CSC Blog

I love Death Valley.   It’s surreal, dramatic, stark, and beautiful.  I knew from the outset of our ride it was a “must see” location and it was a great way to finish a great ride.   If you’ve never made the trek to Death Valley, you need to.  It’s magnificent.

We had an easy (but cold) run south from Tonopah to Beatty, but by the time we made Beatty it was already heating up.  We stopped as soon as we entered Death Valley to “delayer” the heated vests, the motorcycle pants, the extra sweatshirts, and all of the heavy-duty-keep-the-cold-out clothing we had put on earlier in Tonopah. It was quite a day…from a little above freezing in Tonopah to about 95 degrees in Death Valley.   Death Valley is the hottest place on the planet.

Willie, Dan, and Gary at our first stop in Death Valley.

The scenery in Death Valley is beyond stunning.   We picked a good time to visit.   It was not too hot (it has reached over 130 degrees there) and we saw several other riders doing the same thing we were doing…taking in the views and enjoying one of the most unique places on the planet.

The wave…saying “hi” to others having a great ride, just like us.

I had initially planned to make just two stops in Death Valley (Artist’s Palette and Badwater), but Dan suggested we include Zabriskie Point and Dante’s Peak.   I’m sure glad he said that.  I’ve been to Death Valley several times but I had never stopped at either of the places Dan suggested.   They were great suggestions, and they were the high points of the ride for me.  Both spots are awesome.

My RX3 at Dante’s Peak. I’ve got a little over 16,000 miles on my 250 now. It’s a fabulous bike.

Death Valley, as seen from Dante’s Peak. It’s beautiful!

With my friends at Dante’s Peak. From left to right, it’s Gary, Willie, Orlando, Rob, Velma, Dan, and Leighton.

The bikes…Orlando’s, Rob’s, and Gary’s.

Leighton suggested buying sandwiches in Beatty and eating them in the Park. It was a great idea. Here’s Leighton enjoying lunch while taking in a great view of Death Valley.

Dan, Leighton, and Willie.

I’ve mentioned earlier that Orlando and Velma rode two up on our ride.  Orlando and Vilma own several Harleys and now, an RX3.   They love the RX3 and had no problem keeping up with the group.  Surprisingly, their RX3 returned the same fuel economy as the other bikes.

Orlando and Vilma two-up on the RX3.

After our stop at Dante’s Peak, we were off to Zabriskie Point.   The scenes from the road and the riding were great.

On the road…

At a roadside photo stop.

Dan the Man leading the pack.

Dan previously rode with us on two of the Baja rides.  I joke around with Dan a lot, telling him that he’s our male model…

A very photogenic guy…

Zabriskie Point was another amazing spot.   It involved a short hike up a nearly-vertical hill, but the scenes were worth the trek up.

Wille, Rob, and Orlando at Zabriskie Point as seen through the Rokinon 8mm lens.

A wide-angle shot from Zabriskie Point.

After visiting Zabriskie Point, we were off to Artist’s Palette.

Our favorite two-up couple in Death Valley.

On the road again…

Yep, we were headed down…

Here’s a cool shot of two of the fastest RX3s at Artist’s Palette. The hills have different mineral contents, which makes the area look like, well, an artist’s palette…

This is one of my favorite photos from this trip.

The crew at Artist’s Palette.

I was wearing my Nikon around my neck.  I like getting these kinds of “from the saddle” photos.  This one is on the way out of Artist’s Palette.

A stunning ride on a stunning bike.

Badwater was only a few miles further down the road from Artist’s Palette.   Check this out…

Yep, we were well below sea level!

The view at Badwater in Death Valley.

My obligatory selfie…

We rode south out of Death Valley at the end of our day to spend the night in Shoshone, and it was grand.  The ride was desolate and beautiful, and the Shoshone Inn was fun.  They had an outdoor fireplace in the courtyard, and we all sat around it telling stories and jokes.  This was our last night on the road, and it was a great way to wrap up a great trip.  We walked across the street to the only restaurant in town, and it, too, was great.

A great evening in Shoshone, California.

A super dinner. The smiles are real, folks. Hey, come ride with us on the next one!

Folks, that about wraps it up.  We had breakfast the following morning at the Mad Greek in Baker, California, and then rode the last hundred miles back to the CSC plant.  The ride overall was about 1600 miles and we didn’t have a lick of trouble with any of the bikes.

I sure love doing these rides.  There’s going to be a story about this one in Motorcycle.com (that’s one of the reasons Joe Gresh rode with us), so keep an eye on that great publication.  You might think about joining us on the next CSC adventure ride.  All you need is a CSC motorcycle and you can be part of the fun.  Like we always say…come ride with us!

Another day, another great ride!  Wow, what a time we are having on this Destinations Deal Tour!

CSC motorcycles on the ET Highway!

We rolled out of Hurricane after our hotel breakfast, and it sure was cold (the ride, not the breakfast).   The wind was still howling away, but once we were out of Hurricane old Mother Nature stopped blowing and she turned her attention to just being cold.  You know, some of the greatest inventions ever created include the electric light, compound interest, the automobile, the motorcycle, and the electric vest.   I was nice and toasty riding in that cold mountain air as we rolled 77 miles down Interstate 15.  We rode out of Utah into Arizona, and then on to Moapa in Nevada.  Our destination today was the ExtraTerrestrial Highway (Nevada 375) and Tonopah.  It was a high mileage day, with long distances between gas stops.

Everyone was in high spirits today and we had a stellar ride across the Nevada desert.  Well, hey, enough jabbering…let’s get to the photos!

Orlando and Velma at the southern end of the ExtraTerrestrial Highway!

Joe Gresh grabbing a cell phone photo!

Another shot of a famous guy in front of a famous sign…does it look like this man is  having fun?

We rode the ET Highway for 40 miles to Rachel, home of the world famous A’Le’Inn, where we stopped for more photos and lunch…

At the A’Le’Inn!

An ET selfie…

Rob, Joe, and Willie trying to catch a ride to Area 51…

Joe’s ride…

Rob makes a new friend!

The ceiling in the A’Le’Inn.

ETs. Lots of ETs…

The ride today was really fun.   We were worried about making it the 160 miles from Ash Springs to Tonopah, so we slowed the pace to 50-55 mph to maximize our fuel economy.  We had been riding at freeway speeds and pushing the bikes pretty hard, so the laid-back pace was a welcome relief (several of the guys said they liked the slower pace a lot better).

The view along the ET Highway!

I was really surprised at how little fuel my bike was using.  Normally, the first bar on the fuel gage will drop off somewhere between 80 and 85 miles for me.  On today’s ride, I rode 114.6 miles before that happened.

Tomorrow we’re headed into Death Valley.  This is a great ride, folks.  We are having a blast.

The CSC Destinations Deal team in Zion National Park!

Today was another grand day, starting with our early morning ride across Grand Canyon National Park on Highway 64.  Joe wanted to stop to see the watch tower at the extreme eastern edge of the park, that’s what we did, and that was a good thing.

The Grand Canyon’s watch tower!

We had dramatic views in the frigid morning air of the Grand Canyon on our left, and when we stopped at the watch tower we had our best views yet of the canyon.

The Grand Canyon, from the eastern edge of the National Park.

That’s the Colorado River down there…it’s a mile down!

Good buddy Gary taking it all in.

A funny thing happened in the watch tower parking lot.   As we were getting ready to leave, a huge raven landed on one of the bikes.  The thing was fearless.  The guys took several  photos, and the bird stood there on Willie’s red RX3 crowing at us.  Then it tried to grab one of the gloves Willie had left on his bike.  We all yelled at it, the bird dropped the glove, and hopped over to Dan’s red bike.  I guessed it liked red.  We were lucky; that thing could have easily flown away with one of Willie’s gloves.   The bird was enormous.   I didn’t have my camera out and to tell you the truth, I was too dumbfounded by what I was seeing.  If I can steal a photo from one of the other guys, I’ll post it later.

We picked up Arizona 89 and then 89A, and it was beautiful (cold, but beautiful).  My heated vest did its job and earned its pay this morning.  We rode along vermillion cliffs that were stunning.  89A is a great road.

From there it was on to Marble Canyon for a quick stop on the bridge spanning the Colorado River there.   The photo ops were incredible.

The Colorado River in Marble Canyon, Arizona.

We stayed on 89A and 89 across the mountains with more great riding, and then it was on into Utah.

On Arizona 89A!

Where the cliff dwellers dwell…

Riding at 8900 ft in the Arizona mountains!

On to Utah!

Highway 9 came up next, and it took us into Zion.

Entering Zion National Park.

My buddies in Zion!

The scenes in Zion are amazing!

We’re staying in Hurricane tonight, and the place is aptly named.  It’s nonstop high winds here.   I asked the guy at the hotel counter if it’s always like this.  He smiled and said, “yep.”

Tomorrow is a high mileage day.   About 340 miles, to be precise, and we’ve got a stretch where the gas stations are 160 miles apart.  It’s going to be an adventure!

Today was Day 2 of our Destinations Deal adventure ride and we rode 200 miles from Laughlin to the Grand Canyon.  It was a hoot.  The ride out was a bit on the cold side, but hey, we’re all young and we can handle it.   Five of us made the beeline on Interstate 40 from Laughlin to the Grand Canyon, and three of us (Gary, Dan, and Willie) took the longer old Route 66 to get here.

Here’s a cool shot of Orlando and Velma just after we entered Grand Canyon National Park.   They are very photogenic couple and I’m getting a lot of pictures of this RX3 husband-and-wife team.  I know you might be wondering about riding the RX3 two up, but Orlando and Velma aren’t having any difficulty keeping up with us, and fuel consumption for their bike is the same as the rest of the RX3s on this trip.

I showed my lifetime geezer pass to the Ranger at the Grand Canyon entrance and I asked him where I could wait for everyone after they paid their admission.  “Right over there,” he said, pointing to the sign that said no stopping…

We rode to the rim of the Grand Canyon and it was indeed grand.

Now, about folks being photogenic:  I’m convinced that riding an RX3 just makes people look good.  Let me give you another example.  Rob is photogenic RX3 rider.   Here’s Rob checking out the Grand Canyon…see what I mean?

I’ve studied this and I’ve looked at folks who ride other bikes.  None of them look as good as RX3 riders.  It’s a fact.

Hey, here’s Orlando and Velma at the edge of the Grand Canyon…

And one more of our favorite Destinations Deal couple, this time with the wide angle lens…

Leighton borrowed my camera to get this photo of Velma, Orlando, Rob, and me…

As we were leaving the vantage point where I took the above photos, I told the guys about our visit to the Grand Canyon on the Western America Adventure Ride two years ago.  I mentioned that on that trip we had an elk walk right up to us.

No sooner had I said that and two elk did exactly that!

In fact, Rob turned a spigot on (it was intended to be used for filling water bottles), and the larger of the two elk wasted no time taking a sip or two…

We rode around the Grand Canyon to another vantage spot, and I grabbed a shot of Joe Gresh on the  road…

We took a few more photos, we shared a few stories, and I snapped a few more photos…

After that, it was a quick ride back to the hotel.   Willie, Dan, and Gary pulled in and we all stood around in the parking lot looking at our bikes…

We were intrigued by some of the mods Rob made to his RX3, including one that really lights up the dash.   Here’s Rob explaining it to Joe, Gary, and Orlando…

Dinner was great.   We had pizza and beer right here in the Grand Canyon Village.  We walked to the restaurant and along the way I grabbed a photo of a neon sign…

And folks, that wraps up Day 2 of the Destinations Deal Tour.  We’re having a great time.  Tomorrow it’s Zion National Park and I know it’s going to be great.   We’ll be staying at the Quality Inn in Hurricane, Utah.

Adios for now, my friends.

What a day…it’s just been grand!   Our first annual Destinations Deal tour is underway, and we are having an absolute blast.  There are nine of us on this ride and we have enjoyed the entire day.  I’ve been dropping photos on Facebook with my cell phone all day long, and now it’s time to put a few of the best ones on the CSC blog.

Gresh and I just came back to the room after sitting at the Colorado Belle’s River Bar, enjoying a few brewskis, and listening to what has to be the world’s best ‘60s Motown band.  But I‘m getting ahead of myself, so….back to the beginning.

After that great La Tolteca Mexican dinner last night, we were all at the CSC plant early today.  These are good times, folks, and here are just a few photos from the gathering this morning before we hit the road…

Orlando and Velma, two real troopers!

Good buddy Leighton!

A man, a motorcycle, and America…my good friend Rob!

An RX3 in the fastest color!

Driving up through the Cajon Pass was rough…the wind was gusting at what I’m guessing was 60 to 70 mph, and we were being blown around big time.  Once we were up in the Mojave’s High Desert, though, things got a lot smoother.  We stopped at the Barstow Del Taco (one of Ed Hackbarth’s original three) for coffee and more.   It was good!

Enjoying a mid-morning coffee break in Barstow!

Orlando and Velma enjoying original Del Tacos!

We picked up I-40 and headed east until we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona, and then we stopped for a late lunch at Topock.   It was incredible!

Say Cheese!

A Topock chicken wrap and onion rings!

A Topock chili dog!

A Leighton lunch!

Good times!

After that fabulous lunch at Topock, we rode old Route 66 to Oatman.   It was beyond incredible.  Check out a few of the photos from the CSC Oatman invasion!

RX3 motorcycles in Oatman!

Dan and Willie in Oatman!

A donkey checking out my RX3!

Arjiu makes a new friend!

Inside the Oatman Hotel!

Next up was a quick trip north into Arizona’s Bullhead City, a jump back across the Colorado River into Nevada (yep, we’re in Laughlin tonight), and life just kept getting better.   I met a nice young lady in the motorcycle parking area in front of the hotel and we had a great chat.   Folks, meet Debbie, a Harley-riding cocktail waitress at the Colorado Belle.

Say hi to Debbie!

I know what you are thinking, but it’s what they pay me to do.   Riding motorcycles through some of the best parts of America.  Great food.  Beautiful people.  Awesome scenery.   I mean, you know, hey, somebody’s got to do it!

That brings us to tonight, and we just wrapped it up after listening to an incredible band…

Rocking out in Laughlin at the Colorado Belle!

Life is good, folks.  It’s what happens when you ride a CSC motorcycle.   Trust me on this.

Tomorrow, we’re off to the Grand Canyon.  Stay tuned!

The crew is here and we’re ready to roll.  We had our pre-ride dinner this evening at La Tolteca (one of my favorite Mexican restaurants) and it was awesome. Starting fr0m the left it’s Joe G, Willie, Leighton, Orlando, Velma, Rob, Gary, Dan, Susie, and Joe B (that’s me!)…

And from the flip side, it’s Rob, Gary, Dan, Susie, Joe, Willie, Leighton, Orlando, and Velma…

This is a great group.  I can’t wait to get out on the road in the morning.  It’s Oatman and Laughlin for our first day’s ride (we’ll be staying at the Colorado Belle tomorrow night), and it’s going to be fun!

It’s great to heading out again and it’s especially fun to be riding with world famous motojournalist Joe Gresh.  Joe is staying at my place tonight, and every time Sue starts a sentence with “Joe,” we both answer.   We suggested she use Dajiu and Arjiu to eliminate the confusion, and it’s working!

Wow, this just popped up in my email from Motorcycle Classics magazine…my story on the Tillamook Air Museum!

Kyle and Lester at the Tillamook Air Museum, one of our stops on the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride.

The Western America Adventure Ride was one of several tours we’ve done with our RX3 and TT250 riders, and it was grand.   It was also nice for me because I sold several magazine articles (like the one above) about the places we visited.  Good times, grand adventures, and great stories.

We’ve done the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, the 2015, 2016, and 2017 2000-mile Baja adventure rides, the 1500-mile TT250 Baja ride, the Andes Mountains circumnavigation ride in Colombia, and our epic 6000-mile ride across China.  It’s been grand.  And we’ve done all of this on stellar 250cc motorcycles built to our specifications by Zongshen, one of the world’s great motorcycle manufacturers.  No other motorcycle company does this.  Your ticket in is your RX3, your RC3, your TT250, and in the near future, your Cafe Racer.  It’s all part of the deal when you buy a CSC motorcycle, and we’re happy to bring this kind of fun to you.

You know, doing the CSC tours is a lot of fun.  It’s also a lot of work (on our part).   There are mileage, route, hotel availability, weather, schedule, safety, and other considerations.   You don’t get to see that because we take care of the details, but trust me, a multi-day group ride is not something that just happens on its own.  We’ve learned a few tricks along the way, like the pre-ride safety and logistics briefings we always do now (to get everyone on the same sheet of music), establishing our practices for on time departures, when to take care of the preventive maintenance on your bike (it’s not when we stop for gas), safe riding practices, and the like.  We’re lucky…our CSC customers are good folks, and we have as much fun on these rides as you do.   And we’re about to embark on another one…just a few more days and we’re going to see some of the prettiest scenery the Southwest has to offer.  We’re excited about the nine folks who are going on this ride, and we invite you to join in the fun by following our adventure on the CSC blog.  I promise you great photos and great stories…so stay tuned!

We’ve got a lot of cool accessories on sale right now, folks!  Check this out…

Give us a call at 909 445 0900, or check out the website at www.CSCMotorcycles.com.   The sale is good through the 21st of this month, so don’t wait!

More good news…we’re just a few days away from liftoff for the Destinations Deal Tour.  It’s going to be grand and  I am really looking forward to this ride.  The forecast is for generally good weather (although I am bringing my heated jacket with me) and we are going to have a great time.

We’re getting close to liftoff on the Destinations Deal Tour, and the decal for this, the 7th or 8th big tour we’ve led on our CSC motorcycles, came in this morning.   Check this out…

This is cool stuff, and I’m looking forward to riding with the group for the next week as we visit Laughlin, Oatman, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, the ExtraTerrestrial Highway, and more.   You’ll want to keep an eye on the CSC blog for nightly updates as the ride progresses.

I grabbed another photo of Roland’s championship RC3 bike while I was at the plant today, too…

That’s it for now, folks.   Ride safe!

I’m up super early these days as I’m adjusting back to US time, and a short while ago while checking my email at 4:00 a.m., I received a nice note from my good buddy Sergeant Zuo.  That’s Sergeant Zuo in the photo above.  I took that shot somewhere in China when we rode across that great country in 2016.

Sergeant Zuo is about to participate in another long ride through China on a new Zongshen model.  We wish them the best of luck and our blessings on their upcoming journey.  Ride safe and have fun, guys!