Tag: ADV Motorcycle

CSC’s RX6

By Joe Berk

Great things continue to emerge from CSC Motorcycles, my alma mater and your favorite motorcycle company.  CSC is now importing the new Zongshen 650cc Cyclone, the RX6.  It’s a logical step up.  The first CSC adventure touring motorcycle was the RX3, and I had a ton of fun on it.  You know the story…when CSC first planned to bring that motorcycle to America, I wrote a blog about it and we sold the first one within a few seconds of the blog being published (it went to a buyer in Alaska).  The sales poured in, and literally within days of the RX3 motorcycles arriving in America, we led a tour of 15 CSC riders on a 2000-mile ride through Baja.  It was awesome, and it was pretty gutsy…taking 15 Chinese motorcycles on a ride like that.

It was onward and upward after that…a 5000-mile ride through the western US with a dozen guests from China and Colombia, a 6000-mile ride across China with Joe Gresh, a circumnavigation of the Andes Mountains in Colombia, and many more Baja rides.  Then came the CSC TT 250, the San Gabriel, the RX4 450cc, the 400cc twins, the electric City Slicker, and the RX1E  electric ADV motorcycle.

You’ve probably heard the rumors of the Zongshen/Norton alliance and their skunkworks 650cc twin, and I’m here to tell you the 650cc RX6 is a reality.  I rode the first one in America in the San Gabriel Mountains above CSC’s facilities, and it’s awesome.  And like all of the bikes listed above, CSC is bringing it here.

There are a lot of features on the new RX6 (I’ll list the specifications and some of the features at the bottom of this blog).   What grabbed my attention immediately when I saw the new CSC were the fit and  finish, the color, the dash, and just the overall aura of excellence.  The RX6 is a world class motorcycle.  One of the coolest things is the dash.  Check this out:

The RX6 is a full-sized motorcycle, but it’s not overwhelming.  If I had one I’d probably name it Goldilocks.  It’s not too big and it’s not too small.  It’s just right.

Another cool feature is the wireless key.  It’s like the electronic key on most new cars.  It has a key feature (you know, so you can insert it in any of the various locks on the RX6, like the fuel filler cap), but as long as you have it on you, you can start the RX6 just by hitting the starter button.  You don’t have to put the key in the ignition.

The brakes felt good on my ride in the mountains.  There are large dual disk  brakes up front, a single disk in the rear, and anti-skid braking front and rear.

The RX6 sounds like a motorcycle ought to.  It has a decisive exhaust note, and it sounded good reverberating off the San Gabriels.   It’s fast, too, with noticeably more power than an RX3 or an RX4 throughout the rev range.  I didn’t push it too hard (it was CSC’s first sample in the US), but the power was definitely there.  Zongshen is claiming a 112 mph top end; I think that is realistic and probably a bit of an underestimate.  The one I rode was literally brand new and I was in the mountains, so I didn’t try a top end run.

Zongshen is emphasizing the Cyclone family name (the RX3 is actually a Cyclone, too, but at CSC we made the decision to refer to it as the RX3).   The badging on the motorcycle’s side panels says SR650 (presumably, the SR stands for Sports Road), so we’ll have to see how the bike is named when it goes on sale, and Steve tells me that will be soon.  The motorcycle will carry a retail price of $7195, and as CSC always does, they are offering an introductory “Don’t Miss The Boat” price of $6695.  It’s a certainty that price won’t last long, so…you know…don’t miss the boat.  More info will be available on the CSC website.

CSC 2023 RX6 Specifications

      • Engine type: SR650, 650cc parallel twin, 4-stroke, water cooled, DOHC, 8-valve, Delphi Electronic fuel injection, ECU ignition
      • Bore/stroke: 82mm x 61.5mm
      • Compression ratio: 11.5:1
      • Horsepower: 70 hp at 8500 rpm
      • Torque: 62 Nm at 7000 rpm
      • Transmission: 6-speed
      • Clutch: FCC slipper-type
      • Wheelbase: 57.1 inches (1450mm)
      • Front suspension: 41mm inverted telescopic fork, 130mm travel
      • Rear suspension: KYB preload-adjustable mono-shock, 51mm travel, 142mm rear wheel travel
      • Front brake: Nissin 2-piston caliper, dual 320mm front discs, 5mm thick, Bosch ABS
      • Rear brake: 2-piston caliper, 260mm rotor, thickness: 5mm thick, Bosch ABS
      • Front wheel/ tire: Pirelli 120/70-R17 cast aluminum wheel, tubeless
      • Rear wheel/tire: Pirelli 160/60-R17 cast aluminum wheel, tubeless
      • Overall length: 86.4 inches (2195mm)
      • Overall width: 32.3 inches (820mm)
      • Overall height: 54.9 inches (1395mm)
      • Seat height: 32.3 inches (820mm)
      • Ground clearance: 6.5 inches (160mm)
      • Fuel capacity: 5.5 gallons (21 liters), locking gas cap
      • Estimated fuel economy: 48 MPG
      • Curb weight: 540 lb (245kg)d
      • Top speed: 112 mph (180 kph)
      • Max load, rider and luggage: 396 pounds (180kg)
      • Instrumentation: Cyclone 7-inch, full-color TFT dash, with digital speedometer, tachometer, odometer, tripmeter, fuel gauge, gear indicator, neutral light, temperature gauge, clock, turn signal and high beam indicators; Bluetooth linking to rider’s phone
      • Electronic tire-pressure monitoring system
      • Lighting: full LED lights and turn signals
      • 12-volt and USB charging outlets on dash
      • 300-watt alternator
      • Automotive-type waterproof connectors under seat
      • Tapered aluminum handlebars with bar-end weights
      • Standard engine guards, adjustable electronic windshield, vibration-damping foot pegs, dual curvature rear view mirrors
      • Front and Rear built in recorder and cameras
      • 5,000-mile valve adjustment intervals
      • Easy maintenance supported by a service manual and CSC online tutorials
      • Options: CSC touring luggage packages, accessory driving lights, heated handgrips, and more

Wild Conjecture: The Harley-Davidson Pan America

 

Much like when your old granny starts using Instagram or throws down internet slang terms like LOL, Harley-Davidson’s new, Pan America concept motorcycle is a sure sign that the out-sized ADV fad has played itself out. It can’t come a moment too soon for me because these giant dirt motorcycles are the worst idea to come down the pike since Thalidomide. I won’t list the moto-journos that have injured themselves on these bikes but it’s a who’s who of two-wheeled typists. Remember, these are the pros!

H-D has ignored the segment these last twenty years for good reason: It’s simply not their bag. Change comes slowly to The Motor Company. They’ve been very successful building and selling a cruiser lifestyle. People tattoo H-D logos onto their bodies! Who else but a Batdorf and Bronson coffee fanatic would do that?

Back on topic: The Pan America. Harley doesn’t keep me in the loop so I have nothing but a promotional photo to go by but the thing doesn’t look half bad. There’s just a hint of Royal Enfield Himalayan in the styling but that’s not a bad thing. The fairing is kind of goofy, a requirement for ADV bikes. It’s got a decent-looking skidpan and a nice flat seat that looks comfortable.

The engine looks like a restyled version of H-D’s 750cc liquid-cooled Street power plant but with displacement rumors swirling around 1200cc, maybe not. Maybe it’s a V-Rod engine. Anyway I can’t see Harley building a new engine just for the Pan America unless it’s the beta test of a wholly new Sportster power plant. There’s almost no way the thing will weigh less than 600 pounds, again, seemingly not a problem for the chuckleheads who plow these big bikes through the trails.

I haven’t heard of any major reliability issues on the 500cc-750cc Street models or the V-Rod so if it’s either engine the thing should be more reliable than the class-leading GS BMW’s. I’m hoping the thing is chain drive as toothed belts squeak like crazy in the dirt and shaft drives seem to snap in half with alarming frequency.

The rest of the cycle parts look really modern, Japanese even, and the Pan America shows that Harley can build a bike that rivals the Europeans and Asians anytime they feel like it.  They just haven’t felt like it.  Until now.

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