Joe G on the XR1200…and more…

Posted on May 17, 2018

Our good buddy Joe Gresh posted an earlier YouTube video on the Harley XR1200, and like all Gresh videos, it made me laugh when I watched it.   Not just a little chuckle, but big laughs, the kind that makes you worry about spilling your coffee.  You have to watch this one.   And my favorite quote from the video?

“…the bike handles well when you’re out of control…”

It’s classic Joe Gresh and I loved it…

Joe’s done other videos that made my hit parade, too, including his video on the Western America Adventure Ride, the China Ride, and the Destinations Tour…

Gresh is a classic among motojournalists. He’s the best one out there. As a guy who’s ridden with Mr. Gresh, I can tell you that having Joe as a riding buddy makes a great ride even better, and what you see in the videos is what you get on a ride. He’s the real deal. Gresh sees things other people don’t and he describes them honestly, whether it’s Chinese guys trying to find a non-Made-In-China souvenir in a US military museum or a female customer in China telling car wash guys how to wash a motorcycle. It was a laugh a minute with this guy. I have to get him to ride with us in Baja just so I can see what I’ve been missing down there all these years…

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A cool video…

Posted on May 17, 2018

…and it’s about places we know well…

I thought those of you who have ridden with us in Baja (and those of you who are thinking about it) might enjoy this one.   Apparently there’s more coming from the folks who published that video, and I’ll be watching for it.   If you want to know what it’s like riding a motorcycle in Baja, you might pick up a copy of Moto Baja!

Hey, keep an eye on us.  We’re going to announce a big sale in another day or two and we’re going to announce new info about the San Gabriel.   The new San Gabriel cafe racers are leaving the factory in just a few days and they will be here soon!

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15-17 June: Pumped for Pinnacles!

Posted on May 15, 2018

I am planning the ride for Pinnacles and to cut to the chase, I can’t wait until this one! I am taking my TT250 (which is actually a pretty decent touring platform, as I found out on the TT250 Baja ride we did last year).  If you want to ride with us, your TT250 or RX3 will do  just fine, and we’ll be running a blog on how to set up your TT250 for longer rides in the near future.

The run from Azusa to Pinnacles will be about 330 miles, and I think it’s going to be just grand. We’ll take an easy run on the 210 north to the Angeles Crest Highway and ride those glorious twisties into the Angeles National Forest. From there it’s surface streets to Lake Elizabeth Road and on to Lake Hughes (a grand ride), and it’s the 138 into more twisties to the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge! Wow, lots of twisties! We’ll take 166 to 33 through the oil fields to Maricopa on up to Coalinga (the name is derived from Coaling Station A, when the old steam engines used to pick up coal there), then it’s on to glorious Highways 198 and 25 all the way to Pinnacles National Park. Who knows…we may even see a California condor or two on the way up (Pinnacles is where they are released into the wild).

I haven’t decided on the return route. We may take to the same way back, or we may divert over to the coast and come down the coast highway. If you have ideas, I’d sure like to hear them. In the meantime, if you want to ride another one of our great CSC rides, let me know! This will be a good one.

You know, we’ve done a number of these CSC rides…our Saturday Dual Sports and Donuts rides, our annual 8-day Baja ride, a TT250 Baja ride, the Destinations Tour, and several more. I love the rides and the scenery, but the best part for me is getting to know the people who participate. I’ve made a lot of good friends on these rides, and I can’t wait to get my knees in the breeze on this next one. Pinnacles, folks! It’s going to be grand!

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2 June: The Nethercutt Museum!

Posted on May 15, 2018

I just posted our 2 June Nethercutt Museum ride on the CSC Meetup page, and if you would like to go, please sign up here.   We’re limited to 15 participants on this guided tour, so my advice would be to sign up early.   This is going to be a good one, folks.   You’ll want to be at the CSC plant no later than 8:30 a.m. on June 2, and you’ll probably want to bring a camera.  I’m really looking forward to this visit!

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Keeping up with Indiana Jones…

Posted on May 14, 2018

Without question, two of the grandest adventures in my life have been riding the Andes Mountains in Colombia and the ride across China. As you know, I wrote books about both adventures (Moto Colombia, and Riding China, which you can order from the links to the right).

The title spread of my article in RoadRUNNER magazine. Those are camels. That’s the Gobi Desert. I rode there on an orange RX3 (it’s the fastest color, you know).

But wait, as they say…there’s more: I’m happy to announce that RoadRUNNER magazine, the world’s premier motorcycle touring magazine, will run an article I wrote about the China ride in their next issue (it’s going to be available in late June). In fact, the photo you see above is the article’s two-page title photo, and the idea is that much of the China ride was like being in an Indiana Jones adventure movie. It was that grand. I still find myself thinking about the China ride every day (it was an incredible adventure).

Allow me to suggest three links for you. The first is the current issue of RoadRUNNER magazine. Here’s another to a not-yet-live link for the RoadRUNNER issue that will include my China story (don’t worry; I’ll include another blog entry when the story goes live). And finally (and this is the important part), here’s a link to subscribe to RoadRUNNER. It works. I know, because I just bought a subscription. You should, too!

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Dual Sports and Donuts…

Posted on May 13, 2018

Here’s a cool video from our last Dual Sports and Donuts Meetup.com ride, while I was following Barb and Tom riding up Glendora Mountain Road!

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The San Gabriel…

Posted on May 13, 2018

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Two great rides in June!

Posted on May 12, 2018

Wow, June is just around the corner, and we have two great CSC rides we’re planning!

The first is our usual 1st-Saturday-of-the-month ride, except there’s nothing “usual” about this one. We’ll be riding from CSC’s worldwide headquarters to the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California. It’s one of the world’s premier vintage car collections. We’ll be posting more information in the very near future here on the CSC blog and on our Meetup.com page, so keep an eye on both sites!

Ride with us to the Nethercutt Museum on 2 June 2018!

The next is one I’ve talked about before, and that’s a run up to Pinnacles National Park on California’s amazing Highways 198 and 25, two of the greatest motorcycle roads on the planet. This will be a 3-day ride from June 15th through the 17th (that’s a Friday through a Sunday), and we’re setting it up so we’ll run almost entirely on surface streets. I’m planning on taking my TT250 on this ride (along with my Nikon and my Go Pro). It’s going to be fabulous. This one is a CSC motorcycles only ride, and if you are planning to ride with us, please let me know as soon as possible by replying to me at jberk@CSCMotorcycles.com.

Fabulous riding through central California! Ride with us 15-17 June on your CSC motorcycle!

I love that corridor through central California…so much so that I did a piece on it in Motorcycle Classics magazine (you can read the story here).

Good times, folks. It’s what comes automatically when you ride one of our motorcycles!

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Exhaust notes…

Posted on May 8, 2018

We sure had a great time on our Saturday ride.   Our good buddies Joel and Mark caught some great video of the new San Gabriel motorcycles, and we thought we would share it with you here…

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Joel’s San Gabriel photos…

Posted on May 6, 2018

My good buddy Joel sent his awesome photos from our ride in the San Gabriels to me last night.  They’re great…they show Joel, our friend Mark, and of course, the new CSC San Gabriel motorcycle…

Joel and Mark are both mechanical engineers, which is, of course, one of the world’s most noble professions (don’t ask me how I know).  They are also avid riders, and they sure put the new San Gabriels through their paces yesterday.  It was a great ride, and you can bet we’ll have a similarly awesome run planned for next month’s CSC Dual Sports and Donuts ride.   Watch the blog; we’ll be announcing it shortly!

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