CSC Blog

You know a bit about the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride we did last summer, and if you don’t, you can read all about it in that book off to the right (5000 Miles at 8000 RPM).

Well, folks, it seems we are getting the band back together…

…except this time, we’ll be running a slightly different route…

More to follow…

The bad news is that the new CSC TT250 Owner’s and Service Manual costs a whopping $1,895.   The good news is you get a free motorcycle with every manual…

CSC computer dude Matt, doing his impersonation of Terminator II.

My good buddy Matt (our CSC computer dude, who you see in the photo to the right) alerted me to an outstanding RX3 video on one of the forums yesterday.  I watched it when I got home and folks, I was impressed.

Before I get to the video, I should tell you that CSC is growing, and we’re adding more great folks to an already outstanding team.  In a future blog, I’ll tell you a bit about your new support team here at CSC.   It’s been great watching the company grow and working with the team Steve has assembled…we have a fine group of experts standing by to make sure your CSC motorcycle ownership experience is outstanding in every way.

Anyway, back to the great video I was telling you about.  I liked the video so much I sent a note to the the guy who created and posted it.   I didn’t recognize him from the screen name, but I sure enjoyed the video.   I had my answer early this morning:

Hey Joe!

I’m Christopher and I’m in Oregon. I have a 2015 RX3 and will soon have a 2016 TT.

Thanks for liking my video, feel free to link any of the ones on my channel that you are interested in. I put the videos up mostly so my dad can watch the fun from the east coast.

I’m really pleased with the bike and I want to say thanks to you and CSC for the great way y’all have brought this moto to the market. I felt really comfortable making a deposit on Don’t Miss the Boat I and II, even though I hadn’t seen the motos in person.

Thanks!

Chris

Chris, that’s just awesome.  Thanks for the video and we’re glad you’re enjoying your RX3.  You’re going to love the TT, too!

So, here’s the video Chris created…

Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun with these new bikes and the Nikon…and now I’m back to thinking maybe black is the fastest color!

Okay, while you’re pondering the TT250 color palette, let me turn back to a prior subject:  The oil/air separator.

Gerry flipped the oil/air separator on my bike this week (the day I posted about it) to the factory-specified correct orientation, and he did an oil change for me, too.  Instead of the 10W-40 synthetic I normally use, Gerry put in 20W-50 synthetic.

After the oil change and putting the oil/air separator in the correct orientation, I took my bike out and put 80 hard miles on it.  My separator drain tube used to always have a good inch or so in it after every ride, so I was eager to flog the bike and see what happened with the separator in the correct orientation.   My ride was aggressive.  I charged into the San Gabriels with three objectives – to narrow the chicken strips, to keep the revs up, and to not crash.   After 50 miles in the mountains, I picked up the freeway and ran at an indicated 80+ mph to make a late afternoon reliability engineering class I teach at Cal Poly.   Then it was home in rush hour traffic, running from stop-and-go when I couldn’t split lanes to maybe 40 mph when the traffic moved a bit more easily.   The bottom  line?   After 80 miles my drain tube was bone dry.  There was not a drop of any liquid in it.   It’s the first time that’s ever happened.

The next day, Gerry and I spent a bunch of time discussing the separator and examining an RX3 with the tank removed.  Here’s why:  I have observed that when folks drop their bikes (and I observed a lot of dropped RX3s on the Baja runs and the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride), on more than a few occasions the drain tube immediately filled.   My thought was that somehow fuel was getting into the tank vent lines and finding its way into the line that runs from the airbox to the separator.

Gerry convinced me that what I imagined can’t happen.  The bike just isn’t plumbed in a manner that would allow the tank vent lines to feed the drain tube.  But I know what I saw, and I saw that drain tube fill after bikes were dropped.   Gerry (who is a hell of a lot smarter than I am) figured out what was happening:  With the separator in the wrong orientation, it’s possible for a lot more liquid to get into the line that runs from the separator to the airbox.  That line has a bit of a drop along its trip to the airbox, and it probably acts as a trap.   Gerry’s theory was that vented liquid from the crankcase was laying in that line, and when the bike went over, the liquid flowed to the drain tube.  It makes sense to me.  It’s something that would be aggravated with the separator installed upside down.

I don’t know if this might also be a consideration, but I suspect a lot of people are overfilling their bikes with oil.   I know you know this is not the case for you, but hear me out on this.   The correct procedure is to let the bike fully warm, then let it idle for one full minute, then shut the bike off, then wait one minute, and then check the oil level in the viewport with the bike perfectly vertical.   I’ve posted on the blog about this, but I also know a lot of people just look in the oil viewport without using this procedure.  If they don’t see oil (or the oil level is lower than they think it should be), they just dump more oil in.  I’ve seen this happen on the rides I’ve led.  Guys would complain their bikes were either using oil or the oil level was going up, and it was doing neither.  The RX3 has a dual chamber oil reservoir (it’s a pseudo-dry-sump system), and the factory boys in China tell me you should check the oil the way I describe here.   I do it that way, and it works for me.

One last note on this oil checking business:  All bikes are incredibly sensitive to any angle off perfectly vertical when checking the oil.  You can lean the RX3 a very tiny bit off of perfectly vertical and the oil level will move a lot in the sight glass.  You need to make sure your bike is vertical when you check the oil.

Oh, and that 20W-50 synthetic oil Gerry put in my bike?  It’s the cat’s meow.  The bike is smoother, it shifts better, and it finds neutral more easily.   I am really impressed with the difference it made.

Yesterday it was copper.   Today, maybe not so much…

Folks, you are going to love these bikes!

Willie, our newest CSC dude!

Overland Expo West 2016!  It’s the quintessential adventure riding gathering, it’s in Flagstaff, Arizona, and it’s right around the corner!

I’ve been to a lot of motorcycle events, folks, and this is one of the best.   If you’re a serious rider, this is one you’ll want to make.  You will meet people at Overland Expo who are real riders…people who have traveled around the world on motorcycles.   It’s exciting.

Hey, we’ll be there, and we want to see you!  This is a good chance to see the new CSC motorcycles and to meet the people you have been reading about on the Internet…Gerry, Ryan, and Willie (the newest member of your CSC team).

We’re doing something that’s going to be really cool:  Ryan and the guys will have a video drone and they’re going to be making a CSC movie.  We want you in it, so if you have an RX3, please roll on in and ride with us!

Overland Expo is the event for adventure riders.  Trust me on this…it’s one you don’t want to miss!  There will be seriously cool two, four, and multi-wheeled adventure vehicles there (real eye candy), and the vibe is the best one I’ve ever experienced at any moto event.

Check out a few photos and this video from last year’s Overland Expo…

Overland Expo is a cool place to be.   If you want to know more, check out the Overland Expo website.  We hope to see you there!

Ryan received a nice note from our good buddy Dave a couple of days ago…

Hello Ryan,

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you, Steve, Joe, Gerry and all the great people at CSC for the best motorcycle trip I have ever had. The bike performed flawlessly and so much better than I could have hoped. We rode from Redwood City to San Luis Obispo, over 700 miles round trip, using as much off-road travel as legally possible following dry riverbeds between towns, up and over mountains, back dirt roads, etc. Please keep up the great work you are doing and thanks again for selling such a durable and entertaining motorcycle.

Regards,

Dave

We really appreciate you taking the time to write and the great photo you sent, Dave.   We’re happy (but not surprised) to hear that you’re enjoying your new RX3, too.

We love getting photos and notes from our customers, so keep them coming, folks!

…and folks, that’s about it for now!   I’m going to be back in the plant tomorrow.  It’s just too exciting not to be here.   Gerry’s going to perform one or two more maintenance actions for me to include in the TT250 Service Manual, and then it’s going to press.

All right, one more photo…and it’s worthy of another photo caption contest, I think.   Here’s the guy who made it all happen…our good buddy Steve!

If you have a caption you think works for the photo above, please send it to me at jberk@cscmotorcycles.com!

Me?  I’m headed back into the plant to see how the boys are coming along on that copper TT250!