Within the next 48 hours, folks, my book on CSC, the company’s history, bringing the RX3 to America, and our adventure rides will be available on Amazon!
It’s cool, and it was a blast putting it together. This is my 11th book, and it came together faster than any previous one I’ve done. You could say I wrote it in the last two weeks, but the reality of it is I’ve been working on it in my head for the last 6 years (which is how long I’ve been associated with CSC).
Allow me to share with you the Preface I wrote for this book…
I didn’t start our Western America Adventure Ride with the idea of writing a book. When we rolled out of Azusa shortly after 5:00 a.m. that first day, pounding out close to 100,000 words on my computer was not on my mind.
Somewhere in the great American West, amongst scenes I had enjoyed in western movies as a youngster and I was now seeing firsthand, Joe Gresh commented on how well the bikes were holding up running at 8000 rpm all day long, day after day. I was feeling the pressure of keeping everybody together and staying on schedule, and Joe sensed my stress. He told me he thought things were going well. I made an offhand sarcastic comment regarding a book about the trip, and I said I was going to call it 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM. I thought I was being cute. You know, the title sounded like Richard Henry Dana’s 1840 classic, Two Years Before The Mast.
I forgot about that for the next several weeks, and then a few weeks after our return, I started thinking about it again. Maybe there was a book in this.
Then I thought a little more, and I realized I couldn’t just tell the story about the Western America Adventure Ride. The story was bigger than that. It had to be the story of CSC Motorcycles, bringing the RX3 to America, the CSC Baja Inaugural Run, the bike itself, what it’s like working with CSC and Zongshen, and the Western America Adventure Ride.
I really liked that title, though. 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM. So I kept it. But I want you to know the story is bigger than just one adventure tour.
With that as the background, let’s go for a ride.
The are a couple of other things I want you to know. The first is best stated in this paragraph, which comes directly from the book…
I want to point out to the readers of this book that no one from CSC or Zongshen provided editorial direction, nor did they see any parts of it prior to publication. They did not tell me what I could or couldn’t write. The good people in CSC and Zongshen will see this book’s contents for the first time when it is published.
And the second is that there will be two versions of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM. I originally included color photographs (if I do say so myself, they are magnificent), but publishing the book in color drives the price up to $49.95. I know you guys love me, but that’s pushing it. The color version will be available, though, as the Deluxe Model. This morning I converted all of the photos to black and white, and that lets Amazon sell it for just $19.95. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s available.
TT250 Enduro
RX1E Electric Motorcycle
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer
