CSC Blog

After my post on the perfect motorcycle, I received this interesting note from my buddy John.  John and I go way back…my very first foray into Baja was with Big John on the V-twins about 20 years ago.

Here’s the email from John…

*******************************

Hey Joe,

Great article. Motorcycles have definitely gotten too bloated, just like most of our cars.  The thing that I miss about my CSC Scooter was the ease of riding.  (Note from Joe:   John’s CSC-150, a really cool red number with wire wheels and lots of chrome, was stolen about a year after he bought it.)   So easy to hop on and go.  The KLR, even at my height, is difficult to mount.  I would like to have something in between, both in weight and height.  My Virago, also near 500 lbs, was much easier to mount than the KLR, with plenty of torque and nimble like a motorcycle should be.  On road I still felt like I was riding a motorcycle instead of the living room couch, but off road it was definitely too heavy, even though I could still lift it by myself.  I loved that bike though.

After riding Annie’s 250cc scooter which, like the KLR, also weighs in at 377lbs dry, I have to agree about the 250 engine size possibly being ideal.  That scooter, even at it’s ridiculous heavy weight, will still propel me to 70+ and will easily cruise at 60 mph.  The only reason that I would want more power is for those occasional times when you need to accelerate quickly.  That could be remedied in part by a lighter bike.  I would love a bike that would have a slightly larger frame than a 250 CSC Scooter with decent suspension travel and luggage capacity, and perhaps 350 lbs max wet weight. 

And regarding my description of a motorcycle that I would love to see, I forgot to add no computers and the associated sensors so that the bike can be worked on in the middle of nowhere, and can be pieced together well enough with duct tape to get you to the next town.

John

***************************

Good inputs, John, and thanks for writing to add your thoughts.  All good stuff.

Susie and I are going to the plant a little later this morning, folks.   We’ll have more photos for you later!

Every once in a while I’ll start to feel a bit crowded, especially when we get our famous rush hour traffic here in So Cal.   Sometimes we complain that they build houses too close together, too.   Too many people, not enough space.  Or so I thought…

I get to travel a lot and I’ve seen some places where things are really crowded, so when I get the feeling described above I’ll take a deep breath, turn up the radio (if I’m in the car) or split lanes (if I’m on the bike), and then I realize just how well off we are living here in the USA.

The above notwithstanding, when I saw this video it took a few seconds for me to realize what I was seeing.   Check this out…

That’s the Rom Hub market in Bangkok.  I’ve been to that city, but I didn’t see what that video shows.  Wow…that’s crowded.

Later, folks…looking forward to a fun day of getting my knees in the breeze tomorrow.   I hope you are, too!

I received a letter from my good buddy Alan Spears today (that’s Alan above) about some changes in the MSILSF rules and upcoming events, and I thought I’d share it with you here on the blog.   Here we go, folks…

***********************************

Dear Racer,

Happy 4th of July holiday!

Motor-Scooter International Land-Speed Federation (MSILSF) was founded in 2010. Our goal was to promote motor-scooter land-land speed on an obscure abandoned stretch of Historic Route “66”, in Devore, California. In the succeeding months, and years, MSILSF has evolved into the premier sanctioning body of extreme and ultra-extreme motor-scooter endurance competition. We’ve been chastised, disparaged, defamed, criticized, castigated, and seldom lauded for our efforts by certain non-racing segments of the scooter community, namely certain members who post to a couple of scooter forums. But MSILSF’s resolve to promote extreme endurance competition has remained steadfast since our first extreme endurance event on March 26^th 2011, the Salton Sea T.T. 396-Mile Extreme Endurance Race that started and finished in Brawley, California. In the succeeding years MSILSF has hosted numerous extreme and ultra-extreme endurance events, including the race that invoked the ire of the aforementioned bloggers, The Real Cannonball ~ World’s Most Extreme Motor-Scooter Endurance Race, that started on May 4^th 2013 at the Red Ball Garage, Manhattan, New York, and finished at the Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach, California.

In promulgating Rules and Event Protocols by majority vote, MSILSF’s Executive Committee has endeavored to be fair-to-a-fault. In this regard, MSILSF has structured, and re-structured classes. MSILSF has also made slight, as well as major changes, to its Rules to accommodate virtually all small-wheel motor-scooters. No one has been excluded, or denied the privilege of competing because of their ride, its pedigree, heritage or progeny. In part because of MSILSF’s attention to rider safety, and its safety record, MSILSF Extreme Endurance Racers are not required to wear track type safety equipment. They are encouraged to do so. The expense associated with Track Day apparel is formidable, and precludes many riders from competing. Not so in MSILSF events! Our events are adequately and fully insured by National Motor Sports.

If, and only if, you’re interested in Isle of Man type competition, we’re anxious to welcome you into our exclusive group of dedicated extreme endurance riders who endear to the simple philosophy of “Let’s do it!” Our designated charity is the Wounded Warrior Project, to which we donate ten percent (10%) of all entry proceeds.

Presently, MSILSF has the only extreme endurance game in town – and we’re extremely proud of it. MSILSF’s “game on” philosophy has taken Herculean effort (and expense) to perfect. These, in a nutshell, are MSILSF’s core values and objectives. We don’t wish to impose them on other competition organizations. Similarly we don’t want to change or modify them, or tailor them to any specific rider’s particular needs. If they’re consistent with your competition mindset please, by all means, pre-enter and race with us. Otherwise, MSILSF wishes you well in your quest to ride with like-minder riders. To borrow a phrase from the Travelocity Gnome, “Don’t forget to smell the roses!”

MSILSF Rule and Class Changes

Following post-Lake Tahoe T.T. round-table e-mail discussions amongst the voting members of MSILSF, and based on said discussions regarding our continued efforts to strive to insure fairness at all MSILSF extreme endurance racing events, the MSILSF Executive Committee has, by a majority vote, adopted the following Rule and Class changes, to be implemented immediately.

MSILSF Classes will be based solely on engine “displacement”, without regard to engine modifications. The same Rules will apply to both automatic (“CV”) and vintage (“Shifter”) scooters which shall run in separate classes. Simply put, “CVs” and “Shifters” do not race against each other — except for 1^st Place Overall Honors. Scooters may be modified, by porting, boring, stroking, de-stroking, liquid-cooling, and/or fitted with after-market racing components such as clutches, variators, drive belts, expansion chambers, megaphone/muffler exhaust systems, and so-called “auxiliary fuel systems”.

Although “auxiliary fuel systems” are allowed, there will be at least two mandatory fuel stops at pre-designated gas stations. This takes the race out of the illegal street race category for legal purposes. Proof of purchase receipts must be obtained at time of purchase, and presented to the Chief Tech Inspector, or his designee, after the finish of the race, and prior to the tally and release of official results.

Three (3) scooters are required to constitute a “Class” recognized for the award of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Place trophies. One or two pre-entries in any given Class do not constitute a Class of that displacement. The formula shall be as follows:

If no more than two (2) scooters pre-enter a given class, they shall run in the next larger established displacement Class. For example, if two (2) 50cc scooters pre-enter, they must compete against 70cc scooters in the 70cc Class. If there are no 70cc scooters pre-entered, the two 50cc pre-entries must compete against 100cc scooters in the 100cc Class. If there are no 100cc scooters pre-entered, the two 50cc entries must compete against 125cc scooters in the 125cc Class. Stated another way, if there is one 50cc scooter pre-entered, and one 70cc scooter pre-entered, both shall compete in the 100cc Class. If there are no 100cc scooters pre-entered, the 50cc and 70cc pre-entries must compete in the 125cc Class. And so on until a three (3) scooter class is comprised.

Protests: All scooters are subject to an official protest by any rider who actually raced in the same class as the person being protested. The racer protesting (Protestor) shall, within thirty (30) minutes of the final finish of the event, post a $300.00 Protest Fee and hand-written protest with the Chief Tech Inspector, setting forth the basis of the protest. For example: “I believe rider’s [name] scooter is over the Class displacement.” The protested rider’s (Protestee) scooter shall be torn down and displacement verified. If the protest is found to be valid, the Protestee shall be disqualified, and the money will be returned to the Protestor. If the protest is found to be invalid, the money will be disbursed to the Protestee.

Automatic/CV Scooter Classes:

• 50cc
• 70cc
• 100cc
• 125cc
• 150cc
• 175cc
• 200cc
• 250cc
• 300cc
• 350cc
• 400cc
• 500cc
• 600cc
• Open (601cc+)

Vintage/Shifter Classes:

• 50cc
• 70cc
• 100cc
• 125cc
• 150cc
• 175cc
• 200cc
• 250cc
• Open (251cc+)

Sidecars:

• Class I: 50cc to 250cc
• Class II: 251cc to 500cc
• Open (501cc+)

All other MSILSF Rules will remain in full force and effect. Insofar as the foregoing Rules and Class changes are inconsistent with those Rules previously adopted, these new Rules shall take precedence over those heretofore enacted.

Please be so kind as to pre-enter the 3rd Annual Salton Sea T.T. ASAP using the pre-entry feature of the MSILSF website: www.motorscooterlandspeedfederation.org, and forward this e-mail to your friends.

Thanx in advance.

Sincerely,

Alan Spears, Pres/CEO, MSILSF www.motorscooterlandspeedfederation.org

***********************************
Cool stuff, folks, and thanks for all you do, Alan.

If any of you are up for participating in any of these events, please let us know.

I might be interested in riding along, too!

Folks, I received this nice note from Jimbo yesterday….

Hi Joe:

I read your Blog today with keen interest…I followed along on your many bike experiences on so many models and marveled you had few serious mishaps…Then I compared your experiences with my own and almost wrote a short chapter here but talked myself out of it…I think maybe I told you how over the many years at Mustang, I had to test 10 units everyday, thousands over the years mixing it up with street traffic, attacking dogs, and police and never directly was injured…Indirectly by burns, or other minor incidents making last minute adjustments, certainly…

But then I thought, could any motorcycle trip be more uncomfortable, fatiguing down right more dangerous then your many trips?..Then I remembered the trip our dealer in Waco Texas made to our plant In Glendale California and on to Disneyland and return to Waco, riding double…Our very best dealer Roy Stone and his son made this trip about 1960, on their lightweight Mustang before the interstate and freeways became common…They had zero mechanical problems (I did do a valve job on the engine for good order).

Here’s a photo of the bike after we cleaned it up…From left to right, Howard Forest, Chief Engineer, J.Wade Bronson, Mustang Sales Manager, Roy Stone and son (I forgot his name).

Joe, you don’t need to post this I just wanted you to see this to believe it!

Cheers!

Jimbo

Jim, thanks for the update and the photo.   We hope you enjoy the 4th of July…we’re closed today, but the day holds great promise at my place with a planned motorcycle scoot and a barbeque.   Our best wishes to you and the entire CSC community (fans, factory folks, and blog followers)!

Every once in a while we get a used bike in that is a real sweet deal…take a look at this one, folks!   It’s a 2012 CSC-150, with a black luggage rack, a stainless steel kick stand, billet mirrors, chrome exhaust, and custom red wheels….

Give Steve a call at 800 884 4173 for all the details!

Cruisers.  Standards.   Sports bikes.   Dirt bikes.   Dual sports.  Big bikes.   Small bikes.   Whoa, I’m getting dizzy just listing these.

In the old days, it was simple.   There were motorcycles.   Just plain motorcycles.   You wanted to ride, you bought a motorcycle.   And they were small, mostly.  I started on a 90cc Honda (that’s me in that photo to the right).  We’d call it a standard today, if such a thing still existed.

Then it got confusing.  Bikes got bigger.  Stupidly so, in my opinion.  In my youth, a 650 was a huge motorcycle, and the streets were ruled by bikes like the Triumph Bonneville and the BSA Lightning.   Today, a 650 would be considered small.   The biggest Triumph today has a 2300cc engine.  I don’t follow the Harley thing anymore, but I think their engines are nearly that big, too.   The bikes weigh close to half a ton.   Half a ton!

I’ve gone through an evolution of sorts on this topic.   Started on standards, migrated into cruisers after a long lapse, went to the rice rockets, then morphed into dual sports.

The dual sport bug hit me hard about 15 years ago.   I’d been riding in Baja a lot and my forays occasionally took me off road.   Like many folks who drifted back into motorcycles in the early 1990s, the uptick in Harley quality bit me.   As many of us did, I bought my obligatory yuppie bike (the Heritage Softail) and the accompanying zillion t-shirts (one from every Harley dealer along the path of every trip I ever took).   I had everything that went along with this kind of riding except the tattoo (my wife and a modicum of clear thinking on my part drew the line there).  Leather fringe, the beanie helmet, complimentary HOG membership, and the pot belly.   I was fully engaged.

Unlike a lot of yuppie riders of that era, though, I wasn’t content to squander my bucks on chrome, leather fringe, and the “ride to live, live to ride” schlock.  I wanted to ride, and ride I did.  All over the southwestern US and deep into Mexico.   Those rides were what convinced me that maybe an 800+ lb cruiser was not the best bike in the world for serious riding…

The Harley had a low center of gravity, and I liked that.   It was low to the ground, and I didn’t like that.   And it was heavy.   When that puppy started to drift in the sand, I just hung on and hoped for the best.   Someone was looking out for me, because in all of that offroading down there in Baja, I never once dropped it.   As I sit here typing this, enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee that Susie just made for me, I realize that’s kind of amazing.

The other thing I didn’t like about the Harley was that I couldn’t carry too much stuff on it without converting that bike into a sort of rolling bungee cord advertisement.  The bike’s leather bags didn’t hold very much, the Harley’s vibration required that I constantly watch and tighten their mounting hardware, and the whole arrangement really wasn’t a good setup for what I was doing.   The leather bags looked cool, but that was it.   It was bungee cords and spare bags to the rescue on those trips…

The next phase for me involved sports bikes.   They were all the rage in the early 90s and beyond, but to me they basically represent the triumph of marketing hoopla over common sense.  I bought a Suzuki TL1000S (fastest bike I ever owned), and I toured Baja with it.  It would be hard to find a worse bike for that kind of riding.  The whole sports bike thing, in my opinion, was and is stupid.   You sit in this ridiculous crouched over, head down position, and if you do any kind of riding at all, by the end of the day your wrists, shoulders, and neck are on fire.  My luggage carrying capacity was restricted to a small tankbag and a ridiculous-looking tailbag.

I was pretty hooked on the look, though, and I went through a succession of sports bikes, including the TL1000S, a really racy Triumph Daytona 1200 (rode that one from Mexico to Canada), and a Triumph Speed Triple.   Fast, but really dumb as touring solutions, and even dumber for any kind of off road excursion.

Phase III for me, after going through the Harley “ride to live” hoopla and the Ricky Racer phases, was dual sport bikes.   The idea here is that the bike is equally at home on the street or in the dirt.   Dual purpose…dual sport.   I liked the idea, and I thought it would be a winner for my kind of riding.

The flavor of the month back then was the BMW GS.   I could never see myself on a Beemer for a lot of reasons I’ll explain in a second, but I liked the concept.   I was a Triumph man back in those days, and the Triumph Tiger really had my attention.   A couple of my friends were riding the big BMW GS, but I knew I didn’t want a Beemer.  In my opinion, those bikes were (and still are) ridiculously overpriced.   The Beemers were heavy (over 600 lbs on the road), they had a terrible reputation for reliability, and I thought they looked goofy.   The Tiger seemed to be a better deal than the Beemer, and it sure had the right offroad look.   Tall, an upright seating position (I had enough of that sports bike nonsense), and integrated luggage.   So, I bit the bullet and shelled out something north of $10K back in ’06 for this beauty…

The Triumph had a few things going for it…I liked the detachable luggage, it was fast, it got good gas mileage (I could go 200+ miles between gas stations), and did I mention it was fast?

Looks can be deceiving, though, and that Tiger was anything but an off-road bike.   It was still well over 600 lbs on the road with a full tank of gas, and in the soft stuff, it was terrifying.  I never dropped the Triumph, but I sure came close one time.  On a ride out to the Old Mill in Baja (a really cool old hotel right on the coast a couple hundred miles south of the border), the soft sand was bad.  Really bad.  Getting to the Old Mill involved riding through about 5 miles of soft sand, and it scared the stuffing out of me.  I literally tossed and turned all night worrying about the ride out the next morning.   It’s not supposed to be like that, folks.

And the Tiger was tall.  Too tall, in my opinion.  I think all of the current dual sport bikes are too tall.  I guess the manufacturers do that because their marketing studies show a lot of basketball players buy dual sports.  Me?  I don’t play basketball and I never cared for a seat that high.  Just getting on the Tiger was scary.   After throwing my leg over the seat, I’d fight to lean the bike upright, and not being able to touch the ground on the right side until I had the thing upright was downright unnerving.   I never got over that initial “getting on the  bike” uneasiness.  What were those engineers thinking?

The other thing that surprised me about the Tiger was that it was uncomfortable.   The seat was hard (not comfortably hard, like a well designed seat should be, but more like sitting on small beer keg), and the foot pegs were way too high.   I think they did that foot peg thing to make the bike lean over more, but all it did for me was make me feel like I was squatting all day.   Not a good idea.

I rode the Tiger for a few years and then sold it.   Even before I sold it, though, I had bought a new KLR 650 Kawasaki.   It was a big step down in the power department (I think it has something like 34 or 38 horsepower), but I had been looking at the KLR for years.   It seemed to be right…something that was smaller, had a comfortable riding position, and was reasonably priced (back then, anyway).

I had wanted a KLR for a long time, but nobody was willing to let me ride one.  That’s a common problem with Japanese motorcycle dealers.   And folks, this boy ain’t shelling out anything without a test ride first.  I understand why they do it (they probably see 10,000 squids who want a test ride for every serious buyer who walks into a showroom), but I’m old fashioned and crotchety.   I won’t buy anything without a test ride.   This no-test-ride thing kept me from pulling the trigger on a KLR for years.   When I finally found a dealer who was willing to let me ride one (thank you, Art Wood), I wrote the check and got on the road…and the off road…

My buddy John and I have covered a lot of miles on our KLRs through Baja and elsewhere.   I still have my KLR, but truth be told, I only fire it up three or four times a year.   It’s a big bike, and I just enjoy riding my CSC 150 more.  Kawi says the KLR is under 400 lbs, but with a full tank of gas on a certified scale, that thing is actually north of 500 lbs.   I was shocked when I saw that on the digital readout.   And, like all of the dual sports, the KLR is tall.  It still gives me the same tip-over anxiety as the Tiger did when I get on it.   And I know if I ever dropped it, I’d need a crew to get it back on its feet.

That thing about dropping a bike is a real consideration.   I’ve been lucky and I haven’t dropped a bike very often.  But it can happen, and when it does, it would be nice to just be able to pick the bike up.

On one of our Baja trips, we had to ride through a puddle that looked more like a small version of Lake Michigan.   I got through it, but it was luck, not talent.   My buddy Dave was not so lucky…he dropped his pristine Yamaha mid-puddle…

The fall broke the windshield and was probably a bit humiliating for Dave, but the worst part was trying to lift the Yamaha after it went down.  Slippery, muddy, wet…knee deep in a Mexican mudbath.    Yecchh!   It took three of us to get the thing upright and we fell down several times while doing so.   Thinking back on it now, we probably looked pretty funny.   If we had made a video of it, it probably would have gone viral.

So, where is this going…and what would my definition of the perfect touring/dual sport bike be?

Here’s what I’d like to see:

• Something with a 250cc single-cylinder engine.   My experience with small bikes as a teenager and my more recent experience with CSC has convinced me that this is probably the perfect engine size.  Big engines mean big bikes, and that kind of gets away from what a motorcycle should be all about.  Water cooled would be even better.  The Kawi KLR is water cooled, and I like that.
• A dual sport style, with a comfortable riding position.   No more silly road racing stuff.  I’m a grown man who likes to ride hundreds of miles a day.   I want my bike to have a riding position that will let me do that.
• A windshield.   It doesn’t have to be big…just something that will flip the wind over my helmet.   The Kawi and the Triumph got it right in that department.
• Integrated luggage.   The Triumph Tiger got that part right.  The KLR, not so much.
• Light weight.   Folks, it’s a motorcycle…not half a car.   Something under 400 lbs works for me.   If it gets stuck, I want to be able to pull it out of a puddle.  If it drops, I want to be able to pick it up without a hoist or a road crew.   None of the current crop of big road bikes meets this requirement.
• Something that looks right and is comfortable.   I liked the Triumph’s looks.   But I want it to be comfortable.
• Something under $5K.   Again, it’s a motorcycle, not a car.  My days of dropping $10K or so on a motorcycle are over.   I’ve got the money, but I’ve also got the life experiences that tell me I don’t need to spend stupidly to have fun.

The question is:  Who has such a bike out there?

Right now, no one.

But who knows what’s coming down the trail?

That’s PC as in power coated (not “politically correct”).   They provide a new look to a rather unique custom CSC motorcycle.   Take a look…

Powder blue, powder coated billet wheels and an all-out custom paint job.   That is truly a unique motorcycle, boys and girls!

Bill, thanks for sharing these with us, and for your excellent photos.

Found this one looking through some photos on the external drive a short while ago, and I remembered how much fun I had on that ride to the Planes of Fame museum in Chino.    Good stuff and a cool photo…

But that’s enough reminiscing…it’s time to fire up the Baja Blaster and get my knees in the breeze!

Later, folks…

Our good buddy Jimbo sent this YouTube video to us…wowee!

Thanks, Jimbo…that video is awesome!

A very good read, indeed…my buddy Marty loaned the latest Stephen Hunter novel, Sniper’s Honor, to me a few days ago, and I couldn’t put it down.   Read the entire thing in about a day and a half.  It was that good.

You’ve seen the posts on Mosin-Nagant rifles I’ve written here on the blog, and this novel is square in the middle of that.  The Russian snipers used Mosin-Nagants to great effect during the Siege of Stalingrad and elsewhere.   Sniper’s Honor is the fictionalized account of a female sniper during World War II.  It’s a novel, but the premise is not…Russia relied heavily on snipers (including female snipers) to help defeat the Nazis during World War II, and they used the 91/30 Mosin-Nagant rifle.

The significance of that 91/30 nomenclature is that these rifles were originally adopted by the Imperial Russian Army in 1891, updated slightly in 1930, and then used continuously thereafter.   They are inexpensive, they are accurate, and they are an affordable bit of shootable history.

Knowing a bit about the Mosin-Nagant rifle made Sniper’s Honor even more interesting.   Hunter did his homework…the descriptions were technically accurate and the idea of a knockout, drop-dead gorgeous Russian female sniper is not far from the truth.   If you think I’m making this up, I’m not…take a look at this beauty, Roza Shanina, who actually was a Soviet sniper back in the day…

As I read Sniper’s Honor, ol’ Roza was the woman I visualized as the female sniper.   I had to wonder if Hunter somehow saw that photo above and it planted the seed in his mind for this great read.   I’m sure he did…the female protagonist in the Hunter novel had 59 confirmed kills, the same as the real world Roza Shanina!

So, if you want a good read, a real cliff-hanging thriller that is technically accurate, Sniper’s Honor is one you might want to pick up.   The novel switches back and forth from 1944 to the present, and the real hero is a guy named Bob Lee Swagger (located in the present) who is 68 years old.   Great story, great rifles, a beautiful woman, and the protagonist is a fellow geezer.   It just doesn’t get much better than that!