CSC Blog

There’s lots of stuff to catch up on, folks.   By way of an explanation, for the last couple of weeks I’ve been glued to the keyboard working on 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM and I haven’t been blogging as often as I usually do.   But the book is done, it’s out in three versions (the links are B&W for $19.95, full color for $49.95, and Kindle).   I’ve got some time to get back to other things, and I’m going to start catching up this fine Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and the CSC blog.

Yesterday was a fun day for me.   I actually don’t have my own copies of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM yet (I’m supposed to get my first copy tomorrow, and to get it that quickly, I ordered it on Amazon Prime).   My good buddy, CSC 250 and RX3 riding compadre, and shooting partner Duane received his, though, and he stopped by the CSC plant yesterday with it.   It was the first copy of the book I’ve seen, and it was a good feeling to actually hold it in my hands and look through it at the photos.   I like it a lot and I think it is the best book I’ve ever done.   I signed it for Duane and we had a good time joking around about it.

Ah, let’s see…more good stuff.  You’ll recall our notifications about the new financing program, and that is attracting many more good folks to the RX3.   Most people who buy new vehicles of any kind here in the US (and probably elsewhere in the world) do so by financing their purchase, so adding this option is making the RX3 a reality for many more people.   I like it and I like the idea of giving more people access to this great motorcycle.   The terms are very reasonable (as in $500 down and monthly payments of about $100), so if having the cash on hand was holding you back, that shouldn’t be a problem now.

When we rode the Western America Adventure Ride, Juan Carlos and Gabriel from Colombia rode with us.  They were representing AKT Moto, the Colombian RX3 importer, and their mission included three objectives:

• Have a good time (and I know that happened!).
• Gather information for a story about the Western America Adventure Ride (Juan Carlos has already published his article, and you’ve read about that here on the CSC blog).
• Learn how we in CSC do our adventure tours (because AKT wants to do the same for its customers in Colombia).

It’s that last item above that is of interest today, folks, and the reason for that is because yours truly has been invited to ride in Colombia later this year.   I’ve been to Colombia before, but it was a short business trip that involved visits to only two cities (Barranquilla and Cartegena).   This visit will involve riding the RX3 in Colombia and seeing all of it.   If I sound excited, it’s because I am.   Boy oh boy, I’ll grab some great photos on this adventure!

And speaking of photography, I wanted to give a quick review of my feelings about my two Nikon cameras, the D3300 and the D810.  The D810 is the full tilt boogie…it’s a 36-megapixel monster with incredible low light capabilities.   I love it.   But it’s not without its disadvantages.   It’s heavy, it’s very expensive, it’s physically large, and the file size hogs the C drive on my laptop.   At the same time I bought the D810 this year, I also bought the D3300 as a knockaround camera for my motorcycle trips, and I have to tell you that the little Nikon does a hell of a job.   The front and rear cover shots on 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM were both shot with that little D3300 and the lens that comes with it (a Nikon 18-55mm zoom).   I love both of these cameras and I took both with me on the Western America Adventure Ride (both fit easily into the RX3’s top case), but on most motorcycle trips I usually just take the D3300.  It does everything I need for travel photography.

The comparison between these two cameras is much like the comparison between an RX3 and a BMW GSA 1200.    They’ll both get the job done, they’re both fun, and the bigger one costs roughly 8 times what the little one costs.  Yep, you read that right.   The BMW GSA price is around $26K; the RX3 is $3,495.  The Nikon D810 (with a decent lens) is over $4K; the D3300 Nikon is $499.95.   I own both cameras and I use them both, but truth be told, I’d do fine with just the D3300.   A similar situation exists with many of our RX3 customers; quite a few of them also own a BMW.  Many of them have told us that they enjoy the RX3 more, especially when going off road.

Gerry and our Service Department sure are staying busy.   They are doing the setups on a new shipment of RX3 motorcycles, and they have quite a few other brands in for service now that the word is out about our capabilities.   When I was in the plant yesterday, Gerry was adding accessories to a new Triumph Bonneville, there were several BMWs in for repairs and routine servicing, and there were a couple of step-through scooters waiting their turn in line.  I was surprised at how many of the new RX3s included our optional 19-inch front wheel, knobby tires, the new Seat Concepts seat, and the other good stuff Ryan and Steve have developed for the RX3.   It’s exciting to see all of this happening.

Last bit of exciting news for this morning…Ryan, Matt, and I will be at the Horizons Unlimited California meeting from Thursday through Sunday of this week.  I’m giving a presentation on our adventure tours, and we’ll be offering RX3 test rides at this great event.

That’s it for now, my friends.  See you on the road!

I just saw this photo of my good buddy Pete and it brought back fond memories of the CSC Inaugural Baja Run…

That photo was in front of the San Ignacio lake formed by the volcano you see in the background.   That’s how an oasis is formed, and that’s what San Ignacio is…an oasis in the middle of the Vizcaino Desert.

5000 Miles At 8000 RPM includes the story of the Baja Run, along with a lot of good information on the RX3.  You can get the print version here, and for those of you who like Kindle, you can get the Kindle version here.   In another day or two, we’ll have the Deluxe full color version available, and we’ll post a link for it when that happens.

Pete told me he’s headed the ADVMoto Rally in West Virginia this weekend, and if you’re looking for a great time, we strongly urge you to go, too!

For more information on the ADV Moto Rally, just click right here.

I just received a nice note from my good buddy Enrique, who is the General Manager of AKT Moto in Colombia.  AKT Moto is the Colombian RX3 importer.  Enrique alerted me to an ongoing trip in the land of incredible coffee and magnificent emeralds (and that, of course, is Colombia).    Cots Edu, Carlos Rubio and Carlos Humet are riding their motorcycles in some very exotic places in this magical land, and they are chronicling their adventures on Facebook.   You can read about it and see their beautiful photography here:

https://www.facebook.com/La-Magia-de-Colombia-en-Moto-860782357338769/timeline/

Enrique, thanks for alerting us to this great page!

Don’t forget Saturdays, folks, and our Dual Sports and Donuts days!

And the best part…for around $500 down and monthly payments of $100, we can put you on the hottest new bike in America!

5000 Miles At 8000 RPM is available from Amazon! You can order your copy at https://www.createspace.com/5740129.

Here’s the description from the Amazon page:  5000 Miles At 8000 RPM is the story of how CSC Motorcycles brought the Zongshen RX3 250cc adventure touring motorcycle to America, including detailed, behind-the-scenes reports on Zongshen’s manufacturing and quality assurance, the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board certification processes, CSC’s dealer-free path to market, and the planning and execution of CSC’s customer-centered adventure touring approach.

The book includes detailed tales from the 1700-mile CSC Inaugural Baja Run and the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, along with a no-holds-barred review of the RX3’s strengths and weaknesses.

5000 Miles At 8000 RPM includes more than 70 photographs.  If you are a motorcycle enthusiast, this book is one you don’t want to miss!

Within the next 48 hours, folks, my book on CSC, the company’s history, bringing the RX3 to America, and our adventure rides will be available on Amazon!

It’s cool, and it was a blast putting it together.  This is my 11th book, and it came together faster than any previous one I’ve done.   You could say I wrote it in the last two weeks, but the reality of it is I’ve been working on it in my head for the last 6 years (which is how long I’ve been associated with CSC).

Allow me to share with you the Preface I wrote for this book…

I didn’t start our Western America Adventure Ride with the idea of writing a book. When we rolled out of Azusa shortly after 5:00 a.m. that first day, pounding out close to 100,000 words on my computer was not on my mind.

Somewhere in the great American West, amongst scenes I had enjoyed in western movies as a youngster and I was now seeing firsthand, Joe Gresh commented on how well the bikes were holding up running at 8000 rpm all day long, day after day. I was feeling the pressure of keeping everybody together and staying on schedule, and Joe sensed my stress. He told me he thought things were going well. I made an offhand sarcastic comment regarding a book about the trip, and I said I was going to call it 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM. I thought I was being cute. You know, the title sounded like Richard Henry Dana’s 1840 classic, Two Years Before The Mast.

I forgot about that for the next several weeks, and then a few weeks after our return, I started thinking about it again. Maybe there was a book in this.

Then I thought a little more, and I realized I couldn’t just tell the story about the Western America Adventure Ride. The story was bigger than that. It had to be the story of CSC Motorcycles, bringing the RX3 to America, the CSC Baja Inaugural Run, the bike itself, what it’s like working with CSC and Zongshen, and the Western America Adventure Ride.

I really liked that title, though. 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM. So I kept it. But I want you to know the story is bigger than just one adventure tour.

With that as the background, let’s go for a ride.

The are a couple of other things I want you to know.   The first is best stated in this paragraph, which comes directly from the book…

I want to point out to the readers of this book that no one from CSC or Zongshen provided editorial direction, nor did they see any parts of it prior to publication.  They did not tell me what I could or couldn’t write.   The good people in CSC and Zongshen will see this book’s contents for the first time when it is published.

And the second is that there will be two versions of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.   I originally included color photographs (if I do say so myself, they are magnificent), but publishing the book in color drives the price up to $49.95.  I know you guys love me, but that’s pushing it. The color version will be available, though, as the Deluxe Model.   This morning I converted all of the photos to black and white, and that lets Amazon sell it for just $19.95.  I’ll let you know as soon as it’s available.

If financing has been holding you back from buying the most exciting new motorcycle to hit our shores in decades, your ship has come in!   CSC Motorcycles is now offering retail financing.  Woohoo!

The requirements are 10% down and financing for up to 48 months.   There’s no prepayment penalty if you wish to pay the loan balance early.   With approximately $500 as a down payment, a 48-month loan on a new RX3 would have payments of under $100 per month. The exact amount will vary according to your shipping fees and the accessories you add to your new motorcycle.

Please give us a call at 909 445 0900 for further information, and keep an eye on our website (we’ll have the credit application posted this week).

My good buddy Juan Carlos, the Colombian motorcycle magazine fellow who rode with us on the Western America Adventure Ride, published his recent article on our trek across the US.  The writing and the photography are stellar, and you’ll enjoy reading it…

http://www.demotos.com.co/la-revista/articulos/akt-tt-250-adventour/

When you open it, you may think “uh oh, it’s all in Spanish…”  But don’t worry, we have an answer for that.   Google Translate will open it for you in English.  All you need to do is go to this site…

http://itools.com/tool/google-translate-web-page-translator

…and after you’ve opened it, plug in the address to Juan Carlos’ article where it asks you to do so.   You’ll then see the article in English, and I know you’ll enjoy it.

I’ve been busy at the keyboard, too.  I finished 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM today.  I’m going to spend the weekend going through it to correct any spelling or other typographical errors, and then it’s going to the publisher on Monday.   It’s good.  Joe Gresh of Motorcyclist magazine (who rode the entire 5,000 miles with us on the recent Western America Adventure Ride) wrote the Foreword for it, and I really liked what he had to say.   You will, too.  Good times, folks!

Our most recent shipment of RX3 motorcycles just arrived, folks, and that one you see above is the first one off the truck!   Yep, we now have all colors in stock, but I suspect that’s not a situation that will last long.   About 30% of this shipment was already sold when the truck pulled up to the plant, and I know the rest are going to go fast (in more ways than one).

We have a lot going on right now.    I want all of you to think hard about joining us at the Horizons Unlimited California gathering from the 24th to the 27th of this month.  We’ll be there offering RX3 test rides, and if you show up on your RX3 (we want you to do that), we’ll pay your Horizons Unlimited first year’s membership dues.   I’m speaking at that event, too, and if you scroll down on the HU page, you’ll see the blurb about us!

I completed the first draft of 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM, and I’m going through it now to polish it up a bit and to add the photos.  In another week or two it will be available on Amazon.   It’s good, folks.   It tells the CSC story, how the RX3 came to America, the CSC Inaugural Baja Run, the story behind the story, and of course, a daily accounting of the Western America Adventure Ride.   I’m having a lot of fun writing this book.  Oh, and more good news.   My good buddy Joe Gresh (who rode with us on the Western America Adventure Ride and who writes for Motorcyclist magazine) wrote the Foreword for me.   Wowee!

This has been out there for a while, but I don’t think I have shared it on the blog before.  It’s from our visit to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff…