CSC Blog

I first met Joe Martin in person on the Saturday before our Baja ride when he popped into the plant for our pre-ride dinner and safety briefing.   I had known him as FJMartin on the forum boards, but I didn’t realize he went by “Joe,” so my first question (having that name myself and realizing there would be two of us on this ride) was:  Are you Joe 1 or Joe 2?

“Joe 2,” Joe answered, and thus we had our names for the next 8 days.  I  was Joe 1, and Joe Martin would be Joe 2.

Joe 2 was just amazing.   He was always pumped up, always smiling, and he was obviously completely enjoying the Baja experience.   As was the case with everyone on our ride, it was tremendous fun for me being around him.

This morning, I received this nice note from Joe…

Hey Joe…I mean Joe 1, it’s Joe 2 here and I wanted to drop you a note to thank you, J, Steve and the whole CSC gang for putting on this great ride in Baja.  This was my first international ride and only my second multi-day ride and it was a super experience. 

It sure seems that folks who buy CSC bikes are awfully nice as we all got along great and literally had smiles for miles.  I’ve been to Mexico before but that was just your normal resort type vacation.  This was so much more.  Everything from the craziness of Ensenada with the small roads and mass of humanity to towns so small that I’m not sure you can even call them that.  The people of Baja were so friendly and patient with this gringo who can’t speak any Spanish.  Thanks to Carlos and Willie for helping with translations when needed. 

The roads in Baja are something else.  Some are nice and smooth and others keep you on your toes so your bike doesn’t disappear into an endless abyss.  Big climbs, descents, twisties with no guard rails and our couple of dirt trips really tested the mettle of these little RX3s and they all proved themselves worthy as adventure bikes.  We had them loaded with everything we needed for the 8 days of travel and they took it all without hesitation. 

I downloaded my pictures and video and captured over 60GB’s worth.  Give me a few weeks and I’ll shoot you a link to a YouTube video of the trip! 

The views everywhere were breathtaking.  My favorite parts of the trips were…in order: Whale watching, the killer camaraderie of the group, the off-road ride out to the cave painting and back and finally the day you let me run by myself through the desert.  I had so much fun at WOT (Wide Open Throttle) and hitting the twisties with a major lean in the bike. 

I’ve had the bike for exactly 6 months and have 6100 miles on it now.  It’s been flawless for me.  When I got home from the trip I did a bunch of maintenance like an oil/filter change, clean the air filter, valves check, fasteners check, cleaning and an overall inspection of the bike.  It’s pristine and running like a top.  I’m convinced I can take this bike anywhere I want. 

Here is a sampling of some of my favorite shots.

I’m not sure if we were watching them or if they were watching us?!?

Amazing vistas!

Gorgeous warm water.

Cool architecture.

New friends.

Take care and thanks again!

Joe 2

Joe, those are awesome photos and an awesome recap.  Thanks very much for taking the time to share with us, and we look forward to your whale and riding videos.   It was a great trip!

Chuck and Barb are the couple who bought two new RX3s a year or so ago and then rode them back to Wisconsin (talk about a couple of serious motorcycle adventure riders!).    They both rode with us (on their two RX3s) on the 2017 CSC Baja Run last week, and this afternoon I received this nice email (along with several photos)…

Joe:

The Baja ride with CSC was a fantastic experience. The Mexican people were extremely friendly and the scenery was breathtaking.  The riding was at a pace that was not over taxing of mind, body or ability.  Absolutely perfect group of riders.  For 14 riders to travel almost 2000 miles with no mechanical issues on any bike pretty much wraps up any question of reliability of the RX3s.

Chuck and Barb

Well said, Chuck and Barb.  Thanks for the nice note and the fantastic photos, and we’re glad you were able to join us on this most excellent adventure.   Your comments about the RX3 are spot on.   I’ve now done three of these 2000-mile Baja rides, the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, and numerous shorter trips on my personal RX3, as well as trips across China and Colombia on loaner Rx3s.   Anyone who says the RX3 doesn’t have what it takes for serious world travel or who says that the bike is unproven just flat doesn’t know what they are talking about.  The 2017 Baja ride was an awesome experience, and thanks for your companionship on our adventure.

On our way back from the cave paintings last week, my good buddy James (he came out from the Texas hill country for our Baja ride) took a couple of photos of me in the Sierra San Francisco Mountains.   They’re good photos…thanks, James!

My good buddy Pat (another one of the guys who came down from Washington to ride his RX3 with us in Baja) sent a nice note and a cool photo to me.   Check this out!

Hi Joe,

When we left the Sierra San Francisco cave paintings I encountered a herd of goats and stopped for a photo.  I soon found out that “Shep” was having none of it… 

Pat

Pat, that’s an awesome photo.  I’ve seen that same dog out there, and I’ve always been afraid to get a photo of him.   He’s not taking any chances protecting the herd and I don’t want to be the guy to find out if his bark is worse than his bite.   Well done, my friend, and thanks for riding with us.  And hey, I enjoyed seeing and hearing about your Orient wristwatch.   It’s a good-looking timepiece.   You and I are the only two guys I know who wear an Orient watch (one more thing we have in common).   Ride safe, my friend, and I hope we have a chance to ride together again!

You know, I missed getting this photo myself, but my good buddy and former mechanical engineering student Tuan (“it’s like Juan, but with a T”) did a great job capturing several of our riders imitating the Village People in Tecate, our last stop on the 2017 CSC Baja Run…

Hi Joe,

I really enjoyed the grass roots nature of our CSC Baja ride.  The bikes were simple, the camaraderie of the group was fantastic and the authentic Mexican foods were simply amazing.  CSC did a great job in organizing the ride and made sure everybody was accommodated.  I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

This is my favorite picture of the trip.  The picture really exemplified how close everyone became and acted silly around each other.  Thank you for putting the ride together.

Best,

Tuan

Tuan, we’re delighted you were able to ride with us this year.  It was indeed a great ride.  We’ve known each other for about 10 years now and it was good to ride with you again.   Keep your spirit of adventure, my friend.

Good buddy Rob, our intrepid Iron Butt Walla Walla RX3 rider, weighed in on our recent Baja ride with this photo and a nice note…

Joe,

Here’s one of my favorite pics from the Baja ride. Why my favorite?   Because it captures three things that I will remember the ride for:

1. Me getting to experience Baja with all the great people that came along on this ride.
2. The cactus, one of the Baja landmarks.
3. Riding the RX3s, motorcycles that are designed for the Baja experience.

Like all of my RX3 adventures, the RX3 has again proved its mettle in reliability, comfort, fun, and being able to economically undertake this trip.

I really appreciate CSC putting these rides together for us, Joe. I know the many hours of work planning for food, lodging and fuel stops is a lot of time consuming work on your end.  All we have to do is show up with our RX3’s and gain a truly world class adventure experience, with a free Joe tour guide and tail sweep J to keep us safe and sound.   I appreciate the bond among the 14 riders and our looking out for each other in the little ways that just made it a very pleasant experience.

Thank you again CSC, Joe, J, and my fellow riders.  You have won a place in my heart that I will cherish forever.

Rob

Rob, it was our great pleasure.   This is the second big trip you and I have ridden together on our RX3s.    I greatly enjoyed your company on both rides.   Thanks for joining us on the 2017 Baja adventure!

Wow, just back from Baja, and we’re riding again this Saturday on our monthly CSC company ride.  Looks like we’ll have at least 10 riders on our Glendora Ridge Road wildflower extravaganza run, and remember, you don’t have to be on a CSC motorcycle to ride with us.  We welcome all makes and models of motorcycles and scooters!   Be at the CSC plant with a full tank of gas no later than 8:45, as we’re leaving sharply at 9:00 a.m. for a great ride and lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge!

Wow, home again…and the successful conclusion of our 8-day, 2000-mile, 3^rd Annual CSC Baja Adventure Ride.  It’s tough to say what I enjoyed more…the weather, the riding, the food, the whales, the cave paintings, or the companionship.

Nah, I take that back.   Hands down, the best part of the ride was the camaraderie.   The new friends I made on this ride (and riding again with old friends) really made the ride for me.   James with his Texas twang and deep laugh.  Willie, the most interesting man in the world.   Tuan, whom I have known for 10 years and never seen without a smile.   Joe 2, our intrepid adventurer who became the group’s official MacGuyver.  Barb and Chuck, our Wisconsin couple and RX3 world travelers.   Matt, another guy who is always fun to be around.  Dan, the most photogenic guy on the planet.  Rob and Donkey Hoty, who came down from Washington and rejoined the group after riding with us on the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride.   Peter, our flying Dutchman.   Patrick, who sports an awesome Orient wristwatch and a new pair of Mexican boots.  Carlos, our magnificent friend, incredible story teller, and talented translator.   And J, my long time riding buddy and fantastic helper in keeping things moving.

The weather was as good as I have ever seen in Baja. The days were crisp and sunny, which made for perfect riding conditions.  We had a bit of fog the morning we rode out of Guerrero Negro, but that burned off quickly, and other than that it was bright sunny weather the entire time.   It was as good as it gets in Baja.  Like I said, perfect riding weather.

The riding was amazing, especially the stretch along Bahia Concepcion.   I’ve always felt that Conception Bay is the prettiest part of the peninsula.   This year we made it a standard part of the ride when we rolled down to Loreto for a leisurely lunch, and it was awesome.   We had two long days (about 400 miles each); all of the other days were about 200 miles.   It worked out well.   We took breaks roughly every hour, and that worked out well, too.  It broke things up and kept everybody alert.   Good times and good riding.

The whales were, as always, amazing.   The mama whales were pushing their babies up to the boats more obviously than I’ve ever seen (I’m not sure if we were there to see the whales or if they were there to see us).    I saw more “spy hopping” than ever before, where the whales rise up vertically out of the water to survey their surroundings.  And I experienced something altogether new this year:  At least three of our riders (Joe 2, Matt, and Rob) had waterproof camera cases and selfie sticks.  They captured underwater photographs and video of the whales.  I’d never seen that before, and the results were spectacular.  Some of our riders’ photos and videos are already appearing on Facebook, and I’ll post them here on the blog when I get copies.   Just amazing stuff.

The cave paintings were amazing. The Mexicans had a better presentation this year in that they had a briefing (including an arrowhead and tool display) prior to actually seeing the paintings.  It was all in Spanish, but we had a secret weapon:  Our good man Carlos.   Carlos really made the trip for us with his invaluable translation skills and warm personality.  He’s just a great guy and a great rider.

And the food!   Ah, it was fantastic.  Camarones.  Chile rellenos.  Pollo rellenos.   Tacos de pescado, right off Tony’s truck.  And lots, lots more.  Every meal was an event, and every dinner was a feast.  Several members of our expedition complained about gaining weight (it was that good).  I’m one of them, and I’m hitting the gym tonight to get back down to my fighting weight.   The food was simply magnificent.

The only downside, for me, was capping the ride.   I would have like to have taken everyone along who wanted to go with us, but beyond the size of the group we rode with it just gets too hard to manage.  But hey, that’s what 2018 is for!   If you want to go for the ride of your life, my advice is to get on the 4^th Annual CSC Baja Run list now!  And if you don’t have an RX3 (the world’s greatest adventure riding motorcycle) to ride along with us, well hey, we have a solution for that!

Wowee…where to begin?

We are having one hell of a ride here in Baja, folks.   It’s one of the best rides I’ve ever had, and the folks I’m riding with are telling me they’re getting feedback from their friends and relatives:  Where’s the blog?  Okay, guilty as charged!  The fact is I’ve just been having too much fun to blog!

So let’s catch up…let’s see…this first photo was our last night in Guerrero Negro, after we’d been to see the whales.  I think I talked about that in the previous blog.   The whale watching was as awesome as I’ve ever seen it and we were all in high spirits after a day in Scammon’s Lagoon cavorting with the ballenos.   We kind of had a tailgate party in the parking lot that night (lots of beer, but no tailgates because we rode down here on motorcycles).   Pete had done something particularly well that day (I can’t remember what it was), and his reward was a genuine Mexican Cheeto…

That’s Willie (you’ll remember him as the world’s most interesting man), and James (he’s from Texas) taking it all in that night.  It was a lot of fun…so much so that we got together for a group photo.  From left to right, it’s Dan, Willie, Barb, Matt, Pat, Chuck, Tuan, James, Rob, Joe 2 (I’m Joe 1), Peter, J, and Carlos.   The smiles are real, folks!

We were up the next morning for the cave paintings, and that was a hoot.  Our guides this year were the best ever, and they started by showing us a collection of arrowheads and tools from the ancients who painted the petroglyphs we were about to observe…

…and then it was on to the cave paintings.   The guys were awestruck, just as I always am when I see these things.  That’s Matt and Joe 2 taking photos in the photo below.

These are very, very cool.    They may date to as far back as 12,000 years ago.   Nobody really knows for sure.

That’s Dan on the far right.  He rode Baja with us last year and he told me he thought the cave paintings were the high point of the trip.

James conversing with our guide.

That’s Carlos in the orange jacket in the photo below.   It matches his RX3.  I am really glad Carlos is on this ride.  He’s a great guy and we are all enjoying his company.

After the cave paintings, we continued south for lunch in San Ignacio, and then it was on to Santa Rosalia, Mulege, and Loreto.  Loreto was our turnaround point for this ride.  I had to get a photo of my RX3 in Loreto with the Sea of Cortez in the background.   My RX3 is amazing.   This is its third Baja run.   I love my RX3.  It has to be the best value in the history of motorcycling.   But that’s not why I love it.  There are a lot of reasons, and one of them is that the bike just attracts interesting riders (like the crew on this year’s CSC Baja run).

Here are some riding scenes heading north from Loreto.   The roads and the weather have been magnificent.    It’s just been fantastic.

Bahia Concepcion (Conception Bay) from the saddle of my RX3.   Wow!

There’s no Photoshop trickery here, folks.  It really is this colorful.

Twisties.  Cactus.   Mountains.   Perfect weather.   Better sign up now for the 2018 CSC Baja run!

Dinner in Santa Rosalia.  This was Carlos’ plate.  Doesn’t it just look wonderful?

Santa Rosalia is an amazing little Baja town and it’s one of my favorites.  I like the Boleo panaderia (that’s a bakery), and so did everyone else.  Carlos bought cookies and pastries for us for desert.  They were awesome.

A very photogenic young lady in the Boleo panaderia.

A late night shot of some of the crew in Santa Rosalia.  From the left, it’s Rob, J, Pat, Dan, Peter, Tuan, and Joe 2.

A Santa Rosalia street chef.   The people are all very friendly.   We had already had our dinner, or I might have tried a taco or two here…

Here’s a tortilla lady…she was working with the chef in the photo above.   I’ll bet what they were preparing was delicious.

And folks, that’s a wrap for the blog tonight.  We rode 398 miles today to Santa Maria, and we’re staying in a really beautiful hotel called the Mission Inn.   It’s a new one for me, but I’ll be back.   We’ve been racking up the good times and the miles, and I’m tired so I’m going to call it a night.   We’re headed to Tecate tomorrow, and that will be our last night in Baja on this trip.

Later, my friends…

We were up early this morning in Guerrero Negro, eager to get out and see the whales.   We started with a great breakfast in Don Gusto’s…

Then it was out to Scammon’s Lagoon for an absolutely amazing day…I’ll let the photos do the talking with a comment or two on each…

Tuan on the ride out to the bay. The smile says it all.

There were enough people in our group to require two pangas (small boats built in Baja). That’s the other half of our group.

Sea lions on a buoy. Cool stuff.

J Brandon says hello to a mama California gray whale. You can’t see it in these photos, but these mature whales are twice the size of the boats!

James and Robert saying hello to a whale.

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil…

This is known as spy hopping, when the whales rise up vertically out of the water to check their surroundings. We saw this repeatedly today, as the whales were looking at us. It was amazing.

A baby California gray whale. They are literally pushed up to the boats by their mothers (you can see the mama below the baby in this photo).

Nostrils and barnacles on a mature whale.

A whale nose and barnacles. The barnacles are living things. If you touch them, they close. It was interesting.

Pat, Dan, and Robert photographing the whales.

Rob saying hello to Mom and her calf.

Rob makes a new friend.

Once we were back in town we went over to Tony’s truck for fish tacos.  Here’s a cool shot of Pat standing in line waiting for one of Tony’s famous specialties. Wow, were those tacos ever good!

Tuan, me, J, and Rob. Good times.

With Tony, fish taco chef extraordinaire!

The only motorcycle shop in Guerrero Negro.

Manuel, the moto shop proprietor.

Enjoying ice cream on a walk through Guerrero Negro.

It was quite a day.  Tomorrow will be exciting, too, as we continue our CSC ride through Baja.   We’ll see the San Francisco Mountains, San Ignacio, Santa Rosalia, and Mulege.

It’s a lot warmer  now that we are approaching the tropics, and the temperatures will continue to go up as we head south.   Keep an eye on the blog, folks.  More good stuff on our adventure tour is coming your way!