I love vintage bikes, and coming back from the rifle range today, I spotted this beautiful machine on the 210 freeway. It’s a vintage 1976 Honda Gold Wing (one of the very first), it appeared to be all original, and it was loaded for serious travel.
The bike had an out-of-state plate. I was in my Subie and the Gold Wing was gone in an instant, which was too bad. I would have enjoyed learning more about it.
This is cool stuff…I write for Motorcycle Classics magazine and as you might imagine I follow what they do fairly closely. MC is a great moto mag (the best, in my opinion), and their CB350 project has been nothing short of amazing. Richard Backus is the editor and he’s a cool guy.
I spent the morning at the gun club yesterday sending .45 ACP, 9mm, and 7.62X54R ammo downrange and it was fun. There was an older fellow there shooting cast bullets from a .30 06 vintage Model 721 Remington (a seldom seen rifle that is the predecessor to the Model 700). We had a nice conversation. My new friend Guy is 84 years young and he loves getting out to the rifle range. I know that feeling!
A 74-year-old Mosin-Nagant that shoots well…cheap fun!
I’m headed over to the CSC plant a bit later this morning. Steve ordered a new helmet for me and I’m eager to check it out.
Today I tried something new…an external microphone on my GoPro camera. Steve asked me to try it so that I could narrate a ride as I was doing it. I had a good time…I rode the CSC RC3 through Azusa Canyon on California’s Highway 39. It was awesome. Take a look at this one and tell me what you think.
For a long time, I thought this moto vlogging business was pretty silly, but I can see the merits of it (having done one now). I still prefer an actual blog with writing and photos, and I personally like to read stuff way more than I like to watch videos. But hey, we are zooming into the future and it looks like this is the way technology is going. In any event, I’m going to do more of these narrated videos in the future. In the next one, I think I might ride Glendora Ridge Road while telling the story of CSC Motorcycles. We’ll see. Drop me a line (info@cscmotorcycles.com) and let me know your thoughts.
Not me…but another Joe. Check this out…
Hey CSC, I wanted to drop you a note to tell you about my 2 month experience in owning the CSC RX3 Cyclone. It goes like this, I didn’t grow up riding motorcycles but got a used Yamaha 650 Maxim in 1989 as a wedding present from my wife. I rode it occasionally for a few years and then sold it. Really didn’t like road riding around all the cagers! I’ve thought about getting another motorcycle for years but wanted something for light duty road riding but could also be used off road as I’m a mountain biking enthusiast and love getting off the beaten path and into nature.
I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on a bike as I didn’t know if I’d really get into it so I started by looking on Craigslist for a used dual sport and they were still expensive but saw an affiliate had posted an ad for the CSC RX3 so my research began into the bike and all the specs and reviews convinced me that it should work out. I ordered it and received it in September. The crate well protected the bike and there wasn’t much required to get it running other than attaching the screen, mirrors and top box. I spent some time adding a few inexpensive mods like the billet covers, skid plate, hand guards.
Now to test it out and I was happy to find that I could still ride after all these years. I immediately put in a bunch of long days to get the break in miles completed so I could ride it full out. I then began riding it a bit more ‘normally’ and also took a motorcycle safety foundation class to re-learn the skills to survive on the road. Next I started heading out for long rides on forest service roads, learning how to use all of my “hard learned YouTube DS training.”
So here I am, 2 months into ownership and loving the bike, I’ve had no issues, and feeling sort of ready to take it to the next level. I got that chance that past weekend when the Pacific Northwest Dual Sport riders posted a meetup at the Tahuya ORV Park in Tahuya, WA. It was a very diverse group of rider, skills and bikes. About 30 in total from pure MX bikes to huge BMW 1200 and KTM 1190 bikes. We headed out on a quad trail call “Overland” for a big loop. This trail had everything to test this off road noobs skills. Sand, gravel, baseball sized rocks piled for miles, water-water everywhere, mud and some steep climbs and descents. Now, I could describe the whole ride but instead I put together a video to show some of the highlights of the trail and my noob skills. Yeah, I crashed 5 times with a couple of them being pretty hard and the bike took it just fine. But I can say this about the ride…It hooked me on riding! I hope you and your blog followers enjoy it. Thanks again for bringing such a quality value bike to the USA and supporting it so well.
Hey Joe…thanks for the report and the video! We’re glad you are enjoying your RX3 and the motorcycling experience! Ride safe and stay in touch!
…and the hills behind the CSC plant are calling…
We are adding quite a few new accessories and parts to the showroom up front. Helmets, handlebars, tires, gloves, specialty cleaning chemicals and lubes, you name it. Be sure to stop by and check our website in the next few days for all the additions. It’s too nice to hang around the office this morning…I’m getting out for a ride!
Fast forward 60 or 70 years (or more), and somewhere there will be a high end vineyard with a vintage CSC motorcycle collection. I can see it now…beautiful grounds, extreme hospitality, and a famous collection of California Scooters, RX3s, restored TT250s, and CSC paraphernalia. Maybe they’ll even have on display one of the RX3s that rode the early Baja runs or the Western America Adventure Ride. Perhaps they’ll display an original signed copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM. That would be cool…a collection of iconic 250cc motorcycles that changed the motorcycle scene in the early part of the 21st century and brought riders back to the realization that a 250 is the world’s most perfect bike. And the wines would be first class, too. Imagine that…a future vineyard with a classic bike collection!
There’s good news here, folks. You don’t need to travel into the future. Dial that dream back to today, and you’d be at the Doffo Winery. It’s an amazing vineyard with one of the world’s great vintage motorcycle collections, and I spent the day there yesterday. I’m talking about the Doffo Winery and its MotoDoffo collection, and it’s right here in southern California. Two men with a passion for producing great wines created it all, and the good news for us is that their passion extends to restoring and racing vintage Italian motorcycles. A father-and-son team, Marcelo and Damian Doffo have an absolutely stunning motorcycle collection. These are not just two guys with too much time on their hands…they are riders and enthusiasts, and they are passionate about motorcycles. Red racing motorcycles, to be specific. The passion for all things moto is real…that word came up constantly during our time together yesterday.
What a day I had spending time with Damian, learning about the MotoDoffo collection, and photographing amazing motorcycles. Words alone won’t do the story justice, so let’s jump into the photos…
Damian Doffo and yours truly. Damian is a Cal Poly grad. Go Broncos!
A Norton parked outside. The MotoDoffo collection emphasizes small displacement Italian motorcycles, but it includes many interesting bikes from other parts of the world
Argentinian? Italian? You’ll have to read the full story in Motorcycle Classics magazine or visit the Doffo Winery yourself to find out!
A portion of the Moto Doffo collection.
Sachs, a German engine in a Dutch motorcycle.
When men were men and brakes were brakes.
A beautiful Bultaco Metralla fuel tank. Is there one “s” or two in Montesa? (Inside joke for my Riding China buddy…)
A Ducati with a jelly bean fuel tank. These are some of the world’s most beautiful motorcycles.
The jelly bean 250. When you look at this, the question is obvious: Why would anyone ever want anything other than a 250?
Ah, Celeste. Bianchi. Magnificent. Bianchi’s signature color, whipped together in postwar Italy. It was created from milsurp OD green paint, with a few other colors tossed into the mix.
Didn’t know there was a domestic market 350cc Ducati L-twin, did you?
A single-cylinder Moto Guzzi baloney slicer, so named because of its external flywheel.
The Boss, Damian Doffo, in the classic bike restoration shop. The Doffo family is heavily involved in motorcycle racing.
I kept coming back to the jelly bean bike. Doffo does all of their own restorations. In a sea of magnificent motorcycles, this one was even more so.
A vintage racing Ducati. The tracks on the primary cover were intended to improve cooling.
Doffo does it all…frame work, body work, and engine work.
An amazing collection, to be sure…this is the belly plan from a racing Ducati.
Seat time, on a vintage Ducati moped.
The view from the veranda, in front of the MotoDoffo collection.
This is a good news and more good news story, folks. The MotoDoffo collection is open to the public, and it’s right here in So Cal. Temecula, to be exact. More good news? The ride to Doffo’s is amazing…it goes right through Temecula’s rolling hills and amazing wine country. Even more good news…the Doffo winery specializes in reds, and in particular, they offer high end Malbecs, the crown prince of wines. I’m thinking maybe a one-day ride through some of the same California countryside we covered on our most recent TT250 Baja adventure ride, with the Doffo Winery and MotoDoffo motorcycle collection as the destination. That would be a fun day.
There’s more info on line….check out the Doffo Winery and the MotoDoffo collection, and I’ll let you know about our plans for the ride outlined above!
Yes, seriously. Zongshen knows the best way to wring out a new engine is to race it, and that’s what’s happening here. The new 450cc engine forms the basis of the Zong 2017 Dakar racebike. Yep, Dakar. Hey, why not?
Wow. And you’re probably wondering…what about the new RX4, the 450cc ADV bike everybody keeps asking about? It’s still a long ways off (as in no sooner than a 2018 model, and even that is questionable), but here are a few prototype photos from the EICMA show in Milan…
I was going to go to the EICMA show this year, but duties kept me anchored here in California. Maybe next year I’ll get to go.
Yes, indeed….the TT250 received a very favorable review and it’s out now in the latest edition of Dirt Bike magazine! Be sure to pick up a copy…or better yet, pick up your own TT250, live the adventure, and make stories yourself! It’s what we do!
We posted this video in the CSC blog a little more than 6 years ago. I had a very enjoyable day today photographing vintage Italian iron. That and all the nuttiness going on in the world right now somehow made this seem like a good video to show again. Enjoy, my friends…
And hey, a preview of some cool photos to follow in a few days…me with my good buddy Damien…
TT250 Enduro
RX1E Electric Motorcycle
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer