CSC Blog

You’ll remember John and Louis, about whom I wrote last Saturday here on the blog.   It seems they both put their RX3s to work immediately on  the ride home, and Louis sent this incredible photo to me…

Louis, thanks for sharing your photo with us!

More good stuff…I was out and and about over the last couple of days following up on the RX3-P police motorcycles.   We’ll be posting more about that in the near future, but for now, check this out…

More to follow, folks.   Stay tuned…

We had a great weekend and Monday looks like it’s going to be an equally great day.   The stock market is up (hey, the Dow broke 18,000 today!), it’s 90 degrees and sunny out here in So Cal this afternoon, and life is good.

We had a fantastic afternoon yesterday.   My good buddy Willie was the subject of a surprise birthday party yesterday (that’s Willie in the photo above in front of the Mulege mission), and Willie’s wife Dalia invited the folks who were on the CSC 2016 Baja run.   I partied with Willie, Sara, Fathi, and Doina yesterday, and we relived parts of the Baja adventure (you can see my Baja buddies in the two photos below).   It sure was a great party.  The stories get more interesting and we get to be faster and better riders each time we tell them!

I’m headed north on another secret mission for CSC tomorrow, so I may not get to post on the blog for a day or two.   Hey, I’m having fun, and you should, too!  The weather is great….get out there and ride!

You’ve probably already seen our good buddy Willie on the 2016 CSC Baja “Most Interesting Man in the World” video…

I was watching that video again this evening, and when it finished, this one followed…enjoy, my friends!

…of ADVPulse magazine’s Top 10 All-Time Lightest Adventure Bikes, that is.   It’s a cool read and a cool story.   You can read it here!

After my morning cup of coffee and a not-too-shabby spinach omelet this morning, I suited up for my Saturday morning ride to the plant.   I looked at the two bikes in the garage (my trusty Baja-blasting RX3 and my KLR), and I realized…I just don’t ever ride the KLR any more.   “Why am I keeping it?” I wondered, and I realized that was a good question….so I fired up the KLR, I rode it to the plant, and I asked Steve to sell it for me.

I had a lot of fun with the KLR, but the truth is the RX3 is just a much better motorcycle.  It handles better than the KLR, it’s lighter, it gets better fuel economy, and for me (to borrow a phrase from my good friend Melissa Pierson) it’s the perfect vehicle.

The KLR has been a good bike, and a few months ago, Gerry went through and did everything:  Valves (they were in spec), coolant, oil, fork oil, new chain, carburetor overhaul, and all the rest.   This KLR has the doo installed, the Kawi soft bags, it has good Shinko tires that Ryan sold to me, a good battery, and it looks about like a new KLR would look.   I’m the original owner (I bought it new in 2006 from my good buddy Art Wood at the local Kawi dealer), and the bike has never been down.  Ever.  Oh, yeah…it has 14,600 miles on the clock.   Just nicely broken in, as they say.

This is going to be interesting.  When the trolls come at us on the Internet knocking the RX3, one of the comments we sometimes hear is “but you could buy a good used KLR for what an RX3 costs.”

Well, boys, here’s your chance!

One of my good friends and colleagues at Cal Poly Pomona (Dr. Jawa) posted this photo of himself on Facebook earlier today…

Very cool.   And as the title says, don’t wait for the movie.   There was some discussion about making a movie with Warner Bros., but I wanted Matt Damon to play me.   The studio countered with Danny DeVito, and the discussions kind of fell apart after that.

I rode into the CSC plant to continue working on the TT250 Service Manual (rode my soon-to-be-former KLR, too, but that’s a story for another blog) when I met John and Louis, two of our new good buddies.   John and Louis both bought brand-new RX3 motorcycles, and here’s a photo of the two of them I took just a few minutes ago…

That’s Louis on the left, and John on the right.   Louis picked up his new orange RX3 (rumored to be the fastest color) and John bought a pearlescent white bike.  Both are beautiful colors and both bikes are tastefully and functionally accessorized, with knobby tires, our upgraded seats, and more.   These guys are going to have a great time on their RX3s.   Interestingly, they are BMW guys (many of our owners have a BMW motorcycle or two in their fleet).

You can have a lot of fun with a wide angle lens, and the photos you’re seeing here found their way into my D3300 Nikon through a Tokina 11-16mm lens (cranked all the way over to 11 mm).    It induces distortion that can make for a fun photo.   Take a look at a few more photos of the bikes John and Louis picked up this morning…

Louis and John, you are going to have a ton of fun on your RX3s.   Ride safe, ride often, and let me know when you want to blast through Baja!

This TT250 maintenance tutorial addresses the motorcycle’s lighting, including the headlight, the taillight and brake light, the instrumentation lights, and the turn signals.

If you experience a lighting failure, the most likely cause of failure is the bulb or, in the case of the turn signals, the LED lights.    Check the bulb for the light that is not working first.   If the bulb is open or the LED is not operating correctly, you will need to replace this component.  If the bulb or the LED is intact and operational, the fault lies elsewhere and you will need to find the source in the circuit leading to the bulb or the LED turn signal.

The taillight and brake light is accessed by removing the red lens on the rear of the motorcycle.   It is secured by two Phillips head screws.

Remove the Phillips head screws and remove the red lens.

After the red lens has been removed, you will have access to the taillight and brake light bulb.  It is a standard 1157 bulb.  Push in and twist the bulb to release it.   Replace the bulb if either the brake light or the taillight filament is open.  CSC stocks these bulbs; please call us at 909 445 0900 if you need a replacement.

The headlight and instrument lights are accessed by removing the headlight and its nacelle.  These items are secured by two Allen bolts (one on either side of the headlight).  Remove these Allen bolts.

Tilt the headlight and its nacelle forward.

Remove the rubber insulator that covers the rear of the headlight.  Disconnect the connector plug at the rear of the headlight bulb.

Twist and remove the plastic lock for the headlight bulb.

Remove the headlight bulb.   Replace the headlight bulb if it has an open filament.   The TT250 takes a standard 12V 35/35W bulb.  CSC stocks these bulbs; please call us at 909 445 0900 if you need a replacement.

If any of the instrumentation lights or indicators go dark, you can access these bulbs after you have removed the headlight and its nacelle as described above.   After removing the headlight and its nacelle, the instrument lights are accessible from beneath the dash cluster.  Isolate the defective light and pull it from the dash cluster as shown here.

Pull the bulb from the rubber receptacle.  If it is defective, replace it.   CSC stocks these bulbs; please call us at 909 445 0900 if you need a replacement.

The turn signals use LED lighting.   If the turn signal does not work and the fault is not in the wiring to the turn signal, you will need to remove and replace the affected turn signal.

The front turn signal is removed and replaced by unscrewing its retaining nut, disconnecting the harness, and replacing the turn signal.  CSC stocks the turn signals; please call us at 909 445 0900 if you need a replacement.

The rear turn signal is similarly removed and replaced by unscrewing its retaining nut, disconnecting the harness, and replacing the turn signal.  CSC stocks the turn signals; please call us at 909 445 0900 if you need a replacement.

The CSC TT250 motorcycles estimated time of arrival in the Los Angeles port is 28 April 2016.    We would have liked to have received them sooner, but we can’t always control what happens in on the Yangtze River or in the port at Shanghai.   The official word is 28 April.

Once the TT250n shipment arrives, it will take a few more days to get through Customs here in the United States.   We’ll keep you posted.

The guys in the prep area are hard at it, folks, and the RX3s are coming together as quickly as they can consistent with our assuring that they meet all quality requirements.   Here’s a quick photo of the ones being prepped and going out for shipment this morning…

Hang in there…yours will be there soon!