CSC Blog

Hey, if we get enough guys, we’d like to do a TT250 ride this Saturday morning from the CSC plant.   It will be mostly asphalt, with a bit of dirt thrown in for good measure.   Are you in?  Drop us a line at info@cscmotorcycles.com if you’d like to come along, and I’ll send the details to you.

One of our favorite people is Colorado David…a real deal mechanical engineer and an RX3 rider extraordinaire.   You’ll remember David as one of the great folks who accompanied us on the second annual CSC Baja ride.   Here’s a cool note and some dynamite photos David sent to us!

Hey Joe,

I loved following the blog during the grand China tour.  Been doing a few moto adventures this summer on the RX3 and here are couple of pics from the Alpine Loop in southwestern CO.

David, it’s always great to hear from you.  Those photos are awesome!   Thanks very much for sending them to us.   I’m hoping you can ride with us on the next Baja run, my friend.  The riding in Colorado looks to be amazing.  I’m jealous!

I’m glad you enjoyed following the China adventure.  It was quite a ride and I’m missing my Chinese friends.   I was able to relive the ride putting the Riding China book together.   Good times, to be sure.  The RX3 motorcycle is an international phenomenon.   Mexico, China, Colombia, Turkey, and many other countries…the bike is gaining traction worldwide.   You, our fellow RX3 riders, and we at CSC knew the bike was a winner as soon as we saw it.   It’s been one hell of a ride, and it’s just getting started.

Check this out, folks!   I received this nice note from our good buddy Ray in the early hours this morning!

Hello Joe.  My name is Ray and I am from Texas.  I recently purchased an RX3 motorcycle and just wanted to say that the bike is fantastic!  I went on a 3000+ km trip with some strenuous riding like through the Chihuahuan desert and through mountain roads and the bike did absolutely wonderful.  Keep doing what you’re doing!

A short video of the ride on the RX3, if you have time.

Ray, your video is awesome!   We’re glad you are enjoying the bike and please stay in touch.   Thanks very much for the note and for the video; our readers will love it…I sure do!

Yep, we get paid for this…

Here’s my interview at the end of the trip…

The Chinese video guys interviewed us at the end of the China ride in Qingdao.   Here’s my good buddy Joe Gresh’s interview…

After 20.5 hours of traveling time spanning two days, it sure is good to be back home in California.   I had a good time in Turkey, but it seems like this summer has just been nonstop travel, with just a little more to come later this month at the Horizons Unlimited event in Mariposa.   CSC and yours truly will be there with demo bikes, and copies of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM, Moto Colombia!, and Riding China.

Much of that nonstop travel found its way into print over the last year, as in nearly a thousand pages and close to a quarter of a million words in the three books you see above.   And this blog entry is the 1,912th one I’ve written on the CSC blog…but hey, who’s counting?

Turkey was great and I enjoyed my time there.  Security was tighter than usual, undoubtedly because of the situation in the Middle East and Turkey’s recent coup attempt, but it was not intrusive and it was actually less than I had anticipated.  I enjoyed meeting Burak, Caner, and Enes and seeing their RX3s (all three ride white bikes, and they explained to me that white is the fastest color).   I learned there’s a Turkish RX3 Facebook page, and it lit up with the photos of our dinner that evening.  It would be cool if we could do some kind of ride across Turkey, although I think I have done enough riding for a little while.  Nah, I was just kidding.  I’m going to fire up the RX3 and get out on it this afternoon.  The weather in So Cal is perfect for motorcycle riding today.

The only casualty of the China ride was the circular polarizer I use on a couple of my Nikon lenses.  It started getting these weird squiggly lines (I first noticed it in China) and then those lines continued to grow (and more of them appeared).   I took the polarizer to the camera store, and the camera store guy told Steve and me that the thing had fungus.   That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me, but it rained so often (and it was so hot and humid) in China I guess I should have known that was the problem.  But I was still surprised when I heard the diagnosis.  I tossed the polarizer and ordered a new one online while I was in Turkey, and it was waiting for me when I returned home last night.   I’m going to snap a few photos today to see how it works.

We’ve had more cool photos come to us from you (our readers and riders) in the last few days.  We love getting them, so please keep the photos and emails coming.  Our good buddy Gabe wrote to us with these cool photos of his customized TT250.   Check out the front fender Gabe installed on his bike…

The subject line in Gabe’s email was “I Love My TT250” and I thought that pretty much says it all.   We know the TT250 is a great bike, and it has been wonderful seeing how well it has been received here in America.   Steve and Maureen did a great job specifying the features CSC wanted on it.  I feel a little guilty I haven’t put that many miles on mine, but I just haven’t been home that much this summer.

We received a fresh batch of photos from Chuck and his wife showing sand dunes in Nevada, the Bonneville salt flats, and the Big Horn mountains.  You’ll remember that Chuck and his wife flew to California, bought two new RX3s, and rode their motorcycles across America to return to their home in Wisconsin.

More good inputs…our good buddy Reuben, who rode with us on the inaugural CSC Baja ride, is currently doing a Four Corners ride around the US.  I’ve been following Reuben’s adventures on his Facebook page.  Reuben is an awesome man, and his Four Corners photos and narrative have been a real treasure.

This thing we are doing (we being CSC and you, our riders) is magnificent.  The RX3 has been a worldwide success story, and Zonghen’s CG-based motorcycles are similarly found all over the globe.  Bringing the bikes to America and making high quality, right-sized, and affordable motorcycles available in this country has been an incredible ride for all of us.   We sure are having fun.

So that’s it for now, folks.   I’m still a little jet-lagged.  I think I’ll take a nap and then go for a ride.   I’ll talk to you later, my friends.

Yep, you read it right…you can order a copy of Riding China right now at this link:  Riding China

It will be around the 17th of September before Riding China is in stock at CSC (which, surprisingly, is how long I have to wait to get my copies from the publisher, too).  It’s weird…people who buy my books direct from the publisher get their copies before I get mine!  If you’ve preordered Riding China from CSC, you’re getting a hell of a deal on the book, so hang in there.  But if you want to get one right now, that link above (and I’ll repeat it here) will get a copy on its way to you immediately.

Riding China will be available on Kindle in about 4 more days,  and I’ll post the link as soon I have it.

Riding across China was an amazing experience, and writing Riding China was enormous fun.   I know you’ll enjoy it!

Wow, what a trip this has been!  I’m leaving Ankara tomorrow morning.  I flew over here this week to teach a manufacturing management course to a Turkish armored vehicle manufacturer, and it was a lot of fun.  What was even more fun was meeting three Turkish RX3 riders tonight.   Folks, meet Enes (pronounced “Ennis”), Caner (pronounced “Jonnash”), and Burak (pronounced “Barack”)…

We had a great dinner.  We told motorcycle stories, my new friends told me what it’s like riding a motorcycle in Turkey (wow, would I ever love to do that someday), and we spoke at great length about just how awesome the RX3 is.  These three guys clock a cool 400 kilometers on their RX3s every Sunday and they love doing it.   They wanted to hear all about Mexico, Colombia, and China.   It was a great evening, and it was a wonderful way to wrap up a business trip.

I’m “wheels in the wells” early tomorrow and I’m eager to get home.   It’s time for me to rack up some miles on my RX3.  Or maybe I’ll get out on the TT250.   We’ll see.

Ride safe, my friends.

Our good buddy Rob took the time to write to us.  Rob is a the real deal…he’s racking up the miles on his RX3!

Hi Joe,

I was up in Canada last week attending the Horizons Unlimited Rally in Nukusp, BC.

Here’s my favorite pic of the ride in front of the Columbia Ice Fields around Banff, Lake Louise area.  First RX3 in front of the Ice Field Glacier!

Donkey Xote got a lot of interest at the rally. Only RX3 there. A lot of people said they had heard and read about them online but hadn’t seen one yet so I was glad I could let them see it and a few even rode it and were impressed with it.

Bike ran like a Swiss watch the whole trip and was very comfortable going all day long. I tried all grades of gas and it seems to like middle or premium for going down highway all day between 6500-7500 rpm. More power for going up hills it seems.  Around 12,000 miles on it now.

Take care and I hope to see you in Mariposa.

Rob

Rob, you will be seeing me in Mariposa, and I hope to see all of our RX3 riders at that great event.   Folks, show up on your RX3 and we’ll have a free CSC T-Shirt for you!  More info on the Mariposa Horizons Unlimited Event for the rest of you guys and gals can be found here…

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/california-2016

The photo you sent to us is awesome, Rob.  I rode that same stretch in Canada on my Triumph Daytona 1200 during the 30th Annual Three Flags Rally 10 years ago; the RX3 would have been a much better choice.  Maybe that will be my big RX3 adventure ride for next year.  The trips you are taking on your RX3 are really something special.  Thanks for the note, Rob.  It’s always great hearing from you!