Hey there friends! Wanted to do my first ‘Showcase’ motorcycle, and not too long ago I found the perfect candidate.
This RX3 is completely loaded! It has a couple cool things that I wanted to point out. The first thing is the Roto-Pax fuel can with custom mounting solution attached to the forward crash bar. I’m in love with the placement and functionality of this mod. The mount includes a lock to keep people from stealing your fuel, and speaking of that, he mentioned the can orientation. I didn’t put a second thought into it but the spout is face down. That way no one can open it up to siphon fuel out, or to put anything nasty in! He also has a set of Tourfella Boxes with the additional mounting racks. These things are huge!
DrySpec Tube installed on the forward crash bars.
On the left side of the bike is a DrySpec Tool Tube. These things are pretty inexpensive, and come with just about everything you could want, including the appropriate sized drill bit!
Stock photo from Twisted Throttle
The chances of getting lost with this setup is close to zero.
After talking with the owner and preparing this post, I received an update. In addition to what he has already done, he installed the 19″ front wheel, upgraded the stock tires to a more dirt worthy type (The brand and model of which I simply cannot remember), installed the better skid plate offered through CSC, and added aftermarket highway pegs! This thing is a beast, and I thought you all should have a chance to ogle it like I did!
Foldable highway pegs available from Cycle Gear. The mounting process, however, was highly modified.Fantastic photography from the owner! (Omitting his name out of respect)
The list keeps going:
Hand guards? Check.
Upgraded seat? Check.
Additional spot lights? Check.
Kick stand base? Check.
Center stand? Check.
The best part about this is he isn’t done! He pointed out that there is still plenty of space available under the seat in the rear wheel well, and he has plans to rig a custom mounting solution. All in all, this RX3 is loaded. Thank you for allowing me to photograph and share your bike with the community! And thank all of you for stopping by. I’ll have more content to come shortly!
-Mike
From front right to rear: Evan, Me, Matt, Josh, Christian. Fantastic bunch of people!
Hey there friends, and welcome back! This last Saturday 11FEB17, I proved once again that the ADV community is the friendliest, most welcoming, and passionate group of people you could possibly associate yourself with. I mean every word of that! What started as a purchase over FaceBook turned into the most fun I’ve had in years. I was in the market for a center stand for my RX3, and decided to check on the used market. I started on the CSC RX3 Owner’s Page. Straight away I found one for sale and decided to scoop it up. The guy selling it, Matt, ended up being a great guy and invited me to join him on an off-road adventure through the desert! So here I am, trying to decided if I’m ready to trust a stranger, drive 130 miles at 5:00 AM to meet up with another group of strangers, and follow them blindly another 100 miles through the desert on a bike I’ve never taken in the dirt, then (Assuming my bike was still in one piece), drive the 130 miles back home. Of course I said yes! I could not be happier that I did!
The meet-up point! (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
The Meet-up point was a small lot full of truck with empty trailers. I assumed they were already out in the desert having fun. But I’m jumping ahead. Let me take a second and start from the beginning: My house. I left at just after 5:00 AM, wanting to make sure I made it the 130 miles to the meet-up point before 8:30 AM. Should’t be a problem, right? My weather app says it’s going to be partly cloudy with no rain, so things should be smooth sailing. Wrong. I made it about 70 miles before the fog rolled in. It was so think I could’t see the tail light of the car 5 meters in front of me. Can’t get worse than this at least, I though incorrectly. At about the 80 mile mark it just dumped water on me. My RX3’s windscreen was doing a decent job of keeping my chest dry, but it was also keeping the wind from blowing the water off my helmet’s face shield. I was wearing jeans and a pair of tennis shoes (I know, I know), and I was drenched. My teeth were chattering and my fingers were aching from the cold. I thought more than once about turning back. I got to the meet-up point a couple minutes late, and the whole gang was already there. We made our introductions. As I looked around I noticed the guys were all wearing tennis shoes as well. I don’t feel so stupid now! I thought. As we were making our final preparations, to my horror, every single person in the group took off their tennis shoes and strapped on a pair of riding boots. I groaned inwardly.
Fuel top-off and a Safety/Route brief by our leader and navigator Evan. (Photo credit: Christian Almen)
We made a final stop a few miles away from our meet-up point for fuel and a final route & safety brief. We set up our riding order with Evan in front as our leader and navigator, and me right behind him since I had the least amount of experience in the dirt. Evan had a KLR650 which is up front in the above photo. I was behind him on my CSC Rx3, and behind us were three CSC TT250 dirt bikes! The ‘China bikes’ were out in force today! Except for that big ol’ Japanese bike leading us of course! The route was to be about 80 miles of mixed hard pack dirt, loose rocky terrain, and loose sand. Suddenly I was thankful for the rain. I have zero experience in the sand, and rather than get too nervous about it, which I was to an extent, I decided to think of it as a great opportunity to get the experience I need to be competent the next time I ride through it! Then we were off!
Hard pack roads! This was the easy part! We were headed around that mountain in the distance. (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
We started off innocently enough, with a trip around the Lockheed facility. We kept our distance from the barbed wire fences and stayed on the road. These roads were large enough to have full sized vehicles on them with no issue at all, which I think was the point. Just as I was starting to get nervous that the whole trip was going to be on these easy roads the trail just dropped. Literally. Cut right across the road was a two foot wide and about a foot deep trench. Not a big deal, for everyone but me. I went straight into that ditch and at the last second I throttled back hard, trying to get the front wheel up in time. I didn’t get it up in time… After smacking my helmet onto the top of my windscreen I decided to pay far, far more attention. I managed to stay on the bike, but I may have bent my front wheel. I’ll talk about that at the end.
My licence plate flew off right at the beginning! Zip ties it is then! (Photo credit: Josh Taylor)Evan turned out to be a fantastic leader! I’d follow him any day!Having a blast on a beautiful day…for now! (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
As the hard-pack fell away we found a few hundred feet of loose sand. The rain had managed to firm it up a little bit, but this was new to me. I managed to muddle through it (Pun intended) by placing both feet out and ‘walking’ the bike as I carefully loosed the clutch to keep my rear wheel moving. If worked out okay, and I made it through! I probably looked like a baby deer trying to stand for the first time but, hey! I was walking damn it! By this point we had one of the TT250’s go down with no damage. The sand can be merciless.
Gutted out house in the desert! (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
Evan is great at finding interesting stuff for us to see. We found a gutted out house with an in ground pool. We decided this would be a great spot to take a quick break. We got back to the ride a few minutes later and started heading towards lunch! On the way there we found a cool train underpass and decided it would be a great idea to snap some pictures!
Can’t believe I got this shot! Train was flying!Lined up in style!
Had a chuckle at Evan’s expense as he ran back to the bikes to get in the shot before the camera went off! (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
There were two ways to get to lunch: The road, or the dirt. What the hell are we here for eh? Dirt it was and this was the most challenging part of the ride for me. We followed the railroad tracks on what I think was a very unkempt service road. This thing had it all: Soaking mud puddles, sandy ridges, steep hill climbs, and the most nerve wracking steep decent I’ve ever seen. The route was tough for me, as it would go from mud, to hard-pack, straight into sand at some points. About half-way through the route, we came across a house on our left. It had a small chicken coop in the back yard, and a six foot fence around the property. I remember looking for a quick second at the chickens, it registered that they existed but I paid them no more mind. I felt the ground under me get really soft, my front wheel was beginning to wash out. The sand was about to get me again. Suddenly, from out of no where, this rooster flies (jumps!?) over the fence and right toward me. I’m in the middle of trying to save myself from a face full of dirt, but this rooster was having none of my shit. He nearly jumped right into me. I was so startled I righted my bike and throttled down to get away from the little monster. I think he actually saved me! I later found out there was a second one that jumped over the fence and hassled the guys behind me. What a day! If you own that farm, I apologize your animals got out, but I think they scared me as much as I scared them.
Lined up at the top of the hill! I was extremely nervous here. The rain was coming. (Photo credit: Josh Taylor)
It may not seem instantly obvious from the above photo, but this was a monster of a hill. As we got to the top of it all I could think was, If I drop it here I’m done for, and the bike would have been done too. This hill was a curving drop about 80 feet down at a severe angle. I’m gonna make an un-educated guess and say it was at least 40 degrees.Evan gives me a few words of wisdom on how to get down this thing, and takes off without hesitation. He made it to the bottom without a hitch. Since I’m next, I took a deep breath and just went. If I was going to wreck, than I was going to wreck. No use thinking about the consequences… And besides, this was the only way down… I start slow, and as I make it around the first immediate bend I start to pulse my rear brake. Evan made it incredibly clear not to touch my front brake, and I took that as gospel. The tire kept locking, the sound of dirt tires dragging against rock, and the clanking sound the bike was making when I pounded on the pedal were difficult to drown out as I focused on staying up-right. Even with the pulsing I was picking up speed at a rapid pace. Near the bottom of the grade the slope got even worse, and the pulsing was no longer working. I was having a hard time steering, and finally I just let off the brake all together, and grabbed the clutch lever in. I coasted to the bottom where a pool of lose baby head sized rock smashed against my skid plate, my front suspension bottoming out hard. I made it. I was sweating bullets as I pulled up to Evan, who gave me the thumbs up. Everyone else made it down without incident, and learned a few very valuable real world lessons. Finally, it was lunch time!
The food here was excellent!
We ate lunch for about an hour. The rain had just started as we arrived, and we discussed whether or not we were going to keep going. We agreed that we would, but we would take a shorter route.
I had the ‘Hobo Skillet’. It was great!
The rain was really starting to pick up again as we started our trek back. My face shield had to stay up to prevent fogging, which just got my glasses wet. Visibility was an issue. All my clothes and gear were soaked again.
It was just beginning. (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
We decided to cut the route even shorter, and started directly back to the highway. We made it to the highway a short time later. We had another spill on the way there, but nothing serious. The TT250, again, took it on the chin without any issues. The rider was okay too! We made our way to a gas station to get some hot chocolate and warm up for a bit. Evan treated up, he’s a stand up guy!
The sun was finally creeping out! (Photo credit: Evan Brown)
After this we made our way back to the start point, said our goodbyes, and headed home. It was 3:30 PM, and I had another few hours of riding ahead of me. I realized when I got home at 7:00 PM that I had been in that saddle of that RX3 for the better part of 16 hours that day. When I finally post my review of the RX3, the seat is something I’m going to have to criticize.
To wrap things up I just want to say I had an amazing time with these guys, and I would ride with any or all of them again in a split second! The bikes held up amazingly, with only a bent clutch pedal and some scratches to show for the day. My RX3 got about 330 miles, and it handled the day far better than I did. My back was killing me and I passed out just as soon as I got home.
My only real issue for the day was my front wheel. I’m getting some shake (up and down) on the handlebars that is very noticeable at low speeds up to 50 and less so at highway speed. It was doing this before the ride, so I don’t really think I bent my wheel. I’ll look into it soon.
Worth every penny.I got that dirt I was begging for! Skid plate paid for itself twice already!
For all you guys that took me out there, you have my sincerest thanks! I had an amazing time and I cannot wait to do it again! And thank you all for allowing me to use your photos on my page. Feel free to leave links to your videos and pictures in the comments of you like!
Saturday turned out to be a great day for me! Since I’m active duty, married, and have a 3 month old getting out of the house for a full day can be something of a challenge at times. I’ve been following the CSC Official Blog for the past few months (As we all should be eh?) written by CSC’s own Joe Berk. They host a ride on the first Saturday of each month. I’ve missed it up to now but I went out of my way to make sure I was available for this one! It wasn’t easy, but oh so worth it!
The first stop was the CSC Plant, naturally! I’m about 60 or so miles of highway travel from there, so no big deal right? Well… I’m still technically in the break in period on this bike, and the service manual says specifically not to rev the engine past 6000 rpm’s at this stage. Well I broke the Hell outta’ that rule cruising gracefully at 8000 rpm’s the whole ride. That put me at about 68-72 mph. Very comfortable for early morning highway 101 traffic. Bike didn’t seem to care…I got to the plant at about 8:30. Outside they had the complete line-up of CSC bikes. The RC3 street bike was calling my name, but as I mounted one images of my wife setting me on fire filled my mind. Inside I was greeted by none other than the Owner Steve, the world famous Joe Berk, and the Lead Mechanic Gerry. After a brief introduction I was whisked into the back shop area for a tour. I had heard through reviews and the FaceBook page that Gerry was a good guy, but Holy Cow I was not prepared. Not only did I get a first class tour of the facility, but after I expressed that I was ready to do my first valve adjustment and was a bit leery about it, Gerry grabbed a spare engine from a shelf and gave me a 20-minute tutorial on how to do it! I really wish I had grabbed some pictures of all this, but I got so caught up I let time get away from me and before I knew it, it was time to leave. Joining us on our ride was Joe and Duane on their RX3’s, as well as Richard who brought his personal bike. I’m pretty sure it was a Suzuki Burgman 650, but if not I apologize Richard!
Richard, Joe, Duane, and Me having breakfast at the Rock Store (Credit: Joe Berk)
Out first destination was straight to the celebrity hang-out and incredibly well known Rock Store on the equally infamous Mullholand Drive. We had an easy enough time getting there, minus the police slowing all lanes of traffic on the 101 to allow a street sweeper to pass. It was oddly slow at the Rock Store when we walked in. We ordered breakfast and had a chance to get to know each other better. Turns out 3 of the four of us were/are military and the other was in the security business! Go figure!
The Rock Store! No celebrities today though. Except us of course!Grisel and Duane outside the Rock Store (Credit: Joe Berk)
Outside the Rock Store we were greeted by Grisel, a native of Chile on her Orange RX3. That made three orange RX3’s and one blue. It should be common knowledge at this point that the orange RX3 is the fastest! Interesting contrast in this photo. The orange RX3 closest to the camera here is Joe’s. Paint fading in the sun seemed to be a complaint among the buyers of the original models after they were first imported to the US. Now take a look the other two orange bikes in the back. See the difference there? I will admit Joe’s bike is about two years older and much more heavily used than mine or Grisel’s, but talking with Gerry confirmed that CSC got the paint changed to a higher quality that is far less likely to fade. A consequence of that, or in my opinion, an upgrade, was a different shade of orange.
Bikes lined up outside the Rock Store. It’s usually much busier here! Apparently Sunday is the day to go!
We had no less than four separate people approach us and begin questioning us on what these bike were. Of course we were happy to oblige. I met one man with a heavy Austrian accent who asked where the bike was made, because he did not recognize the CSC logo. Normally when I say it’s made in China I get the eye roll, but this guy straight up asked me if it was made by Zongshen. My jaw just about dropped. Joe went so far as to allow a complete stranger to take his bike for a test ride. Gerry, who apparently had been looking seriously into buying an RX3 just happened to be at the Rock Store, and after his test ride he decided to join us on the rest of our trip! He was riding a WR250R Dual sport, and with our newest rider we took off again!
Parked at the Snake! (Credit: Joe Berk)
Our next stop was at the infamous Snake curve on Mullholland. We were only here for about 10 minutes, but in that short time I was reminded of why I made this blog. A couple of guys riding liter bikes parked next to use began having a conversation about our RX3’s. I overheard him say ‘Chinese crap’ and ‘Unreliable’. I guess I can’t fault him for expressing his opinion, I can only do my best tell the real story.
The beautiful view from the Snake!
Getting back on the road took us back down the mountain and down toward the Pacific. The air cooled noticeably as we hit the Pacific Coast Highway. We made out way to the last stop in the ride. It’s a small dirt lot people gather at to take pictures at, and with good reason!
Beautiful view of the Pacific and the PCH!
It was at this point that we all took our final photos and said our goodbyes. This is why we ride right? To meet new people. To see new places. I had an absolute blast, and I truly hope I get the opportunity to do it again soon!
Left to right: Duane, Richard, Me, Gerry, and Grisel (Credit: Joe Berk)
P.S. Joe, I apologize for using so many of your photos. You just took so many damn good ones!!
Hey there friends! Time for our first tutorial, and boy are we easing into this one. I’ve picked what is probably the easiest possible thing you can do to an RX3. This tutorial is more of an excuse to show what the bike looks like without the top box installed. On the ChinaRiders forums this seems to be a common question, especially from prospective buyers who want to know before they buy. So of course I’ll be including pictures of that.
My initial thought for taking it off was I wanted to reduce weight & drag, as well as give the bike a sleeker look. After a hundred miles or so down the Pacific Coast Highway I can say it made no noticeable difference. What will make a noticeable difference is changing your sprockets, but I’ll get into that in another post.
No top box!
TOOLS NEEDED
Ratchet wrench
8mm and 10mm sockets
(Note: There are no written torque values available for this install as far as I have been able to find. It isn’t in the service manual and I haven’t been able to find them online either.)
Top Box with hardware.Rear Grab Bar without the Top Box.
INSTALL THE TOP BOX CONNECTING PLATE
Make sure you install the connecting plate bushing underneath the plate before you start tightening any fasteners.
You like that wavy arrow!?
Also make sure you get all the bolts lined up and at least hand tightened before you wrench on anything. If you tighten down the bolts closest to the seat before you install the Allen head bolts, the holes may not line up with the threaded ports underneath.
INSTALL THE TOP BOX USING THE 3 ALLEN BOLTS & WASHERS
Tighten these bolts down because if they are loose the box will rattle. However, do not over tighten them or you will break the bolts. It might be a good Idea to apply some adhesive to these if you don’t plan on removing the box or upgrade them.
TOP BOX REMOVAL
To remove the top box, you litterally need to follow this guide exactly…in reverse. Some of you think I’m being sarcastic but I’m being honest!
HERE IS THE FINAL PRODUCT
Fine job friends! Time to grab a beer and relax.
Do you guys have any questions or comments about this? Hit me up at the contact link at the top of the page or leave me a comment. Again, 99% of you could all do this without a tutorial, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. Thanks for dropping by and stay safe on the road friends!
Hey there everyone! Welcome to my site. My name is Mike, and in this post I’m going to give you a quick and dirty of who I am and what you can expect to find on this site.
WHO AM I?
Firstly, I’m an active duty U.S. Navy Seabee. Don’t know what that is? Don’t blame ya, most people don’t. If you do know, well then next round’s on me. Sometimes my language may be a bit rough but I’ll do my best to keep it PG. I’m a happily married man with a beautiful baby daughter who brings more joy to my life than I ever expected. I recently came home from an overseas deployment and decided it was high time to pick up a new motorcycle. I’ll get into the weeds on that in a later post but long story short, I bought a CSC RX3 Cyclone, and I couldn’t be happier.
WHAT IS THIS PLACE?
I created this site for a couple reasons. There is a serious concern in the moto world about these new Chinese motorcycles that are currently invading our shores. These bikes are greeted with skepticism, confusion, and often times…scorn. I’m here to take rip the curtains off that mystery and help others who may be interested in purchasing a new RX3, or other CSC motorcycle to make informed decisions. How am I going to do that? Good question, here’s a list. I know how you like your lists.
Answering questions. All of them. If I can’t answer it, I’ll fight hard to find the answer for you.
Tutorials, to include step by step instructions with high quality photos for each step of the process.
Pictures, of my ride, my work, my trips, my mods, and the beautiful places my bike takes me.
Articles about the moto world. I’m not a flippin’ paid journalist so I’m not going to blow your pants off with my pitch perfect writing. In fact I’m much more likely to ruffle your feathers with my poor vocabulary and even worse spelling. Thank you spellcheck.
Resources: There are plenty of places on the net that I can help shed some light on. Need parts? Discussions? Forums? Event registrations? I’ve got your back.
WHO I’M NOT:
Though much of my content will be positive, I want to emphasize that I am not an employee of CSC motorcycles, and I’m not making any money by creating or maintaining this website. I’m just a guy who loves his bike and wants to share it with the world. I will do my best to keep my content honest, and present it to you in a manner that points out its flaws as well as its strengths. I’m a firm believer in never ‘complaining’ without offering a solution. So wherever I have the experience or know-how to make an informed, safe suggestion to a known issue, I will.
If any of this stuff interests you, go ahead and bookmark me. Put me at the bottom of the bookmark list, I don’t mind! Just check in on me every once in a while and please, do not hesitate to ask me anything, or to request content. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your time and support.
The Greasy Spanner 