I’m putting the finishing touches on the two presentations I’m giving this week. You know, for Horizons Unlimited, about my trips through China and Colombia on the RX3. Boy oh boy, I sure miss being on the road. It’s a funny thing…when I’m on the road, I think about getting home, and when I’m home, I think about being on the road. I shot close to 10,000 photographs on those two rides, and in going through them, I am realizing all over again just how lucky I was. Both rides were amazing. Not many people get to do what I did, and don’t think for a minute I don’t realize just how fortunate I am.
Anyway, I’m finding I shot more video than I remembered, too. One of the nice things about the current generation of DSLR cameras is that they have built-in video capabilities, and that makes it real easy to switch over to video when the mood strikes. The video you see above shows my good buddy Lu, who is easily the most graceful man I ever saw on a motorcycle. He’s releasing a batch of confetti, which is something the Chinese do whenever celebrating a major event. The major event we were celebrating was but one in a string of major events, and we pretty much experienced them two or three times a day, every day, on our ride across China. We were up on the Tibetan plateau when I recorded this, probably at about 13,000 feet, and the camera crew was grabbing photos and video for Zongshen’s marketing use. Cool stuff, to be sure.
I hope I’ll get to see you at the HU event. I’ve got lots of photos to share. You’ll like them.
Asphalt and Dirt is an online motorcycle magazine I just discovered courtesy of a Facebook post by my good buddy Joe Gresh. I spent a few minutes on it earlier today and I like it. It’s something you might want to check out.
Hey, are you planning on going to the Horizons Unlimited meet in Mariposa? I am, and I hope to see you there!
I’m assembling a new video, and in the process, I found this photo among the 6,000+ shots I grabbed while in China. I like it a lot, as it captures what it was really like…
Watch for the video…it will be another few days before I post it.
This Saturday, folks: It’s another Dualsports ‘N Donuts Day at CSC Motorcycles. Show up for a free donut or two, a cup of coffee, and a whale of a sale.
How good’s it going to be? How’s 10% off on everything sound?
Yep, you read that right: 10% off. On everything.
We’ll be here from 8:00 to 4:00. Arrive early if you want to score a donut!
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Riding China is now available on Kindle (along with my other books on long-distance adventure riding on the RX3, including 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM and Moto Colombia!). Here’s the link to get the book on Kindle.
What’s kind of cool about the Kindle link is that it lets you see the first few pages of Riding China, and that gets you in a place where you can read the Foreword penned by none other than world-famous motojournalist and good buddy Joe Gresh. Joe writes for Motorcyclist magazine and he’s a great guy. Gresh may read this blog and laugh at my description of him as world famous, but folks, trust me on this: He is. I’ve traveled across China with Mr. Gresh, and he is most definitely famous. When you read the book, you’ll find out all about it.
I am getting more and more excited about the upcoming Horizons Unlimited event in Mariposa. It’s next week from 22 to 25 September, and if you want to be with real people who do real adventure riding, this is the place you want to be. Carla King, Reg Kitrelle, Sam Manicom, and other well-known authors and motojournalists will be there. There’s a good chance Clement Salvadori may swing by, too (he was there last year). I’d say this is the coolest motorcycle event I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to a lot of motorcycle events. Adventure riders are good people, and the Horizons Unlimited event just has a good vibe.
The original plan was for me to give a presentation about the ride across China (and I’m going to do that), but my schedule has been expanded to include a presentation on the ride through Colombia, too. I’m excited about that. You may not know this, but Colombia is the hottest motorcycle market on the planet. They actually buy more motorcycles every year in Colombia than we do here in the United States! And the riding in Colombia…it was amazing!
If you make it to the Horizons Unlimited event, and I really hope you do, please stop by to say hello. I’d love to see you.
Our new aluminum headlight guards are in, and they sure do dress up an RX3 (and provide headlight protection). I like this accessory a lot. We have them in black and the brushed aluminum finish. I’ve got the black one on my RX3.
The new headlight guards go for $119.95, and you can purchase them here. We’ve got a bunch of other aluminum guard accessories for other parts of your RX3, too, including the rear master cylinder, radiator covers, rear caliper covers, and more. It’s all on the CSC website at this location.
I had my old D200 Nikon out on Friday and I saw three RC3s lined up in red, white, and blue. The fit and finish on the RC3 looks really good, and the bike is stunning in any of its colors.
My good buddy Sean, who organized the China tour this summer, rode his RC3 on a 10,000-kilometer ride through China earlier in the year. Here’s a YouTube video from the Zongshen page about that ride…
As you know, I’ve been traveling a lot this summer, and that meant I wasn’t able to spend any time at the gun range. Well, I took care of that problem yesterday. My friends and I (including my good buddy Duane, another RX3 rider) spent the morning punching holes in paper. I had my .45 auto. I like the 1911 a lot and I guess my enthusiasm is contagious; two of the guys bought 1911s after trying mine (I am a bad influence, I guess). It was a lot of fun. I love the 1911 handgun. I’ve been shooting the 1911 since 1973. I believe it’s the perfect pistol. It just feels right, it’s accurate, and it’s a classic design.
Speaking of classic firearms, when it comes to long guns, I am a big fan of the Ruger No. 1 single-shot rifle. This is one I’m considering…
The Ruger No. 1 first hit the market in the late 1960s, and it is about as classy a rifle as ever existed. It’s a real specialty item. Today the craze is all about black plastic semi-automatic rifles with big magazines; but none of that nuttiness has ever appealed to me. A single-shot rifle, on the other hand, gets my attention immediately. They are just cool. Not very many companies offer single-shot rifles. It’s a limited market, but there’s just something inherently worthy about having to make that one shot count. There’s only one other guy at my gun club who shoots one. We laugh about the young guys with their Rambo guns and multi-round magazines who just don’t get it.
If a Ruger No. 1 has pretty wood and it is an interesting caliber, I’m an easy sell. The one in the photos above scores on both counts. You can see the wood is sweet, and the rifle is chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge was developed specifically as a target round, and it’s been catching on for the last few years. It has the same trajectory as a .300 Winchester magnum but with substantially less recoil, and everything I’ve read about the Creedmoor says it is inherently accurate. Hmmm, it sounds like I am talking myself into pulling the trigger on this one. I’ll let you know.
That’s it for now, folks. Monday is my day for running errands. It’s time to fire up my RX3 and get out and about.
Oh, one other thing. We’re growing, folks, and that’s creating opportunities within the CSC organization. If you’re someone with a proven track record who wants to make your mark in the motorcycle world (in sales, parts and accessories, or as a service tech), send us your resume. Shoot it in to info@cscmotorcycles.com.
That’s it for now. Ride safe, my friends.
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We’re looking forward to seeing you at the HU event in Mariposa. It’s 22 to 25 September! Show up on a CSC motorcycle and we’ll have a free T-shirt for you!
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Good stuff, folks. I’ve been signing copies of Riding China, Moto Colombia!, and 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM, and they are on their way to you. You’ll enjoy reading the stories of our grand adventures; I sure enjoyed these awesome rides through the American West and Mexico’s Baja, Colombia’s Andes Mountains, and most recently, China! Imagine that…5000 miles through the US, 4000 miles through Mexico, 2800 kilometers through Colombia, and 8800 kilometers through China…and all of it on the RX3 with no failures on any of these rides!
The big question now is: What to do for an encore? I’m working on that one, folks!
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