CSC Blog

Wow, another Baja prep blog, and this one is on clothing and other personal stuff.

My first bit of advice here is to pack light. Folks who have never been on a big ride tend to bring way too much stuff with them, with the result being an overloaded bike and their always taking too long to get ready in the morning.   Bring what you feel is necessary, but understand that we’re leaving at our scheduled departure time each morning, and if you’re not ready, you’ll have to rejoin the group later that evening at our next destination.  (I know that sounds cold hearted, but it’s the only thing I’ve found that works to get everybody moving on time.)

With the above in mind, here’s what I bring on these trips:

• Tools. I bring enough tools to maintain my bike.  I don’t bring a complete tool kit and I don’t bring enough stuff to rebuild the engine.  I’ll do a blog later in this series on what’s in my tool kit.  Don’t plan on borrowing tools; do plan on bringing only what you need.
• Toilet paper.   Yep, I bring a roll.   You just never know.
• Immodium. I always have it; I’ve never needed it.   It’s an approach that’s worked well for me for the last 25 years.
• GPS and phone.   Thought I’d have a little fun on this one.  I don’t bring a GPS.  I do bring a cell phone, but I don’t use it while I am in Baja.   There’s only one way down and it’s hard to get lost in Baja once we’re past Ensenada.  The only reason I mention this is that I’ve seen guys get absorbed in using their cell phones and their GPS on these rides.   Leave them home, folks.   You won’t need them in Mexico.
• Spares.   Please see my earlier blog on this.  I keep a few spare parts with me.  I’ve never needed anything beyond the chain lube and a little oil, but I like having them.
• Helmet.   Yep, absolutely.   You can ride without a helmet in Mexico, but you can’t do so with us.
• Gloves.   You’ll need these.  I bring an extreme cold weather pair and a regular leather pair.   You don’t want to ride without gloves.
• Boots.   I wear Haix boots.   Boots are important and you should wear a good pair.
• Motorcycle jacket and motorcycle pants.   Absolutely.   I never leave home on two wheels without them.   You’ll want the jacket to have a liner.  It can get cold down there.  If your jacket and pants are not waterproof, you’ll want to bring rain gear, too.
• Sweatshirt. I bring one in case it gets really cold.
• Jeans. I bring one extra pair and I usually never need them.  By the time the ride is over, the jeans I wear can walk home by themselves.
• Underwear. I’ll bring two pair.   I wash one pair each night and alternate them.
• Socks. Same deal; I bring two pair and that’s enough.
• Papers. I carry my Mexican insurance papers and my bike papers in the top case. I keep my passport and my wallet on my person.
• Camera gear.   I’ll bring a Go Pro and my D3300 Nikon DSLR with the 18-55 kit lens (along with a spare battery and a charger).   This gear is good enough for the CSC blog and for magazine work,  and it’s for sure good enough for our ride.   You don’t want to bring a camera store’s worth of inventory with you.   Bring just enough to capture the ride.   I’ve found that you can do world class videos or you can have a motorcycle ride, but you can’t do both.  We have a lot of miles to cover.  I’ll do my best to get you to the best spots for the best photo ops, but we are not going to modify the ride to optimize the videography, and we are not going to delay the ride or redo portions of it to get another take.   One last thought on this:   Safety will always take priority.  Don’t ride dangerously close to others to get a better shot or a better video.
• Toiletries.   I have a small pouch that holds toothpaste, a toothbrush, the pills the docs tell me I need to take now that I’m a geezer, and one or two other small items.
• Laptop computer. I have a small laptop, its power supply, and a mouse.  These things have traveled all over the world with me.  Many of the places we’ll stay at night have wireless service (it’s not lightning fast, but it gets the job done).

On these trips, I carry all of the above in the three stock luggage cases on my RX3 (and I have the stock plastic ones, not the larger Tourfella aluminum bags).  I don’t have any extra bags or other stuff strapped to my bike.  This approach makes it a lot easier if I need to leave the bike (there are no bags bungied in place to fall off or tempt thieves).

Continuing the series on how to prep for the Baja ride, this blog addresses bike preparation.   Here’s something to keep in mind:  This is a 2,000-mile ride and you will have to maintain your own bike.  You absolutely do not want to leave with anything on your bike being sketchy.   I’ve gone on rides with guys who thought they could get one more trip out of a set of tires, or a chain, or without changing their oil.   Folks, that’s a false economy and you don’t want to do leave without your bike being fully prepped.  With that in mind, here are my recommendations:

• Tires.   If your rear tire is the stock CST tire and it has more than 4,000 miles on it, replace it.   The CST tires are great tires and they are inexpensive.   If you are running knobbies and you have more than 2,000 miles on the rear tire, replace it.  Knobbies wear faster than 80/20 ADV tires (like the stock RX3 CST tires).   If your front tire is showing wear, replace it.
• Chain. If your chain is the original equipment RX3 chain and it has more than 3000 miles on it, replace it.  The stock rear chain is only good for 5000 or 6000 miles.  You don’t want to lose a chain in Baja.  The replacement chains we sell are of much higher quality and they last a lot longer.  Adjust your chain before we leave and be prepared to adjust it during the ride.  I will lube my chain every night on our ride and I’ll adjust the chain every 2 days.  You should be prepared to do the same.  Bring your own chain lube with you.  You can buy it from us before we leave, but order it beforehand so we’ll have it for you.
• Brakes. If your brake pads are worn, replace them.  If it’s been more than two years since you’ve replaced your brake fluid, you should do that, too, before we leave.
• Oil. Change your oil and the oil filter before you leave on this trip.  As mentioned earlier, bring a quart of oil with you.
• Valve adjustment.   If your bike will be in the zone for a valve adjustment during our 2000-mile ride, adjust the valves before we leave.
• Clutch.   Check your clutch cable adjustment before we leave.
• Air and fuel filters. If you need a new air filter or a new fuel filter, replace them before we leave.
• Battery. If your battery will be more than a year old or if it is showing any signs of impending doom, install a new battery.  You do not want to have your battery give up the ghost during our ride.
• Spokes. Make sure you don’t have any broken spokes and that all of your spokes are tight.  Don’t overdo it, but do make sure they are crisp.
• Overall fastener condition.   Check all of your fasteners and make sure none are loose.   Common places to check include the fork bolts, the axle nuts, the swingarm, the muffler mounts, and the exhaust pipe, but don’t limit your inspection to only these items.

If you want Gerry to service your bike before we leave, please contact us well in advance of our departure to make an appointment. We’re happy to help you with this, but you need to let us know and you need to give us enough time to service your bike.  Bear in mind that we have 15 bikes or so on this ride, and Gerry’s service department is always busy.

Same comment as before, folks. If you think I’ve missed anything , shoot me a note and I’ll add it to the list.

One question I hear a lot from folks who ride Baja with me is: What should I bring?  There are several sets of answers to that question.   I’ll do my best to address all of them in a series of blogs, with each one addressing each of the following topics:

• Spare parts.
• Personal clothing and riding gear.
• Camera(s).
• Tools.
• Bike preparation.
• Legal stuff (insurance, passports, etc.).

This blog will address spare parts and maintenance items. Here’s what I recommend you bring with you:

• Spare tubes, a tire repair kit, and a tire pump.   This is always a good idea and we sell all of these things.   I carry the electric pump that runs off the RX3’s battery.
• An extra park plug.   I’ve never needed one, but I’ve always carried one.
• A throttle cable and a clutch cable. I once read that it makes sense on an adventure ride to bring these with you, and I’ve done so ever since on all of my motorcycle rides.  I’ve never needed to replace either cable (knock wood), but if and when I do, I’m ready.   You can route the spare cables alongside the existing cables so that you know where they are and they are ready to go when (and if) you need them.
• Oil. My RX3 doesn’t use much oil, but it does use some.  I’m bringing a quart with me to replenish the little bit it does use.  Hey, we’ll be covering about 2000 miles.
• An extra headlight and tail light bulb. On our first Baja ride we had a few people lose their headlight and tail light bulbs.    It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you’ll be glad you have spare bulbs with you.
• Lucas fuel treatment. Sometimes the fuel in Mexico has a little water in it.  This stuff works wonders.  Bring a small bottle with you just in case.
• A spare countershaft sprocket. I’ve never personally experienced this problem, but on our first Baja run with the RX3 my good buddy Justin lost his.   It’s happened to two other people (worldwide) that I know about.   Like I said, I’ve never needed one, but I’ll always carry one.
• A collection of small bolts and nuts.  It’s a motorcycle ride, folks, and it’s a long one.   Things shake off.  If you want, we’ll make up a fastener care package and price it for you.  Better to not need it and have it than it would be to need it and not have it.

More good news, and this is only for the fortunate few riding Baja with us this year.   Steve is going to knock 20% off the price of any of the items listed above if you buy them for the Baja trip.  Order the above items now and we’ll have them ready for you when you arrive.  If you don’t order them now, we may be temporarily sold out when you arrive.

Oh, and that dirt road in the photo above?  Don’t worry about that.   Nearly all of our riding will be on asphalt, and the little bit we do off road will be optional.  That particular road is the route to the cave paintings, and like I said, that’s only if you’re up for it.

That’s it for now.  Watch for the next writeup in this series of Baja preparation blogs.  And if you think I’ve missed anything, shoot me an email and let me know!

Highway 39 headed up to Crystal Lake…it’s going to be a great ride!

Folks, we’re riding up to Crystal Lake in the San Gabriel Mountains this Saturday.   I’m so excited about the ride that I may just roll up there sometime this week to check out the route.   Hey, any excuse for a motorcycle ride (not that I need an excuse)!

We have something like 12 or 13 people who are riding with us and it will be awesome.  You may want to bring a camera (it’s beautiful up there).   You’ll want to arrive at the plant prior to 9:00 a.m. (a CSC ride waits for no man) with a full tank of fuel.  We’ll have coffee and donuts available at the plant.  If you want to have breakfast before we leave there’s a Starbucks right across the street (you know, in case you ride a GS).  You’ll want to be ready to roll at 9:00, because that’s when we’re leaving!

Chances are the weather will be brisk (so dress for it), but I can also guarantee you that it will be beautiful up there.  With all of the rain we’ve been having this winter, the hills are as green as I’ve ever seen them.  It’s going to be great and I’m looking forward to seeing you.

My good buddy Jerry sent this photo to me.  It’s not every day you see an RX3 parked in the brigade’s Command Sergeant Major spot, but then Jerry is not an every day kind of guy…

Jerry wears the absolute highest NCO rank in the US Army…the exalted Command Sergeant Major designation.  When I was in the Army the senior NCOs ran the show and the CSM ran the senior NCOs.  The senior NCOs in the US Army were and are amazing, and the brigade CSM is at the apex of the real leaders who make things happen.   I think the entire time I was in the Army, I met only one Command Sergeant Major.  I was a lowly lieutenant in awe of my platoon sergeant, and a Command Sergeant Major is about a zillion levels above a platoon sergeant.

Jerry is in the same branch of the Army I was in way back when (that’s a photo of me with my platoon sergeant more than 40 years ago).   Jerry wrote to me a couple of years ago asking about the RX3 and we’ve had a number of great conversations about motorcycles, the RX3, and the US Army since then.   Jerry knows a good thing when he sees it, and he was one of the first guys to get an RX3.

Jerry, thanks for sending that photo to me.  It made my day.

And hey, here’s Part II of our good buddy Josh’s video on his TT250! I sure am enjoying these videos!

Josh, great work, and thank you for sharing the adventure!

No, not me…but the other Joe.   I just came home and discovered these for the first time.   Enjoy, folks!

Great videography, Joe!

A few weeks ago Sue and I took a run up the Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1) to grab a few photos for the latest Motorcycle Classics “Rides & Destinations” piece.

Well, that article is in the latest issue of Motorcycle Classics, and you can catch it online here:

The Pacific Coast Highway

That sure was a fun trip, and we got a lot of cool photos beyond the two that appear in the article above…

Want to know the best part? We’re going to ride along the Pacific Ocean on Mexico Highway 1 on our upcoming CSC Baja adventure ride, and the scenery south of the border is even better than what we have up here!

I’m going to post some of the stuff we published last year prior to the 2016 Baja CSC ride because it’s still relevant as we prepare for the 2017 Baja adventure.   One of these blog retreads is a set of links to articles on Baja by two of the guys who will riding Baja on the 2017.

The first is an article my good buddy and fellow Bajaeno J Brandon wrote…

You can J’s article here.  J is riding with us on the upcoming 2017 Baja expedition.  He’s a great guy.

Here are two more articles on Baja, and these are ones that I wrote for Motorcycle Classics magazine: Baja by Motorcycle and San Felipe, Baja, Mexico.

And don’t forget…there’s a whole chapter on the first CSC RX3 Baja ride in 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM (you can order that book from the link on the right).

Hey, there’s more news on this topic…I’m writing a new book and it will be on riding Baja!  I’ve had more than a few of our blog readers and CSC riders suggest that I do this, and I’m going to do it!  I’ve been riding motorcycles in Mexico since the early 1990s and I’ve covered a lot of miles south of the border.   I have a cool collection of photos and stories about the various expeditions on my Harley, my KLR, my Suzuki TL1000S, my Triumph Tiger, the trip we did to Cabo and back on CSC 150 Mustangs (yep, we did length of Baja and back on those little scooters), my TT250, and the CSC trips we’ve done on the perfect bike for Baja – the CSC RX3!   The upcoming 2017 CSC Baja ride will be the last chapter of this new book (I like Riding Baja as the working title, although Moto Mexico has a nice ring to it, too).   I’ll be posting more about the new book in the near future, so watch for updates here.   Riding Baja (or Moto Mexico) will be published shortly after our return from the 2017 CSC ride.

Imagine that, all you CSC RX3 Baja riders: Your Baja adventure will be published in a new book!

We’re at 16 folks riding with us on the 2017 Baja Run, and I’m sure looking forward to it. We’re less than a month away now, and I can’t wait.  These are always amazing trips.  Baja is an amazing place and we’ll see and enjoy the best parts of it – the missions, the small towns, the amazing scenery, the incredible food, the whales, the cave paintings, the whales, and more.

I’ll tell you something you already know if you read the CSC blog:  I love riding Baja.   For those of you adventurous enough to ride with us, you’re in for the ride of a lifetime.  Other folks can spend their time on the Internet.  If you’re riding Baja with us, you are the real deal.  You’ll be out there living the adventure.  When your buddies talk about riding to the corner burger joint or Starbucks, you’ll know that you’re participating in a real world international adventure ride.    It’s a good feeling.

We’re riding Baja from the 19^th through the 27^th of March.   If you’re riding with us, you need to be in Azusa on Saturday, March 18^th.  We’re having a mandatory pre-ride briefing and we’re having a group dinner at the CSC plant Saturday night.  We’ll be leaving for Baja early the next morning.  You’ll need to have your Mexican insurance (that’s mandatory) and your passport (you’ll need that to get into Mexico and to get back into the United States).   We use BajaBound insurance and it’s been good for us (you can get your Mexican insurance online at BajaBound.com).  You’ll want to make sure your RX3 is up for the trip (we’ll cover that in a future blog), and you’ll want to have the right spare parts and tools (watch for another blog on this in the near future, too).

Keep an eye on the blog, folks…we’ll be posting lots more right here on this upcoming grand adventure.