Columbia!

Nope, this isn’t an Andes Mountains story, like the adventure you can read about in the book off to the right (Moto Colombia!).   This is Columbia with a “u,” and I’m talking about the magnificent Columbia River Gorge that runs from west to east along the Oregon/Washington border.  This is my fifth trip to this magnificent slice of America, and as always, I’m loving it.

The northeastern US has the Hudson, the South has the Mississippi, the Southwest has the Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest has the Columbia.  It’s magnificent.  Two of my five trips through this awesome region were on motorcycles (the Three Flags Rally with my good buddy Marty and the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride with our good friends from China).

So, back to the adventure du jour.  Here’s the Vista house, situated on the Oregon Scenic Byway above the mighty Columbia River…

And another view of the Columbia River, looking to the east, from an opening in the concrete railing along the road leading up to the Vista House…

The Scenic Byway is known for its waterfalls and magnificent wooded twisties and art deco concrete bridges.  It really is amazing…this is a perfect road for a motorcycle, as this lucky Triumph rider knows…

We’re headed further east into Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River later this morning.  I remember riding south into this region after crossing the Canadian border into the US on the Three Flags Rally with my good buddy Marty about 15 years ago.   I recall that the lands running along Highway 97 in Washington were awesome.  We’ll find out later today if they are as I remember them (and if they are, watch for the photos here).

Okay, enough photo fun.   There’s a lot happening back at the ranch, folks.   Here’s the short list of irons we have in the fire:

• We have our monthly company ride this Saturday (you can sign up for it on our Meetup.com page).  We already have 12 people signed up.  It’s going to be a good one…we’re going to Newcomb’s Ranch on the Angeles Crest Highway (the penultimate So Cal motorcycle ride).
• We’re working on getting the Café Racer over here.  I invited you to submit your design concepts and names, and boy oh boy, have you responded.   Two of the best include a great set of illustrations from good buddy Stephen in Utah, and an absolutely dynamite name from good buddy Mike in Michigan.   We’re working through getting the bike configured as it needs to be to get through all of the regulatory hurdles here in the US, and our friends in Chongqing are working closely with us to make it all happen.
• Good buddy Baja John is pointing his RX3 in the opposite direction (opposite, that is, to the heading we normally take).  He’s headed north, to Alaska.  That’s going to be an exciting ride.
• Steve just took in a baker’s dozen of consignment bikes, including Harleys, Aprilias, Triumphs, and more.  There’s a Triumph Scrambler in that mix I thought I might have had an interest in, but it’s too big for me.  I’m sticking with my 250s, which I still believe are the perfect motorcycle size.
• In my conversations with Zongshen, I found out that the Chongqing impresarios are working the 450cc engine issues that emerged during Dakar diligently.  That’s a different way of saying the schedule has moved to the right again.   The bottom line on this one, folks, is don’t hold your breath waiting for the 450.   I’ve ridden both motorcycles, and I’m here to tell you the 250cc RX3 is the better bike.
• We have new 250cc RX3s in stock again, but they won’t last long.   Our four colors for 2017 include silver (my new favorite), orange (the fastest color), blue (back again for 2017), and pearlescent white.  They all look good, but they won’t last long.
• Good buddy Joe G (my China traveling compadre) was off last week on a press junket for the Kawasaki 300cc Versys (odd, the people at Kawasaki somehow left my name off the invitation list).   But I studied the Kawi web page on their new competitor to the RX3, and I’m comfortable that the RX3 is the better-equipped (and better) bike.  And our bike costs a lot less than the Kawasaki.  I’ll post a comparo blog on the two bikes in the near future.  As you know, here in the blog and in 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM I’ve pilloried the dealers for their larcenous setup and freight fees.   Surprisingly, Kawasaki is now posting the destination fee for their new small adventure bike right on their website.  I imagine they’re trying to control what the dealers are charging for freight, probably in response to my very valid criticisms of dealer practices in this area.  Or, maybe it’s just coincidental.

That’s it for now, folks.   I’m headed east with my Nikon and my sweetheart.  More photos.  More fun.   As always, keep an eye on the blog.