Feel Good Stuff – Page 28 – The ExhaustNotes Blog

Favorite Baja Hotels: Mulegé’s Historico Las Casitas

We’re starting a new series here on ExNotes, and it’s one I think you’ll enjoy: A series on our favorite hotels in Baja. There are some great places to stay in Baja, and unlike hotels here in the US, they are not part of any big hotel chains. I love exploring Baja, and the hotels are part of the experience.

That’s enough introduction…let’s get to my all time favorite Baja hotel first: The Las Casitas Hotel in Mulegé. It’s the hotel you see those little CSC-150 Scooters parked in front of in the big photo above.

Mulegé is a special place. It’s about 630 miles south of San Diego, and you can get to it by either riding south from Tijuana on Mexico Highway 1, or you can take what is now a paved road all the way down from Mexicali on the Sea of Cortez side. Either ride is stunning.

Mulege is on the Sea of Cortez about 600 miles down the road from the border.

One note we always add on any Baja story is to make sure you have Mexican insurance before you enter Baja. Our recommendation is to go with BajaBound (the insurance we always use).

Mulegé is one of my favorite towns in Baja, and the Las Casitas just adds to the experience. It’s not hard to find. Just bear to the right at the first fork in the road as you enter Mulegé and you’ll be there (the official address is Valle Vadero 50 Colonia Centro 89518 Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico). But like I said, it’s not that hard to find, and if don’t find it immediately, you’ll like riding around in Mulegé. If you want to make a reservation, you can reach the hotel at lascasitas1962@hotmail.com or you can call +52 615 153 0019.

The Las Casitas has two locations…the original one, and then one a block or two away. The original location includes a bar and a restaurant, and when I’m in Mulegé I put both to good use.

Good buddy Brian and yours truly at the Las Casitas Hotel, kicking back after a long day on the road.

Francisco Javier Aguiar Zuñiga is the proprietor (he has been for 40 years). Javier is an all around nice guy. If you’re going there with a group, let him know and he’ll prepare a special meal. I’ve done that on group tours I’ve led through Baja, and every meal at the Las Casitas has been a treat.

Dinner in the Las Casitas Hotel during one of the CSC Baja expeditions.

Chile rellenos, as prepared and served by Javier and the staff at the Las Casitas Hotel. They were exquisite. Being right on the Sea of Cortez, the seafood is outstanding, too. Breakfasts are spectacular.

You know, I looked through my photos for the restaurant, and to my great surprise, I could only find a couple. I think that’s an indication of just how good things are there…the hospitality and the cuisine are so fabulous (and I enjoy both so much) that I only had my camera out a couple of times. The breakfasts are outstanding, too…Javier always has fresh orange juice ready to go, and trust me on this, you want to try it.

A great group of graybeards posing for photos in the Las Casitas Hotel courtyard. Javier is second from the left.

The Las Casitas has a central courtyard that is distinctly tropical in appearance and feel, and for good reason: Mulegé is only a few miles north of the Tropic of Cancer, where the tropics officially begin. Javier will let you park your motorcycle into the courtyard, although I don’t know that it’s necessary. On one of my trips, we overindulged in Negro Modelos and margaritas in the Las Casitas lounge and left our bikes parked on the street that night. They were just fine the next morning.

Entering Mulegé. The Mulegénos kicked our butts in the 1800s, but all has been forgiven and you’ll be treated like royalty today.

The town calls itself “Heroica Mulegé.” During a dinner at the Las Casitas one evening I was telling the story behind that name. The Heroica part has to do with the Mexicans holding off a much larger military force, except as I relayed the tale I couldn’t remember who they were fighting. “It was you,” Javier politely reminded me, and indeed it was. All this happened during the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War. As you might guess, relations have improved since then.

When you visit, be sure you make time to stop by the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé (it’s one of the original Baja missions).

Inside the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé.

The view looking out from inside the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé. There’s an observation deck up top, too, with a commanding view of Mulegé’s date orchards and the Rio Mulegé.

Mulegé also has an historic prison that is now a museum. Let me tell you how good life was (and is) in Mulegé: Back in the day, prisoners were allowed to leave during the day to work, and the prison had no bars. Things were so good in Mulegé that no one (including the prisoners) wanted to leave. I can understand why. You will, too, when you visit this magnificent little gem of a town and the Las Casitas Hotel. They are two of Baja’s best kept secrets.

If you’re planning a Baja trip, there are two books we’d like to suggest you consider to gain more insight into what Baja has to offer. The first is, of course, my book on motorcycling in Baja, Moto Baja. It’s good. The other is Jennifer Kramer’s Tijuana to Los Cabos, which is another excellent resource.

One more thing…if you’re making the trek into Baja, you’ll want to capture great photos, folks. You want a good single lens reflex digital camera for an adventure like Baja, and Nikon’s D3500 is one of the best. It’s what I shoot. Gresh works his magic with a comparable Canon digital camera, and they’re good, too.

Check out our Baja and Epic Rides pages!

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The B-36 Bomber, Fort Worth, Amon Carter, and more

This could be a long blog read or a short one. It’s your call. I have two YouTube videos today that are pretty amazing, in my opinion. One is short and one is long.

By way of background, my first job as an engineer was on the F-16 program at General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas. The reason I guess that’s significant is a few years ago I came across this video, Six Turning Four Burning, and as I watched it, I recognized the General Dynamics plant where I worked in the background. The video is an excerpt from Strategic Air Command, a 1950s movie starring Jimmy Stewart. It features the Convair B-36 bomber, an airplane with six radial piston engines and four jet engines (hence the six turning, four burning title). I think you’ll enjoy it.

Yesterday, I was channel surfing on Netflix and I found a documentary about the B-36. That had my attention, because when I worked at General Dynamics 40 years ago, there were still guys there who had worked on the B-36 engineering development program. They spoke about the B-36 in reverential tones, and to them, it was perhaps mankind’s greatest accomplishment.

Everything about the B-36 was Texas sized. It had a wingspan larger than a 747. The tail was so tall they had to raise the aircraft nose 18 feet to get the tail to clear the Convair plant exit as these giants came off the assembly line. I don’t know what impressed me more…the aircraft itself, or the way those oldtimers talked about it.

The last B-36 built at the Convair plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The nose had to be raised to allow the tail to clear the huge doors at the end of the mile-long indoor assembly line. I worked in that plant on the F-16.

The B-36 documentary I found on Netflix is also on YouTube. This video is about an hour long, but it’s a good one, and if you like the kinds of things you see here on the ExhaustNotes blog I think you’ll enjoy it. I sure did.

Even though I lived in Fort Worth and spent a ton of time on the Carswell AFB runway working F-16 issues, I had no idea how prominently Fort Worth and a man named Amon Carter figured into the B-36 story. The B-36 movie above educated me on that topic. When I lived in Fort Worth, I visited the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, which has perhaps the world’s greatest collection of Frederic Remington paintings and sculptures. One that really spoke to me was Remington’s Old Stagecoach of the Plains. It was a huge painting, so realistic I could almost see the stagecoach moving and hear it creaking and rattling. It was awesome.

Frederic Remington’s Old Stagecoach of the Plains, on display in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

If you are ever in the Fort Worth area, I think the Amon Carter museum on Camp Bowie Boulevard is a “must see” destination.

Want some cool B-36 stuff? How about the Hayne’s owner’s workshop B-36 manual? Or maybe a mahogany B-36 model?

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Five Best Motorcycle Books Ever

Listicles, Gresh calls them…articles based around the (fill in the number) best things to do, worst things to do, motorcycles, movies, and more. One of Gresh’s friends told him that lists get more hits than any other kind of Internet article. I was a bit skeptical when I first heard that, but Google Analytics doesn’t lie: When we do a listicle, our hits go up big time. And comments, too. We like comments. And a lot of this blogging game is about the hits and comments. Gresh’s The 5 Stupidest Ideas in Motorcycling, my recent The Big Ride: 5 Factors Affecting Daily Mileage, and other ExNote listicles…they’ve all done extremely well.

This listicle thing has me thinking in terms of the five best whatever when I’m spitballing new blog ideas, and the list du jour is on motorcycle books. It’s a topic near and dear to my heart and one we’ve touched on lightly before, although the emphasis in the past has usually been on a single book. I think I’ve read just about every motorcycle book ever published, and I particularly like the travel stories. That said, I think this introduction is long enough. Let’s get to it.

Riding the Edge

Riding the Edge, in my opinion, is the greatest motorcycle adventure story ever told, made all the more significant by two facts. The first is that Dave Barr, the author, did the ride after losing both legs to a land mine in Africa; the second is that Dave did the ride on a beat up old ’72 Harley Super Glide that had 100,000 miles on the odometer before he started.

I know Dave Barr and I’ve ridden with him. I can tell you that he is one hell of a man, and Riding the Edge is one hell of a story. The ride took four years, mostly because Dave pretty much financed the trip himself. He’d ride a country or two, run out of money, get a job and save for a bit, and then continue. I read Riding the Edge nearly two decades ago, and it’s the book that lit my fire for international motorcycle riding. None of the rides I’ve done (even though I’ve ridden through a few of the countries Barr did) begins to approach Dave Barr’s accomplishments. The guy is my hero.

Riding the Edge is written in an easy, conversational style. I’ve probably read my copy a half-dozen times. In fact, as I type this, I’m thinking I need to put it on my nightstand and read some of my favorite parts again. If you go for any of the books on this list, Riding the Edge is the one you have to read.

The Longest Ride

Emilio Scotto. Remember that name, and remember The Longest Ride. This is a guy who had never left his native Argentina, thought it might be cool to see the world on a motorcycle, bought a Gold Wing (which he named the Black Princess), and then…well, you can guess the rest. He rode around the world on a motorcycle.

Emilio took 10 years for his trip around the world, and he covered 500,000 miles in the process. He’s another guy who is good with a camera. I thoroughly enjoyed The Longest Ride. I think you will, too.

Two Wheels Through Terror

Glen Heggstad…that’s another name you want to remember. Mix one martial arts expert, a Kawasaki KLR 650, a kidnaping (his own), a trip through South America, and a natural propensity for writing well and you’ll have Two Wheels Through Terror. I love the book for several reasons, including the fact that Mr. Heggstad used a KLR 650 (one of the world’s great adventure touring motorcycles), the way he tells the story of his kidnaping in Colombia (a country I rode in), and his wonderful writing.

I’ve met Glen a couple of times. The first time was at a local BMW dealership when he spoke of his travels; the second time was at his booth at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show. Glen is a hell of a man, a hell of a writer, and a hell of a fighter (all of which emerge in Two Wheels Through Terror). He is a guy who just won’t quit when the going gets tough. I admire the man greatly.

Jupiter’s Travels

Ah, Ted Simon, one of the granddaddies of adventure motorcycle riding. I’d heard about his book, Jupiter’s Travels, for years before I finally bought a copy and read it, and then I felt like a fool for not having read it sooner.

Jupiter’s Travels was one of the first books about riding a motorcycle around the world, and what made it all the more interesting for me was that Simon didn’t do it as a publicity stunt. No big sponsors, no support vehicles, no nothing, a lot like the other great journeys on this list. It was what the guy wanted to do, so he quit his job and did it. Simon’s bike was a 500cc air-cooled Triumph, and I liked that, too. I’m a big fan of the old British vertical twins (the Triumph was a state-of-the-motorcycle-art when Ted Simon did his ride). Trust me on this, folks: Jupiter’s Travels is a motoliterature classic, and it’s one you need to read.

10 Years on 2 Wheels

Helge Pedersen is another name you want to know. He is a phenomenal world traveler, writer, and photographer, and 10 Years on 2 Wheels is a phenomenal read.

What sets 10 Years on 2 Wheels apart is the photography, and you get a sense of that just by seeing the cover (this is one of those rare books that you can, indeed, judge by its cover). 10 Years on 2 Wheels is what inspired me to get serious about capturing great photographs during my travels, and Helge’s photos are fabulous (they’re art, actually). This is a physically large book, and that makes the images even more of a treat.

Next Up: The Five Worst Motorcycle Books

Look for a blog in the near future on the five worst motorcycle books I’ve ever read. That one will be tough, because I pretty much like any book about motorcycles, but I’m guessing it will elicit a lot of comments.

So that’s it: Our list of the five best motorcycle books. What do you think? Leave your comments and suggestions here. We want to hear them!

More book reviews? You can find them here!

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The Big Ride: 5 Factors Affecting Daily Mileage

How many miles can you ride in a day?

About 30 years ago I cranked 1070 miles in one day on a Harley Softail coming home from Mexico (and that was on an older Softail without the rubber mounted engine…it’s the one you see in the photo above). I was younger and I could ride, as they say, like the wind. A couple of weeks ago, I did a 250-mile day ride on my Enfield and it about wiped me out.

Gresh and I were talking about this recently, and I thought I would share my thoughts on how many miles you can plan on covering in a day. Maybe it will influence your planning. Maybe not. We get paid the same either way.

1: Age

Like I said above, big miles used to be no big deal for me. That’s not the case any more. After substantial scientific study and close observation of my geezer buddies over many decades, I developed a graph showing the relationship between age and how many miles you can reasonably ride in a day.

Like it or not, when we get older, it gets harder to rack up big miles. Serious scientific study went into the above, so if you want to debate our conclusions, bring facts. We want to hear them.

2: Weather

Weather plays a big role in how many miles you can ride in a single day, and here at ExNotes we rely heavily on our weather rock before leaving on any ride. You’ve probably heard about weather rocks. We sell weather rocks here on ExNotes and they are conveniently sized to fit into a tank bag. They work like this…you hang the rock from any available support (you have to supply your own string and support). Here’s how to interpret your weather rock:

- If the rock is wet, it means it’s raining and you should reduce however many miles you had planned to ride by half.
- If the rock is swinging, it means it’s windy that day, and you should reduce your miles by maybe a third.
- If the rock is hot to the touch, it means the temperature is elevated, and you should reduce your miles by maybe a third. Maybe even more.
- If the rock is cold, it means it’s cold, and you probably can ride as long as you dress appropriately. If the rock is really, really cold, though, maybe you should stay home. If there’s ice on the rock, you definitely should stay home.

ExNotes offers weather rocks in brand-specific models:

- If you ride a Harley, we offer chrome weather rocks for $395, chrome with conchos and black leather fringe weather rocks for $495, and chrome, conchos, fringe, and matching do rag weather rocks for $595 (freight and setup fees not included).
- If you ride a BMW, we offer the GS weather rock with an electronically adjustable center of gravity, BMW logos, and a one-year Starbucks gift certificate for $1995.
- If you ride a Ducati, you probably don’t need a weather rock (Ducati riders generally only ride their motorcycles short distances on clear days, anyway, although if you insist, we can provide a red rock for you personally autographed by the former famous racer of your choice, or we can put several rocks in a bag you can shake to sound like a Ducati clutch). Ducati rocks are free, or at least that’s what we tell you (we’ll recover the cost on your first valve adjustment and let you think you got the rock for free).
- If you ride a Chinese motorcycle, we sell an ExNotes weather rock decal for $2 and you can put it on your own rock.

3: Roads

The kind of roads you plan to ride make a huge difference. If it’s all freeway, you’ll be bored but you can rack up huge miles. If it’s surface streets (and a lot of us do everything we can to stay off the freeway), you won’t cover as many miles unless you’re riding in Baja, where you can run 140mph+ on the long straights south of Valle de Los Cirios. If it’s in the mountains, it will be less, unless you’re posting about your skills on Facebook, where the folks who post are world class riders (to hear them tell it). The same holds true for riding in the dirt. You just won’t cover as many miles.

4: Headcount

This is the big one, folks. Maybe I should have listed it first. If I’m riding by myself or with one of my motorcycle buddies in Baja, I can easily do over 500 miles a day. Throw in more people, and…well, read on, my friends.

The number of riders in your group has a profound impact on how many miles you can ride in a day. In the math world, we would say that the miles per day are inversely proportional to the number of riders in your group.

As a starting point (and after extensive research and mathematical modeling), the technical staff here at ExNotes developed Formula A:

A) Miles per Day = (M)/(N)

where:

M = Miles you want to ride
N = Number of riders in your group

What the above means is that as the number of riders in your group increases, the number of miles you can cover in a day decreases. That’s because with more riders you’ll start later in the morning, you’ll be stopping more often, and you’ll take more time at each stop. That is, unless you’re riding with me. Then Formula A reduces to Formula B:

B) Miles per Day = M

where:

M = Miles you want to ride

The B in Formula B stands for Berk because basically I’ll leave you behind if you’re not ready when I am. You can catch up with me later. You might think I’m joking. I’m not.

Formula A varies a little depending on what kind of riders you have in your group, and especially if you have a Rupert. Rupert is the guy who takes 20 minutes putting his motorcycle gear back on after every stop. I once rode with a Rupert who could take 20 minutes just putting his gloves on. He got better when we threatened to cut a few of his fingers off.

5: Your Motorcycle

There are several motorcycle factors that play a huge role in how many miles you can ride in a day. In the old days, a motorcycle was a motorcycle and we did it all with a single bike (touring, off-road, canyon carving, adventure riding, etc.). Today, you gotta get specific:

- ADV-style bikes are actually pretty comfortable and the ergonomics make sense. 500-mile days are easy. My KLR 650 was one of the best touring bikes I ever owned. It had phenomenal ergos.
- Standard motorcycles are also relatively comfortable and you can probably do 500 miles in a day, but you’ll feel it, especially if your bike does not have a windshield. My Enfield 650 Interceptor is a good bike, but it’s the one that wiped me out on that recent 250-mile ride.
- Cruisers look cool in motorcycle ads and they complement do rags and tattoos nicely, but they are less comfortable on long rides. I’ve found I can reasonably do 350-mile days on a cruiser without needing to see a chiropractor. Go much beyond that and you’ll feel it.
- Sportbikes generally cut into big miles, but a lot depends on your age. Good buddy Marty and I rode sportbikes on the 2005 Three Flags Classic (I was on a Triumph Daytona) and we did big mile days on that ride. But I was 20 years younger then and I bent a lot easier. I wouldn’t want to do it again.
- Classic bikes generally require shorter daily riding distances, particularly if they are British and equipped with electricals manufactured by Lucas (as in Lucas, the Prince of Darkness). I think a mid-’60s Triumph Bonneville is the most beautiful motorcycle ever created, but I wouldn’t want to ride Baja on one.

Beyond the style issues outlined above, there are other motorcycle factors to consider:

- Bigger motors generally mean more miles in a day, but bigger motorcycles can slow you down if they suck up too much fuel. One year at the International Motorcycle Show, Yamaha’s bikes all had labels that showed, among other things, fuel economy. The VMax, as noted by Yamaha, averaged 27 miles per gallon. You’d be making a lot more fuel stops on that one. 27 miles per gallon. I can’t make up stuff this good.
- Daily mileage is independent of displacement at 400cc and above (as long as fuel economy is not VMax nutty). Below 400cc, it gets harder (I think) to crank big miles. On my 250cc RX3, 500 miles is a big day for me. But my good buddy Rob once did a 1000-mile Baby Butt on his RX3, so I guess anything is possible.
- Seats can make a big difference. I’ve never found any motorcycle seat to be really comfortable, but I have found a few to be god-awful (my Enfield is working hard to earn that title). If you want to really improve a motorcycle seat so you can up your miles, get a sheepskin cover (I’ve found those to be quite comfortable). There are other options like inflatable seats or custom made seats, but my advice is don’t waste your money. A guy showed up with an inflatable seat cover on a group ride once and it slowed us considerably. It kept blowing off his bike and we had to stop and look for it each time that happened.
- Fuel tank capacity doesn’t make much difference. My KLR could go 250 miles on a tank; my TL1000S would start blinking at 105 miles. You’d think you could ride a lot further with a bigger tank, but I found I need to stop and stretch roughly every hour or two, and if I do that at gas stations, tank capacity doesn’t matter.

What do you think?

So there you have it: Our thoughts on a complex topic.

We know there are keyboard commandos out there who will take exception to our carefully constructed and presented thoughts. If you disagree, let’s hear it. We appreciate all comments, dumbass and otherwise. Please leave your thoughts here on the blog for others to see. Don’t waste your time leaving comments on Facebook (all the cool people leave their comments here…only losers post comments on Facebook). You’ll be a faster rider, you’ll be thinner, and you’ll look better if you post your comments here. And don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, or capitalization (believe it or not, it will help our readers assess the validity of your thinking).

Like they say, your mileage may vary, and we’re looking forward to your comments. If they’re particularly inane, so much the better. We await your inputs.

Some of our more interesting rides? Right here, folks!

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Jeff’s Guest Blog

We love guest blogs. This is one from good buddy Jeff, who rides a BMW with his teddy bear Jay. It came about from a comment Jeff made on one of Gresh’s blogs, and in that comment he included his YouTube channel address. Being a curious sort, I went there and I was blown away by the content and the quality. One that caught my eye immediately was on Utah’s Highway 12, which runs from just east of Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park. I’ve ridden it several times, and I believe it is perhaps the finest motorcycle road in America. The Highway 12 video is posted at the end of Jeff’s guest blog, along with a link for his YouTube channel. And with that, let’s get to the main attraction. Over to you, Jeff!

Jay is a teddy bear and my constant companion. I’m a guy. And 58 years old. How did this happen?!?

Usually this sort of personal revelation involves a phrase like “…Well, there was tequila involved, ok?” or something like that. For once in my life that was not the case.

I started riding motorcycles in college. I was born and raised Mennonite, so a red 1978 Yamaha XS 400 got me a lot of attention at a Mennonite school. I was hooked!

40 years later I’m riding more than ever. In 2011 I moved to Salt Lake City, UT and met the Lovely Laura the 4th day I was here. We’ve been together ever since.

Very early on in our relationship I gave Jay to Laura as a gift. Her family didn’t know about me yet. Her Mom was born and raised Mormon and dating a man with a MOTORCYCLE just wasn’t done in the 50’s and 60’s. Luckily I caught her daughter at a weak moment, so occasionally I’d steal Jay (we didn’t call it breaking and entering) and take him on adventures.

It would be 2 p.m. and Laura would be in a meeting somewhere and her phone would ding. There on her phone would be a picture of Jay having some grand adventure in Park City, UT, or having a beer at one of our favorite restaurants. Once he even went to Las Vegas! I loved making her smile like that.

When it came time to ride home to Indiana for my girls’ graduation from high school and college, one of my daughters asked, “Well, is Jay coming too?” – and so started Jay’s first Big Adventure.

Packing for 3 weeks on the road left no room for Jay in my luggage, so I strapped him to the side of the duffel bag I had strapped to the back seat. What I learned, was that when a motorcycle goes by a sleepy driver in a car at, say, something approaching triple digits, if I ran across them at a gas stop, they were rarely pleased. But with Jay along it always started a conversation instead. From that moment on, he always traveled with me and it got to be my ‘thing’.

I have been a driving instructor for BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, and a host of other groups for over 35 years with over 15,000 racetrack miles and a quarter million street miles. I joined a bunch of sport-bike groups to ride with here in Salt Lake City and invariably I’d get these strange looks showing up for a canyon ride.

“Dude! Who invited Grandpa on the touring bike? OMG he’s got a teddy bear with him!”

After blowing them all off in the twisties, I slowly earned their respect. In the pre-ride bench racing sessions, it would all go great until one of them would say, “Uh oh, Jay’s back!” For a fuzzy little bear, he has serious ‘street cred’.

Anyway, in 2017 the stars aligned, and I planned the trip of a lifetime. I decided to ride from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, CA to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean and then head east to repeat the toe-dip in Portsmouth, NH, not far from my twin sister. The ride was dedicated to raising awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association as by now Laura was the Director of Development for the State of Utah. Jay and I stopped at Alzheimer’s Association offices all across the USA. That trip is documented on our Instagram page #jaysbigadventure.

I’ve always enjoyed helping people with car and motorcycle maintenance and started our youtube.com channel to continue to teach people about cars, motorcycles and to raise awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association’s fight to cure this terrible disease. It is the only one of the top six killers in the USA that has no treatment, no cure, and no way to manage or control the symptoms.

Therefore, the end credits of every one of my videos has contact info to help people learn that there is help not only for the sufferers, but the supporting caregivers as well. 100% of their services are free.

Nine years ago, buying Laura a cute bear at a BMW dealership, I had no idea what a profound change he would bring to my life. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with over the next 9 years!

Jeff, that’s an awesome story. Our readers, Joe Gresh, and I thank you for sharing it with us.

Here’s the Highway 12 YouTube video I mentioned above:

Jeff and Jay’s YouTube channel is here. I subscribed to it; you might want to consider doing the same.

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Tuk Tuks for Troublemakers!

There’s something about 3-wheeled utility vehicles that interfere with our brainwaves. They’re cool and most of us want one. Let me give you few quick examples.

When Gresh and I rode across China on RX3 250cc motorcycles, we started with a tour of the Zongshen plant in Chongqing. It was just the beginning of what was one of the grandest adventures of my life, and we met a lot of great guys over there, including Sergeant Zuo, a retired Chinese Army NCO who was to be our ride captain. That’s Sergeant Zuo in the video below.

Chongqing is exotic in many ways (think foreign city, 34 million people living in 80-story apartment buildings spread across a rolling and lush green landscape, incredible dining experiences, and one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers on the planet). More exotica? A tour of the Zongshen R&D facilities and a sneak preview of what was in the works (I rode the RX4 while it was still a concept, and we saw the new 400cc twin mocked up in clay). The vehicle that really lit Gresh’s candle, though, was a three-wheel 500cc diesel trike utility truck (it’s the one you see in the large photo above). “I have to get me one of these,” Gresh said, in tones that intimated an impending orgasm (that’s inference on my part, as I’ve never actually heard Gresh in such a situation, at least that I know of, and I’d like to keep it that way).

I mean, that yellow trike was nice, but Gresh’s reaction to it floored me. While I was still at CSC Motorcycles, Gresh was relentless in his full-court press to get me to get CSC to import the things. Go figure.

Next up? That would be a very recent Facebook post by good buddy Jackie showing a new passenger three-wheeler, no doubt intended to meet the pressing demand for tuk tuks (that’s what they’re called in the third world). I immediately asked Jackie what the powerplant would be (it’s an internal combustion engine for now, with an electric one slated for a follow-on version).

I shared the Zongshen post on my Facebook feed, and it drew an immediate response from good buddy Colorado Dan. He wants one. Maybe I could have predicted that…Dan is a guy who has an Enfield Bullet, a Ural, and a couple of Zongs in his garage. And a friendly moose or two in his backyard. Like the cannibals say, there’s no accounting for some people’s tastes, I guess.

I’ve sort of been bit by the bug, too. When Juan, Carlos, and I were assaulting the Andes in Colombia a few years ago, we stayed in a very rustic hotel on the outskirts of beautiful downtown Barichara (it’s pronounced Bah-de-chah-da, with the accent on the first syllable). Juan called a taxi to take us to dinner (it had been a long day on the bikes). I suppose I was expecting some sort of bright yellow sedan to appear, but nope, it was a little tuk tuk. All four of us squeezed in, and we all laughed like madmen on the ride down. It was a downhill ride and that little one-lunger didn’t have to work very hard (gravity is your friend going downhill), but while we were laughing, I was wondering how the thing would do bringing us back up that steep mountain. A couple of hours and an outstanding Italian dinner later, I found out. We could feel every stroke of that little tuk tuk’s motor on the climb up, and we laughed even harder. It was a fun evening.

Then there was Bangkok. Ah, Bangkok. It’s unquestionably one of the most exotic cities in the world. I’d seen these tuk tuks all over Bangkok, but I’d never been in one. It was a character flaw I aimed to correct. The video is a bit long at 16 minutes, but hey, you won’t have to suffer the 17-hour flight in a middle seat to get there (like I did). Just imagine 100-degree temps and humidity that’s off the charts, and you’ll have the compleat Thai tuk tuk travel experience.

Pffffft…Bond…James Bond

Like everyone else on the planet except the nefarious bastards of SMERSH and SPECTRE, we mourn the passing of Sean Connery, the great talent who defined and was the ultimate Bond. James Bond. Checking out at age 90, Sir Sean lived a long life. With that many years and many wonderful roles under his belt, he got his money’s worth, I think. So did we, speaking as one among hundreds of millions of people lucky enough to enjoy his work. Still, it was tough to hear of his passing.

That poster of Sean Connery above? A lot of gunsels may not know this, but the iconic early James Bond movie posters showed Sean Connery armed with…a pellet gun. A Walther LP53, to be specific. Take a good look, and then look at this photo of my Walther.

I’ve owned my Walther for a lot of years (I wrote an ExNotes blog on it a year or two ago that tells a more complete story of the Bond connection, with a bit of pellet pistol bragging rights thrown in for good measure).

Rest in peace, Mr. Connery, and thanks for the many good stories you brought to us.

The 5 Stupidest Ideas in Motorcycling

We don’t do many listicals here at ExhaustNotes.us. Editorial policy frowns on the cheap, easy list as a lazy man’s way to get attention. However, that doesn’t mean we are completely immune to the meth-like attraction of lists. The thing is, click-bait lists are nearly impossible to get right. Whatever harebrained idea you’ve thought of to generate more clicks, and hopefully shares, will be blown out of the water in the comments section by people much, much smarter than you. And that’s ok, that’s why listicals are so popular. It’s a way to piss people off and generate interest.

Number 1: ABS Brakes

I don’t know which lawyer came up with the idea, but it had to be a lawyer. Full-time Antilock Brake Systems are the single most dangerous feature on modern motorcycles. Just a month ago my buddy forgot to disarm his BMW’s antilock system after a trailside nap. (The BMW system defaults to “on” whenever you shut off the bike.) After we started riding again the trail turned steeply downhill. The steepness of the descent meant that rain washed away any fine sands and left behind large rocks and boulders. His BMW rolled and rolled. All attempts at braking were futile and so naturally he crashed. The bike was basically freewheeling down a rocky hill. At least his BMW had the option to opt out of ABS.

There’s no sicker feeling than panic stomping on the brakes and nothing happens. Any motorcycle that even slightly hints at off road capability should come with a means of disabling the ABS. For that matter practically every street bike has been known to travel a dirt road or two so really all motorcycles should come with the ability to disarm the ABS. These aren’t cars we’re talking about here. Many occasions call for a motorcycle rider to lock up the rear wheel and sometimes (like on that rocky downhill) lock up the front wheel.

Number 2: Keyless Ignitions

Those electronic key fobs are a stupid solution to a problem nobody had. What is wrong with a plain old key? You know, the kind you can have a duplicate made almost anywhere? The stupid electronic-proximity widgets are huge, like the size of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. They are bulky in your pocket and you’ve got to keep a good battery in them just to start your bike! God help you if you ever lose the thing. It will require a dealer’s services and several hundred dollars to program your new Kreme.

Most times I’ve ridden a bike that came with a clunky electronic key fob I ended up leaving the thing in the saddlebag or hidden on the bike somewhere. This defeats the purpose of having any sort of lock on your motorcycle at all but I’d rather have the bike stolen than carry that stupid key fob. I suspect the real reason for the electronic key fob is to allow constant surveillance at the factory level. Didn’t make that latest payment? No problem we’ll disable your ride until you cough up the cash, Highway Rebel!

Number 3: Helmet Communicators

These silly devices allow passenger to operator conversation or communication between groups of riders. Precisely the thing you’re trying to get away from when you ride a motorcycle. Look, if I want to know what you’re thinking, which I don’t, I’ll wave you to a stop and we will discuss it hand to hand. The advertisements for these Zen-terrupters tout range and clarity as if those are aspirational goals. I might buy a set if the manufacturer promised me the damn things would never work.

Some of you find pleasure in the constant road-chatter. Not me, I want you to keep your thoughts to yourself and I’ll do the same. Some of you think that communication devices are a good way to warn back markers about road conditions. That assumes anyone will actually believe you after that last bone-headed move you pulled leaving the Waffle House. Then I’m told they are good for keeping the group together so that stragglers won’t get lost. Has it ever occurred to these pro-communication, Chatty Cathy’s that the stragglers want to get lost? That maybe they are sick of your yapping about fence posts, tar snakes and how you want everyone to stop because you have to pee. Aren’t you old enough to go to the bathroom alone?

Some of my most memorable group-ride dinnertime discussions have been a result of the group breaking up, missing turns, getting lost and arriving at the restaurant with wild stories to tell. That won’t happen if everyone has had the exact same experience. “Did you see the size of that buck?” is met with a flat-toned chorus, “Yes, we all heard over the radio and saw the buck.” rather than “No, but the hitch hikers we picked up when we made that wrong turn robbed us at gunpoint and then Phil ran off with the redhead.” Remember, the best part of riding in a group is being alone.

Number 4: Entertainment Systems

This includes stupid Bluetooth, interconnecting phone features, stupid music systems and stupid, play-pretty graphics that distract a motorcyclist from the main job at hand: staying alive. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous enough without the rider fiddling around with the dash display on his motorcycle. Engine RPM and velocity, along with distance traveled is all the data you need to correctly operate a motorcycle. Page after page of bright, TFT-BS will only make you worry about the minor fluctuations any mechanical device goes through in the normal prosecution of its job.

No one ever cared about their tire pressures until those TPS systems polluted the instrument panels of America. Now it’s like everyone is running Moto GP and 1 psi really matters. Stop it! And if your idea of a fun motorcycle ride is playing with the stereo and poking your thumb at 45 different handlebar buttons maybe you should quit changing the display settings and just stay at home with your younger brother’s Nintendo. The one your parents made him put down in the basement so the noise won’t bother your mom’s overly sensitive ears. Doesn’t it seem like the older she gets the more sound annoys her?

Number 5: One-Piece Riding Suits on the Street

I know some riders swear by one-piece suits but don’t take their opinion on the subject, take mine. I had a one-piece leather suit 43 years ago and the trauma from that experience still haunts me. Many a night I wake up in a cold sweat having to use the restroom but mentally stuck inside a one-piece suit. I can see road racers wearing one piece suits for the extra protection they afford during high-speed get-offs. If you’re riding your street bike anything like a Moto GP star you should probably not be riding on the street. Sure, they look great in website road test photos but those guys are only riding the bike for 15 minutes at a time. As soon as the camera stops clicking they peel that crap off toot-sweet.

For normal, everyday riding a one-piece suit is incredibly inconvenient. There are only a few things more disgusting than using a filthy, urine-soaked gas station toilet and one of them is using a filthy, urine-soaked gas station toilet while wearing a one-piece riding suit. Once you wiggle out of the top and drop your drawers you’ll soon realize that there is not enough space between the lip of the toilet and the urine-soaked floor for all that material. It’s like trying to corral your parachute in France after you’ve landed behind enemy lines on June 6th, 1944. Ok, I have no idea what that’s really like but you kind of sit there holding the bag: Practice hovering if you simply must mimic Marc Marquez on your Honda Blah.

I have more stupid motorcycle things, many more, but 5 is a good number to stop at. I mean, I may have to test some of these stupid motorcycle ideas and I don’t want to use up all my outrage in one story.

More Joe Gresh is here!

Joe Gresh Enfield and Baja impressions are here!

Art’s 1911 Art

You probably remember good buddy Arthur Benjamins’ guest post on the Smith and Wesson Model 29. Arthur is an artist who recently created a beautiful painting highlighting the iconic 1911 .45 auto (a frequent topic here on ExNotes). He volunteered to do a guest column for the blog and we were quick to say yes. Enjoy, my friends.

Looks That Could Kill

The lady’s expression was thoughtful and disapproving. She stood arms crossed with a stance that parents would adopt with their young child who hadn’t properly screwed back the top on the peanut butter jar. If my junior school teacher had given me that same glare, I would have been guilty of shouting out the correct answer before raising my hand.

The subject of the lady’s gaze was my latest painting on show at the Arizona Fine Art Expo – my image graphically depicted of one of the USA’s legendary man made objects. 2.5 lbs of steel which could fit inside a coat pocket – The famous Colt .45 Automatic Pistol.

When Colt started production in 1911, no one would have guessed the impact it would have on the USA and the industrial world. It would be further immortalized in films, songs, books – and like the AR15, it would find its way into history and folklore. This was no ephemeral object. From an engineering point of view, the venerable Colt .45 pistol is a true work of art, and of the 2.7 million produced from 1911 onwards, all wartime specimens now command premium prices.

A Legend Comes to Life Again

One of the other artists offered to bring in his own for reference details, and the following morning he thrust a mint condition 1911 in a small cardboard box into my thirsty hands.

Thanking the good Lord for the USA’s freedom and Second Amendment, the mere possession of this object would have automatically produced a 5-year custodial sentence in the UK – a once-proud country in which I had lived for four decades and where I had sadly experienced firsthand the contrived and rapid deterioration of the firearms law and the victimization of the British shooting sports members.

However, I wanted to depict this highly developed, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle and convey its iconic status. The voice of action imagery contributes highly towards a visual impact, but that was not what I was looking for. I chose a harmonious and nestling triumvirate in red, white and blue along with similarly hued starred and swirling banners on a field of noble silver.

The great Andy Warhol would have smiled enigmatically at my painting, and have said something cryptic to me. He would have used three individual images himself and have colored them similarly but my own selective abstraction had steered me away from his own repetitious trademark productions.

However, I gladly accepted his spiritual input which he would have welcomed as it was not widely known that as his own portfolio grew, he was forever running out of ideas, turning to others for renewed inspiration.

Beautiful Memories

At the Expo, it was amazing just how many viewers lamented having gotten rid of their beloved Colt .45 many years ago or wished they had owned one in a time when were considered as surplus and you could barely give them away. I encountered several moist eyes and stories of proud ownership. I was one of those myself years ago, but the UK handgun legislation in 1997 ended all that.

One of the Vietnam vets at the Expo’s American Healing Arts Foundation openly carried a customized 1911 on his hip. It remains one of the ‘carry’ favorites for a great many Americans who refuse to accept anything else.

Feeling I really needed to give the lady more input, I gently approached and said that the last ten years had seen a great upswing of women who had taken up the shooting sport to become proud and responsible gun owners.

“Mm-mm,” she mused, giving me a difficult look. Her brow had furrowed when she returned to the painting. She looked back at me, “We have friends,” she spat, “And THEY have a gun!” With that, she turned on her heels and disappeared from view.

“Only ONE?” I smiled, and with that I straightened Nineteen Eleven on my easel, adjusted the label and awaited further memories from discerning visitors.

You just can’t win ‘m all.

Title: “NINETEEN ELEVEN”
Size: 29” x 32” x 2”
Medium: Acrylic paint on wood.
Value: $5950

For all inquiries, please contact Arthur directly.

Book Review: Letters from Uncle Dave

Letters from Uncle Dave is quite a read. It’s the story of Staff Sergeant David Rosenkrantz, the middle child of Russian Jewish immigrants who joined the US Army and became a paratrooper. SSG Rosenkrantz fought in Sicily, Italy and Holland during World War II. He was killed in battle and listed as missing in action for 73 years. I originally heard this story from Phil Rosenkrantz, SSG Rosenkrantz’s nephew and a fellow retired professor in the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona.

Good buddy Phil is many things. One of the adjectives that can be accurately assigned to him is diligent. Another is persistent. Professor Rosenkrantz spent the last 20 years searching for Uncle Dave, and it was a search that ended successfully. Phil identified where his uncle was buried in Europe. SSG Rosenkrantz’s remains were returned to the United States, and last year he was reinterred in Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors. You may have seen it reported; the story made national news.

Letters from Uncle Dave contains 49 letters SSG Dave Rosenkrantz wrote home, 106 images, documents and maps, and much more. I was one of the beta reviewers for Phil, and I’m happy to report that Letters from Uncle Dave is now available on Amazon. You should pick up a copy. It’s a great read.

More ExNotes book, movie, and product reviews are here!