CSC Blog

We do have interesting bikes come in for service by Gerry and his motorcycle maestros here at CSC.  How about this one…a 1939 BSA 496cc single-cylinder M20!

Manufactured from 1937 to 1955, the M20 was the mainstay of British military motorcycling during World War II, and it became the most widely used military motorcycle during the war.

Interestingly, the BSA firm originally started as a rifle manufacturer (BSA is the abbreviation for Birmingham Small Arms).   You can see the three crossed rifles emblem just above the crank on these iconic motorcycles…

The connection between motorcycling and armament is more common than you might imagine.   Royal Enfield is another motorcycle manufacturer that originally came to life as a rifle manufacturer.   And in an earlier life when I worked in the munitions business, bomb components here in the good old USA were manufactured by none other than Harley-Davidson.

These early British bikes featured both rebound and compression damping of sorts.  Damping adjustment was achieved by tightening or loosening the large knobs on either side of the girder forks (you can see the knob in the photo below).  This increased or decreased the friction on the hinged fork components.  Very clever, very simple, and it worked.  Harley had a similar setup on its earlier front suspension systems.

Like nearly all early British bikes, the M20 had Amal carburetion.  These carbs typically featured external float bowls with a “tickler” to get things underway.   My old Triumphs had the same deal.  You pushed down on the tickler two or three times, and that filled the float enough to prime the pump (so to speak), which made starting the bike a little easier.  The tickler is that little bronze-colored button sticking up from the float bowl in the photo below.

Here’s one last shot, this one showing the M20’s horn.   I didn’t have the keys (it’s a customer’s bike) or I would have tried the horn just to hear what it sounds like.  I’ll bet it sounds cool…

Britain’s M20 was a serious wartime motorcycle, so much so that Hitler’s Luftwaffe specifically targeted BSA plants during the war.   BSA lost 53 employees killed during bombing raids along with 89 folks who were wounded.

The M20 produced a whopping 13 horsepower, but it must have had gobs of torque as these motorcycles frequently pulled sidecars.   Like the one in the photo above, many of these are still being ridden today.

That’s Dan above (the most photogenic man in the world) somewhere in Baja.   Dan’s been on three Baja rides with us now, and he just sent a nice note to me about our most recent Baja adventure…

Joe,

Another great Baja trip. Great weather, great people, great food, great riding. The camaraderie was outstanding.  I think the choice of buying a RX3 is a process of natural selection.  The type of person who is willing and wants to ride a small displacement adventure bike is in it for the fun and not for the status, and they are practical people.  It’s a different sub-culture of the motorcycle world.

I decided to send you high res photos so I put them here:

https://redhawk47.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Baja-2017/i-H8FwZk7

My favorite is the last one of the desert plants. Next choice is the Bahia Concepcion panorama.

Dan

Thanks for your nice note, Dan.  I went to that link and your photos are awesome.  I enjoyed riding with you on all three of the Baja rides mentioned above, and I hope you’ll be able to ride with us on future Baja (and other) adventures.   We going to do a multi-day ride or two elsewhere in the US this year, and hopefully you’ll be able to join us on those, too.   Ride safe, my friend!

Yep, we’re riding Glendora Ridge Road tomorrow on our monthly CSC company ride, and you don’t have to be on a CSC motorcycle to ride with us (we welcome all motorcycles and motor scooters on our monthly Saturday morning rides).    Just be at the CSC plant no later than 8:45 a.m. tomorrow with a full tank of gas.  We’ll have the coffee ready!

Here’s an interesting article that popped up in my Facebook feed today (you can get to the article here).  It’s Honda’s list of their Top 5 motorbike adventurers. Interestingly, 3 of the top 5 accomplished their world explorations on bikes of 250cc or less, supporting our contention that you don’t need a large-displacement bike for serious world exploration (indeed, smaller bikes offer real advantages for this kind of travel).  More interestingly, one of Honda’s Top 5 is none other than Simon Gandolfi, who was with us when we rode CSC 150 Mustangs to Cabo San Lucas and back!

My photo of Simon Gandolfi on the 2010 CSC Baja Ride. Simon rode a CSC 150 Mustang, as did the other four riders (including me).

I first met Joe Martin in person on the Saturday before our Baja ride when he popped into the plant for our pre-ride dinner and safety briefing.   I had known him as FJMartin on the forum boards, but I didn’t realize he went by “Joe,” so my first question (having that name myself and realizing there would be two of us on this ride) was:  Are you Joe 1 or Joe 2?

“Joe 2,” Joe answered, and thus we had our names for the next 8 days.  I  was Joe 1, and Joe Martin would be Joe 2.

Joe 2 was just amazing.   He was always pumped up, always smiling, and he was obviously completely enjoying the Baja experience.   As was the case with everyone on our ride, it was tremendous fun for me being around him.

This morning, I received this nice note from Joe…

Hey Joe…I mean Joe 1, it’s Joe 2 here and I wanted to drop you a note to thank you, J, Steve and the whole CSC gang for putting on this great ride in Baja.  This was my first international ride and only my second multi-day ride and it was a super experience. 

It sure seems that folks who buy CSC bikes are awfully nice as we all got along great and literally had smiles for miles.  I’ve been to Mexico before but that was just your normal resort type vacation.  This was so much more.  Everything from the craziness of Ensenada with the small roads and mass of humanity to towns so small that I’m not sure you can even call them that.  The people of Baja were so friendly and patient with this gringo who can’t speak any Spanish.  Thanks to Carlos and Willie for helping with translations when needed. 

The roads in Baja are something else.  Some are nice and smooth and others keep you on your toes so your bike doesn’t disappear into an endless abyss.  Big climbs, descents, twisties with no guard rails and our couple of dirt trips really tested the mettle of these little RX3s and they all proved themselves worthy as adventure bikes.  We had them loaded with everything we needed for the 8 days of travel and they took it all without hesitation. 

I downloaded my pictures and video and captured over 60GB’s worth.  Give me a few weeks and I’ll shoot you a link to a YouTube video of the trip! 

The views everywhere were breathtaking.  My favorite parts of the trips were…in order: Whale watching, the killer camaraderie of the group, the off-road ride out to the cave painting and back and finally the day you let me run by myself through the desert.  I had so much fun at WOT (Wide Open Throttle) and hitting the twisties with a major lean in the bike. 

I’ve had the bike for exactly 6 months and have 6100 miles on it now.  It’s been flawless for me.  When I got home from the trip I did a bunch of maintenance like an oil/filter change, clean the air filter, valves check, fasteners check, cleaning and an overall inspection of the bike.  It’s pristine and running like a top.  I’m convinced I can take this bike anywhere I want. 

Here is a sampling of some of my favorite shots.

I’m not sure if we were watching them or if they were watching us?!?

Amazing vistas!

Gorgeous warm water.

Cool architecture.

New friends.

Take care and thanks again!

Joe 2

Joe, those are awesome photos and an awesome recap.  Thanks very much for taking the time to share with us, and we look forward to your whale and riding videos.   It was a great trip!

Chuck and Barb are the couple who bought two new RX3s a year or so ago and then rode them back to Wisconsin (talk about a couple of serious motorcycle adventure riders!).    They both rode with us (on their two RX3s) on the 2017 CSC Baja Run last week, and this afternoon I received this nice email (along with several photos)…

Joe:

The Baja ride with CSC was a fantastic experience. The Mexican people were extremely friendly and the scenery was breathtaking.  The riding was at a pace that was not over taxing of mind, body or ability.  Absolutely perfect group of riders.  For 14 riders to travel almost 2000 miles with no mechanical issues on any bike pretty much wraps up any question of reliability of the RX3s.

Chuck and Barb

Well said, Chuck and Barb.  Thanks for the nice note and the fantastic photos, and we’re glad you were able to join us on this most excellent adventure.   Your comments about the RX3 are spot on.   I’ve now done three of these 2000-mile Baja rides, the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, and numerous shorter trips on my personal RX3, as well as trips across China and Colombia on loaner Rx3s.   Anyone who says the RX3 doesn’t have what it takes for serious world travel or who says that the bike is unproven just flat doesn’t know what they are talking about.  The 2017 Baja ride was an awesome experience, and thanks for your companionship on our adventure.

On our way back from the cave paintings last week, my good buddy James (he came out from the Texas hill country for our Baja ride) took a couple of photos of me in the Sierra San Francisco Mountains.   They’re good photos…thanks, James!