Salt Lake City, the Nebo Loop, and the Red Iguana…

Tough duty, folks, but somebody has to do it!

Susie and I are taking in the sights in Salt Lake City (including the State Capital and the Mormon Tabernacle), and after that we headed south for a ride on the famed Nebo Loop.

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That Nebo Loop was something else.   We were up over 9,000 feet, with a super view of Mt. Nebo.   Folks, this is going to be a future RX3 ride!  When I saw these guys riding their KLRs up there, I knew what I wanted to be doing…

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After running the Nebo Loop, we rolled back to SLC for dinner at the Red Iguana, the most popular Mexican restaurant in town.  I tried their red pippian (it’s pronounced pippy-ann), and it was possibly the best Mexican food I’ve ever had….

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That dish you see above was super-tender chicken smothered in mole sauce, and it sure was good.  It was spicy without being overwhelming (just enough to make my bald spot sweat, a true barometer of fine cuisine if ever there was one), the taste was amazing, and I want to go there again.   The Red Iguana specializes in mole sauces, and for this one, they do something with ground sunflower seeds.   Trust me, it was awesome.   We’ll have dinner there again before we leave Utah; it’s the kind of restaurant you need to visit a few times to try several of their specialties.

And that’s it for now, folks.  Just 10 days until we start our epic RX3 road trip with the Chinese!

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Utah’s Great Salt Lake…

Did you ever see something during the day and just know that it was going to give you nightmares?

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Susie and I are poking around a bit in Salt Lake City.  We arrived yesterday at around noon.   I was too pumped up about the trip to sleep the night before the trip and we had a very early flight out, so I just stayed up all night, caught up with a few things I needed to do, and we were off to the airport.   The flights went quickly (I slept the entire way on both legs; after the 20 ½ hours it took to get to Chongqing a hop to Utah seemed like running to the store to pick up a newspaper).

I had never seen the Great Salt Lake and I always wanted to.  I had the AAA road map (one of the best parts of being an AAA member is the their road maps).   It looked like a big ocean on the map, so I pointed our rental Chevy north and then made a left when my dead reckoning told me we ought to be nearby.

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No dice.  We ended up in a suburban housing development, of which there are apparently many in the Salt Lake City area.

I studied the map again and saw Antelope Island, which looked like it was well into the Great Salt Lake.   All righty, then.   Round two and we struck pay dirt.  It was only $5 to get in if you’re a senior citizen (Susie laughed when the young lady in the ticket booth didn’t even ask for proof I was over 62).   Such a deal!

The Great Salt Lake is not a single lake…it’s more like a couple of low lying lakes (maybe even more) surrounded by salt flats.   Susie found a radio station (there was a sign as we entered Antelope Island telling us the AM frequency), and it was really interesting.   The place is beautiful.

At my first stop to grab a few photos, I wanted to walk into the weeds to get a better shot.   I’m not sure why, but I looked closely and saw a single strand of spider web.   I looked a little more closely and…

Wow!  There they were.

Spiders.

Big spiders.

Lots of them.

Yecch.

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Surprisingly, these little bits of nastiness did not figure into my dreams last night.   I don’t much like spiders.   Steve likes them even less.  I’m enjoying my morning cup of coffee right now thinking about Steve reading the blog this morning and seeing these photos.

I looked the spiders up on the Internet, and near as  I can figure, they are called common garden spiders.  They are supposed to be completely harmless to humans (at least physically; psychologically, these things are bothersome).   The good news?     According to the Internet, these spiders die off with the first frost.  That can’t happen soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.

All right, enough with the spiders.

There’s a lot more to the Great Salt Lake, including incredible panoramic views and the great American bison.    Good stuff, to be sure…

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If you look very carefully to the right of the red mountain in this next photo, you can just make out the Salt Lake City skyline on the opposite bank…

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And a few more glam shots…I gave the 16-35 lens a good workout yesterday afternoon…

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Antelope Island is a beautiful spot, and now I can say I’ve seen the Great Salt Lake.   It’s awesome.   If you ever get out this way, this is a dynamite way to spend an afternoon.

We’ve got a lot more good stuff coming up, folks, including a bio sketch and photos of the Chinese riders who are riding their RX3s with us on our great Western America adventure ride (which starts in just 10 days!).   We’ll be rolling through Utah on that run, too.   To my friends in China who are reading this, don’t worry…we’ll avoid the spiders!

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Tourfella luggage bracketry…

Whoa, silly me!    I missed putting something up about installing the Tourfella bags on an RX3, and then when the guys in the plant assembled a bike with the aluminum luggage last week, I missed the assembly.  My apologies…I don’t have a step-by-step set of instructions for you on this one, but I do have photos showing how it all goes together.    The bracketry for the Tourfella bags is actually simpler than it is for the stock RX3 luggage.   Let’s take a look.

The first thing you’ll need to do is remove the all of the RX3’s standard luggage mounting bracketry and rear guards, and with that, you’ll also need to remove the structure and grab rails that support the standard RX3 trunk.

What you will install instead are the Tourfella trunk mount, two side mounts for the two bags (left and right), a strut that attaches the saddlebag mounts to the rear foot peg mounts, and a rear cross strut.  Like I said, it’s simpler than the standard RX3 luggage mounting system.

Let’s take a look.

The upper arrow in this photo shows the trunk mount, and the lower arrow shows the right saddlebag mounting bracket.  There’s a mounting bracket for the right saddlebag and a mounting bracket for the left saddlebag.   The mounting bracket for the right saddlebag is deeper because it has to clear the muffler.

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Here’s a photo that shows a close-up of how the trunk mounting bracket attaches to the bike underneath the seat, and how the saddlebag mounting brackets attach to the trunk mounting bracket.

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There’s a strut for each side of the motorcycle that attaches the saddlebag mounting brackets to the rear foot peg brackets.  The first photo below shows this on the right side of the motorcycle; the second photo shows the left side of the motorcycle.

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Each saddlebag mounting bracket contains an extension that reaches up under the fender.   These bolt together under the fender as shown in the photo below.

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Finally, there’s a cross strut that reaches around underneath the tail light to connect the left and the right saddlebag mounting brackets, as you see in the photo below.

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That’s it, folks.  It’s a well-designed system, and the photos above show you how it all fits together.

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Meet Rusty…

One of the guys who stopped by our booth at the Overland Expo a few weeks ago is our new good buddy Arizona Rusty, who picked up his RX3 last week….

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I enjoyed meeting Rusty, and we had a far-reaching conversation that touched on a number of topics, including Chinese manufacturing, Baja, and some of our favorite roads.   We had a good visit.  One of the best parts of working at CSC is the interesting people I get to meet.

Rusty bought his bike, specified nearly every option we offer, and immediately left to check out his new motorcycle on my favorite local ride, Glendora Ridge Road.    He loved it, and for good reason.   It’s awesome.

Here’s another shot of Rusty’s bike…

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There’s a lot of cool stuff on this one, folks…the aluminum Tourfella luggage, the 19-inch front wheel, knobby tires, the accessories outlet package, spotlights, the centerstand, the handguards, and probably a few things I’m missing.  The bike looks good, and the way our service area’s fluorescent lights are playing on it brings out the colors and makes it look even better.

Rusty, enjoy your new motorcycle…I know you will!

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Refining an epic adventure…

Planning for our western US adventure ride continues, with tentative nightly destinations and some route refinements.

Here’s the route as of today…

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And here’s where we’re tentatively scheduling our evening destinations for each day, along with a mileage summary…

Itinerary

Folks, I’m on another secret mission to scout out some stuff in Utah next week, and I’m wheels-in-the-wells before sunup tomorrow.   But don’t worry, we’ll be posting updates from the road.   There’s much more to follow in the coming days, so keep an eye on the blog, my friends!

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Sam Manicom

When we attended the Overland Expo in Arizona a few weeks ago (or as some have called it, the “Snoverland Expo”) I met a bunch of interesting people.   One of the people I saw but didn’t meet was Sam Manicom.   I had no idea who Sam Manicom is, so when this quiet and friendly-looking guy stopped by the CSC booth and left a flyer, I barely noticed him.   I stuck the flyer in my pocket, from there it went into my saddlebag for the freeway blast back to California, and a week or so ago I actually looked at the thing.

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My first reaction was that I had missed an opportunity.    Had I heard of Sam I would not have let him slip in and out of our booth without a conversation.   Just a few lines into the flyer I knew I wanted to read his books.

Sam is a true adventure rider, and he’s written several books about his exploits.   I wrote to him, he wrote back, and as soon as I’m done writing this blog I’m ordering a copy of each of his books.   (You can do so here.)

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Sam sent a copy of an interview to me and he gave me permission to use it on the CSC blog.  I found it very interesting and Sam, I’m going to take you up on that offer…

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An Interview with Sam Manicom

Who is Sam Manicom?

Sam Manicom has travelled for much of his life. His first solo trip was when he was 16 years old and since then he’s hitchhiked, travelled by bus, train, bicycle and sail. On his longest journey he set off as a novice motorcyclist, aiming to ride a motorcycle the length of Africa. This planned 1 year journey turned into 8 years and 200,000 miles around the world.

Sam describes himself as a traveler first, a motorcyclist and then an author. He’s written 4 books about his journey and tells us that his aim is to share the fun of the road, and to encourage others to go out and live their dreams of adventure. We wanted to know more.

Bearing in mind that you’ve travelled in so many different ways, what is it that excites you about motorcycle travel so much?

Without doubt it’s the freedom a bike gives me. I can wake up to each day and think, what shall I do today? Not, what does my bus or train ticket tell me I have to. The freedom to explore is quite magnificent. Africa for example is just 6,000ish miles long. I rode 22,000 miles, because there was so much to see, and I could. I spent just over 2 years riding across Asia and every day really was an adventure. I love the fact that my bike allows me to stop just about anywhere I like. That’s a huge bonus in some parts of South America for example. There are some spectacular views that I can stop to look at, but a car wouldn’t find space to park and a bus would belt on past.

I also like the fact that I don’t have to carry a rucksack! Riding into a headwind is relatively effortless and being out in the open means that you are really accessible. That’s the first step to meeting people. You know, I also like the fact that I don’t have a roof over my head. My bike by the way is called Libby. That’s short for Liberty – it’s what she gives me.

Why did you choose your bike?

I ended up on a BMW R80GS because to guys in the pub told me that they were both bullet-proof and idiot proof. It sounded the sort of thing I needed! I’d been riding a bike for just 3 months when I got to the edge of Africa so for sure it needed to be idiot proof. I don’t think they meant bullet proof as in being shot at, but that happened a couple of times. They gave me great advice!

Now I know that actually it doesn’t matter what bike you ride so long as you like riding it and it’s in good mechanical repair. One of the keys with choosing a bike is to work out what you want from your trip. Mostly off-road? An asphalt cruise with gravel in the mix? The thing is, on a longer trip you are rarely going to ride above 50mph and of course a smaller bike is easier to pick up when you drop it, and drop it you will. (Note from Joe:   Check out our blog on this topic:  Why a 250?) I even dropped mine once, by, wait for it… stepping on a banana skin! Good job I have a sense of humour.

You are a bit of a disaster magnet aren’t you? You fell critically ill in Thailand and I’m right in thinking that you were saved by a prostitute?

One of the risks of making a long journey is that things will go wrong. It doesn’t matter how you travel, stuff happens, but for me it’s how you handle those times that’s so important. We all travel to have adventures, to learn and to find out more about ourselves don’t we? Something going wrong is a combination of all of those, and inevitably there’s a quirky or funny side to things.

One of my favourite travelling mantras is ‘Expect the Unexpected’.  (Another note from Joe…check out our blog on this very same subject and how Justin set the standard while we were on the Baja ride.)  It’s not that I go looking for disasters but they kind of find me. I certainly didn’t expect to have my life saved by a prostitute! What happened? I’d stopped for a while to enjoy exploring one of Thailand’s islands. The road was treating me really well and I was having fun riding away from the beaten track. This time my temporary home was a small bamboo cabin right on the edge of a white sand beach. The sea was turquoise and the palm trees rustled their unique sound every time the breeze joined us. Life was pretty darned good. Then I fell ill. Within 2 days I was so weak that I couldn’t get out of bed and was so dehydrated that I was hardly sweating.

A very pretty Thai girl was living in the cabin next to mine. She was a fun girl to meet but she surprised me by her lack of knowledge. She was from a poor mountain family, and had recently become a prostitute; working so she could earn the fees to continue her schooling. Though she’d heard of AIDS, she hardly knew a thing about it and wasn’t being as careful as she should have been. We’d sat on her veranda talking about life in Thailand, her ambitions and how to protect herself from all the STDs she was vulnerable to. I think that she enjoyed the conversations – in part because I didn’t want to take her to bed.

We became friends and it was Kulap that noticed my bike outside my cabin, but no sign of me. She knocked on my door and called out but I was too weak to answer. She came into my cabin and saw the semi-conscious state I was in. Unbeknown to me I had a bad bout of Dengue fever. She knew exactly what it was and over the next week Kulap nursed me back to health. When I had the strength to make it to a doctor, he told me that she’d saved my life.

You’ve been arrested in several countries haven’t you, but what happened in Chennai in India?

One of the things I love about travelling by motorcycle is that not only is it an amazing icebreaker between strangers, but I find myself in all sorts of situations other travellers were unlikely to. Ports are just one of those situations and usually I enjoy the inevitably sweaty chase through them. They are a world of their own with all the traditions and rules and regulations that customs offices and warehouses inevitably have.  But the port of Chennai in India wasn’t fun. I simply couldn’t get the bureaucracy into gear, and I wasn’t even allowed inside the port gates. From outside of the port I could even see the container my bike was in, but could I get at it? No. Scores of forms were filled in, rubber stamped and dispatched via runners. They all seemed to get lost in humid offices where the only thing that moved the papers was the lazy swish of overhead fans. It felt like red tape gone mad. The weeks were ticking by. I had an appointment to keep in Kathmandu and I was getting to the stage where I was risking not making it.

Then, one day the shipping agent I’d been working with had a brain wave. We were at week number 5 of the tortoise speed chase. ‘I’ll give you a document that says you are part time on the agency staff. We’ll use that to get in the port and then we will try to see the port managing director.’ All went well and inside the port we had a stroke of luck. Yes the MD would see us. I explained the situation. To my surprise he apologised, rubber stamped my documents, and gave them to me with words to the effect of, that’s you sorted then. If the gravity of the port had allowed it I would have done a few leaps of joy, but I wasn’t counting my chickens. I’d learned enough about India not to do that! Moments later the guard on the exit point arrested the shipping agent, and then me. “These documents are forgeries.” He stated, looking at my temporary agent papers; pointing his gun at me as he did so. The next hours were very long…

On a big ride everyone is going to make mistakes.  Which one of yours leaps into mind?

One of the most stupid things I’ve ever tried to do is to ride through northern Turkey in the middle of winter. It wasn’t the plan; I’d been delayed in Delhi. It’d taken me three months to get a visa to travel through Iran. I’d been determined that I wouldn’t miss the chance to explore some of this beautiful and unique country, but the delay meant that I was in the right place at the wrong time. The mountains of Turkey should have been beautiful, but with inches of black ice on the roads and metres of snow at the roadsides, they didn’t look that way to me at all. Every section of road was a battle to stay upright; to survive even. The warning tingle that frostbite was an issue buzzed in my finger tips and I battled to stay warm. Snow fell ever stronger and my breath froze on the inside of my visor. I rode, with my bike shimmying unpredictably on the ice, one finger inside my visor to clear away my breath-ice, and another on the outside to clear away the snow. Let’s put it this way, lesson learned.

Have you ever feared for your life?

Yes. The first time was during the initial weeks of the 8 year trip around the world! I mentioned I’d only been riding a bike for a couple of months when I left the British Isles. I spent the time riding across Europe feeling like I was some sort of motorcycling accessory hanging onto the back of the bike. I really wasn’t in control and I was afraid! But I was determined I was going to learn and to make it to my target. Cape Town seemed a very long way away.

Actually other than that, I’ve very rarely feared for my life. Perhaps I have a strong streak of stupidity or maybe it’s more a case of when something is putting your life at risk, you are too busy dealing with the situation to be afraid. I’ve been shot at a couple of times, had a 17-bone fracture accident in the Namib Desert, and my bike caught fire while I was riding it. There were a fair few other mishaps but mostly it was my own imagination that made me fearful.

The worst time was being jailed in Tanzania. I had an accident and was charged with speeding, driving without due care and attention, and attempt to commit grievous bodily harm. I’d been travelling very slowly on the busy road into a small town, my senses were firing on all cylinders and I definitely didn’t ride on purpose at the man who stepped out in front of me. Being thrown into a jail cell with 20 men is the scariest moment of my life. And when I realised that rape was in one of the guys minds… Thankfully fate didn’t let this situation head any further in this direction.

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met on your travels?

The world is full of fascinating people. In fact I’d be happy to lay money on the point that at least 95% of the world’s population are basically good people, and they are all interesting in their own way. Each has a tale to tell and each gives us the opportunity to learn. The mainstream media only concentrates on scandal and drama so we hardly ever hear about the good people.

Perhaps I should tell the tale of the orphan children in Tanzania who set up their own business so they didn’t have to beg. Or the raggedy woman in the deserts of northern Kenya who insisted on sharing her food with me. Then there was the blond aboriginal man in the Outback. We sat under the stars with him telling me about his family’s history and their lives today.

One of the most amazing things about long distance travel is the constant chance to meet new people. There are millions of interesting people out there and many of them are other travellers!

What drives you to put yourself in potentially dangerous situations?

Well I do get carried away with my curiosity from time to time and maybe I have a different perception of what danger is. It can be a buzz where every sense in your body is working on full power. Things taste sweeter, smell richer and it’s at times where risk is involved that you find out who you are. Ethiopia and Southern Sudan weren’t safe places to be when I rode through with an English couple I’d met, but to get further south we had to travel through them. I was also fascinated about how decades of war would have changed the countries and the people. Would hunger and suspicion have taken over?

Everyone said, ‘Don’t go to Colombia.’ I’m glad I did.  It’s one of the most spectacular countries I’ve ever been to.   (Note from Joe:  I agree completely.   Colombia is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited, and I am very excited about the possibility of riding Colombia on an RX3!)  On occasion I’ve been warned off riding particular routes – ‘Too Dangerous!’ This is where both common sense and research come into play. Many times I’ve been told such things as, ‘The villagers in the next place are all robbers; they will kill you.’ When I’ve ridden that route, I’ve found that the villagers were amazed that I’ve survived the place I’ve just come from. I do have a healthy survival instinct but perhaps it’s that I’ve been lucky enough to learn that most fears are not based in reality. Treat people and situations with due respect and though things can go wrong, chances are you won’t die. The chances are far greater that you’ll have had a fascinating time.

Do you think travelling by bike makes your journey more dangerous?

No not at all, unless perhaps I choose to make it so. I don’t have to rely on dodgy bus drivers to control my destiny. Some trains around the world look as if they would be happier on a scrap heap and if I can see a potentially difficult situation going on in front of me, I can change my route. A bus has a schedule and a route it has to work to. There’s no doubt that in some countries size is what matters. But that’s simple to deal with. If it’s bigger than you and it wants to go first? Let it. Why not? You soon lose any element of machismo and rules of the road are things you learn each time you go into a new country. Looking back on India, I was literally run off the road 12 times in just one day. There the buses and trucks are dictators, and I don’t think I’d look good as a bonnet ornament on a TATA truck! There is one other thing. People don’t feel threatened by you when you are out in the open. Perversely, your vulnerability to the world makes you less of a target.

What did you learn from your ‘living on the edge’ experiences?

Take your time and keep calm. Think positively and positive things are most likely to happen. Don’t be afraid of people, but show them respect and even in the worst situations you are most likely to get respect in return. Trust your instincts. If something looks dodgy and has the feeling that it’s not right, then that’s the way it probably is. Never be afraid to turn around; there’s always another adventure waiting to happen. Know that every time something goes wrong, it’s the start of a new and unexpected adventure. They are often the most fun!

Is there anything you regret?

Yes, that I had to stop the 8-year ride.

What advice would you give people looking for an adventure?

The three most important things any traveler can take with them are an open mind, a smile and a handshake. These three forms of friendly respect open doors to opportunities and take away so many of the dangers. Really.

Can I give you random thoughts as they pop into my mind?

Work out what you really want from your adventures. Is your priority to visit museums, to lay on white sand beaches, to climb every mountain, to…

If you are planning to travel with someone else, make sure that you know what their aims are and that you make sure they understand yours.

Don’t be afraid of the unknown; revel in the fact that there is so much to learn and to become involved with.

Do your homework so you can take advantage of as many aspects of your journey as there are available. Don’t over plan but enjoy the learning curve. For me a good third of an adventure comes from this stage.

Don’t overload yourself with kit that ‘may’ be useful. If you don’t have something you need, either buy it along the way or get it sent out to you. Both are amazingly easy to do. Battling with too much stuff can make an adventure into a chore.

Learn about the cultures and customs of other lands, so you understand more about where you are travelling and so that you don’t risk offending others through your ignorance.

Enjoy meeting people – don’t be afraid of making a fool of yourself. Buying a chicken dinner in a land where you know little of the language can be great fun and can make you friends.

(Note from Joe:  Wow, that all sounds familiar.   Check out our blog on preparing for the Baja ride!)

Do learn how to say the basics in the new languages you come across. Hello, please, thank you, which is the way to? These things will stand you in great stead. As will learning how to say, ‘Don’t be silly, I’m not paying that much!’

While you are travelling, pay a lot of attention to local knowledge – all sorts of opportunities can open up as a result and you can steer clear of dodgy situations too.

Pay good attention to weather patterns, visa conditions and the health situation – what inoculations should you have and how long do they take to organise.

Make sure you have a top rate travel insurance policy – preferably one that includes repatriation in case something goes badly wrong.

Work out how much you think your budget should be and then add half again. You are free to deal with most eventualities and opportunities then.

Write a will before you go and make sure your family know exactly what you want to happen. You can save everyone a lot of grief by doing so.

Write a journal. You’ll be on intake overload. It’s so easy to forget the things that happen.

Don’t get bogged down with blogs and websites. Go out and live your dream. Become a stranger in strange lands. That’s so much harder to do when you are under pressure to find wifi and to make regular reports home. Cut that umbilical cord!

Travel slowly. You could be on an adventure of a lifetime. Go too fast and like as not you’ll belt on past the good stuff!

And finally, really, don’t get bogged down with the prep and don’t let fear get in the way. Let your fear become a trip enhancer! It’s an anticipation thing not a negative.

Why did you decide to write books and in fact, was that the aim of your trip?

Gosh, far from it. I set out to ride through Africa because I loved travel but wanted to do something different. It was all about the opportunity to explore new things and yes I know this sounds corny, to find out more about what I was capable of. So adventure and learning were my aim. I guess I also liked the idea of a long break!

Once I’d fallen in love with the idea of travelling by motorcycle and all the freedom and opportunities it gives you, I decided not to go home. From Africa I headed for Australia and across Asia. There, spending 3 months stuck waiting for a visa for Iran, I was encouraged to have a go at writing articles. To my amazement a magazine in the UK took them and asked for more. I submitted more as the journey continued through Africa again, then across to South, Central and North America.

When I got back to the UK, the magazine editor told me that he was getting letters and emails from readers saying they liked my articles and wanted to know when my book was coming out. What book?

I wrote my first book Into Africa revelling in the fact that doing so was another new adventure, but knowing that I could well be doing something daft and quite useless. Nothing ventured nothing gained though. I guess it was a bit like looking at a hundred remote miles of really rough dirt track and thinking shall I? Why the hell not. If I don’t try then I’ll never know.

You’ll imagine my delight when people liked it and were asking, “What happened next?” I stopped my full time job and settled into writing my next three books. Each time thinking that I might ‘fall off’ but thankfully that’s not been the case. You know, the real reason for me writing them is to share the fun of the road. I wrote about that in the Prologue for Into Africa http://www.sam-manicom.com/into-africa/prologue/

Sam’s books – Into Africa, Under Asian Skies, Distant Suns and Tortillas to Totems, are available as paperbacks and in e-book format, with Into Africa and Under Asian Skies now available as audio books from Audible and i-tunes. Distant Suns is due to be released as an audio book in the spring of 2016. The paperbacks are available with free worldwide delivery from The Book Depository. If you’d like a signed copy, order direct from Sam via his website www.sam-manicom.com where you’ll also find interviews with Sam and more background information.

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Sam, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and for sending a copy of this great interview!  I’m really looking forward to receiving your books!

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The ultimate adventure ride…our planning continues!

Planning for our epic western US adventure ride continues.   Baja John, my good buddy who is helping us plan this motorcycle trip, is a retired US Air Force officer, test engineer, and RX3 rider.   John’s talents are ideal for planning a big trip like this.

It's tentative...and this is the general outline for now...wow, this is going to be great!

It’s tentative…and this is the general outline for now…wow, this is going to be great!

We’re refining where we’ll stay each night, and we may make some minor revisions to what you see above, but we’re pretty close to finalizing the itinerary now.   Wow, this is shaping up nicely!

We’ll depart each morning at 7:30 a.m.  Sharp.   Maybe even earlier, but not any later.  There are several reasons for this:

  • We want to stay on our schedule, and I’ve found in doing these kinds of things in the past, if you’re not adamant about leaving on time, you don’t leave on time.
  • We will be spending roughly 6 or 7 hours in the saddle each day.   It’s hot out here, folks, and we want to do as much of our riding in the morning as we can while it is cooler.
  • We want to see the sights along the way.  We’ve built time into the schedule to do that.

We’ll be taking a short break approximately every hour.   That means a stop, a stretch, drinking some water, telling a joke or two, and a rest room break.   Plus, I need to grab photos for the blog!  I found on the Baja trip I got the best photos when we were relaxing on our breaks, and I aim to do the same thing again.

We’ll make reservations for our hotels in advance of our arrival.   We’ll have all that scoped out in advance, so it will be a stress free ride.

As I said above, we’re finalizing the cities where we’ll be staying and the daily mileage now.   We’ll post that shortly.  But in the meantime, these are the sights we’re going to see:

  • The Grand Canyon (majestic is not a strong enough adjective)
  • Zion National Park (it’s awesome)
  • Bryce Canyon National Park (it’s awesome, too)
  • Mt. Rushmore (my all time favorite national park, with magnificent riding through the Black Hills)
  • Devil’s Tower (remember Close Encounters of the Third Kind?)
  • Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (I’ve never been there; it will be a first for me)
  • Yellowstone (when we say Ol’ Faithful, this is where it comes from)
  • The Columbia River Gorge and the Columbia River (including crossing over on the Bridge of the Gods; folks, this is magnificent country!)
  • Portland, Oregon (one of my all time favorite cities; it’s right up there with Chongqing!  We’ll grab dinner and a beer in Kelly’s Olympian, a bar with really cool antique motorcycles on display!)
  • Tillamook, Oregon (hope you guys like cheese!)
  • The Oregon Coast Highway (it’s even better than the PCH)
  • Redwood National Park (a magnificent place…those trees are incredible, and if we’re lucky, we might spot a Sasquatch or two and maybe even some elk)
  • San Francisco (we’ll ride across the Golden Gate Bridge!)
  • Yosemite (Ansel Adams’ old stomping grounds)
  • Monterey Bay (it’s going to be great riding down Highway 1 through this area)
  • The Pacific Coast Highway (this is Highway 1, and it is incredible)
  • Hearst Castle (an American treasure)

…and much, much more.  While you’re pondering all of the above, allow me to show off a bit with photos I’ve grabbed in some of these places!

The Grand Canyon...majestic just doesn't begin to describe it!

The Grand Canyon…majestic just doesn’t begin to describe it!

The Oregon Coast, just south of Tillamook

The Oregon Coast, just south of Tillamook

One of many statues at Hearst Castle in Cambria, California

One of many statues at Hearst Castle in Cambria, California

The California Redwoods, with my old WRX thrown in to provide a sense of scale

The California Redwoods, with my old WRX thrown in to provide a sense of scale

Yosemite...we are going to find a way to work that into the schedule, too!

Yosemite…we are going to find a way to work it into the schedule, too!

Zion National Park...the colors really are this vibrant!

Zion National Park…the colors really are this vibrant!

The response to our ride announcement and to our email has been overwhelming.   I greatly appreciate all of your comments and I will do my best to try to answer each email.  Please keep your comments and suggestions coming!

We’ll have some real motorcycle royalty riding with us, too, folks.  In addition to you (our loyal CSC riders) and our good buddies from Chongqing, we’ll have at least two US motojournalists riding with us on different parts of the ride.   And here’s an interesting development that just happened today…as you may know, the RX3 is popular in Colombia, where it is imported by AKT.   Well, it seems that our good friends from AKT want to send a few people to ride along with us on this epic adventure to see how it’s done.   I told the Colombians that is absolutely no problemo, as long as they invite me to Colombia when they do their ride.   I’ve been to Cartegena, and I want to go back!

Cartegena, Colombia...I was there a few years ago and I want to return!

Cartegena, Colombia…a photo from when I was there a few years ago…I want to return!

As you have no doubt surmised, we are not a typical motorcycle company, and we are not just interested in selling you a motorcycle.   We want you to be part of the adventure riding fraternity.   Baja was the first CSC adventure ride, this is the next big one, and we’ll have many, many more.

It’s going to be fun.

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Three more maintenance tips…

There are three more maintenance tips I’d like to share with you about the RX3.

Air Filter Oiling

DSC_0826_0099-250The first maintenance tip involves the air filter.   When we set up a bike here in California, we oil the air filter.

Okay, here comes the commercial:  We sell the oil to do this (we use Fab 1 oil; see the photo to the right).  You can give us a call at 909 445 0900 and my good buddy Ryan will take care of you.

The RX3 air filter is designed to be oiled to do a better job in filtering dust, and the oil actually changes the amount of air that flows through the bike.   Here’s the deal…we’ve found that if the air filter is oiled, the bike actually runs better.  It will idle more smoothly and be less prone to stalling.

Crankcase Vent Line

You’ve noticed that there’s a vent line that runs from down the left side of the engine.

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This line accumulates both oil and water (in fact, the sometimes milky appearance of the oil in this line is due to the presence of water).

  • The oil comes from the crankcase.  It’s an overflow and vent line.   You’ll see more of this when the engine is new.    If you overfill the oil, this is where the excess will go once the engine starts operating.   But even if you don’t overfill the engine, when the crankcase vents, the gases flow out of the crank through this line.   The black plastic piece at the top of the line is a separator valve; it sends the oil south into the clear plastic line below, and it sends crankcase fumes to the air box (to be ingested through the engine).
  • The water comes from condensation as the hot oil/air from the crankcase is vented.   It’s not coolant, despite what the keyboard commandos on some of the forums have stated (ah, if only ignorance was money…these guys would be wealthy).

As I said above, this line will fill more often when the bike is new.   When it fills, just open the plug on the bottom and drain the line.  It’s normal performance (nothing to worry about).

Valve Adjustments

The recommended RX3 valve gap inspections are at 500 miles and every 2500 miles thereafter.   We’ll probably increase the interval after we gain more experience with these motorcycles, but for now, that’s what we and the engine manufacturer recommend.  The first valve adjustment (which should be at 500 miles) is important; the valve gap will most likely experience its greatest change when the engine is new.   And the gap will always decrease as the engine wears; it does not increase with normal engine wear.

You should check your valves and adjust them if necessary at the specified intervals.   The factory specifies 0.04mm to 0.06mm.  I always hug the upper end of that specification (i.e., 0.06mm).

I know it seems a little intimidating the first time you check your valves, but trust me on this:  It’s not that bad and after you’ve done it, you’ll feel pretty good about doing it.  And, your bike will run better.  It will take an hour or so of your time the first time you do it, and then it will go a lot faster for each subsequent adjustment.    Here’s a link to our valve adjustment tutorial.

When I was in China last week I mentioned to the engineers that my bike very occasionally stalled when I rolled to a stop and cut the throttle.   The Zongshen EFI engineer told me that the first thing he would check is the valve gap, and in particular, the exhaust valve gap.  If it’s too tight, he said, it could result in occasional stalling when closing the throttle.  I thought about that a second, and then I realized that after adjusting my valves, I had not experienced a single stall.   If the valves are out of adjustment, it can also result in hard starting.   There are lots of reasons for keeping your valves properly adjusted.

That’s it for now, folks.   Watch for more info on our upcoming epic western US ride with the folks from Zongshen (and hopefully, you) and a near-term blog on installing the aluminum Tourfella bags.

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An update: Checking your oil level…

We’ve had a couple of calls from folks who observed that their oil level has “increased” in the oil viewing port.  Their concern was:  Why does this happen?

When I was in Chongqing last week I asked the Zongshen engineers why this occurs, and they had the answer.   Even though you only add oil through one port, the RX3 engine actually has two connected oil reservoir areas (one for the engine crankcase and one for the transmission).   There are two oil pumps (one pumps from the crankcase to the transmission, and the other pumps from the transmission to the crankcase).

LubeSystem

These two oil pumps operate at different rates, and because of that, the oil level (as observed in the oil view port on the right side of the motorcycle) will vary, even after the engine is shut off.   It’s all a question of where the oil level near the view port happens to be at the time you observe it and where it was when the engine ignition is shut off.

The Zongshen engineers told me that the appropriate way to check the engine oil level is as follows:

  • Allow the engine to come up to operating temperature.
  • Close the throttle and allow the engine to operate at idle for one minute.
  • Close the ignition and wait for one minute.
  • Hold the motorcycle in the vertical position (i.e., off the sidestand) and observe the engine oil level in the viewport.   If the engine has the right amount of oil, the level will be between the upper and lower scribe lines, as shown in the photo below.

140701_4721-650

That’s it, folks, straight from the guys who designed the RX3 engine!

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Offset cranks…

No, I’m not talking about grumpy old men (like yours truly) who haven’t had their first cup of coffee in the morning.    I’m enjoying my first cup of the morning at the Subaru dealer, and I’m waiting for the good guys here to complete some routine maintenance on my Subie (an oil change, a tire rotation, and a brake system flush).

When I arrived at the Subie place this morning, I noticed a super cool CrossTrek parked out front in a vibrant yellow color (it’s the first one of those I’ve seen).   I’ve got the Nikon and its super wide 16-35 lens with me, so I’ll probably snag a photo for you at the end of this blog.

But I digress…what I wanted to chat about this morning was that Z-1 I rode in Chongqing.  That motorcycle impressed me mightily.

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I spoke at length with the Zongshen engineers about it, and my good friend Fan explained to me that the engine incorporated many advanced features (that’s Fan in the photo below, along with Bella).

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The engine has swirl technology, roller rocker arms, and many other features I’ve seen in other engines for decades, but I could feel there was something more to this new motor.   What I didn’t tumble to during Fan’s explanation was why the engine felt so powerful.   It was way more than I expected from what appeared to be yet another Honda CG-150 clone.   Then Fan got to the bottom line…the new engine’s offset crank.   Here’s a picture from their literature that explains it better than I ever could…

OffsetCrank

The concept is brilliant…it uses better leverage when the piston has its greatest output (achieved by a 4mm crankshaft offset), which increases both torque and smoothness.   I’m guessing the concept has been around for awhile, but it was the first I’d heard of it, and folks, it works.  The thing had the bottom end torque of a much larger engine, and it was unnaturally smooth.

The challenge for us, of course, is this:  Does it make business sense to invest another $50K to $75K to take the Z-1 through the CARB, EPA, and DOT certification process, particularly in light of the fact that this is “only” a 150cc motorcycle?   As business people, we have to be cognizant of the fact that American riders are enamored with big displacement motors.   Still, this is a motorcycle that is mighty appealing, and if we decide to bite the bullet and make that investment, I know who CSC’s first Z-1 buyer will be.  I’ll take mine in that saucy red-and-white color, thank you very much, just like you see in the photo above!

Oh, one more thing…I did manage to sneak outside and grab a photo of that bright yellow CrossTrek…

140701_4707-YellowSubie

Let us know your thinking on the Z-1, folks.  You can write to us at info@CSCMotorcycles.com.   We’d love hear from you.

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