Peter’s ride report…

Our good buddy Peter recently posted outstanding photos with a great ride report on the ADVRider forum.  We liked it so much we asked if we could reprint it here, in full, on the CSC blog.   Peter’s answer was swift:

Hi Joe, yes that would be ok. As you can see I’ve been having a great time with the bike and it has served as a great return to biking and adv riding in particular.

Keep up the great work with CSC and the blog.

Take care,

Peter

Peter, thanks for allowing us to share your ride report with our readers, and thanks for being a CSC rider!   So, without further ado, here we go…

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After the 2 day JL class rapped up in Pahrump NV, headed off to the Noobs rally in Death Valley. The JL class definitely helped give me the skills to tackle gravel, sands and hills. All kinds of bikes from 250wr to 500exc to f800gs to 1190adv.

The 250 RX3 definitely held its own and if there’s one thing that I observed its the rider and not the bike that makes all the difference. BTW it’s great to see all the new folks and inputs on this thread. Here’s a few pics from the rally.

As the only RX3 in attendance there were lots of questions from folks stopping by to ask what kind of bike it was and most everyone knew of it but were intrigued to actually see one.

I did a particularly tough ride through Gower wash and Mengel Pass as there was lots of gravel and sand from recent rains.  At the end of the ride everyone gave me and the bike props for hanging with the group of mostly dirt oriented bikes.

A few more from that ride.

Me at the top of Mengel pass. To the left of my right elbow in the distance you can just see the trail we would follow over the next mountain range into death valley.

Looking back from Death Valley, yes we had ridden through those mountain ranges in the background, the sand you see was only that deep the last 100 yards or so. Lots of varied and challenging terrain on this ride.

After we started back on the tarmac Arno’s Huskie 510 overheated a some miles south of Badwater and wouldn’t hold water as there was a leak, so TypeAmark road all the way back to base camp to pick up Arno’s Jeep and trailer (about 200 miles round trip). I stayed back with Arno, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon on the floor of Death Valley and a good thing temperature was only in the 90’s.

As our water supply was low I road the 15 mile or so to Badwater and conjured up 5 bottles of water from the befuddled tourists. As the southbound road out of the valley was washed out there was almost no traffic where we were. So we spent the whole afternoon sitting in the shade of our bikes and telling each other our life’s stories and shooting the shiite. When Mark got back with the trailer just after dusk he was amazed to find us joking with him and in great spirits. Honestly this was one of the highlights of the week for me (I’m funny that way) and something I’ll never forget. We had dinner and a few cold ones in Stovepipe wells and rolled into camp around 10:30 that evening.

The next day (hmmm.. this is turning into a ride report so I’ll keep it brief) I skipped the group ride I was scheduled for in favor of relaxing in the morning and my own itinerary of mostly twisty tarmac to the west to the town of Keeler and a little hike to a place called Darwin falls not too far from the base camp at Panament Springs.

Saw a sign at a dirt road turn off to an abandoned silver mine..

This is as far I would venture in since I was solo this day.

On the way to Keeler went down this road for a better photo op of the Eastern Sierras. Had the top case on to store my gear for a small hike planned later on.

The next day packed up and ready to hit the road for LA.

Some closing thoughts after a week of all types of riding.

First off and this should be no surprise. Flat out on the open road the bike really prefers secondary roads to the interstate. Buzzing along at a sustained speed over 65 the bike is just not a fun place to be and frequent stops are required. But turn it down just a notch to reduce vibration and wind fatigue and the bike is a fabulous touring platform. On back roads off the interstate where the roads have more variation and curves the RX3 is alot of fun to ride. I really enjoyed blitzing along these roads as well as slowing down and cruising in 6th gear at low RPM. I could lift my visor and feel the wind and hear and see so much.

Off road at JLR school it was clear the bike was just as capable as any bike there and was lots of fun to test the limits of traction and control. I had a few spills here and there and each time there were no complaints from the bike, the crash bars did their job and I was able to pick the bike up without any help or pulling any muscles. Again as mentioned earlier the most limiting factors were the rider’s confidence and skill level as opposed to the bike.

Tooling around during the rally I did about 60/40 dirt/hwy and can not say I was surprised at the performance of the bike as I have been riding it since November and have come to understand its overall goodness.

What did surprise me a little though was how much I was able to push myself in the toughest of conditions and how willing the bike was to handle it. As this was really my first dual sport adventure coming from a strictly street riding background I’m sure I made a great choice by purchasing the RX3 compared to any other bike which is not to say that there aren’t other more worthy bikes. But the combination of price, reliability and performance is hard to beat. It goes a long way toward enjoying the experience when one knows that parts are available and affordable.

Speaking of parts my bike is set up with the oversized aluminum bash plate which reminded me often of its utility, 19” front rim with the shinko 805 big block tires which work great on road and off, a 13 tooth front sprocket which helps off road and doesn’t give up too much on the highway. (my original plan to swap out 13 and 14 tooth sprockets for the ride to and from was thwarted by the realization I would need an impact wrench to get the sprocket bolt off. In the end I think the 13er was fine). Wrap around hand guards were a must. The Progressive rear shock and Sun aluminum rims I’m sure raised the off road quotient of the bike. Several people mentioned that the design of the centerstand might cause problems if one were to hit a big rock as the mounting tangs and axle bolt hang below the level of the skid plate. Other than that the rest of the accessories are comfort items, a taller seat, a bigger windscreen and heated grips.

Too my eyes the bike looks better now with all its nicks and scratches, it speaks to its utility and ability.