The TT250 San Felipe Run – Day 2

Wow, what a day!  The Rumarosa grade, riding across the desert to San Felipe, and swimming in the Sea of Cortez!   The bikes are running great and so are we.   Good buddies Greg and Abe met us in Tecate last night and the eight of us had a fabulous ride!

Check out the photos from a fantastic day in no particular order (I uploaded them to the blog in roughly the same sequence as I took them)…

Greg in downtown Tecate at the start of our day...he's on his TT250. Like many of our riders, Greg owns both an RX3 and a TT250.

Greg in downtown Tecate at the start of our day…he’s on his TT250. Like many of our riders, Greg owns both an RX3 and a TT250.

Good buddy Dan 2 at speed on his TT250. Dan is another guy who rides both an RX3 and a TT250.

Good buddy Dan 2 at speed on his TT250. Dan owns both an RX3 and a TT250.

161028_6279-650

The boys on Mexico Highway 2 headed east toward Mexicali.

161028_6288-650

Willie, the most interesting man in the world, on his TT250. Willie is yet another guy who owns both an RX3 and a TT250.

161028_6293-650

Good buddy Abe on his RX3.

161028_6302-650

Good buddy Mike’s highly personalized RX3. This is an awesome motorcycle!

161028_6312-650

Entering the Rumarosa Grade!

161028_6327-650

Greg hamming it up for the camera.

161028_6332-650

Matt on his white TT250 in the Rumarosa Grade.

161028_6356-650

My bike. The TT250 is a ton of fun. It has to be the best deal on a new motorcycle ever. We are having a blast down here in Baja. If you’re thinking of buying a TT250, hey…pull the trigger. You could be riding with us!

161028_6358-650

Greg on the rocks…

161028_6379-650

Good buddy Dan 1 (or is he Dan 2?). Dan is incredibly photogenic. Yep, he’s another guy who owns a TT250 and an RX3!

161028_6380-650

Greg, our good friend. This is your pilot speaking…

161028_6400-650

Dan 2? Dan 1? A great shot with the Rumarosa Grade in the background.

161028_6399-650

The Rumarosa Grade! This is an awesome stretch of highway, and it was one of many highlights on our ride.

After descending through the Rumarosa Grade, we headed south on Mexico Highway 5 toward San Felipe.   We stopped at a roadside taco stand in the middle of the desert for some incredible goat tacos (it’s called birria down here).   Wow, they were fantastic!

161029_6494-650

This is what riding in Mexico is all about, folks!

A birria taco master chef at work!

A birria taco master chef at work!

Mike and Willie ordering lunch.

Mike and Willie ordering lunch.

They were incredible!

They were incredible!

My helmet, my tacos. Life is good.

My helmet, my tacos. Life is good.

After lunch, it was an easy run to San Felipe.  We stopped for a photo beneath the San Felipe light house…

El Faro!

El Faro!

We checked in to the El Cortez hotel in San Felipe and immediately went for a swim in the Sea of Cortez.   This is a great ride!

161028_6417-650

A couple on an ATV in San Felipe….she’s taking a photo of me!

161028_6438-650-2

Along the Malecon in San Felipe…we had a great dinner. It’s been a grand adventure!

I couldn’t get a good Internet connection in San Felipe last night, so I’m posting this from Tecate.  It’s our last night in Mexico.   I’ll post photos of today’s ride later.   We sure are having a great time.   I know you’re wondering, and here’s the answer:  The bikes are running great.   It’s funny…our bikes cost $2,195 brand new.  We’re seeing guys down here on $25,000 KTMs and Beemers, and I don’t think they’re having as much fun as we are.

Just $2,195 for a new TT250.   Think about that, and think about this:  It could be you in those photos above.   It should be you!

Oh, one more thing…boy oh boy, am I getting awesome video!   I won’t be able to post it from Mexico, but when I return to the plant you are going to see some awesome stuff!

Later, my friends!

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on The TT250 San Felipe Run – Day 2

The TT250 San Felipe Run – Day 1

Where to begin?

Wow, what a day!

Here’s a strong statement:   My ride through southern California today was the best motorcycle ride I’ve ever taken in the Golden State.    It was that good.

There are six of us on this run…five on TT250s and one on an RX3. We went from Azusa to Tecate (in Baja, where we are now), and we did it on surface streets all the way (not one inch on freeways).   It was roughly 250 miles through towns, deserts, and glorious mountain roads, and it was just great.   I almost collided with a redtail hawk.  We saw a bobcat walking along a trail by the side of the road like he owned the place (maybe he did).  We saw two flocks of wild turkeys and I got photos and video of them.  We had a great lunch up in the mountains in Idyllwild, we stopped for pie and ice cream in Julian, and we just returned from a great dinner in downtown Tecate.  Wowee!

I’ll just post a few photos and one short video for now, folks…it’s late and I’m tired. I’ll post more when I get back to the US.    Boy oh boy, are we having fun!

The boys, less yours truly. From left to right, that's Willie, Mike, Matt, Dan 1, and Dan 2. Well, maybe I got the Dans mixed up.

The boys, less yours truly. From left to right, that’s Willie, Mike, Matt, Dan 1, and Dan 2. Well, maybe I got the Dans mixed up.

The TT250 San Felipe Run decal on my TT250. It looks cool!

The TT250 San Felipe Run decal on my TT250. It looks cool!

Where we stopped for a great Italian lunch in Idyllwild earlier today. You need to ride with us!

Where we stopped for a great Italian lunch in Idyllwild earlier today. You need to ride with us!

On the road south of Julian, with my iPhone doing a great job as a GPS! It's tied in to our standard underseat accessories plug!

On the road south of Julian, with my iPhone doing a great job as a GPS! It’s tied in to our standard underseat accessories plug!

Our good buddy Matt! This is the first time Matt rode with us. Matt bought a new TT250 and he is putting it to good use. We love this guy...he is a great rider.

Our good buddy Matt! This is the first time Matt rode with us. Matt bought a new TT250 and he is putting it to good use. We love this guy…he is a great rider.

Our good buddy Willie! Willie owns an RX3 and a TT250! He is the most interesting man in the world!

Our good buddy Willie! Willie owns an RX3 and a TT250! He is the most interesting man in the world!

The bottom line: The riding was fantastic today (incredible, really) and the bikes are running gloriously.   Everybody loves the TT250, and it is showing itself to be a great motorcycle.

Hey, did you think I was kidding you about those wild turkeys?   Take a look at this!

That’s it for today…we’re headed for San Felipe tomorrow. We are having fun.   You should be here doing the same.   Stay tuned…as always, there’s more coming your way.

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on The TT250 San Felipe Run – Day 1

Rest in peace, Jim Cavanaugh…

With deep regret, we announce the passing of our good buddy Jim Cavanaugh.

Jim Cavanaugh passed away last night at the tender young age of 84.  He was a key advisor to the California Scooter Company during its formative years, and he occupied that role for several very good reasons.   Jim had a strong sense of what makes for a good motorcycle, and that was rooted in his experience as the Production Superintendent of the original Mustang Motor Products Company.  Yep, Jimbo ran the original Mustang factory in Glendale back in the 1950s…

Rest in peace, Jim.   We miss you already.

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on Rest in peace, Jim Cavanaugh…

The TT250 San Felipe Run sticker!

Hey, what would a CSC adventure tour be without a decal to commemorate it?   This just in, folks, thanks to the efforts of the boss…

csc-baja-sticker-2016v2

Ride with us on any of our adventure tours and you’ll get one for your motorcycle!   Mine’s going on my TT250 tomorrow!

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on The TT250 San Felipe Run sticker!

Spring Break 2017!

Wow, we’re already getting requests on the next Baja foray! We’re leaving on 4-day TT250 trip into Baja this Thursday, but folks are already asking about the longer trip we do in the Spring. The Spring Break trip to Baja will be the week of 20 March 2017. I’ll post more details as the date gets closer. Here’s the deal…you buy a CSC motorcycle, and you get to ride with us! We don’t charge anything for this, and the folks who ride with us love it!

Here’s the video from our last Baja foray…

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on Spring Break 2017!

You can do this!

You know, it’s hard to believe…I meet people all the time who read about our adventure rides and they tell me they would love to do what we do…as if they are somehow being prevented from doing exactly that.  I’ll say more about that in a minute, but for now, take a look at this: I rode my TT250 to the top of Mt. Baldy this afternoon and it was a blast…

Hey, it could be you in that video above.   Yep, we have just a few 2016 TT250s left, and they are going out the door for $2,195.  We’re riding ours to Baja later this week.

Think about it…just $2,195 for a brand new motorcycle.   It’s a hell of a deal on a hell of a motorcycle.  Don’t take my word for it.  Read what people are saying on the Internet about our bikes, our company, our customer support, and our adventure rides.

Oh, you can listen to the people who tell you not to buy a Chinese bike (even though what they are riding, assuming they ride at all, could very well have been manufactured in China).   You can listen to the uninformed tell you a 25o is too small (even though real world adventure riders know it is the optimal size for international adventure riding).   Worse yet, you can listen to the scaredy-cats who tell you shouldn’t ride a motorcycle at all, or that you’d have to be crazy to go to Mexico.

Well, color me crazy.   Later this week, my friends and I will be down in Baja (San Felipe, to be specific) having fish tacos, and we’ll have ridden there on our CSC motorcycles.

Now, about that video…for just $2,195, that could be you riding into Baja with us this week.   Think about it…

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on You can do this!

So, what do you think?

_mg_7322-650

_mg_7382-small

No, it’s not a triple…but that muffler is pretty cool!

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on So, what do you think?

Gladiator stuff…

First, a photo from an email my buddy Marty sent to me…

chariots

and then, the gladiator video…

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Gladiator stuff…

A cool Saturday…

Well, maybe not cool in the literal sense (it’s over 90 degrees here today), but it certainly is cool in the figurative sense.   Good times with good buddies, classic bikes and modern bikes, great meals, and I’m getting ready for the next CSC Baja run.   Saturdays just don’t get too much better than this (although next Saturday I’ll be in Baja on my TT250, and that will be even more fun).

Susie and I had dinner with my good buddy Mike last night at a great Italian restaurant in Claremont, and then Mike and I met for breakfast this morning.  You’ll remember Mike from last weekend.   He and I went to the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention last weekend, and he flies home tomorrow.   Mike is taking a hard look at the RX3-P, and he likes the bike so much he may buy one for his personal use…

161022_6051-650

161022_6056-650

Mike is thinking about riding our planned RX3 cross-country trip with us next summer.  That would be great.

Hey, hey about another Mike story?   I saw my good buddy Dr. Mike (yep, I know a lot of Mikes), and he’s riding with us on the Baja trip next week.   Like many of our customers, Mike owns several bikes.  Dr. Mike also rides a Honda Shadow 1100, and he had it in the shop today for a bit of Gerry’s magic…

161022_6050-650

When we stopped at the CSC plant this morning, I was blown away by the prices Steve has on several of the HJC helmets we sell.   I’m talking under a hundred bucks here, folks, and for an HJC, that’s a hell of a deal.  The prices were so low I asked Steve if someone had made a mistake in marking them, and it looks like they did.  But he’s going to keep the prices as is.  I ride with an HJC helmet, and I can tell you the prices we have on these now are lower than what I paid for mine with my CSC discount.   We’ve got several colors.  I’m so intrigued by all of this I may buy another one just so I’ll have the bright fluorescent orange color.  I like the looks of that helmet.

After visiting the plant, I met the guys I hang with locally for lunch and then we rolled over to Bob’s BMW dealership in Pomona.   Cool stuff.    My good buddy Marty, who is 80 years young this year, just picked up a K1300S BMW roadburner…

161022_6064-650

161022_6059-650I like looking at the Beemers.   They’re too rich and too heavy for my tastes, but the older ones are most definitely cool and the newer ones are, too.   Bob owns several classic BMWs, including this R60 that caught my eye…

161022_6068-650161022_6072-650

Black is a color that just looks right on a motorcycle whether they are classic bikes or modern ones.   Check out Eddie’s new GS1200, for example.   It looks awesome in black…

161022_6066-650

That black really looks good on an ADV bike.    And we have a dark windshield option for our RX3, just like you see on that $25K BMW above.   Come to think of it, I rode a black RX3 on the Colombia adventure, it had a dark-tint windshield, and it was awesome…

Black looks good on the RX3, and it is time to start thinking about the 2017 model year colors.   Hmmmm….

Hey, one more photo, and this one is of my good buddy Joseph today…

161022_6070-650

Joseph is the guy who got me hooked up with CSC all those years ago.   It was good seeing him again today.

If you follow the industry, you know there’s a lot going on out there.  New models are popping up and it looks like a healthy dose of “right-sizing” is all the rage.   BMW is introducing a 310cc bike next year, and Bob told me there’s going to be a GS (read that as ADV) version.   And just a couple of days ago, Suzuki announced in China that they are introducing a 250cc ADV bike (with a quick glance at the early photos, you’d almost think the Suzuki was an RX3).   Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess, and that’s cool.   Smaller bikes are where it’s at in my opinion and in the opinion of many who actually travel great distances across international borders on motorcycles.   If you want to know more about that, read a blog I did a couple of years ago on this very topic:   Why a 250?   It’s one of my favorite posts.

That’s about it for now, folks.  I’ve been going nuts on Amazon ordering exactly what I want for setting up my cell phone and my GoPro on my TT250, and the last of the goodies arrived this morning.  I’ll be working on and riding my TT250 tomorrow.   Baja, my friends.  On our TT250 motorcycles.   It’s coming up and it’s going to be fun.   Stay with us on the blog to follow our adventures, or better yet, buy yourself a CSC motorcycle and ride Mexico with us on the next one!

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A cool Saturday…

A cool old BMW…

We get some interesting motorcycles in for maintenance, and with Gerry’s BMW background, a lot of them tend to Beemers.    Check this one out…

161021_6036-650

It’s actually an R50 (that’s the 500cc boxer twin), but this one has the R69S 600cc engine and Gerry told me it’s a real hot rod.   I love the looks of these old bikes, and that sidecar!  Wow!

Posted in CSC Motorcycles | Comments Off on A cool old BMW…