CSC Blog

13 1/2 hours on a flight from LAX to Beijing, 6 hours in the Beijing airport, and another 6 1/2 hours on a flight from Beijing, and I’m here in Singapore (and surprisingly, I’m not very tired).   We landed at 6:15 a.m., I just had a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant (the biggest challenge staying in these 5-star hotels is not overeating), and I am going to get out for a walk later today and grab a few photos.  I love Singapore.  I’m here for two days, and then it’s another full day of travel to Chongqing for meetings with the Zongshen crew.   I’m looking forward to seeing Hugo and Sean, a couple of great guys from the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride and the 6000-mile Riding China adventure.

Good buddy Hugo surveying the Columbia River Gorge on the Western America Adventure Ride.

Good buddy Sean during his directorial debut near Liqian, China.

Stay tuned; more to follow.

When I first became associated with CSC about 8 years ago, we had just started building the CSC 150 Mustang replica.   We had the usual cast of morons pounding us online for making such a small bike (“Ah need at least a 12 hunnert”), but I noticed a curious thing.   We were getting a lot of phone calls asking us if we made a 50cc bike.   One of the calls put it in perspective for me when the guy on the other end of the line asked if we had a DUI bike.

“A DUI bike?” I said.  “What’s that?”

Well, as it turns out, apparently there are states in the US in which you don’t need a license to ride a motorcycle that’s 50cc or less, and if you’ve lost you’re driver’s license as a result of a DUI conviction, you can still get around on a 50cc bike.  The bottom line is that there is a market for a 50cc bike in the US, and because of that, there are some interesting 50cc bikes out there.

Anyway, we have an interesting bike on the showroom floor right now.  It’s a 2003 Johnny Pag 49cc number that’s styled like a chopper, and it is pretty cool.  The finish is impressive (as you can see in the photos on this blog), and the engine caught my eye, too.  It’s a clone of the old Honda OHC engine that has seen duty in displacements ranging from 49cc on up to 110cc…

I had three Hondas with that same basic engine…a 50cc Cub, a Super 90, and an SL90.   There are companies all over Asia producing clones of these little OHC singles, and no doubt I’ll see quite a few of them next week.   Speaking of which, I suppose I better start packing.  I’m wheels up in just a few days, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing my friends in Chongqing again.

Well, it was five men, and it wasn’t all of America.  It was just one of the best roads in America, the world famous Angeles Crest Highway!

So I’m retired now, but I’m busier than ever. My son-in-law told me I’m already failing at being retired, and maybe he’s right.  I’m sure having fun, though.  Like today, for instance.  It’s the first Saturday of the month, and you know what that means:  It’s our monthly CSC company ride.

Glorious day, today was, and I was up super early in anticipation of the good times I knew I would have this fine Saturday.  Not that I needed to be up early, but I turned the alarm clock on last night and I forgot that I had set it to 4:00 a.m. for a flight I needed to make last week.  Gotta remember to change that.  Anyway, the alarm worked, and I was up like a bolt of lightning at 4:00 a.m.  I could have gone back to sleep, but hey, I was up and I wasn’t going to let the day go to waste.   I had a quick cup of coffee and a quick read of the newspapers (will they ever get tired of bashing President Trump?), I did a quick once-over of my RX3, and then I had a relaxed ride in on the 210 freeway.

My RX3 is running great and it was an easy lope into Azusa.   My ride was smooth as glass.  There was no traffic and I love early morning rides.  I had told everybody to arrive for our ride with a full tank and that meant I had to do the same, so I stopped at the Shell station around the corner from CSC.  Just for giggles I checked my fuel economy…

You know, I’ve always maintained that the RX3 returns better than 70 mpg.  That’s still the case with mine. I’m at about 15,000 miles on my RX3 now.  We sometimes see posts from folks who aren’t getting the same mileage as I do, but folks, I’m not making this up.  I ride in a pretty relaxed manner, and I guess my riding style optimizes fuel economy.  I tend to shift at moderate engine speeds and when I accelerate I’m not trying to win a drag race.   I weigh about 180 and I don’t have a lot of extra stuff hanging off my bike (other than the stock luggage, guards, windshield, etc.).  I keep my tires inflated to the proper pressure and the air cleaner clean, I keep the valves in spec, I keep the chain adjusted and lubed, and I don’t overfill the crankcase with oil (which we sometimes see when bikes come in for service).   All of these things will affect your fuel economy.

Anyway, back to the ride today. Steve always brings donuts in on Saturday, and today was no exception…

Ah, decisions, decisions.  I went with the coconut one and I had another cup of coffee, but I only ate half of the donut.   I don’t want to hurt my RX3’s fuel economy,  you know.

We had a good crew show up for the ride today, and we left at 9:00 a.m. for the Crest.  The weather was perfect, the roads were clear, and the scenery along the Crest was simply stunning (as it always is).   Much to my great surprise and delight, as we rolled into the parking lot at Newcomb’s, I saw my good friend Arlene.  Wow, talk about happy coincidences!

Arlene is the CEO of Go Go Gear, and she told me business is great.  That’s awesome.   You may remember Arlene from some of our other adventures, not the least of which was our round trip to Cabo San Lucas on the CSC 150 scooters a few years ago.   Here’s one of my favorite photos from that trip…

I shot that photo right at the edge of the Sea of Cortez in Santa Rosalia.  Good times.

Okay, back to the present…we had a great breakfast at Newcomb’s Ranch this morning.   Good times, good riding, good friends, good food, and great conversation.  I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

Here’s a shot of Duane and Peter in the restaurant…

One of the best parts of any motorcycle ride is the conversation at meals like this one, and the food was great, too.  I normally get a couple of eggs with extra crispy bacon (man, that sounds good just typing it), but I went healthy and had a granola yogurt with fresh fruit (and it was awesome).   Our conversation centered on cameras, videos, the Internet forums, the media, politics, President Trump, and all the usual stuff motorcycle guys talk about.   We all agreed the country is going to hell in a hand basket (but hey, that conclusion has spanned my entire 50-year riding career), and that the news media has degenerated into a huge propaganda machine (pick your politics, and then watch the news and read the papers that pander to your position).  The joke is that if Trump walked on water, tomorrow’s LA Times headline would be “Trump Can’t Swim.”  I told the guys the real problem is this:  All the guys who really know how to run the country are out riding their motorcycles.  That got a good laugh and we left to continue our ride.

As we were leaving the restaurant, I stopped to chat with a guy who looked even older than me (which I guess is still possible) and I asked him if he came up to Newcomb’s on a motorcycle.   Nope, he said…he drove up to Newcomb’s in his Ferrari.  A Ferrari.  Wow.  I told him about my RX3, and that brand new it cost less than 1% of what his Ferrari cost (and I didn’t think he was having a hundred times as much fun as I was).  It was good for another laugh.

We posed for a few more photos in the parking lot…

I wore my Nikon around my neck for the ride to Wrightwood, and as we left the parking lot I spotted the Ferrari the old-timer told me about earlier, along with two more matching Italian stallions…

I don’t know.  A Ferrari.   I just don’t think you can trust anything made in Italy.   I heard they use kids for slave labor and chain them to the production equipment.  And I heard those Italians are currency manipulators who just copy other people’s designs.

Nah, all kidding aside, I think Ferraris are beautiful.  I’m just having a little fun with my comments, you know, pretending I’m posting on an Internet forum about, well, never mind.  I left out the intermittent capitalized words and the emojis so you know I’m not being serious.  You know what I’m describing:  It’s the apparent inverse correlation between intellect, and how frequently Internet trolls use capital letters and emojis.

So, back to the Ferraris:  There’s a ton of cash sitting in those three cars (my guess is well over a million bucks), and they are indeed beautiful.  If I had a Ferrari, it would be red.   Like orange on an RX3, red on a Ferrari would make it faster.

Riding the Crest from Newcomb’s to Wrightwood was again amazing, and Lone Pine Canyon from Wrightwood back down to the Cajon Pass was similarly awesome…

We went through a couple of tunnels in quick succession, too…

It was weird, as I couldn’t remember a tunnel on the Crest from my previous rides.   I don’t like tunnels.  When I rode across China last summer, we went though a lot of tunnels, and the tunnels were long (as in 10 to 20 miles long).    Here’s a shot of one of probably more than 200 tunnels we rode through on that epic trek across the Ancient Kingdom…

The China ride was cool, but I sure felt uncomfortable in those tunnels that seemed to go on forever.  You can read all about it in Riding China.   And you know what?  I’m going to be back with the guys in Chongqing in a few more days (more proof, I guess, that I’m not very good at the retirement thing).  I’m really looking forward to seeing my Zongshen buddies and talking about the new models we have coming down the pike (and yes, that’s “models” with an “s”).

At the end of Lone Pine Canyon, there’s this really cool rock formation on the other side of Highway 138…

The area is called Mormon Rocks.  They used to film old Western movies out here.  Cool stuff.

We made one last stop, and I grabbed two more photos.  One is of Duane and Steve…

And the other is after I filled my tank again…

Good times, folks.  You have to ride with us on the next CSC ride.  It will be the 1st Saturday in July, which my calendar says is 1 July!  I hope to see you then!

We get interesting and classy bikes in Gerry’s service department.   Check out this 1970 SL 125 Honda that came in a few days ago…

I have a soft spot for the late-60’s/early-70’s Honda SL bikes.  I bought one of the very first, a Honda SL 90.  It used the horizontal single-cylinder OHC Honda 90cc engine, it was a magnificent candy apple red, and it was a fabulous motorcycle.  I bought it before I had a driver’s license and I went all over on that thing.  We had a lot of trails and dirt roads where I grew up and I knew every one of them.  Later on, my cousin Don bought a gold SL 350 (powered by Honda’s twin 350cc engine) and it was another fabulous bike.  I’d like to own any of those bikes.   My first thought when I saw the SL 125 above was that it might be a trade-in or a consignment bike, but alas, it’s not for sale.   The lucky owner had a simple request for Gerry:   Get it running.   Gerry’s certainly the guy to do it.

Our company ride is this Saturday (weather permitting, of course).  We’re rolling up to Newcomb’s Ranch on the world famous Angeles Crest Highway.  You can sign up for the ride on our Meetup.com page.

Hmmmm…..another shocking development!

Spy shots from my inside source in Chongqing.   I knew you’d get a charge out of these electrifying photos!

Stay tuned, folks…and stay wired in with CSC!

Check out this consignment beauty that just went on the block here at CSC…

That fine print on the sales tag is a bit hard to read in the above photo, so here’s a better shot…

Yep, it’s a 2002 Triumph Daytona, and (get this) it’s only been ridden a whopping 1,071 miles!  I am so tempted.   I’ve owned several Triumphs in the past, including a yellow ’95 Daytona.  I toured Mexico, the southwestern US, and Canada on that motorcycle, and it was awesome.   Yep, you can tour on a hard-edged sports bike, and the Triumph Daytona is a good one to do it on.  This one won’t be around for long.

From the good folks at CSC to you, we wish you all a good Memorial Day.   I’m out here on the east coast this weekend, visiting with my sister and my good buddy Mike B.   Do whatever you like to do this fine day…ride your motorcycle, go to the range and send some lead downrange, throw a steak on the barbeque, spend time with friends and family, and thank a veteran (if you’re fortunate enough to know one) for making it all possible.

Enjoy the day, my friends.

Our CSC Memorial Day Sale starts Friday and lasts for just 4 days!   All 2017 RX3 motorcycles are on sale for $3895, with free shipping in the lower 48 United States, free crating, free assembly, and no documentation fees!  The sale lasts for 4 days only.  It ends Monday night.  If you snooze, you lose!

Justin Herx is the real deal…a true adventurer.   A lot of folks claim to be adventure riders, but trust me on this, Justin is the real deal.

I first met Justin the day before we left on the Inaugural Baja Run a little more than two years ago.  He was one of the very first guys to purchase an RX3 on our “Don’t Miss The Boat” program (Justin knows a  phenomenal deal when he sees one), and the trip to Baja seemed to be a natural fit with his other adventures.  He’s a photogenic guy and I grabbed more than a few shots of Justin on that first RX3 Baja ride…

On top of a hotel in Santa Rosalia.

Comparing Canons with Juddy.

On the way to the cave paintings.

Taking a break on the San Ignacio Mission steps.

Justin is a guy who rode a motorcycle to the northernmost tip of (get this) Vietnam, he rode a motorcycle across Nepal, and he’s been to a whole lot of other places well off the tourist track.   Justin also participated in the Mongol Rally, and that’s about as exciting as it gets (you can get the story on that event here).

You can imagine my surprise and pleasure when I received an email from Justin not too long ago telling me he was going to be in So Cal for a few days, and yesterday Sue and I had dinner with him at a great Italian restaurant in Pasadena.

Justin, Sue, and Yours Truly in Pasadena last night.

It was great seeing Justin again, catching up, and swapping stories about our world travels.   As I’ve said many times, the best part about the CSC experience is the people I get to meet, and Justin is one of my favorites.