CSC Blog

Good news for all you folks who have been patiently waiting on your new RX3 motorcycles…the EPA has released the bikes from their temporary hold at the port in Los Angeles.   The Feds checked them out and, not surprisingly, they found the bikes met all requirements.   The 2016 RX3s start arriving at the CSC plant on Monday.

Please don’t bombard us with phone calls…all hands are on deck and we’ll call you as soon as your bikes are ready.

Me?  I’m getting ready for Baja.   Keep an eye on the blog…we’ll be posting more as the trip progresses and as I find Internet connectivity!

My good buddies Derek and Lupe installed the new headlight grill and spotlights on my RX3 this morning…

…and I did a bit of work on the bike more in keeping with my mechanical skills…

Sunday.   Wheels in the wells.   We’ll be on the road.   Stay tuned.

And boy oh boy, it’s going to be fun!   I rolled up into the San Gabriels on my RX3 this afternoon, and I had a little fun with Photoshop afterward…

Ah, chaos theory.  It holds that some things are impossible to predict or control, such as the weather, the stock market, and the reactions of things to seemingly unrelated events.  The concept is that a butterfly flaps its wings in South America, and through a series of related (but impossible to predict) events, the price of fuel drops in Alaska.    You get the idea.

So, wind back the clock a few years to some criminal engineer and his cohorts (and I use those words intentionally) at Volkswagen making a decision to incorporate engine management software that changes their diesel engines’ operating parameters when VWs are tested for emissions compliance.   It’s illegal as hell, yet they did it.   It apparently went on for years.

Last year, VW got caught.   This year, the EPA is running flat out checking everyone for emissions violations (including CSC).   Our latest shipment of RX3s was pulled (along with vehicles from other manufacturers) for random emissions checks.   Thanks, VW, for creating the conditions that resulted in delays for us and for our customers.  If we could find a way to do it, we’d send you an invoice for the $1000/day storage fees we’re paying while the EPA does its job, and for the delays in getting the bikes to folks who dearly want them.   It’s all due to your criminal activities, VW.  Rest assured, the odds of any of us ever buying a VW are zero.  Zip.  Nada.  Squat.   I’ll walk before I ever get into a VW.

We don’t fault the EPA for this.   They are doing their jobs, and their jobs are important.   This emissions stuff is serious business.   I personally have a breathing disorder aggravated by air pollution.   To be blunt, I am furious about what VW did.   If it was up to me, I’d make VW give a full refund to anyone who ever bought one of their criminally-designed cars and then I’d ban VW from ever selling another vehicle of any kind in the US.

That’s enough of my rant.   The impact of VW’s criminal activity to us is that our latest RX3 shipment has been placed on hold in Customs while the EPA does its tests.  We’re in a line of vehicles being tested.   We only learned this in the last few days, and we still don’t know when our bikes will be released.  The EPA can take up to 30 days to do this.  We may get the bikes today, or we may get them at any time within 30 days of the time they pulled the shipment.  It’s frustrating, we’ve called everyone we know who could possibly help us, but there’s no getting around it.

We’re confident the bikes are compliant, so there are no worries there.

When we found out why the bikes were delayed, we notified our customers.   Here’s one of the many emails we have received in response.   This one is from our good buddy Mike…

Hey all,

I know you are all amazingly busy, prepping for the arrival of the bikes, preparing to head out to Baja, servicing owners and doing all things great. I just wanted to take a moment and say THANK YOU.

I actually just started riding this year, October, first time, ever…at 48. I bought a KLR250 Super Sherpa. I was never a cruiser or speed bike kind of guy. I discovered the world of Adventure bikes and began the hunt for my next bike. I was probably going to get the KLR650 but I was scared to death of the weight. I do a lot of solo adventuring, and was planning on rolling cross country to explore. The tons of videos I saw with people struggling to pick up their bikes, made me think twice. I also saw the Long Way series and saw the struggles a heavy adventure bike caused. I was miffed.

My buddy and I (who subsequently bought a TT) have become outright enthusiasts, and neither of us can remember who discovered CSC first. However, I can say, that my excitement has not diminished. Discovering the 2015 RX3 was mind-blowing for me. I watched every minute of footage, read every review, and everything fell into place for me. In my desperation, I started absorbing all the videos of the sister bikes throughout the world, the AKT, the Honley, the M1insk etc…all to fill the void. THEN you announced the 2016 and the deal was made.

Between the updated blog, the forums, and reading Joe Berk, I have developed a true sense of awe at CSC the company and more importantly, CSC the people. I am a buddhist, and I am always on a quest for “good humans” and you are some of the best.

I don’t want to kill your day with my annoying fan-boy email. I really just wanted to say…”THANK YOU” to each and everyone at CSC Motorcycles for helping an old guy discover a new world. Thanks for being a truly HUMAN company, with good people. Thanks for bringing a great product to America and for responding to your patrons, fans and even detractors in a considerate and human way.

I don’t mind waiting, because I am confident it will be worth whatever wait it is but I appreciate the information.

Have a great day!
Michael 
Order #11 (Orange is the fastest color, Joe)

Folks, hang in there.  We know those of you waiting for your RX3s are frustrated.  We are, too.   The bikes will be here soon.  We’ll keep you posted.

I just received an email from my good buddy Juan pointing to this exciting video he created of our 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride!

This is good stuff, folks!

And that, of course, is the opening line of Herman Melville’s timeless classic, Moby Dick.

You’re probably wondering…where is he going with this?

Folks, I can’t make up stuff this good.   An albino whale has been spotted in and around Scammon’s Lagoon, and that’s where we going to be in about 10 days on the CSC Baja Run…

No kidding.  I just read this story, and if you want to read it, the link is here.   This white whale has been named Gallon of Milk.    That name’s not quite as catchy as Moby Dick, but hey, who’s complaining?    This is cool stuff.   Gallon of Milk is going to be where we’re going whale watching.   Wowee!

Imagine that: A white whale.  If I had a Spanish gold doubloon I’d nail it to my RX3 and promise it to the RX3 rider who spots the great white whale first.  That’s what Ahab did in Moby Dick.

Amazing events, my friends.   And we will see whales.   Up close and personal, just like you see in this video below I shot on a previous trip…

It’s going to be a fun ride, folks.   Just don’t call me Captain Ahab.  Or Ishmael.

My good buddy Twin Peaks Steve sent this photo to me a short while ago…

Great shot, Steve, and thanks for sending it to us!

Baja is coming up, folks.   We’ll be having a BBQ dinner at the plant the night before we leave, checking over all of the bikes, making sure everybody has their passports and Mexican insurance, giving everybody an opportunity to pick up any required spares, and having our safety briefing.

This will be an intense ride.   We’ve cut the daily mileage down to about 200 miles per day (except for a couple of 350-mile days), but the riding is not like what we are used to in the US.   It will be mostly asphalt, with perhaps 50 or 60 miles of soft sand and dirt, and a few more miles of the gnarly stuff when we head out to see the cave paintings and the wreck off the shore of San Jacinto.  And the whales.  And the fish tacos.   The folks who make this ride with us will be talking about it for years.

I can’t wait.

Whoa, the press releases are flowing…we  just published one on Moto Colombia!, and we’ll have a couple more coming out in the near future on the new RC3 motorcycle and the upcoming Baja ride.   Here’s the link for the Moto Colombia! press release:  https://www.prlog.org/12539112-moto-colombia-motorcycle-book-now-available.html

Back to the RC3….it’s a very, very cool motorcycle, and our Don’t Miss the Boat III program is already making waves.  We’ll be publishing the press release on the RC3 shortly and then the Internet will really explode.   And we’ll post a link to the press release here on the CSC blog when that happens.

Wow…8 more days:  It’s knees in the breeze and bound for Baja!   Oh boy oh boy oh boy, that’s going to be fun!  I’m not sure what I’m more excited about…the riding, the photo ops, the cuisine, or the road trip camaraderie.   The Baja ride is going to be grand, folks!   As time and Internet connectivity in Mexico permit, I’ll be posting real time blogs during our adventure, so keep an eye on the CSC blog!

Men of a certain age, like me, grew up in the ’50s and ’60s.  Our values were formed in a era when honor, courage, integrity, and self-reliance were important, and I think a big part of that is what we watched on TV.   Today, the shows on TV are mostly mindless drivel centered on “pop culture” (an oxymoron if ever there was one) and the so-called reality genre.  I was way luckier…

The stars of those ’50s and ’60s shows were folks who knew the difference between right and wrong, and we received a steady stream of 30-minute morality injections (less the time needed for commercials) every week.   It seemed to work.

The other stars of those TV westerns, of course, were horses and guns.   Owning a horse isn’t very practical for most of us (Patty excepted), but I think the steady emphasis on capable six-shooters in those early TV shows is what instilled and sustained a fascination with firearms for many of us.  A Colt .45 Single Action Army figured in nearly every episode (in fact, you can see this iconic firearm in several of the photos above).   It’s no small wonder that the sixguns still sell so well in the US.

So, to make a long story a little less long, when I saw this Taylor and Company “tuned” Single Action Army at my local gun shop yesterday, I was a goner…

Yep, I pulled the trigger, and in 10 days or so, it will be mine.   It’s chambered in .45 Colt, and the “tuned” descriptor means it’s already had a trigger and action job to slick up the internals.   I tried the trigger and it was under two pounds.  The gun is beautiful…it’s got a brass grip frame, a color case hardened receiver, and high polish bluing everywhere else.  I’ve already got the .45 Colt dies and brass, I’m going to load some ammo this weekend, and I’ll keep you posted on how this puppy shoots.  It’s going to be fun!

And, speaking of fun, we are now 8 days away from the start of our CSC Baja ride.   Steve has already designed the decal for this one (having a cool tank decal for each of our epic rides is sort of a tradition for us), and here’s what it’s going to look like…

I’ll be at the plant for a little while this morning…I’m riding my RX3 over and then I’m going to lunch with my riding buddies.   If you’re out and about, I’ll see you there!