Author: Joe Berk

Installing Lee’s Auto-Drum Powder Measure

By Joe Berk

After mounting the Lee Classic Turret Press, the next step is to install the auto-drum powder measure on the expander die.  This blog focuses on doing so.  The auto-drum powder measure is a well-engineered device.  As I installed and adjusted the Lee auto-drum, I was impressed with its design and build quality.

The Lee auto-drum powder measure in its carton. As always, the packaging and the included instructions are excellent.

The auto-drum powder measure includes the bottle, the bottle top, two adjustment keys, two quick change drums, the auto-drum tightening screw, and the body.

Lee auto-drum powder measure components.

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In addition to the above, Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit includes a powder measure riser.  It’s used to raise the auto-drum powder measure so it clears the safety primer feed when the turret rotates.  We’ll cover installation of the Lee safety primer feed in the next blog.

Lee’s Powder Measure Riser as packaged from the factory.
Lee’s powder measure riser includes the body, the tube, and an o-ring.

The photo below shows the auto-drum body.  It’s a die-cast part what includes the auto-drum (the black cylindrical subassembly inside the silver die casting).   As the Lee turret press ram is raised, the cartridge case pushes a cylinder in the riser up.  The upward movement of that cylinder actuates a lever (the black piece on the auto-drum, which rotates the drum).    There’s a cavity in the drum that fills with powder when it is aligned with the bottle.  When the drum rotates, the cavity holding powder rotates to align with the expander die, and a fixed amount of powder drops through the expander die into the brass cartridge case below.  It’s a clever approach.

Lee’s auto-drum powder measure body.

The central part of the auto-drum consists of three molded black plastic subassemblies.  These are the screw subassembly, the cover, and the drum.  You unscrew the screw (shown on the left in the photo below) and the drum can be removed from the auto-drum body.

Lee’s auto-drum body disassembled, showing from left to right the screw subassembly, the body, and the drum.

The drum is where the powder amount is defined.  There’s a cavity shown by the red arrow in the photo below.  The amount of powder the drum drops can be adjusted by making changes in the volume of this cavity.

A macro shot of the drum. The cavity indicated by the arrow is what determines the powder volume.

There’s a threaded adjustor in the drum that is 0pposite the cavity.   The top of this threaded adjustor is the bottom of the drum’s cavity.  Screwing it in reduces the powder volume; screwing it out increases the powder volume.

The screw indicated by the red arrow moves in or out to adjust powder volume.

Lee provides two hex keys for making the powder volume adjustments.

The auto-drum hex key used for adjusting powder volume.
The hex key inserted in the powder drum adjustment screw.

There’s a place in the drum body to store the key, or you can simply leave it in the threaded adjustor (which is what I do).

As mentioned in an earlier blog, I decided to use Accurate No. 5 propellant for my 9mm reloads.  It’s one of several propellants listed in Lee’s Modern Reloading manual for use with the 124-grain plated bullet, and it’s a powder on I had on hand.

You go to war with the army you have. I had Accurate No. 5.  I usually prefer Unique for 9mm, but I use that powder for other cartridges and I didn’t want to use it up. Accurate No. 5 seems to be in stock everywhere these days and I had some on hand, so it was my choice.  As you’ll see in a later blog, that was a good move.
Lee’s Modern Reloading book (see our earlier review) had 9mm loads for a plated 124-grain bullet using Accurate No. 5.

I loaded two loads for my initial 9mm evaluations.  One was with 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5; the other was with 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5.

The Lee safety powder scale, part of the classic turret press kit, adjusted to 5.2 grains.

After zeroing my Lee safety powder scale, I set it at 5.2 grains.  I used the Lee dipper to add powder to the scale until the beam balanced.  The Lee powder dipper (provided with the Lee 9mm dies) makes a good powder trickler.

Using the Lee dipper to add exactly 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 to the scale.

Once I had 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 in the Lee safety scale (indicated by the balance beam), I transferred that amount to the Lee drum.

Right on the money.

Initially, the powder was well below the surface of the drum.   The idea here is to use the auto-drum key to screw in the adjuster until the surface of the powder in the drum cavity is approximately flush with the surface of the drum.  This is to get the drum adjustment close to the desired powder amount (in this case, 5.2 grains).  This is a coarse adjustment.  We’ll dial in the adjustment once the auto-drum is reassembled.

After pouring 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 in the auto drum powder cavity, I used the adjustment screw to bring the powder charger level with the drum surface.

After accomplishing the above, I poured the powder into the powder bottle and I reassembled the auto-drum into the auto-drum powder measure.

Next, I removed the fitting and its o-ring from the expander die.

The Lee powder through expander die. I removed the fitting indicated by the red arrow so I could install the auto-drum powder measure.
I kept the o-ring with the expander die fitting. The riser, which installs in the expander die, includes its own o-ring.

After removing the expander die fitting, I replaced it with the Lee auto-drum riser.

The riser is included in the Lee classic turret press kit.
The riser includes three pieces: The riser body, an o-ring, and the cylinder.
The riser installed in the expander die.

After installing the riser, I then threaded the auto-drum powder measure into the expander die as shown below.

The auto-drum powder measure screws into the riser above the expander die.  The black thumbwheel tightens the auto-drum powder measure in the riser.
The auto-drum powder measure installed on the riser and the expander die. With each upward press stroke, the cartridge case pushed the riser cylinder up, which pushes the auto-drum’s lever, which rotates the drum and drops the powder through the die into the cartridge case. Clever, indeed.

The Lee auto-drum powder bottle and its cap are what hold the powder.  The cap is a red molded plastic piece with an on-off valve at its base.  The  cap’s valve is closed after adding powder to the bottle or removing the bottle from the auto-drum powder measure.   It is opened after the bottle is installed in the auto-drum powder measure.  When closed, it prevents powder from spilling out of the bottle when the bottle is removed from the powder measure.

The auto-drum powder measure bottle cap and its open-close valve (the black drum at the cap’s base). The valve rotates to open or close.

After adding powder to the bottle, threading the bottle top onto the bottle, and closing the cap’s valve, we can invert the bottle and place it on top of the auto-drum powder measure.   There’s a raised rib on the bottle cap valve and a groove in the auto-drum die casting to align the bottle with the auto-drum powder measure.

Accurate No. 5 powder in the auto-drum powder measure bottle.
The auto-drum powder measure bottle with its cap installed.
The auto-drum powder measure bottle cap valve has a raised rib that fits into the auto-drum body. This axially aligns the bottle with the body.
The body notch that accepts the bottle cap valve rib.
The auto-drum powder measure installed on the expander die. The arrows show where the bottle fits into the auto-drum body.

At this point, I placed an empty cartridge case (with a spent primer) in the shellholder and fully raised the ram to run the cartridge case into the expander die.  This expanded the case mouth and actuated the auto-disk powder measure to dispense approximately 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder into the case.   When I lowered the ram, I could see the case with powder in it.  Note that I used a cartridge case with a spent primer only because I was setting up the auto-drum powder measure on the press.  Ordinarily, in the normal operation of this press, the cartridge case would have a new primer in it.

A cartridge case that has been expanded and charged with powder.

Remember that my initial adjustment was a crude one, accomplished by screwing in the auto-drum adjustor to bring the powder level approximately level with the auto-drum’s surface.  The next step is to dial in the auto-drum cavity adjustment such that the auto-drum dispenses exactly 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5.  To do this, I took the powder in the case (shown above), poured it into the Lee safety scale pan, and checked the weight on the safety scale.

Pouring the cartridge case contents into the Lee safety scale pan.

I found that I was a little bit under 5.2 grains of powder.  I expected this, as I couldn’t get the auto-drum cavity completely full of powder for the coarse adjustment described above.  I made an adjustment to increase the amount of powder dispensed by turning out (i.e., unscrewing) the auto-drum cavity adjustor by a quarter of a turn.

The initial charge was a bit light, as will typically be the case when dialing in the auto-drum powder measure. I increased the volume by turning the volume adjustment out with the hex key.

After an attempt or two at adjusting the auto-drum, I had the dispensed powder amount exactly where I wanted it:  5.2 grains.

Bingo! 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5.

I am impressed with the Lee auto-drum powder measure.  I like the fact that it automatically dispenses powder with each stroke of the press handle if there is a cartridge case going into the expander die, and I like that it can be infinitely adjusted.  Older designs used fixed (i.e., non-adjustable) cavities that dispensed fixed power amounts.  The infinite adjustment feature of this powder dispensing device is a better approach.  I also like that the cartridge case remains directly in front of you after the press is lowered (unlike a progressive reloader, in which the cartridge case may be on the other side of the press when it is charged).  With the Lee classic turret press kit and its included auto-drum powder measure, you can see that each case has been charged with powder and that you have not inadvertently double-charged the case.   And, if anything is not as it should be, you can easily remove the cartridge from the shellholder, correct the problem, and continue.  On a progressive press, this is much more difficult to do.

This brings us to where I want to be in today’s blog.  So far, our blogs described mounting the bench plate, installing the press, intalling and adjusting the first two dies (the resizing die and the expander die), and adjusting the Lee auto-drum powder measure to dispense precisely the amount of powder required.  Tomorrow, we’re going to cover installing the Lee primer feed and making final adjustments to the bullet seating and factory crimp dies.  Stay tuned.

One of the best places to buy Lee equipment is on Amazon.

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Here are links to our earlier blogs on Lee reloading equipment:

Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Meet Bobbie Surber, our newest ExNotes writer

By Joe Berk

A couple of months ago Joe Gresh wrote a blog seeking new writers.  We picked up Mike Huber, who we already knew from a couple of guest blogs, we have another guy who may come on board (more about that when it’s confirmed), and most recently, Bobbie Surber agreed to join the ExNotes team.

Bobbie’s Tiger. Blue is the fastest color on a Triumph.

Bobbie is the real deal.  She raised four daughters, she’s a construction manager, she’s a rider, and she’s a writer.  I know Bobbie rode a G 310 GS BMW all over Baja, she rides a blue Triumph Tiger these days (I used to ride a blue Triumph Tiger, so I know she has good judgement), and she did the Vietnam adventure ride with Mike Huber (a ride you read about on these pages).

Bobbie on her BMW GS in Monument Valley.

Bobbie is an adventurer and she writes well.  She will be bringing stories to us on all the above and more, and to start, Bobbie is writing a series on hiking the famed Camino de Santiago across Spain, Portugal, and France.  The first installment of this European adventure is going in the queue in the next few days, and I think you will enjoy it.   I sure did.

Stay tuned; as always, there are more good stories coming your way.

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Charles Darwin, Alive and Well

You know those signs that tell you not to drive into flooded areas?

Every time I’d see one, I always wondered about the target audience.  I mean, who would be stupid enough to drive into a flooded area?  And if they were that stupid…well, maybe ol’ Darwin had the right idea.

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Based on the cover photo, you may have already guessed where this story is going.  I don’t have to look very far to find someone stupid enough to “enter when flooded.”  I see that guy in the mirror every morning when I shave.

You see, there’s a creek that flows across the dirt road out to the West End Gun Club.   I’ve been driving across it for close to 40 years now.  Most of the year, it’s a dry creek bed. After a rainy spell, we’ve had times when it was so obviously flooded I wouldn’t attempt to cross it.  Most of the time.  But other times when the water was flowing, it didn’t look bad enough or deep enough to keep me from taking a chance.  I mean, what could go wrong?

I guess I’m one of those guys who has to urinate on the electric fence to see for himself.  Yep, I finally got stuck, and stuck good.  I always figured with my all wheel drive Subie I could get out of anything.  But you know, AWD ain’t the same as 4WD.    Something I learned today.

When I heard the underside of the Subie hit the ground on the ledge (that was now more of a bank than a ledge), it hit hard.  I felt it as much as heard it.  I was in trouble.  I tried to back out, but I knew from the downward facing hood the Subie’s butt was in the air and I could feel the front wheels spinning in the water.  I was balanced on the bank, and I could feel the car rocking and pivoting slightly to the right.  It was like being in a formulaic movie or a bad dream when a car has gone out of control and is hanging over a cliff.  I opened the door and the bank was directly under the opening, and as I looked at the ground, the bank was eroding.  In the wrong direction.  Water started coming over the door sill and into the car.

I beat a hasty exit out the passenger door.   Other folks going to the range, wondering if they could cross, had stopped and were watching me.   I had set the example.  The spectators tried to help by pulling down on the rear bumper.   It did no good.  I was high sided, and if anything, the car was moving more toward the stream, which was starting to look like Niagara Falls.  Yikes.

I called the Auto Club, but they put me on hold.  The bank continued to give way under my Subie, so I called 911.  They took my info and I never heard from them again, nor did anybody show.  You know the old saying…when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away.  The other spectators drifted away.  I was on my own.

Then a miracle occurred.  Good buddy Lee, who I met for the first time this morning, came by in a Jeep.  A real Jeep.  With a winch.  We connected (literally and figuratively), but it was no good.  As the winch did its thing, it dragged the Jeep toward the Subie.  Lee and I looked at my  situation.  Lee put boulders in front of the Jeep’s wheels, and the winch dragged them along, too.  “If I could hook up to another vehicle,” Lee said, “we could make this work.”

Then the second miracle occurred.  Another newly-met good buddy named Aaron rolled up in a big Dodge pickup.  He hooked up to Lee’s Jeep, Lee hit the winch button, and just like that (with some God-awful undercarriage scraping and grinding), I was free.   For a few seconds, I thought my future held a commission as a U-boat commander, but no more.  Lee and Aaron, wherever you are, thanks much!

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Setting Up Lee’s Classic Turret Press

By Joe Berk

This blog outlines the first steps in setting up the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit. Although it’s easy, there are a lot of steps and it’s more than you or I want to cover in a single blog.  I’ll present additional blogs covering this topic in the coming days.

The Lee Classic Turret Press includes good instructions. The kit includes the turrent press, the handle, a spent primer catch tube, primer arms, and hardware.

After the turret press has been secured to your reloading bench (you can view the Lee bench plate installation blog here), attach the primer catch tube to the barb fitting beneath the ram.

This barbed fitting on the ram underside captures ejected primers.
The primer catch tube attaches to the barb.
The primer catch tube installed. It’s nice not having primers falling out. This is a well-thought-through design.

Lee provides a clear plastic bag containing the hardware items you see below.

The handle bolt and fittings, the lock ring wrench, and two primer arms (one for small primers, the other for large primers).
The handle attaching hardware.

You can install the press handle to operate the press from either the left side or the right side.  I installed mine on the right side.  To do this, install the bolt from the left side and the two fittings (one goes inside the other) on the right side of the ram linkage.

Intallation of the handle’s half-inch bolt and the fittings in the ram attach point.

Insert the press handle on through the fitting, and then tighten the bolt.

The handle installed on the Lee turret press.

After installing the press handle, you can operate the press to cycle the ram. Each time you do so by raising and the lowering the ram, the turret head will advance a quarter turn (or 90 degrees) counterclockwise.  At this point, it’s a good idea to oil the ram, the ram linkage, and the turret.  I used gun oil on my press.  Lee states in their instructions that any gun oil will do.

The lower arrow points to the ram. The upper arrow points to the twisted 1/4-inch-square bar that cams the turret 90 degrees counterclockwise with each ram cycle. It’s a very clever design.

I’m going to initially reload 9mm ammo on my Lee turret press, so the next step involved installing the Lee Deluxe 4-die set in the turret.    We’ve previously written about Lee’s Deluxe 4-die sets for other cartridges here on the ExhaustNotes blog (we’ll include a set of links below).   In my opinion, they are the best dies available from any reloading equipment supplier.

Lee’s Deluxe 4-Die Set in 9mm.
Lee’s Deluxe 4-Die Set includes a powder dipper, a shellholder, a resizing/decapping die, a powder through-hole expanding die, a bullet seating die, and the factory crimp die. Lee dies are the best dies I’ve ever used.  They are also the least expensive.

I started by installing the 9mm shell holder in the ram. After installing the shell holder in the ram, I raised the ram all the way up.

The 9mm shellholder in the turret press ram.

I next installed the the decapper and resizing die in the turret head.  With the ram fully raised, I screwed the sizing die into the ram until it contacted the shell holder, and then locked it in place with the locking ring.

The resizing die in the turret, locked in place by the locking ring.
I raised the ram fully, and screwed the sizing die all the way down so that the bottom of the die contacted the shellholder. Then I locked it in place with the locking ring.

After doing the above, I lowered the ram and inserted a 9mm case in the shell holder.   I then partially raised and lowered the ram halfway four times.  That rotated the turret to position the sizing die directly above the ram again.  You can also turn the ram manually.  With the sizing die directly over the ram, I raised the ram fully.   The sizing die resized the 9mm case, the old primer was pushed out of the case, and the primer was captured by the tube hanging beneath the ram.

A 9mm case in the turret press.
Raising the ram to resize the case and push the spend primer out (the decapping operation).
When the ram is lowered, the turret is cammed a quarter turn counterclockwise.

The next die, installed one position to the left of the sizing die, was the expander die.   After raising the ram, I screwed it all the way into the turret such that it touched the shell holder, and I locked it in position with its locking ring.  I then repeated what I had done earlier.  I raised and lowered the ram halfway four times to bring the expander die back over the ram.  I put the 9mm case into the shellholder and ran the ram up fully.  It flared the case mouth perfectly, just enough to allow starting a 9mm bullet.

The expander die locked in place with its locking collar. This die is installed in the threaded turret hole one position to the left of the resizing die.
A 9mm, 124-grain plated copper bullet being fit checked in the flared case mouth. I’m not going to seat the bullet yet (we’ll discuss that in a subsequent blog); here, it’s only being fit checked after the case mouth flaring operation.

I then installed were the last two dies.  I installed the bullet seating die by partially screwing it into the turret’s third threaded hole, and then I installed the factory crimp die by partially installing it into the turret’s fourth threaded hole.  I didn’t attempt to adjust the bullet seating die or the factory crimp die yet; that will come later and we’ll discuss this in subsequent blogs.

The bullet seating die is the third die installed in the Lee turret.
The factory crimp die is the fourth die installed in the Lee turret.

Lee includes two priming arms and a lock ring wrench in the clear plastic bag containing the turret press hardware.  You may have noticed that the four dies are right next to each in the turret.  The lock ring is a clever tool that makes it a bit easier to tighten the four dies’ lock rings.

The Lee lock ring wrench (top view).
The Lee lock ring wrench (bottom view).

Two days from now, I’ll cover installing and adjusting Lee’s auto-drum powder measure, and then after that I’ll have a blog on installing Lee’s safety primer feed.  Stay tuned, there’s more coming on this awesome reloader.

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More reloading and more gun stories?  You bet!

Here are links to our earlier blogs on Lee reloading equipment:

Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Lee’s Bench Plate

By Joe Berk

Our story on the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit continues.  There’s a lot in the kit, and we’re presenting articles on each item (links for our earlier Classic Turret Press Kit, its contents, and other Lee-related blogs are included at the end of this blog).   Today’s blog focuses on the Lee bench plate.  The bench plate allows quick installation and removal of any Lee press, and its price is $39.  The bench plate idea is a good one.  I own a couple of Lee progressive reloaders and I don’t have extensive real estate on my loading bench.  The Lee bench plate is the answer.

Here’s what you get in the Lee bench plate kit.

The Lee bench plate includes the lower plate, two Z-bars, four Phillips head screws, three panhead bolts with washers and nuts, and the upper plate.

The smaller upper plate bolts to the press base (the red casting that forms the base of any Lee reloading press).  The larger lower plate bolts to your reloading bench.  The two zinc plated pieces are Z-bars that screw into the lower plate and capture the upper plate bolted to the press.   The upper plate has several holes that allow it to be attched to any Lee press.  You can buy extra upper plates if you have other presses. It makes it easier to change presses on your bench.

The Lee bench plate includes everything you’ll need except the bolts required to attach the lower plate to your reloading bench (that makes sense because Lee doesn’t know the thickness of your reloading bench).  You have to drill four holes through your bench to attach the lower plate.  Here’s what the lower plate looks like installed on my reloading bench.

The lower plate attached bo my reloading bench.

After attaching the lower plate to your reloading bench, the next step is to attach the upper plate to the reloading press.  I installed the upper plate on my Lee Classic Turret Press using the three panhead bolts, nuts, and washers Lee includes.  Note that the press is inverted in the photo immediately below.

The upper plate attached to the press. The red arrow indicates the nub that prevents the press and upper plate from backing out. The press is upside down in this photo.

It’s not immediately apparent in the Lee instructions how to orient the upper plate (i.e., which side faces up).  It should be installed such that the flat base of the plate is at the bottom, and the two lips on either side extend up.  This will be more clear in the photos below.

Once the upper plate is attached to the press, the press and plate are set on the lower plate and the Z-bars can be secured to the lower plate with the four Phllips head screws Lee provides.  The Z-bars capture the upper plate, securing the press to the lower plate and the reloading bench.

There are nubs at the end of the upper plate lips that catch the end of the Z-clamps (denoted by the red arrow), so then the Z-clamps are tightened, the little nub prevents the whole affair (upper plate and reloading press) from backing out.
A macro shot showing the upper plate nub captured by the Z-bar.

Here’s the press mounted on the bench with the Lee bench plate.  It’s a clever approach.

Lee turret press attached to the reloading bench with the Lee bench plate kit (right side).
Lee turret press attached to the reloading bench with the Lee bench plate kit (left side).

If you have other Lee presses or reloading gear, you can purchase additional upper plates (Lee calls this part the steel base block) directly from Lee.  Lee includes the mounting hardware (the panhead bolts, nuts, and washers) with each additional upper plate.  Lee lists the other equipment items compatible with the bench plate in their instructions:

    • Classic Turret Press
    • Load-Master
    • Breech Lock Reloader Press
    • Breech Lock Challenger
    • Classic Cast
    • Breech Lock Classic Cast
    • Pro 6000 Six Pack Progressive
    • Red Base Pro 1000
    • Red Base 4 Hole Value Turret Press
    • Year 2018+ Pro 1000 Press
    • Year 2018+ 4 Hole Value Turret Press
    • Auto Breech Lock Pro Press
    • Automatic Processing Press & Automatic Case Primer
    • Auto Bench Prime

If you don’t want to purchase additional upper plates, you can make your own upper plate from 3/4-inch plywood.   Lee includes a drawing in their instructions showing the dimensions of a plywood upper plate.  That’s a nice touch.  Lee also offers information on plywood bases for, as they describe it, “other color” presses.  That’s a nice touch, too.

The key question in all of this is:  Do you need the Lee bench plate?  If you use one press only, the answer may be no. You could just mount your press directly to the bench and not use the plate at all.  But if you own other Lee reloading gear (or another “other color” press), you might want to consider the Lee bench plate.  Or, if you want to get your press out of the way to use your bench for other purposes (such as cleaning a gun), it makes sense.  The bench plate greatly eases removing the Lee press for installing other equipment or to clear the bench.   It’s a good idea and good value for the money.  It makes sense for me.

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Check out our other Lee reloading equipment blog posts:

Lee Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

We’ve come a long way, baby…

By Joe Berk

Susie and I recently visited the Franklin Automobile Museum in Tucson, Arizona, and while we were there I photographed their 1913 Thor Model U motorcycle.  It’s a fascinating machine from many perspectives, one of which is what those guys had to do back in the day to start their motorcycles.  Today, we have electric starters and fuel injection…hit the ignition, touch the starter button, and go.  Turn back the clock 15 years or so and it was open the fuel petcock, close the choke, turn on the ignition, and hit the starter button.  Turn back the clock 50 or 70 years and you have to add kickstarting to the mix.  Go back a century or more (for this 1913 Thor, it would be a cool 110 years), and wow, you practically had to go to Thor University to learn the drill.

The 1913 Thor as viewed from the left side. The large lever extending up from the crank is the clutch. The drive chain on the left is one of two chains on this motorcycle. The left handgrip operates the throttle and the clutch. Think about that:  Your left hand operated the throttle and the clutch.
The 1913 Thor Model U on its centerstand. Note the rear wheel ground clearance, the bicycle pedals, and the chain on the right side. There’s no front brake; the bicycle pedals operate a rear wheel coaster brake, like you might have had on your Schwinn in the ’50s or ’60s.

Starting a Thor would keep a rider busy.  The bike had to be on its rear wheel centerstand to get the rear wheel off the ground (why will become clear in a bit).  Then you had to put the engine in gear by pushing the clutch lever forward.  You might think that’s counter-intuitive.  Read on, blog acficionados.

The clutch lever is on the left side of the motorcycle, and the “T” at the top operated the optional two speed transmission (as shown, the transmission is in first; turn the lever 90 degrees and it’s in second).

If your Thor had the the optional two speed rear hub transmission (a $40 option on top of the motorcycle’s $290 price in 1913), you would want to make sure it was in the high gear position.  You do that by turning the T-handle on top of the clutch lever parallel to the motorcycle.  Having the bike in second gear would make the engine easier to turn over; it would be like putting your bike in second for a run-and-bump start  (and I realize as I type this how few readers will know what a run-and-bump start is).   But we’re not going to run-and-bump this priceless 1913 Thor.  Stay with me; this is going to get interesting.

Fuel petcocks under the left forward side of the fuel tank. The rear petcock allows fuel to flow to the carburetor. The forward petcock allows fuel to be removed for priming the cylinders or, as the owner’s manual states, “for any purpose.” It included a small cup for this purpose.
The right side of the mighty Thor 1000cc twin. Those little protuberances on the outboard side of the valve covers (bear with me; I’ve been looking for an excuse to use the word “protuberance” all day) are where you dump raw fuel to prime the engine. No kidding.
Another view of the priming port.  The spring you see in this photo is the intake rocker return spring.

Next up:  Prime the engine by taking a bit of fuel from the Thor’s fuel tank priming petcock and manually inject gasolina into the intake cups (the Thor has openings in its intake domes for this purpose…those Thor engineers thought of everything).  Or, you could use the optional device on top of the fuel filler cap to extract a bit of fuel.  Like I said, they thought of everything.

The right twist grip operates the ignition advance; the left twistgrip operates the throttle. The lever on the right handlebar is a compression release.  It could be locked in the compression released position to hold the exhaust valves open.

You then retard the ignition timing via the right twistgrip (you read that right; the left twistgrip works the throttle) by twisting it clockwise.  Having the ignition fire after top dead center, you see, makes it easier for the engine to catch a spark and continue running.   So where’s the throttle?  That’s on left handlebar.  Open the left twistgrip a bit by turning it clockwise.  It will stay where you leave it; there’s no return spring.

That funny little chrome lever on the right handlebar?  It’s not a clutch (remember, that was ginormous lever to the left of the fuel tank).  The little right-handlebar-mounted lever is a compression release.  Pull it in, and it opens the exhaust valves to, well, release the compression.  It makes it easier to pedal, and we’ll get to that momentarily.  Maybe you didn’t believe me when I told you this was a complicated undertaking.   Read on.  It gets even more interesting.

Thor Plumbing 101: The “forward filling nipple” (Thor’s terminology; we’d call it a fuel filler cap) is where the gas goes.  Thor recommended any “standard grade gasoline,” but advised straining it through a chamois first (things were different in 1913).  The gizmo on top of the fuel filler cap extracts a bit of gas that can be transferred to the priming ports.  The center cap is for oil; Thor also recommended straining the oil before pouring it into the oil tank.  The third (and rearmost) device is a needle valve that should be left open to allow oil to flow into the reservoir immediately below the tank (and from there, to the engine).
The Thor oil reservoir, complete with sight glass.  That little petcock halfway down the oil line?  Make sure it’s open before you start the motorcycle!

The Thor has a total loss lubrication system.  That term, total loss, doesn’t describe how your 401K account is doing these days; it refers to how the engine uses oil.  It uses and consumes it (it’s not returned or recirculated).  Think of it as Autolube for four strokes.  Ah, shoot, I’ll bet a lot of you are too young to know what Autolube is, too. Gresh can explain it later.  Back to the main attraction, that total loss lubrication system…there’s an oil petcock halfway down the oil line on the left side of the motorcycle, between the sight glass and the crankcase.  It needs to be open (you may void your warranty if operate the motorcycle with it closed).  The Thor would consume a quart of oil every 50 to 300 miles depending on conditions and your riding style, but the tank carried a gallon, and with a top speed somewhere between 50 and 65 mph (again, depending on conditions, the rider, and whether or not you had the optional two speed transmission), it’s not likely you would run out of oil.  “They smoke a lot,” one Thor expert told me, “so as long as you see blue smoke behind you, you’re good.”

The last bit of preparation involved closing the choke on that big tomato can Thor carb nestled in the V between the cylinders, and that involved two actions:  Closing a thumbscew on the carb’s rear and screwing down a tapered knob on top.

All right…now we’re ready to get to the good part.  You may have noticed that the Thor has two chains (one on each side of the motorcycle) and a set of pedals (like a bicycle).  Once you have completed all the actions described above, you can get on the Thor and start pedaling like Lance Armstrong charging up the Col du Tourmalet (I say that figuratively; the good guys at the Franklin Automobile Museum are not going to let you climb onto their 1913 Thor).   Your pedaling is going to drive the rear wheel via the chain on the right side of the motorcycle from the pedals’ chainring to the rear wheel sprocket.  That’s going to spin the rear wheel and tire (which is why we wanted the bike on its centerstand), transmit the rotational inertia you generated through the rear-hub-mounted transmission, turn the drive chain on the left side of motorcycle, transmit your torque through the clutch (which we engaged earlier) and spin the Thor’s 61-cubic-inch V-twin.  As you ponder all of that, be thankful that you’re not trying to crank the 1914 Thor’s larger 74-cubic-inch engine, and be thankful that I clued you into actuating the compression release.  And finally, be thankful that you’re adding the rear wheel and tire’s flywheel effect to what you (the motive force in this cacaphony of early American motorcycle starting activities) have set in motion.

Once you’ve attained sufficient rotational inertia, release the right handlebar compression release.   If Thor and the other ancient Norse gods are smiling, the engine will catch, and you’ll hear the opening chords of that delightful “potato-potato-potato” V-twin symphony we Americans love.  As soon as you are sure the music will continue, pull that large left clutch lever rearward to disengage the clutch and reverse direction on the pedals (like you would have on the Schwinn you rode as a kid).  As mentioned earlier, there’s a coaster brake back there; in fact, it’s the only brake on this motorcycle.  While the engine is warming up, advance the ignition (with the right twistgrip), open the carb choke (it involves two actions, as mentioned above), and then, as the owner’s manual explains with early American Aurora  engineering precision, apply “a trifle” of throttle (with the left twistgrip).   The owner’s manual authors’ descendants, I’m sure, went on to become writers for Saturday Night Live in the early days when that show was still funny.  One more thing…if it’s a cold day, Thor recommended placing a rag soaked in warm water around the carburetor’s float chamber.

Once everything is percolating to your satisfaction, roll the motorcycle forward off the stand (Pro Tip:  Remember to disengage the clutch first), and while adjusting the throttle, feather the clutch lever forward to start moving.  As you read this, think about simultaneously feathering that clutch lever and working the throttle with both of your left hands.  Whew!

After writing and then reading the above, I think I’m going to step out into my garage and start my Enfield 650.  By pressing a button.  Just because.

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Nobody needs an excuse…

By Joe Berk

…to go for a motorcycle ride.  On the other hand, I’m always finding reasons not to go to the gym.  But I think I found a solution.  Lately, I’ve been riding the Enfield to the gym.   I’m more interested in getting on the motorcycle than I am in going to the gym, but if I ride the Enfield to the gym…well, you get the idea.

My Enfield at the gym.

There are usually two or three other guys who ride to the gym.  Two have Harleys, another guy has a new Guzzi, and there’s even a Yamaha V-Max parked there on occasion.  I’ve spoken with a few of those guys, and like me, they’re not spring chickens.  I think they’re younger than me, but I suspect we’re all qualified for the Silver Sneakers subsidy.  We’re old and we’re all trying to stay young.  Such is the way of the world.  The motorcycles help.

A Guzzi at the gym.
These things are wicked fast.

We’re lucky here in California; we can ride pretty much year round.  I’m at about 1700 feet above sea level, right at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, and even in the winter months it’s usually in the high 60s or low 70s during the day.  That’s perfect riding weather.  It can get cold at night, but who rides at night?

Well, I guess I do, sometimes.  Always by myself, and if it’s a night ride, it’s always short.  There’s something about a late night ride that’s simultaneously invigorating and relaxing.   The last few nights, it’s been warm enough.   Everything seems more focused on a motorcycle at night.  I hear the engine more clearly, and I see what the Enfield’s headlight wants me to see.  I love the Enfield’s instrumentation, especially at night.  It’s a simple two cup cluster…a tach and a speedometer.  Just like my Triumphs were in the 1960s and 1970s.  I really don’t need anything more.   I rode a new motorcycle for one of the manufacturers a couple of weeks ago and the instrument cluster was way too complex.  It had a brilliant TFT display and computer game graphics, but overall it was distracting and actually took away from the riding experience.  Just a tach and speedo is all I need or want.  Even the tach is kind of silly (I never use a tach to shift).  But it looks, you know, balanced with the matching speedometer.

Cute, but a bit much and a bit distracting.  Way more than I want in an instrument panel.

When I lived in Fort Worth about 50 years ago, I rode a Harley Electra Glide. All that motorcycle had for instrumentation was a speedometer and I never felt an info deficit.  Late night solo rides were my favorite rides.  Fort Worth summers were brutal (well over 100 degrees during the day and very humid).  At night it would drop into the high 90s (still with tons of humidity), but it felt way cooler.  Sometimes I’d stop for a cup of coffee at a 24-hour donut shop on Camp Bowie Boulevard.  Sometimes I’d just ride, heading west toward Weatherford and the great beyond (once you pass Weatherford, there’s pretty much nothing until you reach Midland/Odessa). One time I realized it was time to go home when I saw the sun coming up.

Back to the Enfield:  It’s a much better motorcycle than the Electra Glide ever was and it’s a hoot to ride.  Circling back to my opening line, riding to the gym makes for a good excuse to get on the bike.   Not that anyone ever needed an excuse to go for a motorcycle ride.  But it defeats the excuses I make for myself when I don’t feel like going to the gym.

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Three Rapid Fire .38 Loads

By Joe Berk

Today I took the Model 60 to the range.  All shooting was at the standard full size B21 police target and the distance 7 yards.  I shot double action as fast as I could to see if I could keep them on the target.  I did, as you’ll see below.

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The first load was with the 158 grain Hursman cast bullet (a truncated conical bullet with a flat point) and 2.7 grains of Bullseye.  I loaded this ammo on my Star reloader with the bullet seater backed out to account for the longer 158 grain bullet.  The Star did a nice job on these cartridges.

Here’s 50 rounds, shooting double action rapid fire (really rapid fire, as fast as I could while still hanging on to the front sight).

I was pleased with that target and the load.  The load was light and easy to shoot.  The Star can’t easily be adjusted for powder charge and I have it set up for wadcutter ammo, so all I changed was the bullet seating die.  I didn’t even adjust the crimp; I just backed out the seater.

Next up was the same bullet (the 158 grain Hursman cast bullet), loaded with 5.4 grains of Accurate No. 5.  I loaded this with the single stage RCBS Rockchucker.

The load was noticeably hotter than the first load, but not so much that it became unmanageable.  Here’s 50 rounds of the above ammo on the B21.  The brown areas that appear to be bullet holes are not holes on this target; that’s the sun shining through previous holes behind the target.

One shot went out of the 5X ring at 11:00.  Eh, you can’t win them all.  The guy in that target wouldn’t know the difference.

Then I shot another 50 rounds, this time wadcutter ammo.   This was with the Gardner 148 grain powder coated double ended wadcutter bullet and 2.7 grains of Bullseye.  I loaded this ammo on the Star.

These had three shots out of the x-ring, but I was really flying, doing my best to imitiate Ed McGivern.  You know, you can make a double action revolver cycle faster than a semi-auto pistol.  Ed McGivern could, anyway.

I had a good day at the West End Gun Club, but that’s stating the obvious.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad day at the West End Gun Club, and I’ve been going there for close to 40 years.  Here are the take-aways from today’s range session:

      • I found it was easy to shoot really, really fast with the Model 60 and still keep all shots on the target.
      • At this distance, all of the loads grouped about the same.  I’d have to go out to 50 feet, I think, to see an accuracy difference.
      • The one most pleasant to shoot was the 158 grain Hursman bullet with 2.7 grains of Bullseye, and at this distance, it was accurate.  It’s a nice load.  That load had less recoil than the same load with the 148 grain wadcutter bullet.   I think that’s because the 148 grain wadcutter bullet has more bearing area so the pressure is probably higher.  After returning from the range, I loaded the remainder of my Hursman cast bullets with this load.
      • The gun shoots to point of aim with all three loads.
      • The Model 60 is a wonderful handgun and shooting a snubnose .38 is fun.  The keyboard commandos can wax eloquent about the need for 20-round magazines in the latest Wunder 9; five shots from a Model 60 does it for me.

As if the day weren’t perfect enough, someone left 250+ pieces of once-fired 9mm brass on the range.  I ordinarily would not use range brass and Lord knows I have plenty of 9mm cases, but this was pristine stuff and I could see that it had never been reloaded.  It’s in my blood, I guess; I can’t leave good brass laying on the ground (it was in my tumbler 10 minutes after I got home).

There are three outfits that I recommend you consider if you’re reloading .38 ammo and if you want your handgun to perform well.  The first is TJ’s Custom Gunworks.  TJ did the action job and polishing on my Model 60, and his work is beyond stellar.  The next is Lance Shively’s TriggerShims.com.  If you want to assure your cylinder gap is what it’s supposed to be to assure smooth cycling and minimize misfires, Lance’s shims will do the trick and they are inexpensive.  The next is Lee Precision reloading gear.  I am migrating to near-complete use of Lee equipment, and I used a Lee Deluxe 4-die set when loading the .38 ammo on a single stage press.  I recently acquired a Lee four turret press as part of a Lee Precision package deal.  I’ve always been completely satisfied with the gear I’m using from Lee.  Watch for a near-term blog on the four turret press kit.   I’m eager to get it into service, and when I do, you’ll read about it here.

Two more things:  Here’s a link for the B21 targets you see above (they’re different and they’re fun to shoot).  And, I frequently get compliments on the Altamont grips my Model 60 wears.  They make the gun much more comfortable to shoot and they don’t print if you’re carrying concealed.  If you want a set of Altamont grips, a good place to get them is on Amazon.

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Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual

By Joe Berk

Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit includes their Modern Reloading manual.   It’s written by the late Richard Lee (the founder of Lee Precision), it’s the second edition, and Lee’s retail price is $40.98.   By way of comparison, on Hornady’s site their reloading manual is $59.99, on Sierra’s site their reloading manual is $39.99, on the Lyman site their reloading manual is $34.98, and on the Speer site you get the load data for free (it’s published on their site).   You can also purchase the Lee manual on Amazon; oddly, the price on Amazon is higher than it is on the Lee website.

The Lee reloading manual is comparable in heft and contents to other big reloading manuals.  It’s a hardcover book with 692 pages and several chapters on various reloading topics, including basic instructions and more in-depth discussions of advanced reloading topics.  Richard Lee wrote the first parts covering various topics including the company’s history, Lee’s reloading equipment, primers and primer sensitivity (this was extremely interesting), how to reload, reloading for best accuracy, rifle reloading, handgun relaoding, measuring powder, powder safety, pressure issues, matching bullet metal to chamber pressure, hardness testing, bullet casting and sizing, shotgun reloading, and muzzle loading.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lee’s articles.  They are written in a folksy, technical, and easy to follow manner. It’s like having a conversation with one of my shooting buddies.  That, all by itself, is a good reason to buy the Lee reloading manual.

A load table inside the Lee reloading manual showing some of the date it contains that other reloading manuals do not. This includes the starting charge volume, the Lee dipper number, the Lee Auto-Disk number, and the 1 Grain Factors.

The load data tables start on Page 161 and continue to Page 686 (the load tables comprise most of the book).  These are interesting and they include several bits of data not found in other reloading manuals.  There’s the usual dimensioned cartridge drawings, starting load and max loads, the pressure, and the velocities, and then there’s more.  These additional pieces of information not usually found in other reloading manuals are:

    • Useful Case Capacity.  On each of the load table cartridge drawings, Lee includes the useful case volume in cubic centimeters.  Why this is useful will be apparent when you read the next bulleted statement.
    • Volume cc.  This table entry, immediately to the right of the starting load, shows the volume occupied by the starting charge.  You can compare this to the useful case capacity info (see above) included in the cartridge drawing to get an idea of how full the cartridge case will be at the starting charge.  Usually, a cartridge will perform better if the case is full or nearly full.  I’ve not seen this information in other reloading manuals.  I think it’s a good thing to know when selecting which powder to use.
    • Lee Dipper.  Lee manufactures different size powder dippers.  The powder dipper is basically a yellow plastic spoon used to scoop a known volume of powder.  Some reloaders use this approach rather than using a powder dispenser or a scale, but others do.  Dippers are included with Lee dies, and you can also buy a set of different sized dippers separately. It’s not the powder measurement and dispensing approach I used, but I found the data interesting.  I’ve never seen this data in other load manuals.
    • Auto-Disk.   Lee makes an Auto-Disk Powder Measure.  It’s a device that uses a sliding disk with different volume chambers (or cavities) in it to control the volume of powder dispensed by their Auto-Disk Powder Measure.  These cavities are denoted by decimal numbers.  The Lee reloading manual tables identify the appropriate Auto-Disk to use with charges included in the table.  I’ve never seen this data in other manuals.
    • 1 Grain Factor.  This is another bit of data not included in any other reloading manual I’ve ever seen.   The 1 Grain Factor can be used to show velocity reduction if the maximum powder charge is decreased by one grain.  You take the maximum velocity, multiply it by the 1 Grain Factor, and it will show the decrease in velocity that will be realized by reducing the powder charge 1 grain.  There’s a similar 1 Grain Factor included that can be used to calculate pressure reduction for a 1 grain powder reduction   The 1 Grain Factors are not included for every cartridge (they are included for the hotter magnum cartridges such as .44 Magnum and 7mm Remington Magnum).
A Lee dipper included with a set of Lee reloading dies. The dipper is a powder scoop. You can also buy the dippers separately.
An earlier Lee Auto-Disk Powder dispenser. This powder dispensing approach used disks (see lower arrow) installed in the dispenser (see upper arrow). The disks contained different cavities that dispensed different powder volumes.
A Lee Auto-Disk powder disk, as seen from below. The cylindrical openings collect different volumes of powder from the Auto-Disk hopper. Selecting different openings will dispense different charges.
Lee Auto-Disk powder disk as seen from above. The volume designator for each cavity is identified on the disk top. The Lee reloading manual shows which opening to use for a selected powder charge. No other reloading manual contains this information.

The Lee manual breaks with typical reloading manuals on the order in which loads are shown.  In other manuals, the cartridge sequence is organized by bullet diameter, and then within each bullet diameter category, by cartridge maximum velocity. There is a table of contents in the Lee manual (it’s on Pages 159-160) showing all the cartridges included in the Lee manual and where their load data appears.

If you are a reloader who enjoys getting into the more technical aspects of load development (and what reloader isn’t?) I believe you will thoroughly enjoy Lee’s Modern Reloading.  I think it’s a first-class work as good as or better than the manuals from Lyman, Sierra, Hornady, and other reloading manual publishers.  It’s money well spent, and when you purchase Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit, you basically get it for free.

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The Wayback Machine: Why a 250?

By Joe Berk

This is a blog I wrote for CSC Motorcycles several years ago (time sure flies when you’re having fun).  The topic was as timely then as it is today.  I like big bikes, but I like small bikes more, and I’m convinced that a small bike makes way more sense than a big bike for real world adventure touring.  I thought I would post the blog again, as we are having way too much fun with CSC, BMW, Janus, and other companies who have seen the light.  Here’s the blog from way back.

A 250cc bike seems too small to many riders. Is it?

The 250cc CSC Cyclone.

The motorcycle craze in the US really started in the mid-1960s. I know motorcycling goes back way before that, but motorcycling was essentially a fringe endeavor until Honda came on the scene. We met the nicest people on Hondas, if you remember, and that ad tagline was a winner (so is “Don’t Miss The Boat,” by the way).  (Note:  “Don’t Miss The Boat” was CSC’s tagline for the US RX3 introduction, and those who didn’t miss the boat participated in one of the best deals in the history of motorcycling.)

Honda’s sales model was a good one. They pulled us in with small bikes and then convinced us we needed larger and larger bikes. Many of us started with a Honda Cub (the 50cc step-through), we progressed to the Super 90 (that was my jump in), then the 160cc baby Super Hawk, then the 305cc Super Hawk, and at that point in about 1967 that was it for Honda. They didn’t have anything bigger (yet). After the 305cc Super Hawk, the next step for most folks was either a Harley or a Triumph.

Yours Truly, on a Honda Super 90 in the mid-’60s.

You know, back in those days, a 650cc motorcycle was a BIG motorcycle. And it was.

But Honda kept on trucking…they offered a 450 that sort of flopped, and then in 1969 they delivered the CB-750. That bike was so far out in front of everyone else it killed the British motorcycle industry and (with a lot of self-inflicted wounds) it almost killed Harley.

The Japanese manufacturers piled on. Kawasaki one-upped Honda with a 900. (Another note…it’s one of those early Kawi 900s that Gobi Gresh is restoring in the Zed’s Not Dead series.) Honda came back with a 1000cc Gold Wing (which subsequently grew to 1100cc, then 1500cc, and is now an 1800cc). Triumph has a 2300cc road bike. Harley gave up on cubic centimeters and now describes their bikes with cubic inches. And on and on it went. It seems to keep on going. The bikes keep on getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And taller. And heavier. And bigger. In a society where everything was being supersized (burgers, bikes, and unfortunately, our beltlines), bigger bikes have ruled the roost for a long time. Too long, in my opinion.

LBMC06-0
Is this where it’s going?  (Note:  I shot this photo at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show about 15 years ago.)

Weirdly, today many folks think of a 750 as a small bike. It’s a world gone nuts. But I digress…

I’ve done a lot of riding. Real riding. My bikes get used. A lot. I don’t much care for the idea of bikes as driveway jewelry, and on a lot of my rides in the US, Mexico, and Canada, I kind of realized that this “bigger is better” mentality is just flat wrong. It worked as a motorcycle marketing strategy for a while, but when you’re wrestling with a 700-lb bike in the soft stuff, you realize it doesn’t make any sense.

Really?
Really?

I’ve had some killer big bikes. A Triumph Daytona 1200. A Harley Softail. A TL1000S Suzuki. A Triumph Speed Triple (often called the Speed Cripple, which in my case sort of turned out to be true). All the while I was riding these monsters, I’d see guys on Gold Wings and other 2-liter leviathans and wonder…what are these folks thinking?

I’d always wanted a KLR-650 for a lot of reasons. The biggest reasons were the bikes were inexpensive back then and they were lighter than the armored vehicles I had been riding. I liked the idea of a bike I could travel on, take off road, and lift by myself if I dropped it. To make a long story short, I bought the KLR and I liked it. I still have it. But it’s tall, and it’s heavy (well over 500 lbs fully fueled). But it was a better deal than the bigger bikes for real world riding. Nobody buys a KLR to be a poser, nobody chromes out a KLR, and nobody buys leather fringe for a KLR, but if that’s what you want in a motorcycle, hey, more power to you.

More background…if you’ve been on this blog for more than 10 minutes you know I love riding in Baja. I talk about it all the time. My friends tell me I should be on the Baja Tourism Board. Whatever. It is some of the best riding in the world. I’ll get down there the first week I take delivery on my CSC Cyclone, and if you want to ride with me, you’re more than welcome.  (Note:  And I did.  We did a lot of CSC Baja tours, and CSC introduced a lot of folks to riding and to Baja.  That one innocent little sentence became a cornerstone of CSC’s marketing strategy.)

I was talking up Baja one day at the First Church of Bob (the BMW dealership where me and some of my buddies hang out on Saturday mornings). There I was, talking about the road to San Felipe through Tecate, when my good buddy Bob said “let’s do it.” Baja it was…the other guys were on their Harleys and uber-Beemers, and I was on my “small bore” KLR. The next weekend we pointed the bars south, wicked it up, and rode to San Felipe.

DSC_1629-650
The Boys…bound for San Felipe with my KLR leading the pack

That was a fun trip. I took a lot of ribbing about the KLR, but the funny thing was I had no problem keeping up with the monster motos. In fact, most of the time, I was in the lead. And Bob? Well, he just kept studying the KLR. On Saturday night, he opened up a bit. Bob is the real deal…he rode the length of Baja before there was a road. That’s why he was enjoying this trip so much, and it’s why he was so interested in my smaller bike. In fact, he announced his intent to buy a smaller bike, which surprised everybody at the table.

Holding court on the Sea of Cortez
Holding court on the Sea of Cortez.   That’s Bob on the right.

Bob told us about a months-long moto trip he made to Alaska decades ago, and his dream about someday riding to Tierra del Fuego. That’s the southernmost tip of South America. He’d been to the Arctic Circle, and he wanted to be able to say that he’d been all the way south, too.

I thought all of this was incredibly interesting. Bob is usually a very quiet guy. He’s the best rider I’ve ever known, and I’ve watched him smoke Ricky Racers on the Angeles Crest Highway with what appeared to be no effort whatsoever. Sometimes he’d do it on a BMW trade-in police bike standing straight up on the pegs passing youngsters on Gixxers and Ducksters. Those kids had bikes with twice the horsepower and two-thirds the weight of Bob’s bike, and he could still out ride them. Awesome stuff. Anyway, Bob usually doesn’t talk much, but during dinner that night on the Sea of Cortez he was opening up about some of his epic rides. It was good stuff.

Finally, I asked: Bob, what bike would you use for a trip through South America?

Bob’s answer was immediate: A 250.

That surprised me, but only for an instant. I asked why and he told me, but I kind of knew the answer already. Bob’s take on why a 250: It’s light, it’s fast enough, it’s small enough that you can pick it up when it falls, you can change tires on it easily, you can take it off road, you can get across streams, and it gets good gas mileage.

Bob’s answer about a 250 really stuck in my mind. This guy knows more about motorcycles than I ever will, he is the best rider I’ve ever known, and he didn’t blink an eye before immediately answering that a 250 is the best bike for serious world travel.

It all made a lot of sense to me. I had ridden my liter-sized Triumph Tiger in Mexico, but when I took it off road the thing was terrifying. The bike weighed north of 600 lbs, it was way too tall, and I had nearly dropped it several times in soft sand. It was not fun. I remembered another ride with my friend Dave when he dropped his FJR in an ocean-sized puddle. It took three of us to get the thing upright, and we dropped it a couple of more times in our attempt to do so. John and I had taken my Harley and his Virago on some fun trips, but folks, those bikes made no sense at all for the kind of riding we did.

Upright in this photo, but it was like wrestling a pig in mud a few minutes earlier.

You might be wondering…what about the other so-called adventure bikes, like the BMW GS series, the Yamaha Tenere, or the Triumph Tiger? Good bikes, to be sure, but truth be told, they’re really street bikes dressed up like dirt bikes. Big street bikes dressed up like dirt bikes. Two things to keep in mind…seat height and weight. I can’t touch the ground when I get on a BMW GS, and as you’ve heard me say before, my days of spending $20K or $30K on a motorcycle are over. Nice bikes and super nice for freeway travel, but for around town or off road or long trips into unknown territory, these bikes are just too big, too heavy, and too tall.

There’s one other benefit to a small bike. Remember that stuff above about Honda’s 1960s marketing strategy? You know, starting on smaller bikes? Call me crazy, but when I get on bikes this size, I feel like a kid again. It’s fun.

I’ve thought about this long and hard. For my kind of riding, a 250 makes perfect sense. My invitation to you is to do the same kind of thinking.

_I8A6206-650

So there you have it.  That was the blog that helped to get the RX3 rolling, and CSC sold a lot of RX3 motorcycles.  Back in the day, CSC was way out in front of everybody on the Internet publicizing the Zongshen 250cc ADV bikes, and other countries took notice.  Colombia ordered several thousand RX3s based on what they saw CSC doing, other countries followed, and things just kept getting better and better.  The central premise is still there, and it still makes sense.  A 250 may well be the perfect motorcycle.

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