Pavement? We don’t need no stinkin’ pavement!

Our good buddy Pete, one of 15 real adventure riders who made the CSC Baja Run with us last week, returned to the plant yesterday for a visit before heading back to the East Coast.

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Pete is a great guy and I sure enjoyed his company on the Inaugural Baja Run.   Everybody was great.   We had an awesome time in Mexico.

Several of us made the optional “on the dirt” trek out to see the cave paintings in San Francisco Sierra….an awesome place, to be sure, with artwork dating back more than 10,000 years!

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We were gingerly picking our way between the rocks and the ruts, trying not to look over the side at the sheer drop on the left, when I thought to myself I was sure glad no one was coming the other way.   There’s just no way we’d be able to get by if a car was coming.   That’s when I noticed it.    A dump truck the size of Texas.   Coming right at us!

I have to tell you, my heart skipped a beat or two when I saw that truck approaching from the opposite direction.    We all got over to the far right edge of the goat trail we were riding (no kidding, there were actually goats up there), and I remember thinking that I wished I had some video of this.   No problem; our good buddy Pete had his Go Pro running…

Good times…and Pete, thanks for a job well done!

Pete let me copy all of his videos.   Stay tuned for more in the coming days!

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Accessory Outlets Installation…

This maintenance tutorial focuses on installing our instrument cluster-mounted accessories outlet kit.   The instrument cluster-mounted accessories kit includes a 12V cigarette-lighter-type receptable and a 5V USB receptacle.   It’s a neat setup, and it allows you to convert your bike’s dash to something looking like a NORAD control room, as you see on our good buddy and intrepid explorer Pete’s RX3 cockpit…

The accessories installation kit consists of six components, as you see below…the green resistor, the two instrument cluster wings, the 12V accessory port, the 5V accessory port cover, and the 5V accessory port.

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The first step is to insert the 5V USB accessory port into the right instrument cluster wing, as you see below.   It will snap into place.

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After you’ve done that, install the USB harness.  The plug is indexed (so it will only insert one way).   Make sure it is fully seated.

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Let’s now assemble the left side.   You’ll see a big knurled nut on the back of the accessory outlet.   Unscrew it fully and remove it.

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Install the accessory outlet into the left instrument cluster wing.   Note that the outlet has an indexing key on it, which will align with a corresponding slot in the instrument cluster wing.

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Reinstall the large knurled nut and fully thread it on to the connector port.

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At this point, both dash wings will be assembled as you see in the photo below.

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The next step is to remove the headlight nacelle.   Remove the two Allen screws securing the headlight nacelle.   There’s one on either side of the headlight nacelle.

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Move the headlight nacelle to one side, as you see below.

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This next photo shows the instrument cluster from the bottom side.   Note the three nuts securing the instrument cluster.

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Remove the three nuts securing the instrument cluster.

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Once you’ve removed the three nuts shown above, the instrument cluster can be pulled away from its mounts.

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You don’t need to remove the windshield (or even loosen it) to install the accessory outlets.  Reach under the windshield with an Allen wrench to remove the instrument cluster wing lower Allen bolt.

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Then remove the Phillips-head screw from the upper instrument cluster wing mount.  Once you’ve done this, you can remove the instrument cluster wing.

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Take the new instrument cluster wing with the 12V accessory port and attach it to the instrument cluster where the old instrument cluster wing was removed.

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Repeat the process on the other side of the instrument cluster to install the USB accessory port and its instrument cluster wing.

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After installing the new instrument cluster wings with their accessory ports, note the connector plugs just forward of the instrument cluster.  These are on every CSC RX3 motorcycle.   We included the upgraded main wiring harness with these connector plugs on all of our motorcycles.

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Connect the plugs from the harnesses on your new accessories outlets to these connectors, as shown below.

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After you’ve done the above, reinstall the three nuts securing the instrument cluster to its mounting points, and reinstall the headlight.

Remove the rear sight, the front seat, and the tray covering the electrical components beneath the rear seat.

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After you’ve done the above, you will see a large white connector plug just inside the motorcycle’s right rear body panel.   This is also included with every CSC RX3 motorcycle.

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Insert the green electrical resistor (shown on the left of the photo below) into the white connector.

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It should look like this.

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After you have connected the resistor to the connector plug, insert the resistor’s rubber frame over the frame tab on the right rear subframe, as shown below.

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And folks, that’s it!   Reinstall the tray covering the electrical components, the front seat, and the rear seat, and let’s ride!

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Two more happy campers

The RX3’s are flying out of here, folks…here are two recent photos of riders taking delivery of their new motorcycles.

This is Deon from Port Hueneme…

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And here’s a shot of Greg from the Bay area….

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Good times, guys.   Ride safe and send us photos of your adventures!

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Lancaster bound…

The boys just finished this tasty CSC 150 for Karl and it’s bound for Lancaster, Pennsylvania…

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There are quite a few custom touches on this motorcycle, not the least of which are the bobber fender treatment, the custom point, the gangster whitewalls, and the billet wheels with custom blacked out rims.   It’s a stunning motorcycle.

I was based at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania a long time ago (it’s not too far from Lancaster), and there’s some nice riding in that part of the world.   Karl, you’re going to have a lot of fun!

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Overland Expo…

It’s next week, folks…and it’s in Flagstaff, Arizona.   Here’s a link to this great event…

http://www.overlandexpo.com/

Want to ride there with us?    I’ll be leaving the CSC plant in Azusa at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday with a few other RX3 riders and an editor from one of the best moto mags on the planet!   We’ll take a couple of relaxed, mostly non-freeway days to get there, and I’ll be riding back on Sunday.   If you’re on an RX3, you’re invited to ride with us!

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While we’re at the Overland Expo, I’ll be leading rides to some of the more interesting spots in Arizona, and I’m giving a presentation on the RX3 Friday morning…

The CSC RX3 Motorcycle: A 250cc real world adventure tourer

This presentation will cover the RX3’s development history, features, and highlights completed long distance rides–including Chongqing-to-Istanbul and the grand loop through China and Tibet–as well as the Three Flags, Baja, and other rides CSC is planning for its riders. CSC will address why it believes a 250cc motorcycle is the ideal size for real world adventure touring. With online service tutorials, CSC outlines the ease with which the RX3 can be maintained. Finally, perceptions of Chinese motorcycle quality will be addressed directly; CSC’s Joe Berk (who teaches in Cal Poly’s Manufacturing Engineering department and consults with manufacturers internationally on quality and manufacturing issues) will outline Zongshen’s production operations and quality management approach.   

I hope you can join us.   I’m eager to get back in the saddle after the Baja run and put more miles on my RX3!

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Oil Capacity

_DSC0050-650As shown on our oil change and setup maintenance tutorials, the RX3 has a 55.4 ounce oil capacity (that’s 1.7 quarts).   That’s if you remove the filter and the oil strainers, and drain all of the oil from the bike.   If you add 1.7 quarts of oil to the bike without first opening the oil filter and oil strainers to allow all of the oil to drain from the motorcycle, you’ll overfill the crankcase.

Our advice when setting up a new motorcycle is to drain all of the oil that ships with the bike.  Open the drain plug, the oil strainer caps, and the oil filter port to allow the oil in all areas of the engine to drain.   Hold the bike upright (off the centerstand) to get all of the oil out.  After you have done this, reinstall the filter, clean the strainers, reinstall the strainer caps, reinstall the oil filter cover, and reinstall the drain plug.   Now you can add 1.7 quarts of oil to your crankcase.

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A note from MacGuyver…

Actually, that would be our good buddy Justin…

Just read the latest blog post. I am missing Baja too. I got stopped 30 mi south of Bend, OR last night by a snowstorm. It’s 28 degrees outside right now, and this is my view out the window of the hotel.

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Based on what I saw in Baja, Justin, it would not surprise me at all if you found a way to make an impromptu space heater out of bits and pieces you found in your saddlebags with maybe a piece or two you found lying by the side of the road!

Stay warm, MacGuyver, ride safe, and let us know when you get home!

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5 days and 1700 miles in 2 minutes, 39 seconds!

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More good stuff from Baja…

Home.   Back from Baja.   Already dreaming about the next trip south.   But I can’t daydream for too long…we’re headed out to the Overland Expo near Flagstaff next week.   Oh, and something we mentioned once before…if anybody wants to buy an RX3 in the Flagstaff area, we’ll add it on the truck and not charge you for shipping (but you have to act quickly; we can only fit a few on our vehicle).

I’m already missing my new Baja buddies, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.   Our group of 15 intrepid souls clicked….I already knew my old riding buddy John, and I made 13 new friends on this expedition.   Tiffany choked up a bit after she crossed the border, said her goodbyes, and turned east (check out her blog).   And Reuben wrote about the camaraderie on his blog.   I feel the same way.

My new good buddy Greg B compiled a fuel economy log during the trip and captured data for most of the bikes….he gave me the log when we split up and I want to share it with you here…

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The last column (the one with the arrows) is the relevant one.   It’s the mileage over most of the trip, and it ranges from 59.1 up to 66.6.    I’d expect that kind of variation based on our riders’ different riding styles, how heavily they loaded their bikes, and maybe some small variability between bikes.   The bikes will attain around 70 mpg under ideal conditions, but throw in all the stuff you need for 5 days in Baja, traffic, mountains, off-road activities, and more, and…well, you’ll see what you see above.   Greg, thanks very much for assembling this data for us.

Four of our guys (Abe, Greg, Pete, and Juddy) liked Baja so much that they peeled off on Day 5 and headed into the hills (literally) for an expedition to Mike’s Sky Ranch.   That’s a legendary Baja motorcycle place that is, uh, how should I say this….relatively inaccessible.   It’s gnarly goat trails all the way.  But that didn’t slow our boys down, and from what I hear, it didn’t slow the RX3s down, either.

Abe grabbed photos for us when the boys were threading their way through the northern Baja mountains, and I’ll share a few of them with you…

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Good times, folks!   I can’t wait to do it again!

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The CSC Baja Inaugural Run – Day 5

What a week this was…15 riders, 15 brand new motorcycles, and a 1700-mile adventure ride.   Wowee.   Do the math…that’s 25,500 miles in 5 days on Chinese motorcycles that are new to America.  Folks, the RX3 and our band of intrepid Baja blasters are awesome!

First, a look at 15 real adventure riders…our 2015 Baja Blasters!   From left to right and then row by row…my traveling compadres on our epic CSC Inaugural Baja Run….Eric, Greg B, Juddy, Keith, John S, Justin, Pete, John W, Abe, Reuben, Tiffany, Greg M, Jay, John F, and yours truly.   It was a blast!

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The folks you see above are real riders and they were enormous fun to be around.   These guys (and one gal) thought the idea of buying a new Chinese motorcycle and blasting through Baja for 5 days would be a good thing.   They are my kind of people.

To be sure, the last couple of days sure were challenging.   As you know from following the blog, Justin’s bike lost its countershaft sprocket nut.   You already read about Justin’s ingenuity in resolving the lost nut…the guy is flat amazing.  A regular MacGuyver.

Let me tell you more about that story.   We thought we’d be able to find a replacement countershaft sprocket nut in Guerrero Negro because there’s a motorcycle/ATV repair facility there.   We sent the rest of our group on to San Quintin under Baja John’s capable scouting and leadership, and five of us hung back in Guerrero Negro for what we thought would be about a 30-minute delay to find a countershaft sprocket nut for Justin.   Boy, were we ever wrong.

Abe and Pete rode off from Malarrimo’s to find the motorcycle repair shop, and Pete, Justin, and I went to an automobile repair facility.   No dice at the auto shop; those guys work on cars and Baja race trucks.   And Abe and Pete struck out at the motorcycle shop.   The guy who owned the shop had died a few days ago.   I know it’s cruel, but my initial thought was, gee, if only the guy could have held on for a few more days…

There’s a small airport outside of Guerrero Negro, and airports usually have hardware, so Abe and Pete left for it.   Juddy and I rolled up the town’s main drag and we found a very small auto parts place.   When I say it was an auto parts place, don’t get the idea that I’m talking about something like a Pep Boys or an AutoZone.   This was a tiny building that looked like the Mexican version of the old TV show Sanford and Son.   It was full of rusty parts, junk lying around, and a main character (the shop’s owner) right out of central casting.   I explained what we wanted and I thought I was doing a pretty job until I realized that my new best friend Santiago spoke no English.

Hey, no problemo…he brought out a large coffee can and emptied it on the grease-encrusted floor, picking through corroded nuts and bolts.    No luck.   No problemo, said Santiago.   He took us outside and showed us a ratted out old ATV.  It was under a disintegrating tarp.   The thing looked old enough (and corroded enough) for Moses to have ridden it across the Red Sea.  Santiago pulled the tarp back, and smiled as he pointed out the countershaft nut.  The heavily-corroded countershaft nut.

We tried for half an hour to get the nut off that old ATV, using a socket wrench and a cheater bar that probably could have reached all the way back to the US border.   And it was hot out.  And humid.   That nut wasn’t budging.

Do you remember the scene in Animal House when D-Day fires up a blow torch?   You know, after the guys wreck Flounder’s Lincoln?  It’s the scene where the torch casts this weird glow on D-Day’s face, and he gets a wicked grin that says “all is well with the world now that I have my torch lit.”   Folks, picture Santiago doing the same.   He put the heat on that countershaft sprocket nut, all the old grease (and most of the crankcase paint) vaporized instantly, and Santiago got the nut to break loose!  He poured water on it, unscrewed it, and….and…wrong thread size.   Too coarse.  Rats!

Just then, Abe and Pete rolled in on their RX3 motorcycles.   They found a castellated nut at the airport that looked right, and it had the fine thread we thought we wanted.   Our spirits rose again, only to sink when the thread still wouldn’t allow the new nut to fit on Justin’s bike.  Major league bummer.   It’s already close to noon, it’s hot and humid, and I’m wondering if maybe I ought to start looking into real estate in Guerrero Negro.   Maybe I could give up writing the blog and sell fish tacos…

Abe, who is cool as a cucumber, said not to worry.   Abe is unflappable.   He said that the guy at the airport has a friend at the salt factory who has a machine shop, and he could make us a new nut.

Folks, I can’t make stuff like this up.  So we all saddled up and rode to the edge of town, where we pulled into the salt factory parking lot.  Abe went up to the gate, talked to a guy there, and in a few minutes this friend-of-a-friend-who-works-at-the-salt-factory-and-has-a-machine-shop walked out of the plant, looked at Justin’s bike, took a few measurements, and…you guessed it…he told us no problemo.  But he had to go to lunch first.  He’d make us a nut when he came back.

Wow.   Juddy and Abe rode back up the road to get us some fish tacos from Tony (everybody loved those, as you saw from our Day 2 Baja blog), and Justin, Pete, and I hung out in the parking lot in front of the salt factory.   Lots of people were interested in our RX3s.   I had brochures in my saddlebags.     I was doing my full tilt sales boogie (you know, what do you need your monthly payment to be?), all the while wondering how these guys (Pete, Justin, Abe, and Juddy) are staying so relaxed about this countershaft nut business.  I felt depressed, embarrassed, and guilty, and that’s when it struck me.   Justin said “it’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.”   Well, folks, if that’s the criteria, we were having one hell of an adventure.   My embarrassment and guilt aside, these guys were loving it.  They were amazing.

While all this was going on, the guys were busy snapping photos.  I didn’t photograph any of this stuff.   I felt responsible for it, and I didn’t want to take pictures of all that ensued after the countershaft sprocket nut went AWOL.   The guys were loving it, though.   Maybe I’ll get some of their photos later.

The friend-of-a-friend Mexican machinist came back from lunch, he measured the shaft again (always a good sign…there’s an old saying in the machine shop business that goes “measure twice, cut once”) and he disappeared into the factory.   I wondered if he tells his wife when he goes to work each morning that he’ll be spending another day in the salt mines.

An hour later, and oila, we have our new countershaft sprocket nut.  It was a thing of incredible beauty.   If Justin ever rides into a nuclear conflagration and his RX3 takes a direct hit from a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, that nut will still be hanging on to the countershaft sprocket.   My feelings soared.   I went from being depressed to being jubilant.   Let’s ride!

And ride we did.  We left Guerrero Negro around 2:00 p.m. and pinned it all the way up to San Quintin.   Gas in Catavina, gas again in El Rosario, and then the turn on the dirt road to the Old Mill Hotel.   Four miles of dirt road.   In the dark.    30 miles an hour on hard pack, and then pow!, we hit the soft sand.   By the grace of God, I didn’t crash.   It wasn’t due to any great riding skills on my part.  I’m convinced I had a lot of help from the Almighty.   My bike was sashaying around like an exotic dancer in a room full of heavy tippers, except I was most definitely not enjoying this show.   I was the star, and I didn’t know how the movie was going to end.   We went through about a mile of this stuff.  It seemed like it went on forever.  I was sure I was going to drop the bike.

Finally, we pulled into the Old Mill Hotel’s gravel parking lot.   Baja John came over and said he sure was glad to see us.   Me, too, dude!   I asked if everybody got in okay and if there had been any problems with the bikes.   No problems with the bikes, said John, and everybody got in okay.   That’s good, I said…I was really worried about the soft sand we had just ridden through and I didn’t want to even think about anybody dropping their bikes.

“So everybody got through it okay?” I asked again.

“Sort of,”  John said.   “Four guys dropped their bikes.  One guy has a sprained ankle.   We thought he broke it, but it’s just sprained.”

Whoa!   Four dropped bikes.   One sprained ankle.   Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Another emotional roller coaster.   I felt terrible that this happened.

John told me everybody was over at the restaurant, and they had the fight on big screen TV.    I didn’t even know there was going to be a fight, and I was a little bit afraid to face the guys (especially the ones who dropped their bikes).    But I was hungry.

The restaurant was jumping, and we had to wait to get a table.  Folks, we’re 4 miles out on this sandy dirt road, and the place was packed.

I found our guys and they were having a blast (along with a few beers).   The guys who had dropped their bikes were grinning ear to ear.   They were excited to see us (we were 8 hours late getting into San Quintin due to the nut debacle in Guerrero Negro, and they had been worried about us).  The restaurant had this marine motif (we were, after all, right on Bahia San Quintin).    To my amazement, the guys were telling war stories about losing it in the soft stuff and dropping their bikes.   They were enjoying it.   I looked around.   I listened.   It was amazing.

Do you remember the scene in Jaws when Captain Quint (played by Robert Shaw), Chief Brody (played by Roy Scheider), and Richard Dreyfuss are comparing scars?   You know, they’re in this fishing boat, bobbing around on the ocean, drinking, and they’re comparing war wounds?   I looked around and listened to the riding and dropped bike stories in this marine-themed restaurant.   I suddenly realized:  I was in that scene in Jaws.   I was living it.   It was yet another awesome moment in what was turning out to be a truly great adventure ride.   Everyone was in high spirits.

Okay, enough of me babbling….a few more photos from our epic ride and we’ll call it a day.

I was up super early the next morning (Day 5 of the Baja ride) and I grabbed a few shots in the hotel parking lot…

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Then I strolled over to the dock and I grabbed a few more photos…like I said…a scene from Jaws.

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And a few shots from the road…

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You know, when you launch on an adventure like this, crashing around in Baja for a combined 25,500 miles over 5 days, things happen. On any new motorcycle (or on any not-so-new motorcycle, for that matter), bolts and nuts are going to loosen.  Sometimes things will break.  These are pretty extreme riding conditions.   It’s always a question for folks like us to ponder….do we do these kinds of rides and talk about the difficulties we’ve encountered?   Or do we do like the other guys do, sell motorcycles through dealers with high prices, inflated shipping costs, $800 setup fees, and not share the things we’re finding?   If we tell people about a problem, won’t that scare people away?   It might, but we are going to continue doing these rides and we are going to continue talking about it.   We’re not the other guys.

Folks, this is life, this is adventure riding, and things happen.   When I read some of the silly things people have written on the Internet (none of the folks on this ride, mind you), I shake my head and wonder.   The seat is too hard (ride a motorcycle for hours on end and guess what…you’re going to get a sore butt).   When you change the oil you’ll spill some of it on the skid plate (we have an app for that…it’s called the shop rag).  You get the idea.  Don’t get me wrong…we’re doing things to make the RX3 a better motorcycle and we will continue to do so.   But if a bolt or a nut vibrating loose puts you in low Earth orbit, perhaps you would be happier with a Prius.

And folks, that’s about it for our Inaugural Baja ride.   I know you’re wondering…are we going to do this again?

You tell me…anybody want to buzz Baja next year?

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