CSC Blog

There are no firm plans or prices yet, folks, but I thought I might share with you a couple of Zongshen electric bikes we are evaluating for the US market.  I rode both of these on a recent Chongqing secret mission, and we’ve been thinking about them ever since.

The first looks a bit like a Honda Grom, and it is incredibly cool…

…and the second is an electric scooter styled like a conventional gasoline-powered, step-through scooter…

I rode a lot of the new Zong bikes when I last visited Chonqing (including the RX4), and I liked the electric bikes the best.  I especially like the first one you see above (the one that looks like a Grom).  It was stable, it was sure-footed, it was very fast, and it was just flat cool.  I liked it a lot.

These electric bikes are not cross country or freeway bikes.  The top speeds are under 50 mph, and the range between recharges is well under 100 miles.  They are city and town bikes…bikes for folks who take short trips and who have opportunities to recharge.   I think they are also bikes for people who want something different and something cool.  Ordinarily, we would probably not go after these bikes, but…

• When I rode across China, I was surprised to see that electric bikes dominated the city scooter scene in every city we visited.  Everywhere we went, we saw 20 or 30 electric bikes for every gas scooter.  We also saw electric scooters plugged in and recharging in many places, much the same way as we all plug in our iPhones wherever we go.  It all just looked right to me, and it made sense.  It was an amazing thing to see.
• When I rode the electric scooters at the Zongshen plant, their “off the line” performance was (pardon the pun) shocking.   The bikes literally felt like they were trying to squirt out from under me…they were incredibly quick off the line.  I guess that’s because an electric motor makes all of its torque at low rpm (or so I’ve been told).  It was a cool experience.  My strong feeling when I rode them was “I have got to get me one of these!”
• My daughter bought a Prius last year (no, not to drag race my RX3) and her car is the model that is mostly electric.   She lives 15 or 16 miles from where she works, and she plugs the car in every night when she gets home.  My daughter last bought gasoline more than 6 months ago.  That impressed me.

The two bikes you see here are not your typical, cheap, sub-$1000 Chinese scooters.  They are designed and manufactured by Zongshen, and that means the quality, the fit and finish, and the overall feel is first class.   These are high quality products.

We don’t know much about the market for electric scooters here in the US, mostly because the data doesn’t really exist yet.  We’d be making the market if we imported these, but we have some experience in doing that sort of thing (there wasn’t a market for a 250cc adventure touring motorcycle in the US when we brought the RX3 to America, and you all know how that story unfolded).

We’d like to hear from you.  What do you think?  Please write and let me know your thoughts (you can reach me directly at jberk@cscmotorcycles.com).  I’d love to hear from you.

Wow, check this out, folks.  It’s a consignment bike we just took in…a 2015 RX3 with only 5200 miles on the clock and a cool $1500 worth of accessories.   I’ll let the photos do the talking on this puppy…

If you’d like to get a superbly-equipped beautiful red RX3 at a very reasonable price, give us a call at 909 445 0900 and ask to speak with Steve or TK.  This one won’t last long.

Our 2018 RX3 motorcycles are headed east on the Yangzte River this week, folks.   It’s going to be another 6 weeks or so before they are in our showroom, and I sure am looking forward to their arrival.  The 2018 RX3s will have ABS braking and a 19-inch front wheel as standard equipment, and we’re offering four new colors (yellow, copper, gold, and matt black).   The ABS and the 19-inch front wheel add significantly to the value of these great motorcycles, but we’re adding only $300 to the price (the 2018 RX3s will be $4195).   That’s a hell of a deal.

Here’s the 2018 RX3 in matt black…

Here’s the bike in gold…

This is the copper color…

And here’s the yellow RX3…

The 2018 RX3s will be posted on the CSC website later this week, but you’re seeing them here on the blog first.   We’re taking $500 deposits on the bikes starting tomorrow (give us a call at 909 445 0900).

My good buddy Paul H. Smith over at ADVMoto magazine posted this very cool video on Facebook earlier. I liked it and I thought I would share it with you (you may have to unmute the video to hear the music)…

I once knew a guy who put a piece of plate glass on top of a Jaguar V-12 engine to make a coffee table. I liked it and asked him for the story behind it (something like that had to have a story). He told me that he had owned the car the engine came out of and he wanted to find something that a Jag V-12 engine could do well…

Brother Matt at speed south of Tecate, headed into Mexico’s Rumarosa Grade…

It’s the end of an era, a passing of the torch (so to speak).  My good buddy Matt wanted to learn a bit more about shooting with a real camera, and I told him I’d work a good deal for him if he wanted to buy my old D200 Nikon.  Like Don Corleone, I made Matt a deal he couldn’t refuse on a rig that has served me well (and you, too, if you’ve enjoyed the photos here on the CSC blog).

The NIkon D200 and the storied 1st Gen 24-120 Nikkor lens, complete with all the accoutrements!

I brought the camera with me to the CSC plant today (Matt’s picking it up early tomorrow morning, before we head over to the Owen Collection on our monthly Dual Sport and Donuts ride).  I thought I would grab one final photo with my faithful D200 (soon to be Matt’s), and what could be more fitting than a shot of the last of our 2017 RX3 motorcycles!

The last of the CSC 2017 RX3s!

Yep, they’re all sold, but not to worry, the 2018s are inbound.   And there’s still time to get on the list if you want ride Baja with us…that next CSC adventure is coming up in two months.  I can’t wait.

You know, on the ride over today I was thinking about all the places I’ve been with the D200…Canada, just about every state in the US, Mexico, South America, the Middle East, Europe, China, Thailand, all over the Caribbean, and more.  It’s been a faithful servant and I’ve made good money with that camera on consulting gigs, magazine articles, the CSC blog, and more.   Matt’s going to have a lot of fun with it.

So this video popped up as a recommended video for me today.  I guess it’s because I’ve ridden in Colombia.  I’m not a step-through scooter guy, but I liked the music and it was a nice wakeup with a good cup of coffee this morning.   Speaking of which, I sure miss those great Colombian breakfasts.

I sure miss riding in Colombia, too. It was one of the best rides ever. I’d go there again just to take more pictures. I could say the same about China, and the cool places I’ve ridden to in the US, and Baja. Hey, wait…I am going back to Baja!

This Saturday, folks….we’re on for our monthly Donuts and Dual Sports ride, this time to the Owen Collection.   Wow, we’ve had to put a lid on this one because of the interest it’s received.    We’ll try to do it again in a few months to give those of you who wanted to go a chance to see this magnificent collection.   All the bikes there are beautiful, but for me, nothing tops the two TT Special Triumphs in the Owen Collection (they have a ’65 and a’66).   I’m really looking forward to this ride.

A ’65 Triumph TT Special…

…and a ’66 TT Special. Does the paint theme on this remind you of the white mocha Cafe Racer?

More good news…we’re sold out of Moto Baja!  But don’t despair…if you want your own copy, just let us know.   More are on the way.

It’s hard to ignore all that’s going on in the world today.  The Dow broke through the 25,000 ceiling today (yahoo!).   And the weather…wowee!!!  To all of our friends on the east coast, please try to stay warm and be careful in that freezing weather.  It’s been in the high 70s and low 80s this week here in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia, but then again, you folks in real America don’t have our politicians and gas taxes.  Everything’s a tradeoff, I guess.

We still have a few openings for the Baja ride (that’s 10-17 March), so if you’re thinking you might want to go, just let us know.  We’re only two months away from Baja 2018, and I’m already thinking about the ride decal.   To me, putting those travel stickers on my fuel tank is one of the best parts of the ride.

Tony’s fish tacos 500 miles south of the border…life just doesn’t get any better!

And talking about chotchkas, hey, ever want your own set of wings?   Something like this…

CSC Wings!

Steve has these and I think they’re pretty cool.   I don’t wear my jump wings any more (I’m too old and that was too many decades ago) but I sure like wearing my CSC wings.  I know maybe it’s a little corny, but hey, I like them.   And you know what?  They’re free.  Yep.  Free.   We won’t send them out to you by themselves, but if you’re in the CSC plant or if you’re ordering anything else from us, just let us know and we’ll include a set of CSC wings in the package for you.

Incidentally, in that photo above, the black specs you see on my jacket are actually volcanic ash from the Volcan Nevado del Ruiz (the very same volcano that erupted and killed 20,000 people in Colombia in the 1980s).  My good buddies Juan and Carlos rode with me up to the rim of that volcano during the Colombia RX3 expedition (that was at an elevation of nearly 14,000 feet) and we only stayed a few minutes.  It was bitter cold and the Colombian national authorities were turning people around because the volcano was active that day.   Cool stuff, and you can read the blog entry I did that day here.  Or, better yet, buy yourself a copy of Moto Colombia!   Do that through CSC, I’ll sign your copy, and we’ll throw in a set of CSC wings, too!

Riding the Andes Mountains in beautiful Colombia…what a life!

We’re moving out on the Café Racer, folks.   First, the preliminary specifications…

And a few photos of just one of our color themes…we’re calling this one white mocha…

There will be another one or two colors, and things are moving along sharply in getting the CSC Café Racers on their way to America.  As I mentioned yesterday, the Café Racer has been approved by the EPA.   This is going to be fun, folks.  The best part will be to see how folks personalize their Café Racers.   Stand by…there’s more to come on this exciting new development!

Folks, check this out…it’s the CSR3 HJC helmet in satin.  It’s HJC’s latest helmet, it’s super light, and (get this) it sells for a whopping $104.99!  (That’s me being sarcastic folks…the last refuge of a weak mind, I guess).  Anyway, I fell in love with this helmet in satin white, and I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it is!  Hey, you know what?  That $104.99 price is actually now only $94.49!   You can find these on our website here, and they are so new we don’t even have photos of it posted yet (other than the one you see here).  An HJC helmet for under $95!

If you’re considering a new helmet (and you should replace your helmet periodically), this is a great way to go.  It’s what I’ll be wearing on the 2018 Baja ride!