CSC Blog

The final chapter in all three of my adventure motorcycle touring books, as is the case in many books, is called the epilogue.   Webster defines epilogue as “a final section or speech after the main part of a book, play, or musical composition.”  Folks, this is a good video. We’d encourage you to watch it and to tell your friends about it.

The question is bound to come up, so let me answer it: Before we saw that video, we had no idea who Jeff was. He was not paid nor encouraged by us to do this (we had never heard of him).  Full disclosure…I liked the video so much, I’m sending Jeff a free autographed copy of 5000 Miles at 8000 RPM.   But he didn’t know about that until today.  And I didn’t see the video until today.

Boy, there’s some really good stuff out there on YouTube about our bikes.   My favorite (as of this morning) was one our good buddy Joe Gresh did about a year ago.  This was our ride across the western US with the guys from China and Colombia.   Good stuff, folks…

Fast forward one year, and it’s the same sort of ride, but this time in China.   Joe did another awesome video on that one…

Joe didn’t ride with us in Colombia, so I don’t have a similarly great video for that ride, but I do have a few short clips I shot when riding an AKT Motos RX3 through the Andes Mountains and some video I captured in the AKT Motos plant.  I’m not nearly as good at this as is Joe Gresh, but hey, I’m trying…

And of course, if you want a more in depth story on any of our RX3 international adventure rides, there are always the books…

Saturday is our TT250 ride, folks, and I h0pe you’ll be able to join us.   We’re leaving the CSC plant at 9:00 a.m. sharp, and as I previously mentioned, we’ll have a few goodies on sale that day.  It’s going to be awesome riding in the San Gabriel Mountains along the route shown below.   There’s a chance there might be rain, but hey, if it rains, it rains.   The ride we have planned is some of the best riding on the planet, and I know what I’m talking about when I say that (having ridden in a more than a few places on this planet).  I ride a relaxed pace, folks, so if you’re worried about being able to keep up, well, don’t be.

Azusa Canyon, East Fork, Glendora Mountain, and Glendora Ridge Road…it just doesn’t get any better than this!

Please make sure you show up with your bike fully fueled (there are gas stations in either direction, but we’re not stopping for fuel after we leave the plant).   We’ll have coffee in the plant for you before we leave (and we may even have a donut or two).   There’s also a Starbuck’s directly across the street from us if your TT250 thinks it’s a GS.

I’m looking forward to Saturday.  It’s going to be fun.

I am getting more and more excited about the next Baja ride, which leaves on the 27th of October at 8:00 a.m. from the CSC plant in Azusa.   I’m delighted to mention that our two Colorado Dans are going with us, and Dan K wrote a note to me this morning with great questions.

Joe,

I saw your blog post about the Enduro bags. Looks like the solution I can use on my TT250, but before I order I just want to ask about the heat from the muffler.  Can those bags just be strapped on without regard to the muffler, or did you construct some sort of stand-off to keep them away? I can’t tell from the photos you posted.

Also, I definitely want (No, need) that 49 tooth rear sprocket you mentioned in another blog post. Can you tell me when they’ll be ready for sale?

Cheers,

Dan K.

Dan, I  didn’t use any standoff for the Wolfman bags, and in fact, on my bike, the muffler heat shield has been removed because I am using an aftermarket pipe.  I suppose it’s possible to add enough weight to cause a problem, but I think with normal loading you’ll be okay using the bags as is with no standoff.

Regarding the 49T sprocket, we have them on order.  I’ll know more when I get into the plant tomorrow and I’ll post something here about the sprockets’ expected arrival date.   Your conclusion is correct…for road work, that 17T/49T sprocket combo is the cat’s meow.  I expect we’ll have them in plenty of time for the Baja ride, but I’ll find out for sure tomorrow.

You all know how great our ride was in China.   Here’s the video Zongshen assembled for our trip.  You can see it by clicking here.

So I’m up here in San Carlos on yet another secret mission when I wandered into a clothing store (Sarrtori’s)  because I spotted something I knew was going to be special…

It’s a 1955 175cc 2-stroke Husqvarna Silver Pilen (or Silver Arrow, in English).   The bike was beautiful and I happened to have my D3300 with me.

I’m up this way on a fairly regular basis and I think I’m going to visit Sarrtori’s the next time I’m in town.  I had a nice conversation with the owner (Fredy) and he seems like the kind of guy I’d like to do business with.   He told me he’s going to have a couple of different bikes on display the next time I’m in town, and that all by itself is worth the ride up here!

Our good buddy Umut recently posted this photo of his club’s RX3s in Turkey…

As you know, Zongshen motorcycles (and in particular, the RX3) are now sold all over the world.    The RX3 is a worldwide and world class motorcycle!

And to my Turkish buddies…

Benim Türk arkadaşlar güvenli binmek!

The fork seals were leaking on my KLR 650, so I brought it into the shop and Gerry installed a new set.   He replaced the fork oil, too, and as a result the KLR handling is considerably better than it was.    As you know, we work on all motorcycles, so if you have a bike that requires the touch of real experts, please give us a call to schedule an appointment.

The KLR is still no RX3, but its handling is crisper, and that would not have happened without Gerry’s magic touch.   We see a lot of different bikes in here…Hondas, Kawis, Yamahas, Suzukis, Harleys, BMWs, you name it.  If you need your bike freshened up, please give us a call at 909 445 0900.

Wow!  I spotted this post on Facebook from our good buddy Joe Gresh, in which he mentioned that our good buddy Dong posted his video from our epic ride!

Our good buddy Dong in front of a Dave Mann poster in Jinin, China!

I don’t have the code to post the video directly (like I could with a YouTube video), but you can get to it with the following link…

Riding China (from Dong)!

Dong owns an RX3, and he rode one of the new RX1s on the China ride.   I really like Dong’s video because of the “on the road” segments….he captured a lot of what it was like riding in China.   This is great stuff, folks.   I miss those guys and I miss riding in China!

I liked my good buddy Joe Gresh’s China video so much I had to post it again.   You need to watch this one, folks!