CSC Blog

Today was a great ride from Green River, Wyoming across the lower flatlands of that great state into the mountains, on to Jackson, then Grand Teton National Park, then Yellowstone National Park, and on into Montana.   We had quite a day.

Antelope running free on the Wyoming plains

The Grand Tetons

Yep, we’re there!

Elk in Grand Teton National Park, photographed by Sue

Kirby and Nolan, who are taking a year to travel the world. Their website and blog are at https://www.whereveryouland.com/

The obligatory selfie, courtesy of Kirby’s shades

Old Faithful…everybody needs to see this

We entered Yellowstone National Park at the south entrance today and exited at the west entrance into the town of West Yellowstone, Montana.   Tomorrow we’re going to run across the park from west to east and spend the night in Casper, Wyoming.   Good times, folks.   Watch the blog; there’s more coming!

We rode Utah’s Dinosaur Alley today, from Hanksville all the way to Flaming Gorge National Monument.   This is fascinating stuff…the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway and then the stretch from Vernal to Flaming Gorge.      Very cool, and tonight we made Green River, Wyoming.  Tomorrow we’re rolling up to Montana to stay in West Yellowstone.

Stay tuned…there’s more to follow!

Wow, we’re hunkered down here in Hanksville, one of my all-time favorite movies (Enemy at the Gates) just popped up on the motel TV, and we hit three of Utah’s great parks today.  My good buddy Joe Gresh asked if I was scouting out a new tour for CSC, and I guess I am.   It’s not the Destinations Deal tour that’s coming up in October…this is one we’ll probably do in the late spring/early summer of 2018.

Sue, yours truly, and the Subie touched down in Kodachrome Basin, Escalante, and Capitol Reef today.   I’ll let the photos do the talking for me tonight…

First, Kodachrome Basin State Park.  This is the first time I’ve ever been to this one…and it’s awesome!

Next up today was Escalante.   This one is beyond awesome, and the road through it…all I can say is:  When can I do this again!

And finally, Capitol Reef….one more stunningly surreal bit of Utah’s magnificent landscape!

That’s it for tonight, my friends.  I’ve got a great movie to watch, I want to get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow we’re headed to Flaming Gorge and Wyoming!

Or, as I should more properly say, the dates for the Destinations Deal tour:  It’s going to be from 22 to 27 October.   We’re already seeing a lot of interest in this and folks are calling to find out the dates, so there you have it.   It’s an ideal trip and now is the ideal time to buy a new RX3.

Hey, I’m in Utah right now with my girlfriend checking out a few spots.   We covered a lot of ground this first day, but I have a confession to make:  I’m in my Subie, and I’m not on the motorcycle.  It’s still fun, though, and we rolled through California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, we visited a National Monument I’d never been to before (Cedar Breaks), and we ended the day in Panguitch, Utah.   You guys will remember that…it’s where we stayed one night on the Western America Adventure Ride.  Good times.   Here are few photos from today…

The Virgin River Gorge in Arizona, just south of St. George, Utah

Climbing up to 10,500 feet to Cedar Breaks National Monument…the view through the Subie’s windshield

One of the views in Cedar Breaks National Monument

I’m having a good time.

We’ve had a few inquiries about the rifle match between good buddy Stephen and yours truly, and they have been along the lines of “can I play, too?”   The answer, of course, is yes.  It will be a postal match (you mail in your target) with 20 rounds at a 100-yard target shot offhand with iron sights, no supports, and the rifle of your choice.   We’re going to use the standard SR-1 bullseye target.  If you’re interested and you want to participate, send us a note at info@cscmotorcycles.com and if you’re in, we’ll send a target to you.

Here’s what the SR-1 target looks like…

I know you’re wondering, so here’s the answer:  The 9-ring (the black portion of the SR-! target) has a diameter of 6.35 inches.

There’s going to be a lot more info on the Destinations Deal Tour, our rifle match, and a whole lot more.  You’ll see it all right here on the CSC blog, so stay tuned!

Want to ride with us in October?   No motorcycle?  No problem!  We have an app for that, and it’s called the RX3 Cyclone!

Give us a call at 909 445 0900!

Preliminary planning for our California/Arizona/Utah/Nevada ride is shaping up nicely, and we’ve got some great things in store for those of you who opt to ride with us.  We don’t know if we’re going to call this the Destinations ride, the ET ride, or maybe just the Autumn ride.    But we have a hell of a deal on a new motorcycle if you buy one for this ride, and we’re calling that the Destinations Deal.

We’re planning on riding the third week in October (it’s the soonest we can do it).  That rules out the stretch from Bryce to Capitol Reef (it gets too cold at the higher elevations and it would be impossible to ride that far east and back in the amount of time we have available).  So, here’s what it’s looking like so far…

We’ll ride from Azusa through California’s Mojave Desert to Laughlin, Nevada on the first day, with a stop that afternoon in historic Oatman, Arizona.   It’s beautiful country and you’ll love the scenery.

Oatman during one of the rally weekends

Day 2 will bring us to the Grand Canyon.   They didn’t call it Grand just because they were getting paid by the adjective.   It’s one of our greatest National Parks.  When I was there with our guests from China, we actually had an elk walk right up to us.  I’ve been there several times and I’ll never pass on an opportunity to see it again.

There’s a reason they call it Grand!

From the Grand Canyon, we’re off to see another one of the greatest places on Earth:  Zion National Park.   Zion is incredible and there’s a little Mexican restaurant in Springdale (just outside of Zion) that’s superb.

Good buddy Zuo in Zion National Park

Day 4 will take us through the Utah and Nevada mountains and plains to Tonopah.  It’s one of our longer days at about 350 miles, and you might be wondering:  What’s in Tonopah?  Well, not too much, but we’ll be riding the entire length of the world famous ExtraTerrestrial Highway.   You may just run into someone you weren’t expecting to see, and if he’s a little green guy with antennas popping out of his noggin, don’t say I didn’t warn you.  Hey, the ExtraTerrestrial Highway on an RX3!  Could it get any better?

Nevada 375 – The ExtraTerrestrial Highway

Well, yes, it can, and that brings us to Day 5.  We’re going to run the length of California’s Death Valley, another locale with stunning views.  We’ll spend the night in Baker, home of the world famous Mad Greek restaurant, where we’ll have a fine Mediterranean dinner.  I love that place.

Riding a Mustang across Death Valley…yep, we rode those little 150s all over!

Our last day on the road will take to the historic train depot in Kelso, we’ll ride through more of the magnificent Mojave, and from there it’s on home to Azusa.  Oh, one more thing…I know the owner and founder of the Del Taco restaurant chain.   When good buddy Ed sold the business, he kept the three original Barstow Del Taco restaurants.   Ed still personally runs those three spots and if you want a burrito that is the mother of all burritos…well, trust me on this one, too, my friends:  It’s as good as it gets.

The Mad Greek in Baker…I love that place!

You know, as I was planning this ride, I became more and more excited about it.  I realized I have been to and thoroughly enjoyed every one of these spots, and then I realized, hey, I wrote “Destinations” articles about each for Motorcycle Classics magazine.   If you want a preview of what you’re going to see, here you go…just click on any of the links below!

• Laughlin
• Oatman
• The Grand Canyon
• Zion National Park
• The ExtraTerrestrial Highway
• Death Valley

It’s going to be grand, and like all of our tours, we’re doing it for several reasons.

We like to ride our RX3 motorcycles.  Hey, you already knew that!

We’re not just selling motorcycles.  We’re selling the adventure riding experience!  Well, actually, we’re not selling the experience…that’s free.  Yep, we’re not charging anybody anything to ride with us (you’ll just have to pay your personal expenses as you incur them).  Compare that to what you’d pay for a 6-day motorcycle tour with anybody else.  You might look at it this way:  If you were to buy a new RX3 just to go on this tour, it’s almost as if you’re getting the motorcycle for free.

And on that topic, if you don’t have an RX3 motorcycle, this is a great time to buy one.  If you already have an RX3, good on you!   But if you don’t and you’ve been thinking about it, and if you want to participate in one of our grand adventure tours, this is your opportunity to jump in.   We have a small number of 2017 RX3 left motorcycles and they’re not going to last long.  If you want a killer deal on a brand new RX3, give us a call at 909 445 0900, tell whoever answers the phone you want to ride with us in October, and tell them you want the Destinations Deal.   But you have to act quickly.  When the 2017s are gone, they’re gone!

Another Guzzi I always wanted…

I spotted this beauty at the plant today.  My first question was:  Is it one that we’re selling?   But nope, the Moto Guzzi was in for service.   It sure is a beautiful motorcycle.  Some day…

We sure are moving a lot of consignment bikes and the number keeps growing.  I saw a super clean Sportster in the showroom today that made me think about “needs” versus “wants” yet again.  Seems the word about our ability to get top dollar for clean used bikes is getting around.  If you have a motorcycle you’d like to sell, give us a call at 909 445 0900.

I received two nice notes yesterday, and an interesting challenge.   One note was from my good buddy Patrick and the other from my good buddy Stephen.

Good buddy Patrick in Baja last March

Patrick rode with us last year on the CSC RX3 Baja run.  He wrote about the upcoming adventure ride through Arizona and Utah and his recent experiences on his TT250…

Hi Joe, Patrick here, one of the fellows who went on the last Baja trip. I would like to do the longer ride with you guys. I’ve done a fair amount of riding in Utah and have found it to be one of my favorite places.

Last weekend, I attended a dual sport event with the Mt. Scott Motorcycle Club of Portland Oregon. They sponsored a 130-mile ride on August 5th near Mt Hood that had, in places, deep sand, round rock, crushed rock, boulders, etc.  Most of the riders were on expensive KTM bikes and I brought my TT250. No one had an ADV bike and I’m glad I did not bring my RX3.  I believe the course was too difficult for it as this was real dirt bike stuff.  

A couple of experienced riders let me go out with them and for the most part, I was able to keep up.  Any problems were with me and not the bike as I don’t have dirt riding skills.  I did three very low speed tip-overs in loose gravel and that seemed, to the experienced guys, the problem with me:  I need tires with more of a dirt bias.  But I was with them all the way, bombing up boulder-covered foot deep rutted trails.  Some of it was the cave painting ride times 10. They were impressed with the TT.  I lost a mirror and half a brake lever (why are they so long anyway) and scratched up some plastic.  

It was perfect!  Go down, pick it up, start it and go.  I never would have done the things we did if I was alone; being with those guys gave me the courage to do it.  What a confidence booster.  What a bike.

Thanks Joe, and hope to see you in October.

Patrick

Thanks for writing, Patrick.  I’m looking forward to the ride and to seeing you again.  And thanks very much for the above note.   I agree;  the TT250 is a great motorcycle.   Like you, I own both an RX3 and a TT250 and I love them both.  Each has its intended purpose:  The RX3 is a marvelous adventure touring motorcycle, and the TT250 is a great dual sport.  We’re glad you are having fun with both of your motorcycles.  I’m always amazed at how many of our customers own both an RX3 and a TT250, but I guess I shouldn’t be because the price makes both bikes extremely affordable.

Okay, on to the next note, and it’s from my good buddy Stephen in Park City.   Stephen is an RX3 owner, and Sue and I had dinner with him when we visited Park City a couple of years ago.

Good buddy Stephen and his RX3

Stephen, unbeknownst to me, is an AR shooter, and he picked up on the implicit challenge in my story about the Mini 14 a couple of days ago.  Here’s the note I received yesterday from him…

Okay Joe,

I can’t ignore you’re latest blog about your Mini 14 vs the AR!

So, I’m calling you out! 

You and your Mini 14 vs me and My AR.

We’ll have to agree on a course of fire but I’ll give you plenty of latitude to help you out :).

The Utah ride sounds great and I’m hoping I can join for at least a portion of it, if I’m not traveling at time.

Hope all is well!

Stephen

Stephen, great to hear from you, I hope you will be able to ride with us in Utah, and I’m accepting your challenge!  My initial suggestion is to have a 20-shot, 100-yard competition, shooting offhand from the standing position, with no slings or other supports allowed, using telescopic sights (or, we could both use iron sights).   We could shoot our targets near where we each live and post the results here.   Let me know what you are thinking, and if it’s okay with you, I’ll post the progress of our rifle competition and keep our blog readers up to date on it.  And for the rest of our readers, if anybody else wants in on this, let me know.  Willie, Matt, and Duane…are you listening?

Stephen, I’d like to see you win.  It’s going to be fun!

I’m looking at my calendar and it looks like the week of 23 October is good for our planned Arizona and Utah trip.   Now the question is:  How long?   If you’re going to take time off from work, 8 or 9 days could work out well, as we could span two weekends (and that opens up a lot more that we can see).   My objective is to do about 250 miles each day, which gives a relaxed pace and time for sightseeing.  Or, we could make it 4 or 5 days and just take in the Grand Canyon, Zion, and maybe Bryce.  But I sure would like to ride Highway 12 again….here’s what it looks like from a drone…

And here’s what parts of that area look like from the saddle of my RX3…

I’ve been studying maps and working overtime on laying our route out.  I was originally thinking something along the lines of the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef, and then picking up interesting stuff on the way back.   The problem is that working Utah’s Highway 12 into the mix puts us up at higher elevations and it could freeze up there that time of year.  If we include Highway 12 and Capitol Reef, that puts us pretty far east. I sure would like to do that, though.  I’ve got a pig hunt at the end of September and after that, another secret mission to Singapore the first two weeks of October, so that means our Utah expedition has to be more toward the end of October.  I’ll keep working on it.

Your thoughts?   Let us know at info@cscmotorcycles.com.

My good buddy Twin Peaks Steve is selling his Mustang Bobber through us, and it is a beauty!

When we were making the Mustang replicas several years ago, for a limited time we offered a short run of Bobbers.  What you see above is Steve’s, and in my opinion, it’s probably one of the three most beautiful Mustangs we ever made.   I’ve ridden with Steve, and I know that his Bobber is one fine running machine.   It’s in perfect condition and it has low miles.   The bike is visually arresting; everyone who sees it stops in their tracks for a better look.

Twin Peaks Steve knows a good company and a good motorcycle when he sees one.  He was one of the very first people to buy an RX3 from us, and he’s a regular participant on our company rides.

If you want to know more about Steve’s awesome Mustang Bobber, give us a call at 909 445 0900.