CSC Blog

It’s been a couple of years (at least) since I’ve been up to the Crystal Lake Café at the end of the line (California 39 being the line), so today Steve and I ran the road to make sure we’d be good to go for our ride this Saturday (you can sign up for it here).  In a word, everything is good.

Nah, scratch that:  Today was fantastic.  Saturday is going to be a great ride!

I rode my old KLR 650 because it’s been months since I’ve had that bike out, and Steve was riding a brand new RX3 with a cool two-tone paint job and nearly every accessory we offer for these great bikes.

Okay, enough jabbering…let’s get to the photos!

This is Steve’s custom RX3.  It’s pretty straightforward to create a bike like this…go heavy 0n the accessories, use red body accents (from the red RX3 color palette) on a silver bike, and have it all put together by Gerry and his motorcycle maestros.   The red-and-silver color combo really works and this bike looks great!

Incidentally, that’s not my KLR you see in the background of the above photo.  That white one is a later-model Gen 2 KLR; mine is an earlier Gen 1…

I guess it just worked out that Steve and I were both riding red-and-silver motorcycles today.   Truth be told, I would have preferred being on my RX3.  It’s handling is way crisper than the KLR and the RX3 is a better bike for these kinds of roads.  My RX3 is what I’ll be riding on Saturday.

This is Adam, who runs the Crystal Lake Café.  He’s one of the good guys.  Steve, Adam, and I had a good conversation this afternoon, and he was glad to hear we’re bringing a crowd with us on Saturday.   You have to try the brownies…Adam makes them himself, and they were incredible.

Adam had some interesting photos of bears around his restaurant.   I wanted to get a similar shot, but this was all I could do…

Another photo of Steve’s custom RX3…those colors really look good on an RX3.

After a hot tea and that delicious brownie, it was time to get back on the road.  I had my Nikon out on the way down.  It’s funny…I didn’t take any photos on the ride up to Crystal Lake, but I sure did on the way down…

It took a few shots to get the one I wanted…but that’s okay, because digital film is cheap!

From the rider’s seat on an 11-year-old KLR…

The road we’ll ride on Saturday…

…and a few more, trying to keep up with Steve…

And there you have it.   It wasn’t too cold up there today (we’ll be up well over 5000 feet at the Crystal Lake Café).   It was a great ride.   In fact, the riding was as good as it gets anywhere in the world.   I’m really looking forward to our Saturday ride, and the follow-on lunch at the California Grill.   It’s going to be great!

Our good buddy Rob and fellow RX3 rider is now a published motojournalist!   Rob owns both a BMW GS1200 and an RX3, and he thought it would be a good idea to write an article about his ownership experiences with both motorcycles.  Our good buddy Paul Smith, editor-in-chief at ADVMoto, agreed!

Rob, congrats to you on this tremendous accomplishment!

The story is in the latest ADVMoto magazine, and it’s hitting the news stands now.   You should buy a copy!

You know, you might be surprised at how many of our riders own more than one motorcycle, and how many of those have a BMW GS as their other bike.   You can do things on an RX3 you just can’t do on a big bike, and vice versa.   For serious adventure riding and international motorcycle riding, I’m convinced the RX3 is the way to go.

Hey, speaking of big bikes, Steve and I did a pre-run of this coming Saturday’s CSC company ride to Crystal Lake (I rode my KLR 650 only because it had not been ridden in a long time).   Watch for more photos later today or tomorrow morning.  The ride was magnificent, the weather was grand, and the scenery was incredible.   We’re going to have a good time on Saturday, and if you want to sign up for that ride, you can do so here!

I promised a blog on the paperwork you’ll need to be legal in Baja, and this is it:

• You’ll need Mexican insurance for your RX3.   We use BajaBound insurance exclusively.  They have the RX3 in their data and getting insurance is easy to do online.  Here’s the link:   www.BajaBound.com   If you get stopped in Mexico and you can’t show proof of Mexican insurance, you’ll be spending a lot more time in Mexico than will the rest of us.   Your regular motorcycle insurance won’t cover you in Mexico.  You’ll need to print a copy of your policy (which you can do online after you purchase it from BajaBound) and take it with you.    And just in case you were wondering, we don’t have any kind of a business relationship with BajaBound.  We just think they’re good folks and they are the only company we use.
• You’ll need your US passport.   You should carry that with you at all times.
• You’ll need a Mexican tourist visa.  We’ll stop for that in Ensenada.   I think it was $20 last year.

A few more words on expected norms in Baja…

• We’re guests down there.   It’s no secret that the relationship between the US and Mexico has deteriorated in recent months.  That should not affect us.  I’ve been following what’s going on in Baja and it’s all good.
• The pace of life in Mexico tends to be slower than what you are probably used to in the US.  The service is slower.  Just relax and roll with it.  If you act like a horse’s rear end things could (pardon the pun) go south quickly.   Be nice.
• If you enjoy a drink or two, save it for the evening after the bikes have been put away.  We don’t want anyone drinking (even a single beer) at lunch or at any time if we have more riding in front of us on that day.
• We will go through many military checkpoints.  Don’t photograph anything when we do so.
• At the checkpoints, it’s likely we’ll be searched.  Again, just roll with it.   Don’t be aggressive or attempt to explain your rights to the young, heavily-armed, and bored soldiers who are manning these checkpoints.   They will be interested in your motorcycle and they are only doing their jobs.  Just roll with it.  Be nice.
• We may be stopped on the way into Mexico as soon as we cross the border.  That’s something the Mexican government started doing intermittently a couple of years ago.  Don’t photograph or video anything, and don’t be cute trying to sneak a photo or video.   Again, just be nice and we’ll all be okay.
• I’ve never had anything stolen in Baja, but I’ve never left things laying around, either.  I always keep my wallet on me and I don’t leave anything on my bike (like a cell phone, a GPS, a Go Pro, a helmet, or a camera).

That’s about it as far as guidance goes.  I’ve always found the Mexican people in Baja to be extremely polite and very welcoming.  We’re going to have a good time, folks.

The planning for our 2017 Baja run is shaping up nicely, folks.  We’re 20 days away from liftoff!

Ah, the things we’ll see!   The whales!  The missions!  The prehistoric cave paintings!  The food!  The riding!  Nothing (and I mean nothing) is better than a motorcycle ride through Baja.   You’ll be telling stories about this trip for the rest of your life.  Trust me on this.

The boulder fields in Catavina. The terrain is like no place you’ve ever seen!

The mission in San Ignacio…a 300-year-old church still doing daily duty. We’ll get to go inside and take photos!

The whales! Yep, we’ll get to see them, and we’ll get even closer!

We’ll be on the road from Sunday to Sunday (19 March to 26 March), as outlined in the itinerary below…

Our itinerary…8 days in Baja in RX3 motorcycles!

We’ll have two high mileage days at around 350 miles (you might not think that’s a lot of miles, but trust me on this, trying to get a bunch of folks on motorcycles moving at the same time is like herding cats.

There’s a 14-mile dirt stretch when we go to see the Sierra San Francisco cave paintings, and portions of it are gnarly.   You’ll want to make sure you’re up for this.

Like I said yesterday, you’ll need a full complement of safety gear (a helmet, gloves, a jacket, and boots).   You’ll also need rain gear.  I’ve been doing Baja for 25 years, and in all that time, I’ve only had two trips with no rain.

We’ll be making lots of photo stops.  We cut down on our daily mileage for just that reason., so bring a camera.   You’re going to see things and ride places most people can only dream about.

I may make one change to take us through Coco’s Corner, which adds about 23 miles of dirt to the road.  That would have us spend our next to last night in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez.  I wanted to do that last year but I couldn’t because of the hotel situation.   We’ll see if we can do it this year.   If we do, this is what the map will look like…

Our route. The last two days may change if we can get rooms in San Felipe. We’ll know more later this week, so keep an eye on the blog.

That’s it for now.   Keep an eye on the blog…more info will be forthcoming.

Wow, another Baja prep blog, and this one is on clothing and other personal stuff.

My first bit of advice here is to pack light. Folks who have never been on a big ride tend to bring way too much stuff with them, with the result being an overloaded bike and their always taking too long to get ready in the morning.   Bring what you feel is necessary, but understand that we’re leaving at our scheduled departure time each morning, and if you’re not ready, you’ll have to rejoin the group later that evening at our next destination.  (I know that sounds cold hearted, but it’s the only thing I’ve found that works to get everybody moving on time.)

With the above in mind, here’s what I bring on these trips:

• Tools. I bring enough tools to maintain my bike.  I don’t bring a complete tool kit and I don’t bring enough stuff to rebuild the engine.  I’ll do a blog later in this series on what’s in my tool kit.  Don’t plan on borrowing tools; do plan on bringing only what you need.
• Toilet paper.   Yep, I bring a roll.   You just never know.
• Immodium. I always have it; I’ve never needed it.   It’s an approach that’s worked well for me for the last 25 years.
• GPS and phone.   Thought I’d have a little fun on this one.  I don’t bring a GPS.  I do bring a cell phone, but I don’t use it while I am in Baja.   There’s only one way down and it’s hard to get lost in Baja once we’re past Ensenada.  The only reason I mention this is that I’ve seen guys get absorbed in using their cell phones and their GPS on these rides.   Leave them home, folks.   You won’t need them in Mexico.
• Spares.   Please see my earlier blog on this.  I keep a few spare parts with me.  I’ve never needed anything beyond the chain lube and a little oil, but I like having them.
• Helmet.   Yep, absolutely.   You can ride without a helmet in Mexico, but you can’t do so with us.
• Gloves.   You’ll need these.  I bring an extreme cold weather pair and a regular leather pair.   You don’t want to ride without gloves.
• Boots.   I wear Haix boots.   Boots are important and you should wear a good pair.
• Motorcycle jacket and motorcycle pants.   Absolutely.   I never leave home on two wheels without them.   You’ll want the jacket to have a liner.  It can get cold down there.  If your jacket and pants are not waterproof, you’ll want to bring rain gear, too.
• Sweatshirt. I bring one in case it gets really cold.
• Jeans. I bring one extra pair and I usually never need them.  By the time the ride is over, the jeans I wear can walk home by themselves.
• Underwear. I’ll bring two pair.   I wash one pair each night and alternate them.
• Socks. Same deal; I bring two pair and that’s enough.
• Papers. I carry my Mexican insurance papers and my bike papers in the top case. I keep my passport and my wallet on my person.
• Camera gear.   I’ll bring a Go Pro and my D3300 Nikon DSLR with the 18-55 kit lens (along with a spare battery and a charger).   This gear is good enough for the CSC blog and for magazine work,  and it’s for sure good enough for our ride.   You don’t want to bring a camera store’s worth of inventory with you.   Bring just enough to capture the ride.   I’ve found that you can do world class videos or you can have a motorcycle ride, but you can’t do both.  We have a lot of miles to cover.  I’ll do my best to get you to the best spots for the best photo ops, but we are not going to modify the ride to optimize the videography, and we are not going to delay the ride or redo portions of it to get another take.   One last thought on this:   Safety will always take priority.  Don’t ride dangerously close to others to get a better shot or a better video.
• Toiletries.   I have a small pouch that holds toothpaste, a toothbrush, the pills the docs tell me I need to take now that I’m a geezer, and one or two other small items.
• Laptop computer. I have a small laptop, its power supply, and a mouse.  These things have traveled all over the world with me.  Many of the places we’ll stay at night have wireless service (it’s not lightning fast, but it gets the job done).

On these trips, I carry all of the above in the three stock luggage cases on my RX3 (and I have the stock plastic ones, not the larger Tourfella aluminum bags).  I don’t have any extra bags or other stuff strapped to my bike.  This approach makes it a lot easier if I need to leave the bike (there are no bags bungied in place to fall off or tempt thieves).

Continuing the series on how to prep for the Baja ride, this blog addresses bike preparation.   Here’s something to keep in mind:  This is a 2,000-mile ride and you will have to maintain your own bike.  You absolutely do not want to leave with anything on your bike being sketchy.   I’ve gone on rides with guys who thought they could get one more trip out of a set of tires, or a chain, or without changing their oil.   Folks, that’s a false economy and you don’t want to do leave without your bike being fully prepped.  With that in mind, here are my recommendations:

• Tires.   If your rear tire is the stock CST tire and it has more than 4,000 miles on it, replace it.   The CST tires are great tires and they are inexpensive.   If you are running knobbies and you have more than 2,000 miles on the rear tire, replace it.  Knobbies wear faster than 80/20 ADV tires (like the stock RX3 CST tires).   If your front tire is showing wear, replace it.
• Chain. If your chain is the original equipment RX3 chain and it has more than 3000 miles on it, replace it.  The stock rear chain is only good for 5000 or 6000 miles.  You don’t want to lose a chain in Baja.  The replacement chains we sell are of much higher quality and they last a lot longer.  Adjust your chain before we leave and be prepared to adjust it during the ride.  I will lube my chain every night on our ride and I’ll adjust the chain every 2 days.  You should be prepared to do the same.  Bring your own chain lube with you.  You can buy it from us before we leave, but order it beforehand so we’ll have it for you.
• Brakes. If your brake pads are worn, replace them.  If it’s been more than two years since you’ve replaced your brake fluid, you should do that, too, before we leave.
• Oil. Change your oil and the oil filter before you leave on this trip.  As mentioned earlier, bring a quart of oil with you.
• Valve adjustment.   If your bike will be in the zone for a valve adjustment during our 2000-mile ride, adjust the valves before we leave.
• Clutch.   Check your clutch cable adjustment before we leave.
• Air and fuel filters. If you need a new air filter or a new fuel filter, replace them before we leave.
• Battery. If your battery will be more than a year old or if it is showing any signs of impending doom, install a new battery.  You do not want to have your battery give up the ghost during our ride.
• Spokes. Make sure you don’t have any broken spokes and that all of your spokes are tight.  Don’t overdo it, but do make sure they are crisp.
• Overall fastener condition.   Check all of your fasteners and make sure none are loose.   Common places to check include the fork bolts, the axle nuts, the swingarm, the muffler mounts, and the exhaust pipe, but don’t limit your inspection to only these items.

If you want Gerry to service your bike before we leave, please contact us well in advance of our departure to make an appointment. We’re happy to help you with this, but you need to let us know and you need to give us enough time to service your bike.  Bear in mind that we have 15 bikes or so on this ride, and Gerry’s service department is always busy.

Same comment as before, folks. If you think I’ve missed anything , shoot me a note and I’ll add it to the list.

One question I hear a lot from folks who ride Baja with me is: What should I bring?  There are several sets of answers to that question.   I’ll do my best to address all of them in a series of blogs, with each one addressing each of the following topics:

• Spare parts.
• Personal clothing and riding gear.
• Camera(s).
• Tools.
• Bike preparation.
• Legal stuff (insurance, passports, etc.).

This blog will address spare parts and maintenance items. Here’s what I recommend you bring with you:

• Spare tubes, a tire repair kit, and a tire pump.   This is always a good idea and we sell all of these things.   I carry the electric pump that runs off the RX3’s battery.
• An extra park plug.   I’ve never needed one, but I’ve always carried one.
• A throttle cable and a clutch cable. I once read that it makes sense on an adventure ride to bring these with you, and I’ve done so ever since on all of my motorcycle rides.  I’ve never needed to replace either cable (knock wood), but if and when I do, I’m ready.   You can route the spare cables alongside the existing cables so that you know where they are and they are ready to go when (and if) you need them.
• Oil. My RX3 doesn’t use much oil, but it does use some.  I’m bringing a quart with me to replenish the little bit it does use.  Hey, we’ll be covering about 2000 miles.
• An extra headlight and tail light bulb. On our first Baja ride we had a few people lose their headlight and tail light bulbs.    It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you’ll be glad you have spare bulbs with you.
• Lucas fuel treatment. Sometimes the fuel in Mexico has a little water in it.  This stuff works wonders.  Bring a small bottle with you just in case.
• A spare countershaft sprocket. I’ve never personally experienced this problem, but on our first Baja run with the RX3 my good buddy Justin lost his.   It’s happened to two other people (worldwide) that I know about.   Like I said, I’ve never needed one, but I’ll always carry one.
• A collection of small bolts and nuts.  It’s a motorcycle ride, folks, and it’s a long one.   Things shake off.  If you want, we’ll make up a fastener care package and price it for you.  Better to not need it and have it than it would be to need it and not have it.

More good news, and this is only for the fortunate few riding Baja with us this year.   Steve is going to knock 20% off the price of any of the items listed above if you buy them for the Baja trip.  Order the above items now and we’ll have them ready for you when you arrive.  If you don’t order them now, we may be temporarily sold out when you arrive.

Oh, and that dirt road in the photo above?  Don’t worry about that.   Nearly all of our riding will be on asphalt, and the little bit we do off road will be optional.  That particular road is the route to the cave paintings, and like I said, that’s only if you’re up for it.

That’s it for now.  Watch for the next writeup in this series of Baja preparation blogs.  And if you think I’ve missed anything, shoot me an email and let me know!

Highway 39 headed up to Crystal Lake…it’s going to be a great ride!

Folks, we’re riding up to Crystal Lake in the San Gabriel Mountains this Saturday.   I’m so excited about the ride that I may just roll up there sometime this week to check out the route.   Hey, any excuse for a motorcycle ride (not that I need an excuse)!

We have something like 12 or 13 people who are riding with us and it will be awesome.  You may want to bring a camera (it’s beautiful up there).   You’ll want to arrive at the plant prior to 9:00 a.m. (a CSC ride waits for no man) with a full tank of fuel.  We’ll have coffee and donuts available at the plant.  If you want to have breakfast before we leave there’s a Starbucks right across the street (you know, in case you ride a GS).  You’ll want to be ready to roll at 9:00, because that’s when we’re leaving!

Chances are the weather will be brisk (so dress for it), but I can also guarantee you that it will be beautiful up there.  With all of the rain we’ve been having this winter, the hills are as green as I’ve ever seen them.  It’s going to be great and I’m looking forward to seeing you.

My good buddy Jerry sent this photo to me.  It’s not every day you see an RX3 parked in the brigade’s Command Sergeant Major spot, but then Jerry is not an every day kind of guy…

Jerry wears the absolute highest NCO rank in the US Army…the exalted Command Sergeant Major designation.  When I was in the Army the senior NCOs ran the show and the CSM ran the senior NCOs.  The senior NCOs in the US Army were and are amazing, and the brigade CSM is at the apex of the real leaders who make things happen.   I think the entire time I was in the Army, I met only one Command Sergeant Major.  I was a lowly lieutenant in awe of my platoon sergeant, and a Command Sergeant Major is about a zillion levels above a platoon sergeant.

Jerry is in the same branch of the Army I was in way back when (that’s a photo of me with my platoon sergeant more than 40 years ago).   Jerry wrote to me a couple of years ago asking about the RX3 and we’ve had a number of great conversations about motorcycles, the RX3, and the US Army since then.   Jerry knows a good thing when he sees it, and he was one of the first guys to get an RX3.

Jerry, thanks for sending that photo to me.  It made my day.