CSC Blog

And just think…in just a little while, we’ll all be doing this on our own CSC RX3s.

Counting the days, folks!

Super weather out here today!   So much so I fired up both the KLR and the Baja Blaster to let those two machines get their knees in the breeze!  It’s been too long for both motorcycles, but both bikes fired right up thanks to my keeping them on the Battery Tenders.   If you don’t have one of those great little trickle chargers, you really need to get one (and yep, we sell them).

Every time I get out on the Baja Blaster I fall in love all over again…it is a beautiful motorcycle…absolutely jewel-like in its fit and finish…

I’ve had my little CSC 150 for nearly 6 years now, and she still runs like a top.   The best ride ever (they’ve all been good) was the Baja Run we did shortly after introducing these bikes…all the way down to Cabo and back.   If you haven’t read that trip report yet, you can see it here.   Our good buddy Simon Gandolfi rode with us, and it was a hoot!

I’m Baja bound next Wednesday, folks, to do some serious mapping, hotel negotiating, and photo shooting.   They’ve got Internet service in parts of Baja now (I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or a bad thing), so I’ll be posting reports and photos starting Wednesday night.

Later, guys!

It’s been close to 90 degrees here in So Cal for the last few days, but as recently as yesterday you could still see snow up in the mountains.   Some of us saw it from below, but our good buddy Bill and his Military Series CSC-150 got up close and personal with the cold stuff.

Here’s a note I received from Bill a couple of days ago…

Joe:

Another great day to ride up the Crest.  It was cold but no ice on the road.

Just another great day on a California Scooter.

This was at 7000 ft.

Bill

Very cool indeed, good buddy Bill!   Thanks for the awesome photo and for being a loyal CSC rider!

The boss took a ride out to Long Beach to see if he could spot the Germany….these photos were literally shot just minutes ago…

That ship on the right in the second row back is ours, and if you look real closely, you can see the address label that says CSC Motorcycles, Azusa, California….

Nah, I’m just kidding…Steve couldn’t tell the ships apart from the shore, but she’s out there, my friends, and like we said a blog or two down, it won’t be long now.

Here are a couple of additional shots from Steve’s iPhone…

That’s it for now.  I’m getting ready for my scouting run down to Baja…I’m leaving on Wednesday and we’re going to check the route and hotels, and I’ll do what I can to negotiate better hotel and motorcycle insurance prices for you adventurous souls who ride with us on the CSC Inaugural Baja Run.   I can’t wait to get down there next week.   Photos to follow…

I saw this article on riding a motorcycle coast to coast this morning as I was catching up with the Internet, and I thought I’d post the link for you…

http://www.motorcycle.com/features/50-tips-riding-motorcycle-across-america.html

It’s a good read, especially the part about cutting back on what you bring with you.

You know, I’ve never done a coast-to-coast motorcycle ride myself, and I think my RX3 will be the bike with which I break that deficiency.   I might be interested in doing a Four Corners run, but I wouldn’t do it under the Iron Butt Association’s rules.   I’ve been to Key West (an interesting place, but a boring ride getting there), and I don’t want to restrict myself to however many day the IBA allows.

The Gulf Coast is interesting along the stretch from New Orleans to Destin, and it’s beautiful, too.   They have a fish down there called amberjack, and grilled amberjack in any restaurant along Florida’s Emerald Coast is about as good as it gets.

Destin, along Florida’s Emerald Coast

I would like to circumnavigate the US, but at my pace and hitting the parts of it I want to.   I think the RX3 would be perfect for that.   Maybe this summer.   We’ll see.

I checked the Germany’s location, and she’s still parked just offshore of Long Beach.  I expect that will continue for the next week plus a few days.   When we hear more, we’ll let you know.

A lot of folks emailed me with questions about how much weight came off the RX3 when we built the SuperMoto styling study bike.

Here’s the deal, boys and girls…we weighed the stock luggage, the rack, the engine guards, the passenger foot pegs, the passenger footpeg mounting brackets, and the bolts.

You ready for this?  The combined weight of those items is 47.45 lbs.  There’s a few other things that further lightened the bike, like the aluminum wheels, the tank panels, the shortened beak, and the abbreviated front fender, but I didn’t want to include those items when calculating the weight reduction.   The question I was interested in was this:  If you take the stock CSC RX3 and remove all the goodies listed above, what’s the weight reduction…and the answer is just a scosh under 50 lbs.

The SuperMoto styling study bike felt noticeably lighter and faster, but I didn’t realize just how much weight came off with the bags, the guards, the passenger footpegs, etc.  And on our stock RX3 motorcycles, that’s something we can unbolt and bolt back on whenever we want.

Okay, that’s if for today.  Time to get out and fight the traffic home.   Ride safe, my friends…

Overland Expo is an event I’ve never been to, but I’m going this year and I’m pumped about it!  It’s for explorers on two wheels and four, and it’s one of the world’s quintessential events for folks who do what we do.

Ride your RX3 with us to Overland Expo in Arizona!

The basics first…it’s going to be held on May 15^th to the 17^th in Flagstaff, Arizona.    It’s focused on people who take overland exploration seriously.   Over 180 exhibitors will be present, and there’s going to be a series of presentations on all things related to adventure riding.   And yep, yours truly, little old me, is doing a one-hour presentation on the CSC RX3 motorcycle!   We’ll have the CSC Inaugural Baja Run under our belts by then, and I know I’ll have some great photos and stories to tell about it.

On the road in Sedona!

But that’s not the best part.   We’re going to have a bunch of bikes on display at the show, and I’m going to be leading RX3 demo rides in the surrounding area.   And more… if you’re there on your RX3, I’ll take you through Sedona and Jerome, two of Arizona’s most amazing areas.     Sedona has some of the most dramatic scenery anywhere in the world, and Jerome is an authentic old western mining town that just oozes character.  I’ve ridden in both areas, and folks, trust me on this: The photo ops and riding are amazing.    I liked it so much I did a story on this magical place for Motorcycle Classics magazine, and you can read it here.   Jerome is another cool spot, and it would make an ideal place to stop for lunch before heading back to Flagstaff!

And you know what?  That’s still not the best part.  If you’re in the area and you’ve been thinking about buying an RX3, we’ll bring your bike to the Overland Expo and you won’t have to pay the freight!   That’s right, buy the bike from us and take delivery at Overland Expo, and we’ll eat the freight fees!

And you know what else?   If you want to ride with us from So Cal, we’re headed out Thursday (that’s the 14^th of May) and we’re taking rural roads with an overnight stop to Flagstaff.   Hey, why not ride with us on this mini-adventure ride and create a few stories of your own?  I’d love to have you ride with our group!

One more thing…if you own a CSC RX3 and you show up at our booth, we’ll have a free RX3 T-shirt for you!  Who knows…you may even get your photo on the CSC blog!

If you’d like more info on Overland Expo, here’s the link: http://www.overlandexpo.com/west/

Keep an eye on the CSC blog, folks, and we’ll keep you posted on the Overland Expo!

No, it’s not a World War II headline…it’s the location of the Hanjin Germany, the ship carrying our RX3 motorcycles!   She pulled into our neighborhood around 7:00 a.m. this morning, and basically, she’s just hanging around waiting her turn to park (or berth, as they say in the marine world).

That little yellow dot surrounded by four red corners is our ship, and she’s due to berth on the 22nd of March.   That can move forward or backward, depending on how the dockworkers do in cutting down the strike-induced backlog.

As I sit here typing this blog, our bikes are about 50 miles away.  If we drove to the coast, we probably could see the Germany.   Sometimes when the air is especially clear here in So Cal, we can actually see ships in the Pacific Ocean when we ride up on Glendora Ridge Road.   Hmmm….

We’ll keep you posted.

We just issued a press release on our online maintenance tutorials, folks.   We believe we’re the only motorcycle company doing this, and hey, we wanted to brag a bit!

You can see the press release here:

http://www.prlog.org/12435265-csc-motorcycles-announces-online-rx3-maintenance-tutorials.html

Ryan and I grabbed the blue RX3 and our SuperMoto styling study for a quick run up in the mountains today.   Good times, and I grabbed a few quick photos…

We switched bikes partway through the ride, so I got some seat time on the SuperMoto, too.   It’s noticeably and significantly lighter than the standard fully-equipped RX3.   We’ll weigh all the accessories tomorrow to hang a number on weight delta, but I can tell you that my perception is the difference is huge.   The bike’s front-and-rear 17-inch aluminum wheels make a real difference in the bike’s responsiveness, too.

That said, I like the stock RX3 with the bags and the guards.   I’m not much of a canyon carver…I’m more of a touring dude and I have visions of exploring far-off places like Baja, the Canadian Rockies, and other adventure touring destinations on a solid touring platform that can carry the things I need.   The RX3 fills that bill well.   Very well, actually.

We were only on the road for about 45 minutes this morning, but it was fun.   We stopped at a local loncheria for tacos and tea, and then it was back to the plant.   Here’s one last shot of Ryan…

That’s it for today, folks.   Hang in there.   It won’t be too much longer before our bikes are here…