CSC Blog

I first met my good buddy Ray at the Horizons Unlimited event in Mariposa a couple of weekends ago.   Ray rides a new orange RX3 (along with other motorcycles, as is frequently the case with many of our RX3 buyers) and he rode his new CSC to the Mariposa event.

In Mariposa, Ray told me that he was planning a mega-trip with several of his friends on northern California’s back roads, and he wanted to get our new accessories seats for his RX3.  The only problem was we had to turn the order around in a just a few days because our new seats are selling so well we were temporarily out of stock.   I called Steve from Mariposa, and hey, no problem!    Here’s the note we received from Ray…

Hi Joe,

Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that the custom seat CSC provided me has been working out great.  I have been riding some serious twisty roads for the past few days for about 750 miles and I love it.  The form and firm “cush” are just spot on.  The other feature of the gripper upholstery has added an additional element of control has I dive into corners and accelerate out keeping me firmly planted in the seat.  This has greatly reduced the normal fatigue of other seats I have experienced.  I still expect I will be riding another 1200 miles plus till next Monday and I am so excited with the performance of the RX3 and the new seat.  Looking forward to the Baja Ride in March.

I cannot thank you enough for your help.

Sincerely,

Ray

P.S. visit my Facebook  page for this ride.

Well, folks, I did exactly that, and it looks like Ray and crew are having a fantastic ride!

Ray, thanks for taking the time to write.   I’m looking forward to our next Baja ride, too.  It’s always great getting out on these bikes.

Ride safe and enjoy those Nor Cal roads!

Yo no hablo español, pero me gusta este video …

Wow, so much to discuss.   It’s an early Sunday morning here in southern California and it is raining cats and dogs.   That doesn’t happen too often out here, and we need the rain.  I’m sitting near the back door as I type this sipping a cup of Colombian coffee (thinking about my upcoming adventure in Colombia), and listening to the rain pounding the aluminum awning.   I like it.

Lots of stuff to share with you this morning, my friends.

For starters, Duane, Tuan, and I went for a ride yesterday on the RX3s.  The plan was to ride Sheep Canyon Road across the mountains, take Angeles Crest over to Glendale, and head on back.   The first part went well, except that the dirt road heading over the San Gabriels (that would be Sheep Canyon) was in much worse shape than it used to be.   It’s a steep downhill descent, and in one spot there was a sharp drop over some exposed rock that was a real e-ticket ride.   I was right on that fine line between enjoying it and being scared too much to enjoy it.

Here are a couple of photos of Duane and Tuan after the descent…

Both these guys are interesting people.   Duane is one of Gerry’s techs in our Service Department, and he rode with us on the run to Overland Expo in Flagstaff earlier this year.  That was a great ride.   Tuan is a mechanical engineer.  He was a student of mine at Cal Poly Pomona, and he is doing very well engineering high-tech environmental control systems in a plant not too far from CSC.   Both guys are RX3 riders and both are fun to be around.

A quick comment on Sheep Canyon Road…it’s a rough run, and I always take it very slow.   Break bones out there and you’re screwed, blued, and tattooed.   It’s very steep in some areas, and as you view it in this video, bear in mind that the video really doesn’t show just how steep it is…

One thing I noticed during the ride yesterday is that with the 10-weight oil in my forks (thanks very much, Gerry!), the bike handles the rough stuff way better than it does with the stock oil.  There was no topping/bottoming out on the rebound cycle as occurs with the stock oil, and it was a much better ride.

Angeles Crest Highway was closed yesterday due to a rock slide, so we opted to follow the road around the northern side of the San Gabriels.   That’s a great ride, and we stopped for photos in front of the Valyermo Post Office…

Cool stuff.  I photographed the road, and then I converted that photo to black and white…

We rode up to Devil’s Punchbowl State Park, and we discovered that Tuan was getting a flat tire.  It happens, and it probably happened as a result of heading over Sheep Canyon Road through the mountains.  That road was gnarly.  It’s the second time I’ve seen guys get flats as a result of riding that trail.  That curtailed our plans a bit, but we still managed to ride close to 200 miles yesterday.   It was fun.

I told you a day or two back that I’d been invited to ride in Colombia, and I guess that started a trend.   There’s an active RX3 discussion over on the TW200 board, and I weighed in with comments of my own.   Those boys are a hardy bunch, and one of them challenged me to ride with them on their 5000-mile ride next summer in Canada and Alaska.   Hey, that’s not a challenge….that’s an invitation, which I accepted immediately.  Colombia, check.  Canada, check.   What’s next?

Comments on 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM continue to pour in.   Yeah, I’ll brag a bit more.

This one is from my good buddy Rob, who rode part of the Western America Adventure Ride with us.

I couldn’t wait till winter to start reading your book and must say it’s very interesting and an entertaining read. Lots of good info on what you guys went through to get the RX3 into the USA. I’m only through chapter 6 so far but find it hard to put down it’s so well written and interesting. 

Thanks, Rob!

And here’s one from my good buddy Marty, whom I’ve ridden with many times throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico…

I just finished your book and what a story it is!  I could hear your voice in my head, and I said to myself, that’s Joe Berk, master storyteller.  You had me laughing out loud when I read about the wheel-sized pancakes.  A great ride in the West, with everything that’s good in long-distance motorcycling and everything that’s bad in a large-group ride.  I would have enjoyed being one of the troops, but there isn’t money enough to make me want to do what you had to do.  Joe, the old saying is that when one door closes, another opens; in your case three doors open, and somehow, you manage get through all three.  Thanks for a great read and a beautiful ride.

Marty, thanks very much!

My good buddy Robert is the RX3 importer in the Dominican Republic.  Here’s what Robert had to say…

When I first saw the Cyclone RX3 adventure/tourer motorcycle I knew right away it was a game-changer bike, and I put the gears in motion to become the distributor for the Dominican Republic, a long and difficult task.  When I saw CSC was bringing the bikes to America, I kept up with their journey through the CSC blog.

When I saw Joe Berk wrote a book about the process, I bought the book right away and haven’t been able to put it down yet.  Some parts I’ve read several times.  Joe tells an amazing first-person story of himself, CSC, and the bike.

Excellent story for Cyclone RX3 owners and motorcycle enthusiasts! Highly recommend!

Rob, glad you enjoyed it, and best wishes for your new venture in the Dominican Republic.   You may have noticed that I’ve already been invited to ride in Colombia and Canada.   I’ve never ridden in the Dominican Republic (hint, hint…).

And one more from my good buddy Bob in Oklahoma…

I’ve lost track of how many books I have purchased, started, lost interest in and never finished.

I received your book last week and finished it this evening.

I follow your blog nearly every day.

I debated about buying the book because I was afraid it would just be a re-hash of the blog entries. Yes a lot of the material in the book was familiar from seeing it on the blog. BUT, there was a whole lot of new material also. I received many strange looks from my wife when I started laughing out loud at some of the humorous things in it.

Many of the books I read, I have trouble maintaining concentration and wind up day dreaming about who knows what. Or getting drowsy and wind up reading the same page over and over and over again until giving up and going to bed. This was definitely not the case with your book.  I didn’t want to put it down. Then when I did, I often wound up picking it back up and reading some more. I really enjoyed it from start to finish.

Thank you for writing it. You did a great job.

Thanks very much, Bob!   I’m glad you liked 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.

That’s it for now, folks.   Ride safe, stay tuned, and buy the book!

As you know from following the blog (and perhaps from reading 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM), two of the riders who accompanied us were Juan Carlos and Gabriel, who are from Colombia.   They were sponsored by AKT Moto, the RX3 Colombian importer.

Good buddy Gabriel

Good buddy Juan Carlos in California

One of the reasons the Colombians accompanied us on the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride is that they wanted to learn from our experience because they are doing a similar tour in Colombia later this year.   You can probably guess where this story is going…I’ve been invited on that ride, and yes, I’m going!

Here’s the route…

My good buddy Juan Carlos sent the Colombia itinerary to me, and it’s looking like this:

1. Medellín – Coveñas 500 km (10 horas Aprox.)
2. Coveñas – Mompós 180 km (5 horas Aprox.)
3. Mompós – La Playa (vía El Burro) 270 km (10 horas Aprox.)
4. La Playa – Barichara 370 km (9 horas Aprox.)
5. Barichara – Villa de Leyva (vía Arcabuco) 200 km (5 horas Aprox.)
6. Villa de Leyva – Honda (vía Zipaquira – El Rosal) 320 km (9 horas Aprox.)
7. Honda – Santa Rosa de Cabal (entrada al nevado) 250 km (9 horas Aprox.)
8. Santa Rosa – Medellín (vía Filandia – Quimbaya – Anserma) 350 km (10 horas Aprox.)

It’s going to be a blast, and I just can’t wait!   It will be in the month of December, and I’ll keep you posted about this exciting adventure on the blog as details emerge.

Another thought…are any of you up for a quick 4-day relaxed ride through Baja?   I’m thinking of a 4-day run entering Mexico in Tecate.   We’d run down to and spend the first night in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez.   Day 2 would see us riding south on the new highway on the Sea of Cortez side, taking the 23-mile dirt road through Coco’s Corner across the peninsula to Catavina, where we’d spend the second night.   Day 3 would be an exploration of the Pacific side picking up the wreck made famous in Clem Salvadori’s book Motorcycle Journeys Through Baja, and spending the night either in Ensenada or one of the small towns on the way up to Ensenada.  After that, we’d head north and ride home.

Clem Salvadori’s photo of the Isla Del Carmen shipwreck

My photo of the Isla Del Carmen a few years ago

This would be a Thursday through Sunday ride, about 40 miles of it would be on dirt roads, and it would most likely be in late October or early November.  Let me know if you have an interest in doing this by writing to me at jberk@cscmotorcycles.com.

We’ll be at the plant at 8:00 and we’ll be leaving around 9:00 a.m., so if you would like to ride with us in the San Gabriels, show up before 9:00 and you’re in!

If you don’t have an RX3 yet, ride what you have…and we’d love to have you ride with us!   We’ll be out most of the day, and our ride will include a stretch on dirt roads.   Bring a camera, too…there will be lots of photo ops!

See you tomorrow!

With winter just around the corner, you might want to consider adding heated grips to your motorcycle.  Featuring a grip design that delivers heat quickly, these are a great addition to your RX3 and a good way to stay comfortable.  The grips have a 5-level temperature controller that allows you to adjust the temperature to your preference.   You can order these directly from our website by clicking here!

I saw this photo from my good buddy Dave on Facebook earlier today…

That’s my personal RX3 at the Horizons Unlimited event in Mariposa this past weekend, and I really like the way it turned out.   Dave is an accomplished photographer, writer, and blogger, and you can follow his adventures at WildernessDave.com.   It’s a cool site.

I’m sure looking forward to this weekend.   Time to put a few miles on the RX3.   I hope to see you at the plant Saturday morning.   We’ll have a good time.

We’re back from the Horizons Unlimited Mariposa event and we’re planning a ride this Saturday, folks.  We’re having our normal Donuts and Dual Sports day on Saturday, so stop by the plant for a cup of coffee and a donut, and then we’re heading into the San Gabriels.

Let’s ride!

Plan on being here by 9:00 a.m. if you would like to ride with us.  Depending on what you would like to do, we’ll either do a shorter ride up to Crystal Lake for lunch, or a longer one into Lytle Creek, over the mountains on Sheep Canyon Road (a dirt road), and then home on Lone Pine Road and Angeles Crest Highway.   Drop us a note if you’re planning to ride with us (info@cscmotorcycles.com).

More good stuff…we’re already hearing from folks who want to buy an RX3 and ride with us in Baja next March.   I’m really looking forward to that ride, and I hope you’ll be able to go with us.

More to follow, my friends.   Ride safe and stay tuned.

Rob, Ray, Ryan, and Matt at the Horizons Unlimited California Travelers Meeting

We have lots of good things happening, folks, including wrapping up the Horizons Unlimited California Travelers Meeting.   We had a grand time and it was in a grand area.   Mariposa is in California’s Gold Rush country right on Highway 49 (so named because of the California Gold Rush of 1849).    I’m thinking it’s an area worthy of another CSC adventure tour.  There are a lot of amazing roads in this area and the RX3 is the perfect motorcycle for exploring this region.

I was surprised at how many people wanted to ride the RX3 at the Horizons Unlimited event.   I led just a few of the rides, and I found I had put over 150 miles on my RX3 in a single day of leading people out, one or two at a time, for a ride that lasted only a few miles.   Folks loved the bike.   Our biggest challenge is going to be keeping them in stock.

And speaking of upcoming adventure rides, keep the third week in March 2016 in mind…it’s our next planned Baja ride.   Buy an RX3 and you’re invited.   We had guys on the last ride tell us that it was one of the best adventure rides they ever had.  Several said they had taken other vacations that cost way more than $3495, they didn’t have as much fun as we did on our Baja trek, and on those other more expensive events, they didn’t get a new motorcycle out of the deal!  We don’t charge anything beyond the entry ticket (which is the purchase of a new RX3).  You get to pay your gas, lodging, and meals (if you bring $750, you’ll more than have it covered).

We picked this time slot so we can see the whales, and we’ll have a whale of a time.   If you want to go, get your oar in the water quickly, because we’re capping participation at 10 people this time.

The Boulder Fields in Catavina, about 275 miles south of the border

The whales!

The Jesuit Mission built in 1728 in San Ignacio, still doing duty as an active church!

There’s a chapter in 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM about the last Baja trip and that will give you an idea of how much fun we had!  This trip will be even better because we’ll get to see the whales.

More cool stuff…ADVPulse just ran a story about us completing the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, and they concluded, as we did, that the RX3 is a reliable motorcycle well suited for adventure riding.  You can read that piece here.

There are many more other things happening.  We have a new lowering kit that drops the RX3 1 inch for those of you who want a lower seat heat.   We have heated grips coming out soon.   We’ve received more great feedback on the 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM book, and I’ll post those comments in another day or so.   And much, much more.

Stay tuned, my friends.

I grabbed a few photos of some of the folks who test rode the RX3 today at the Horizons Unlimited California event…

There were many more people who rode the RX3 today, but I was so busy I wasn’t able to photograph everybody.    I sure had a good time with Ryan, Matt, and all of the folks who stopped by our booth today.   More to follow, my friends!