My good buddy Willie added our single spotlights to his TT250 in preparation for the upcoming Baja run, and they sure look good. This is a great way to mount the spots on a TT250…
You can see the spotlights on our website here, and you can give us a call at 909 445 0900 to find out what’s involved in mounting them on your TT250. Remember that our unique Off/A1/A2 right handlebar switchgear makes controlling these a snap!
We’re in the very early planning stages of a cross-country ride this summer on our RX3 motorcycles. We’re going to start in California and end up somewhere on the East Coast (most likely in New Jersey, my home state). Yep, the plan is to roll from coast to coast, with stops and mini-rallies at selected spots and on favorite roads where our fans want to see us!
We’ve had numerous requests to do a coast-to-coast US ride after folks have read about our Baja rides, the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, the Colombian adventure tour, and our ride across China this summer. The idea is that RX3 owners can ride with us for as little or as long as they like. We won’t be the first to do it (others have already ridden their RX3s across the US), but it will be a first for me and the idea here is to ride with as many of our RX3 friends as possible.
Do you have an idea for a get together or a favorite road in your area? Let us know, and if possible, we’ll factor it into our plans.
We’re looking forward to seeing you this summer!
I had a great day yesterday. My good buddy Mike was in San Diego for the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention, and I was his deputy for a day. Yep, Mike made me an official Assistant to the Director for one day only. I may even be getting a gun out of the deal, but more on that later. And don’t ask…my deal expired last night and I can’t fix any speeding tickets for you.
The convention was very interesting….it was more or less like a trade show, but the attendees were all senior police agency executives (hence the name), including none other than the Director of the FBI, James Comey. The show itself had very interesting stuff on display, including police vehicles of all sorts, helicopters, drones, all kinds of police equipment (including at least half a dozen firearms exhibits), clothing, and much more. I guess if I was surprised by anything, it was how many software companies had exhibits. The police buy a lot of management and crime statistics programs.
The vehicles were interesting. Here’s my good buddy Mike checking out a Dodge Challenger police car…
There were probably a half dozen helicopters on display. This one goes for about $5,000,000.
A body armor exhibit…
A very cool drone. The guys had one of these on the China trip. This one had an infrared camera showing its image in the screen beneath the drone. That’s me in the lower left…
Harley, Zero, BMW, Kawasaki, and Polaris had police motorcycles on display. They were all enormous, including the Zero. This is the BMW. It goes for about $24,500. Check out the switchgear…
Yours truly with a Harley…these start at about $17,000.
Mike got a shot of me on the Harley. I couldn’t believe how heavy it was. I used to own a couple of Harleys. I put a lot of miles on those bikes, but when I sat on this one yesterday, it felt ridiculously heavy. I didn’t think they were that heavy when I rode my Harleys, but I sure feel that way now.
Facial recognition software, showing Mike and me…
SIG, Smith and Wesson, Glock, HK, and CZ had exhibits. I was particularly interested in the CZ exhibit. They had real rifles (you know, with actual walnut stocks). The rifle at the top of the CZ rack (in the photo below) is chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum, and it is truly a show gun. It doesn’t show up in the photo, but this particular rifle had an exhibition-grade walnut stock (which kind of makes sense when you think about it…we were, after all, at a show). I talked to the CZ guy and he told me this IACP show is the last one at which the current group of display guns will be on display. One thing led to another in our conversation, and to make a long story short, I’m going to purchase that rifle. I am excited.
The cockpit of a Kawasaki Concours police motorcycle. Lots of buttons and switches.
After dinner, the Chiefs were having a reception on the USS Midway in San Diego. That was way cool…
Mike on the flight deck of USS Midway at night, checking in with the people back east…
San Diego’s skyline in the background…
The Nikon D3300 was wringing everything it could out of its low-light capabilities. That’s an F-4 and an F-14 on the flight deck.
James Comey is in there somewhere. The reception was sponsored by the FBI’s National Academy. The chiefs owned the USS Midway last night.
Another cool night shot…
…and another…
Free drinks, free dinner, and all on the USS Midway. I might say it doesn’t get any better than this, but then I realized in about 10 days I’m going for a motorcycle ride in Baja. The fish tacos last night were good. The ones in Baja will be better.
And folks, that was about it. Fun times. Good friends. Good photo ops.
Stay tuned. As always, there’s more good stuff coming your way on the CSC blog.
Wow! Jorge’s video showed up on Facebook this morning, and it turns out the one I saw was only one in a series of great adventures! Enjoy, my friends…
Wow, what a day! We had a sample of nearly every CSC motorcycle on our Glendora Ridge Road ride today…a couple of RX3s piloted by Mike and Byron, a CSC 250 Mustang with Duane on board, and a couple of TT250s with Lieutenant Dan and yours truly. The weather was perfect and we sure had a good time.
The boys stopping for coffee at Camp Williams. From left to right, it’s Dan, Byron, Mike, and Duane.
After talking motorcycles for a bit, it was back on the East Fork Road to the northeastern end of Glendora Mountain Road. There were lots of motorcyclists enjoying the road today. I wanted to get more video today, but my GoPro battery gave up the ghost. Ah, that’s how it goes sometimes. I’ll find replacements and order them tonight on Amazon.
We still grabbed some video, though….good buddy Duane came through with his helmet-mounted video cam! Duane gave his files to me and I was able to put together a video. Duane was riding at the back of the pack…you can see Byron, Dan, Mike, and me in front.
It sure was nice out there, and when we rode to the top of the mountain (where Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road intersect), we stopped for photos…
That’s Dan with his TT250…I’m showing off a bit with Photoshop here!
More Photoshop magic on Glendora Ridge Road!
Good buddy Mike, who is riding with us to Baja in a couple of weeks
Duane and his CSC Mustang
After looking at all of the photos I shot today, I realized I didn’t get a feature shot of Byron like I did of the other guys. My apologies, Byron, but you know what that means…it’s a good reason to join us on the next ride!
Today was a nice day, wrapped up with a great lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge. Good times, good roads, good friends, and good motorcycles! I sure enjoyed it.
Just 12 more days and we’re Baja bound, folks!
Our TT250 ride is tomorrow, and it’s going to be a good one. I rode Glendora Ridge Road today on my TT250 just to make sure the road is open, and it was awesome up there. And hey, if you ride an RX3 or a CSC Mustang, we’d love to have you ride with us, too! We’re leaving from the CSC plant at 9:00. We’ll stop for coffee and photos on the East Fork road, we’ll ride Glendora Mountain Road, we’ll ride Glendora Ridge Road, we’ll have lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge, and then we’ll loop back to the plant. The road is in good shape and the weather should be perfect!
I’ve been riding my TT250 a lot in the last couple of weeks, and I have it dialed in just the way I want it. I think the Wolfman bags are perfect, and so is the 17T/49T gear combo. My TT250 is turning into a very nice smallbore touring platform, and I’m pumped about our upcoming Baja ride!
I have been working with my GoPro video camera a bit, and I tried a handlebar mount today. It’s okay, but I’m not wild about it. As you can see in the video above, a lot of road vibe gets through to the camera. I think tomorrow I’ll try a helmet mount. The video is always a lot smoother when I use a helmet mount.
I figured out how to control the GoPro from my iPhone (I know, I’m slowly entering the 21st century, kicking and scratching all the way). I have a handlebar mount for the iPhone coming, but I don’t know if I’ll have it by tomorrow. That’s the problem with the GoPro…if you don’t control it remotely, it’s tough to know when you’ve turned the thing on or off (especially when it is mounted on your helmet).
I’ll keep you posted…watch for more photos and video after our ride tomorrow. You know what? I may do a Periscope broadcast from the shop tomorrow, too, before we get on the road…so stay tuned!
I received a nice email from my good buddy Bob on that last blog post a few minutes ago…
Looking good with the tool roll, Joe!
Only suggestions I would make would be:
Locking Pliers (aka: Vice Grip, or Channel Lock) – definitely good to have, but maybe consider using the 6” long nose version. The smaller snout will give more precise clamping as needed (smaller bolt heads, hoses) and can reach where the standard jaw may not reach 2. Bungee Cords or plastic zip ties. Don’t weigh much, always handy to have 3. 2 or 3 foot section of duct tape. I roll this on itself and unwind as needed.
Optional (but I always carry with me) is a Leatherman tool. Good to have the knife, pliers, saw, can/bottle opener, etc. in one handy tool.
Looks like a great ride! One of these days when the four letter word (“work”, not “wife”) doesn’t get in the way, I hope to do one of these trips with you!
Bob
Bob, those are all great suggestions. Thanks for taking the time to send them to us. And just let us know when you’re ready to accompany us on any of our rides. They are all fun. I think we are up to 9 people on our short run into Baja at the end of this month. It will be my first long ride on the TT250, and I’m excited about that.
I promised a recommended TT250 toolkit a few blogs back, and this afternoon I put together a list of the tools I’m going to bring with me on the Baja trip. The Internet being what it is, I have no doubt this will spark a firestorm of controversy from those of you who have different ideas. Hey, as my personal hero (that would be Dubya) once said, bring it on. Seriously. If there’s something you think I missed, let us know and if I think it makes sense I’ll add it to the list. That last part is important. I’m bringing along the tools I think I might need in the unlikely event something goes south. I’m not planning on doing an engine rebuild on the side of the road. Knock wood, I’ve only ever had one serious breakdown on any of my rides (and it wasn’t on a Chinese bike; in fact, it was on a bike that costs about 10 times what a new TT250 goes for…and that bike didn’t come with any tools).
The TT250 comes with a modest tool kit mounted in a container along the frame, as you see below…
They say halitosis is better than no breath at all, and that’s kind of how I feel about the tool kits that come with new motorcycles (indeed, as mentioned above, some new motorcycles don’t include any tools).
Here’s what you get with the stock TT250 tool kit…
It includes a screwdriver with both blade and Phillips head drives, two wrenches with 8mm, 10mm, 13m, and 15mm ends, and a pressed steel socket that you’re supposed to turn with the screwdriver shaft. The problem is that I don’t think that pressed steel socket would hold its shape under serious torque (and even if it did, and you probably couldn’t exert enough torque with the screwdriver shaft to adequately tighten or loosen the larger fasteners or the spark plug).
I took a hard look at the nuts and bolts on my TT250 this morning, and here’s what I’m putting in my tool kit for Baja…
From left to right, here you go:
And that’s about it, folks. All of the above won’t fit in the little plastic case the original factory tool kit occupied, so they’ll go in a tool roll that’s going in my soft luggage. That plastic box for the original tool kit? I may use it to carry a burrito…
I’ve been using my TT250 as my commuter bike lately, and I am really loving that 49T rear sprocket. I rode in on the 210 freeway this morning, and the bike has no problem keeping up with traffic (I mostly stick to the right lane on the TT250, and traffic in that lane moves at about 55 mph). There were a few times when things opened up, and my TT250 ran 70 mph when I asked it to.
I’m getting psyched about the TT250 Baja run. It’s going to be good to be on the road again.
I’m sure looking forward to it…riding up in the San Gabriels north of the plant is one of my favorite rides. I was thinking about all of the videos we’ve done up there and I realized I don’t have one on Glendora Ridge Road from the saddle of my TT250. That’s a character flaw I intent to correct this weekend!
In the meantime, take a look at this earlier video…it’s when we were still making the CSC 150…
Folks, those little 150s could really rip in the corners…the twisties are so tight engine displacement really doesn’t matter much up there. I had a lot of fun on my CSC 150, and it’s the bike that introduced me to this great organization.
Yours truly with my CSC 150 on Glendora Ridge Road
The late great Walt Fulton proved that when he nearly won the Catalina Grand Prix back in the 1950s on a Mustang (the bike our CSC resurrected). Good times, to be sure! The story of the original Mustang motorcycles is most intriguing, as this article that my good buddy Jim Cavanaugh and I wrote a few years ago for Motorcycle Classics magazine.
RX1E Electric Motorcycle
TT250 Enduro
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer