CSC Blog

Our maintenance topic du jour is chain adjustment, which is a bit of a misnomer because adjusting the chain on a motorcycle is actually two jobs:   Adjusting chain tension and aligning the rear wheel.   The challenge here is to both achieve the correct tension in the chain and to align the rear wheel while we are doing so.

You should check the chain adjustment at your motorcycle’s first scheduled maintenance and every maintenance thereafter.   You’ll most likely see the biggest need for adjustment at the first service interval, because chains do most of their stretching in their first several hundred miles of use.

The first step is to check your chain slack.   Zongshen advises 10mm to 25 mm of chain slack, which is indicated by a decal on the left swingarm.

The decal is a bit misleading, and I believe 10mm is a bit on the tight side.   On adventure touring bikes with long swingarms such as the RX3, I like to set the chain a bit on the loose side.  I adjust the chain slack to be between 3/4 of an inch and 1 inch (25mm, the high side of the Zongshen recommendation, is just under 1 inch).

You generally measure chain slack by flexing the lower portion of the chain up and down on the bottom run (between the front and rear sprockets) and measuring the amount of “play” from top to bottom.   You get varying opinions as to whether the rider should be on the bike or not.   I do it with no rider on the bike, but with the motorcycle on the sidestand.   This puts the weight of the motorcycle on the wheels and takes up some of the “sink” from the bike compressing the suspension.  I’ll push the chain all the way up, and then pull it all the way down and compare the readings on a ruler or a tape, as you see in the photos below…and as you can see in these photos, this chain is a bit too loose.

Let’s assume you’ve done this and you find the chain is either too tight or too loose.  When this occurs, we need to loosen (not remove) the rear axle, and loosen the chain adjustors on both aft ends of the swingarm.

Let’s approach the rear axle bolt first.   The rear axle bolt takes a different wrench/socket size at its two ends.   The bolt head is 18mm on the left side of the bike, and the rear axle nut is 17mm on the right side of the bike.

Loosen the rear axle with either wrenches or sockets.  You don’t need it to be real loose.  Finger tight is good enough.   We just want to be able to move the rear axle back and forth in the swingarm after we loosen it.

Next, loosen the chain adjustors on both sides of the swingarm.   These adjustors have two nuts, one on each side of the adjustment plate, as shown below.  Note that in the photo below, the rear axle adjustor nuts have already been loosened.

This is where it gets interesting.   Our challenge at this point is to drive the rear axle either forward or rearward using the rear axle adjustor nuts while simultaneously positioning the rear axle such that we achieve the desired chain tension (as described above) and we maintain rear wheel alignment.

Use the rear axle adjustor nuts to move the wheel either forward or backward.  The inside nut moves the wheel forward, and the outside nut moves the wheel backward.   Note that there are no washers between the inside nut and where it bottoms against the end of the swingarm, and that there is both a flat washer and a lockwasher between the outside nut and the end of the swingarm.   Both axle adjustor nuts are 13mm.

The trick is to get the wheel aligned and the chain properly tensioned.   You need to check both rear axle alignment and chain tension as you make these adjustments.

To attain correct alignment, there are two approaches.   You can actually measure the distance between the center of the swingarm pivot point and the center of the rear axle (as shown in the photo below), or you can observe the location of the adjustor on the swingarm scribe marks.  The photos below show both approaches.   I prefer actually measuring the distance (the first approach) because on many motorcycles the scribe marks are not always accurate.   When we do this, you can pop the plastic swingarm pivot point covers off with a small screwdriver.  On the RX3 used for the chain adjustment in these photos, we found that when the rear axle was perfectly aligned, the rear axle adjustors were perfectly placed with respect to the swingarm scribe lines on both sides of the motorcycle.

The above photos showed us checking rear wheel alignment by measuring the distance between the swingarm pivot point and the rear axle.  The other approach (as mentioned above) is to check the scribe marks on the swingarm, and use these to compare the relative position of the adjustors on both sides of the motorcycle.

Once the axle is aligned and the chain tension is where it needs to be, you can tighten the rear axle nut.   I always check the chain tension again after tightening the rear axle nut just to make sure it hasn’t moved.   After doing that, tighten all four of the axle adjustor nuts, and you are good to go!

And it’s our good buddy Joel from Colorado!

Wow, I thought this would be an easy one.   I received about a hundred emails in the last couple of hours, but Joel was the first one to nail it by identifying all five items that are upgrades to our stock RX3.   Here’s the photo of our blue RX3 with all the goodies…

Ah, that is a glorious photo, with the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in the background.   I shot it with my new Nikon, and I am quite pleased with the job this camera is doing.   But I digress…so, back to the main attraction…

Quite a few of the entries in our little t-shirt contest correctly identified 3 or 4 of the 5 non-stock features in that photo, but one was elusive until Joel nailed it.   It’s the 19-inch front wheel!   That really surprised me, because so many people told us that we should offer it as an option.   Well, we are, and what you see above is the first RX3 with that wheel!  We’re offering this as a kit (with aluminum rim and stainless steel spokes), or as a complete wheel.

Okay, so first, here are the five items:

• The 19-inch front wheel.
• Bridgestone Trail Wing dual sport tires.
• The spotlights.
• The sheepskin seat cover (it’s sweet, folks…I really like it).
• The Tourfella aluminum luggage (also very sweet).

Back to that 19-inch front wheel…take a look…

Awesome stuff, to be sure.   The stock RX3 spokes are cad-plated steel.   The 19-inch front wheel kit has stainless spokes.   Muey cool, boys and girls.

You’ve already heard me babble on about the aluminum bags.   I like them.  A lot.   My good Baja buddy John asked me if the larger bags make it harder to get on and off the bike.   It’s weird…even though they are substantially larger than the stock bags, it’s actually easier to get on and off the bike with the optional aluminum bags.   I’ll probably measure and compare where the forward edges are on both the stock and the Tourfella luggage later this week to see why that is.   I have a bad leg from a previous adventure (an encounter with an SUV that didn’t end well) and I’m pretty sensitive to this.   I believe mounting and dismounting an RX3 with the Tourfella bags is easier.

You’ve also heard me babble on about the spotlights.   I didn’t think I wanted them on my bike, but I changed my mind about that today, too.   But maybe not for the reason you might expect.   After we took a lot of shots today for our maintenance tutorials and the service manual, I went for a short ride on the RX3.   Unfortunately, it was 4:30 when I left the plant to get the shot at the top of this blog entry, and our southern California traffic was at its hellish worst.    I split lanes when I rode back to the plant, and wowee!  Because of their brightness and because of the bluish hue the spotlights emit, I believe folks thought I was a motor officer.   Traffic parted like the Red Sea (and I was Moses)!   I need these lights, folks.

Last topic for today…the sheepskin cover!   Again, wowee!  It picks you up maybe a half inch, and it is comfortable.  I didn’t get to try it on an extended ride, but I’ve used these before on my KLR, and trust me, they really work.    Yep, CSC will offer these, and you can bet one is going on my bike!

We’ll be announcing prices on the 19-inch front wheel kit and the sheepskin seat cover later this week, so stay tuned!

We’re sending out emails to all the good folks who have ordered RX3 motorcycles asking for information we’ll need from you to expedite processing your bikes when they arrive.  This is just a heads up…keep an eye on your inbox, and you might want to check your spam folders, too (just in case our emails to you end up there).

Thanks!

Boy oh boy, I had a great day today….

Folks, there are five things you can see on Ol’ Blue, one of our RX3 test bikes, that are not stock.   The first person who shoots an email to me and successfully identifies what these five items are wins one of our new RX3 T-shirts (like you see below)…

Shoot your entries to me at jberk@cscmotorcycles.com, and we’ll let you know if you won!   As soon as we have a winner, I’ll identify to everyone what we did today!

UPDATE:  Lots of entries so far, but so far, no cigar.   Folks, the 17-inch wheel will be stock on the new bikes, so that’s not a departure from stock.   Look closely!

Our focus this week is on wrapping up the Service Manual and putting a few more maintenance tutorials on line.   I’ll be in the plant today for just that reason.

In the meantime, I received a nice note from Anne and a photo she took of yours truly, hard at work, photographing the RX3s up on Glendora Ridge Road last week…

Watch the blog, folks.   More good maintenance info is coming your way, along with a review of my new Alaska Leathers seat cover!

Yep, our bikes are on the open ocean now, folks, and the Germany is en route to Long Beach, California!

Here’s what it looks like on the open ocean around the Germany…

We’ll keep you posted…

Most of the photos I’ve put here on the blog in the last few days have been with the new Nikon D3300 camera.   It’s working well, it’s small, and it’s light.   That last part about it being light is a big deal, and so is the part about it being small.   It is already working well as the new moto adventure camera.

You may recall my telling you that I bought the D3300 Nikon for $499 at Samy’s Camera in Pasadena and it included the 18-55 lens.   It’s a phenomenal value.

Well, yesterday, I ran across the street to get some coffee at Costco for the coffee machine here in the plant, and wow, they’ve got an even better deal.   Costco is selling the same camera with two lenses (the 18-55 I have, and the 55-200 telephoto lens), and with all that their price is only $599!   That’s a great deal…a lot of performance in a compact package.     Something to think about for the Baja run, boys and girls!

The Hanjin Germany, that is, and she’s carrying your motorcycles to Long Beach.   Every newspaper we received today (and that’s four of them, folks) led with a story about the dockworkers ‘ strike settlement.  Things are looking good as the Germany takes on more cargo in Pusan.

I was based in Korea for all of 1975.  I’d love to go back today just to photograph the place.   It was an awesome adventure for a young man 40 years ago.

I lived on a missile site on the Yellow Sea coastline waiting for the bad guys (we thought they were bad guys back then) to launch from points west.   That little town called Gunsan on Korea’s west coast (actually it’s Kunsan, just like Busan is actually Pusan) was where our Hawk site stood guard.

Here’s a photo of yours truly and my platoon sergeant, Staff Sergeant Coleman, from August 1975…

Here’s another interesting photo, and I wish I could remember this kid’s name…

The dog was Demetrius, and he was a killer.   My platoon had a squad of MP sentry dogs, and those things were tough and mean.   They were trained to do two things:   Grab a bad guy by chomping down on his crotch and pulling him down (that was the first thing) and ripping his throat out if he attempted any resistance (that was the second thing).   It’s hard to imagine a dog doing the first without the bad guy resisting, so the story would not end well if you were the dog’s target.   From the Army’s perspective, releasing a sentry dog against a bad guy was an application of deadly force (legally, it was the same as shooting someone).   My platoon had six of these dogs.   The dogs were trained to obey only one handler; when the handler left the Army, his dog had to be destroyed.

This particular dog handler (the guy in the photo above)  was a nice kid who was a photography nut, and in particular, a Nikon enthusiast.  This guy voluntarily extended his stay in Korea because he could buy Nikon lenses for less than they cost in the US.   That made an impression on me.   I was using a little cheap 110 film Minolta (that’s what the two photos above came from).   My dog handler’s photos were professional quality.  It made an impression and the Nikon name stuck in my mind.   It’s why I use Nikon gear today.

Good times back then, folks.    Better times today.

From the USA Today online edition:

“Deal reached in West Coast dockworkers dispute…Negotiators reached a tentative contract covering West Coast dockworkers on Friday evening, likely ending a protracted labor dispute that snarled international trade at seaports handling about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually.”

You can read the entire article here.

We’re not sure what this means with respect to the deliveries of our RX3 motorcycles, other than this is a good thing.   As we learn more, we’ll keep you posted.

Another fun day, folks…we confirmed that our bikes (mine and yours) are on their way to the US on board the Hanjin Germany (see the post below), we had a great motorcycle ride, I rode an RX3 with the Tourfella aluminum bags, and, oh…did I mention we had a great motorcycle ride?

First things first…this was my first time I put some serious mileage on an RX3 with the aluminum bags.  At first I thought I would stick with the stock bags, but I have to tell you that I am revisiting a couple of decisions.    I thought I wanted a yellow RX3, but now I am pretty sure I’m going to get the blue one.   My reasons are not what you might think…I really love the yellow RX3 (we officially call it orange), but that blue grows on me more and more every time I ride it.   There’s something else that’s important to me…I think the blue photographs better.   You be the judge, but I think my camera just picks up the blue much more faithfully than the yellow….

Well, maybe not.   The yellow looks really good, too…

Ah, I’m right back where I started…maybe yellow.

So, back to the luggage.    Before we started, Anne put her helmet in the aluminum top case to confirm it would fit.   I saw the fellows do this in China, and I rode a blue RX3 with aluminum bags in Chongqing, but something about seeing that luminescent yellow full face Arai in the case just reached out and grabbed me this afternoon.   Wow.   Lots of room, and room to spare…I like those aluminum bags!

The next thing I did was put my tripod in the aluminum side case.

Okay, let me back up a bit.   When I was spending my kids’ inheritance a couple of weeks ago on new camera gear, I mentioned to Jason (my new buddy at Samy’s Camera in Pasadena) that everything I was buying could be found for less on the Internet (and I wouldn’t have to pay the California sales tax).   Jason had a solution for that (evidently, I was not the first guy to make that point).   I’d have to pay the sales tax, but whatever it came up to, they would give me that much in free camera accessories.   Hmmm, that sounded good.   So I kind of went even a little more nuts and put more stuff in my real (not virtual) shopping cart.   New camera bags, check.   More SD memory cards, check.   Extra camera batteries, check.   And a tripod.  I needed a new tripod.

Jason showed me a bunch of tripods, including one really nice one that was half the price of the other really nice ones.   “What’s the deal on this one,” I asked.   “Why is it half of what the others cost?”

“Well,” said Jason, “it’s every bit as good as the others.   If you look at the fit, the finish, the hardware, the stability, it’s the equal of any of these others,” he said.   “But it’s made in China.   It’s good, but a lot of people have this hysterical schizophrenic reaction if you tell them something is made in China, even though most of the Nikon gear these guys buy is also made in China.    It’s like they don’t want to think about that.    I’m here to tell you there’s nothing substandard about this tripod, but some people, people who really don’t know what they are talking about, say bad things about stuff from China.”

“You don’t say,” I said.   “I had no idea.”

Yep, I bought the Chinese tripod.

Back to the main attraction…that new tripod (and it really is a nice one) will fit diagonally in the stock RX3 saddlebags.   But when I put it in the aluminum Tourfella side bag, it lay flat on the bottom with tons of room left over.   I was impressed.   I’m thinking deep thoughts about the Tourfella bags.   Maybe I need them.

More to the point, and back to our ride.  We left the plant headed on our standard VIP ride…a loop up Azusa Canyon, a right on East Fork Road, another right on Glendora Mountain Road, and then on to the holy of holies, Glendora Ridge Road to the Mt Baldy Lodge, and then back to the plant.     It was awesome riding and we had awesome weather.    The RX3s ran superbly well (as they always do).   We had a great time.    A really great time.

Our first stop was on the East Fork Road, where we enjoyed a cup of coffee and Trixie Lee’s hospitality.   Folks, trust me on this…you need to do this ride, and you need to stop at the Camp Williams Café for some laid-back conversation and good food.   The folks who run it are riders, and they always make a fuss over us when we arrive on either the CSC Mustangs or the RX3s.   They’re good people.

Say hello to Trixie Lee for me when you stop in…

Before we left Trixie Lee’s place, I had to grab another photo of Anne…

From there it was onward and upward, as the saying goes.   We made the climb up Glendora Mountain Road, and then we were on Glendora Ridge Road…all 12 miles and 234 curves of it!

You tell me…Anne makes the bike like good, doesn’t she?

We had a great lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge.  I had their Italian meatball soup, and sitting in front of a roaring fire on this crisp winter day, it went down well.    Fun times.

Back to the plant, and yep, Anne pulled the trigger.  She signed up for a brand new white RX3.   Congratulations, Anne!  And for the rest of you out there…stop by and you’ll get the same ride!

One last bit of good news…my new sheepskin cover from Alaska Leathers was waiting for me when I returned to the CSC plant.   It’s going on the bike next week, and I’ll have full report for you on it.

Oh, and there’s more good stuff…we’re going to be doing more maintenance tutorials next week.   These will be on adjusting the chain, repairing a flat tire, adjusting the clutch, and more.

Okay, so that’s it for now.   Keep an eye on the blog, because there’s lots more coming your way, my friends!