to my eyes.

Thanks for all your posts on the blog as they pushed me to order both a Classic 150 and an RX3.  The RX3 is the only bike I own now as I drove to the gas station two weeks ago on my Classic and a passer-by decided he wanted it.  Like you always said….all Steve’s bikes draw a crowd at every stop!  I am enjoying my RX3 and plan to keep up with the blog for the duration.

Best Wishes,

Fred

And here’s another from good buddy Carlos:

A great read!  An engineering report on a new M/C/  A travel story @ the western U.S.  A study of human behavior.  An insight into the most interesting man I’ve ever met!!!

I’ll give you a call and rave about you in person!

It’s past my bedtime, I’m on page 179 and can’t put this story down!

It’s really well done and is sort of addictive for reasons I can’t quite explain!

I’ll probably finish it in one sitting or fall asleep with it in my bed!

Carl

And another from good buddy Lee:

I read your book over the weekend. I especially enjoyed the “behind the scenes” portion of development with Zongshen. They seem to be quite eager to enter the US market and flexible with your request for higher spec components in the US version of the bike. (300 watt output/stainless pipe and 17″ rear wheel).

I’ve already placed an order for a “fast orange” model with a friend earlier this month, we take delivery hopefully this week. I’ve been watching this bike closely since it was announced last year and even earlier with the “M1insk” version in Russia. You guys are setting the standard for parts availability and customer service for a Chinese manufactured motorcycle, or for any other for that matter. I can’t get parts for my Guzzi as fast as you guys ship for the RX3 and you keep them all in stock domestically. Interaction with the sales team has been highly responsive and helpful, I look forward to future business with them. It’s a hell of a deal for $3495.

I’ll be keeping a blog for maintenance for my RX3 that I’ll add here for those curious in the near future. From what I’ve seen so far nothing glaring has come up for anyone and we have some people who should be surpassing 10k miles soon. As for battery issues my Stelvio came with a leaking battery, that stuff happens to everybody. I typically cover 20-25 thousand miles per year so I expect my RX3 will be one of the higher mileage bikes relatively soon. I’m sure others are watching closely until the bike surpasses 20-30 thousand miles with few issues and proves itself among the KLR’s and DR650’s of the adventure bike world.

 Lee

Wow!  Thanks, folks, and keep your comments coming!  If you would like to buy a copy of the book, you can get one here!  And as for those comments…that one about the most interesting man in the world brings me back to the beer commercials about the most interesting man in the world.   We had fun with my good buddy Simon Gandolfi on the Baja run when we rode all the way down to Cabo and back on the little CSC 150s.   He actually is the most interesting man in the world!

We’re heading back over to the Horizons Unlimited California event in another hour, and I’m looking forward to taking test rides with more folks who are interested in the RX3.   The comments yesterday were amazing.   Literally everyone who rode the bike loved it, and we heard more than a few “you sure that’s only a 250?” questions when they got off the bike.  We’re loving it!

And another thought…my all time favorite motorcycle writers are Joe Gresh of Motorcyclist magazine, and Clement Salvadori, who literally wrote the book about motorcycle travel in Baja.   Mr. Salvadori will be here at the Horizons Unlimited event later today.  I’ve never met Clem, but I’ve read his books and I’m really looking forward to seeing him.   I brought along my copies of his books for him to sign today.  Fun stuff!

Watch for more photos tomorrow, folks!