This has been a busy week, and lots of good things are happening. We’re having rain all over, and even thunder, lightning, and hail, but things are happening!
For starters, our good buddies at Janus Motorcycles made the New York Times in yesterday’s edition. You can read the story here. Folks, from a public relations perspective, it just doesn’t get any better than getting a story in the New York Times. It’s a tremendous accomplishment, especially when considered in light of the fact that the story spoke so very well of Janus and their team. I enjoyed the Baja ride with Devin and Jordan tremendously, and it’s good to see these guys doing well. Wow. The New York Times. I am impressed!
Devin Biek and Richard Worsham, the Janus founders. I rode Baja with Devin. Richard rode a Janus across the United States.
Next up: The CSC guys are in the middle of their Moab get-together, and following the photos on Facebook, it looks like they are having a hell of a good time. Good for them! CSC does more rides with their customers than any motorcycle company I know, and that’s a good thing. They’re out there offering test rides on the new San Gabriel and the RX4, too. Cool stuff.
And a few more developments…we’ve now got a page indexing our more memorable adventure rides, and it’s appropriately titled Epic Motorcycle Rides. Click on the link to take a look. We’ve covered past rides on the ExNotes blog, and this new page provides a convenient index to all our rides in one easy spot. The Janus run, the Enfield run, the Three Flags Classic, the 150cc Mustang run down to Cabo, motorcycle racing in Baja, videos from the different rides, and more. It’s all on Epic Motorcycle Rides!
We’ve got a lot of new stuff coming your way, folks. I’ve been playing with some cast bullet loads in the 1903 Springfield and we’ll have a piece on it soon. We’ve got more motorcycle stories queued up, including one about running the KLRs through Baja. We’ve got two new Facebook groups launched…one is the Crappy Old Motorcycle Association (or COMA, for short), and the other is Guns and Ammo, each with a focus on just what their names imply. And of course, we have our Facebook ExhaustNotes page. We’d like you to sign up on all three…hey, we all could use more Facebook in our lives!
One more thing…please consider signing up for the blog’s email updates. You might win a copy of Destinations at the end of this quarter if you do!
Brrrrr. It was cold that day! That’s Devin Biek on the left, one of the two Janus founders (Richard Worsham is the other one). The guy on the right is Jordan Swartzendruber, the Janus video and photo guy.
Yep, you read it right. This is a blog about a blog about a blog. The blog I’m referring to is this one, which is on the Janus Motorcycles site…
With my permission, the good guys at Janus Motorcycles reprinted one of the blogs I did on the Baja trip. It’s cool. I especially like the way they selected and highlighted quotes throughout the piece…
Cool. So this blog? It’s about the Janus blog, which is about the ExNotes blog. A blog about a blog about a blog. I love it! Incidentally, if you want to get to the Janus blog, it’s right here.
And check out this latest video from Janus…it has more than a few scenes from the Baja ride…
Our good buddies at Janus Motorcycles have a special deal for ExhaustNotes readers…if you mention ExhaustNotes when ordering a new motorcycle, Janus will give you a free polished stainless steel exhaust upgrade (or anything else of equivalent value). Just click here to get to the Janus order page.
I had a grand time on the Janus Baja adventure ride, and these are unique motorcycles. Janus motorcycles are handcrafted gems with an exquisite fit and finish, and they gather crowds wherever they go.
Devin Biek, one of the Janus co-founders, putting a Gryffin through its paces on our Baja adventure ride.
Here’s more news, this time from CSC Motorcycles. CSC has announced new colors for their 2019 TT250 motorcycle, which include subtle letter decal color changes on the white and black versions of the bike, and an all new blue color (a first on the TT250).
The 2019 TT250 colors. The 2019 bikes should be in the US in a couple of weeks.
These are cool colors on the new TT250s, and at $2,195, this motorcycle has to be one of the best deals on the planet. I have a black one and I love the bike. To get to the CSC order page, you can click here.
I saw an ad last week that brought a smile to my face. It started off by asking: Are you one of those kids who used to ring doorbells and then run away? Then it panned to a photo of a UPS van and driver, and beneath that it said, “Well, we’re hiring.”
Something like that happened to me today. I was busy tapping away on the next Destinations piece for Motorcycle Classics when I heard someone at the front door, and when I answered, the truck was pulling away. There were two packages waiting for me.
Our good buddies at Z1 Enterprises, the folks who are delivering superior components to Joe Gresh for his Kawi Z1 resurrection, sent T-shirts to both Gresh and me. It’s cool. I’m going to wear it on the next Baja adventure. Good buddy Russ, thanks very much!
The second package was from our good friends at Janus Motorcycles. I spent several days with the Janus boys in Baja a couple of weeks ago and I had a blast. Their package had a hat, a T-shirt, pins, and decals. Now I need the motorcycle to go with all this good stuff. Good buddies Grant, Devin, Richard, Jordan, and John, thanks to you, too!
Good times, folks. Janus and Z1, thanks very much!
I’m back after a 4-day, thousand-mile ride through Baja on a Janus Gryffin. I’m well-rested, I’m warm, and I had a great time. It was a ride I’ll remember.
Brrrrr. That’s Devin Biek on the left, one of the two Janus founders (Richard Worsham is the other one). The guy on the right is Jordan Swartzendruber, the Janus video and photo guy.
On our first day we rode up to Idyllwild on icy roads, on to Julian, and then to the border near Tecate. Wow, was it ever cold! On every motorcycle trip, there are those “Why I am doing this?” moments, and I had more than a few of those on that first day. We stayed in Pine Valley on the US side that first night, a wide spot in the road with one restaurant open that evening, the appropriately-named Frosty Burger with outdoor seating only. Nope, too cold for that. It was to be a general store with sandwiches and pizza that night, which we ate standing in the store (the place had no seating). We joked with the two ladies behind the counter. “I’m married, ladies,” I told them, “but my friends Jordan and Devin want to know if you’re single.” It was that kind of an evening. We were out in the world on a motorcycle ride, headed for Mexico.
We crossed the border the next morning and the Mexican immigration officer successfully pitched his homemade salsa to us. It was funny. I tried to imagine a US Customs officer examining my passport in LAX and asking “hey, have you ever considered becoming an Amway rep?”
The bikes drew a crowd of Mexicans at the immigration control point, and that occurred every place we went. Even folks with no motorcycle knowledge knew they were looking at something special. Those who knew bikes understood these machines even better. A Mexican gentleman about my age examined the leading link front suspension and said “Ah, like Montesa.” His knowledge of vintage Spanish motorcycles surprised me and I immediately thought of Joe Gresh (it’s a private joke, folks).
Devin’s Halcyon model on the Rumarosa Grade. Note the Montesa-like leading link front suspension. I rode the Gryffin model, which I liked a lot. Richard Worsham rode this bike across the United States.
That day we stopped for photos as we rode through the Rumarosa Grade, and then it was on to the Mexicali bypass. We picked up Highway 5 south, and it was on that stretch that I really bonded with the Gryffin. I can only do that on a motorcycle with a soul. Some motorcycles have no soul and no character. But the Janus did. My good buddy Marty once bought a new Honda CBR1100XX, a bike with incredible performance stats. But he sold it after only a few months, and when I asked why, Marty told me it had no character and no soul. I realized as I rolled through Mexico at a steady 50 mph that the Gryffin was something special. It spoke to me. The burble of its CG engine had a good sound. The cold air felt less cold, and the bike just felt right. It’s not something that’s easy to explain. Some of you will know what I’m talking about.
I knew a taco stand I wanted to visit for lunch, but we were already out in the desert coastal plains north of the Sea of Cortez and I had not seen it. Maybe it closed since I was here last, I thought, or maybe I just missed it. That would be disappointing. Then, nope, there it was. It was to be our first meal in Mexico. I was hoping Devin and Jordan would like it. Some folks get Baja, and others don’t. I would soon know if these guys would understand Baja’s magic.
The boys, about to savor their first Baja cuisine. It was grand. One bite and these fellows totally understood Baja.
Jordan ordered tacos. I ordered a quesadilla, and Devin did, too. We sat at one of the tables in front of the counter, all outdoors, and I looked at Jordan. He was chomping down on a taco bathed in guacamole sauce. He nodded approvingly, savoring the best of Baja. My quesadilla was delicious. Devin took a bite of his and smiled. At that instant, I knew this was a great trip, one for the ages. These guys get it, I realized. Devin, who had said something about being a vegan at the start of our trip, abandoned all thoughts of vegan purity. Hey, it’s the 500-mile rule. We were outside the perimeter of all mortal regulatory constraints and anything went. Devin wondered aloud if he had time to order a second quesadilla. He looked at me. You bet, I said. Go for it. More Mexicans stopped to admire and ask us about the motorcycles parked at the edge of our table. It was fun.
We burbled further south on Highway 5. The bikes purred. There’s just something about a single that says all is well with the world. And all was that fine day.
Dinner in along the Malecon in San Felipe that evening was fun. It had grown cold again, but it was not the bitter cold of Pine Valley. We looked out into the dark over the Sea of Cortez, knowing we had been carried to this spot by our Janus motorcycles. We had Tecate cerveza, con sal, with a wedge of lime. Devin ordered a bowl of guacamole. Chips and salsa were before us. They say you truly know the limits of your self-control when the chips and salsa are in front of you. I had none (self-control, that is). It was a wonderful dinner.
“So how does it feel,” I asked Devin, “knowing that you’re riding a motorcycle you designed and built, being in a place like this?”
Devin smiled. “It feels good,” he answered. He ordered another Tecate, one of the life’s grand treats, bottled in a city we had ridden through just that morning.
Burbling along on Highway 3, headed to Ensenada along a road few ride. We owned the road that fine morning.
We were up early the next day, and we were on our way diagonally across Baja to Ensenada. We owned the road; there were almost no other vehicles on Highway 3 that morning. The photo ops were great. The scenery was impressive. We stopped for fuel at a Pemex in Valle Trinidad. It was grand, as riding a motorcycle in Baja always is. We rolled on for 70 miles and entered Ensenada from the southeast. It was a heavily-littered area and the traffic soon grew heavy. We caught glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. We passed an intersecting road that entered Highway 3 at an angle at least 45 degrees steep. I wondered how any vehicle could make it up such a grade, stop, and then enter our roadway. Ah, Mexico. I love it.
We rolled into Tecate late that third night. The Janus motorcycle’s headlight is impressive; it did a much better job than I expected. The El Dorado hotel had no vacancies, so it was on to the Hacienda (a mile further up Benito Juarez Boulevard), and we were in luck. Dinner that night was Chinese food. Yep, Chinese food in Mexico. Chinese restaurants abound in Mexico, and they are excellent.
We were concerned about the next day, as the forecast was for rain. Up early again, we turned in our tourist visas at the Mexican immigration office (no pitches for salsa this time), and we cut through the K-barriers to jump the line to the US border crossing. That little trick took at least an hour off our trip, and nobody tear-gassed us for rushing the border. The US border control officer was intrigued by my motorcycle. I told him about Janus and mentioned that the founder was on the next bike. I think he found that even more intriguing.
Our ride home yesterday began with the mountains and twisties of southern San Diego County, and then we entered San Diego’s morning rush-hour traffic. It was the 94 to the 805 to the 15, and then a 120-mile drone north. Rain hit us just south of Temecula. We rode through 30 miles of it, we stopped to top off the bikes in Elsinore (yep, a Honda was named for the very same city), and a few miles further down the road the rain stopped.
That was our ride. Like I said above, I loved it. Even the cold parts and the rain. Those are the parts of any motorcycle trip I always remember. Time washes away the fleeting discomfort and it all blends together as part of the adventure.
So, on to the Janus motorcycles themselves. What are they like?
In a word, they are unique. They are vintage, but new. They target a special kind of rider. They are not for everybody and not everybody will understand what they are. But those who do….well, read on, my friends.
I’ve read comments about Janus on the forums saying they’re too expensive, they’re Chinese, Janus won’t last, you won’t be able to get parts, they’re overpriced, and on and it goes. There’s a behavioral science term for this kind of Internet forum negativity and nastiness: Online disinhibition. It means that folks say stupid stuff on the Internet they would never say in person. Couple that with the fact that a motorcycle is an emotional purchase, and you see some really wild stuff out there. Anyone with a keyboard and a connection thinks they are an expert on motorcycle design, manufacturing, procurement, service, and of course, marketing. My take on all of this? If ignorance truly is bliss, there are lots of really happy people out there.
As I said above, somewhere on the road to San Felipe I bonded with the Gryffin. It just felt right to me. The motorcycle had a gem-like quality, with the precise and exquisite feel of a Rolex wristwatch. The fuel tank is a work of art. The leading link front suspension has a hint of R69S to it; the bike doesn’t dive on braking (a benefit of this kind of suspension). The colors just flat work and they are elegant. The seat looks right (Devin apologized about the comfort level and he told me they have a new seat coming, but it felt okay to me as is). The frame is a deep gloss black. The rear rack works and it looks good. The switchgear was slightly different than what I am used to, but I became comfortable with the Janus layout quickly. The fit and finish are superior.
I know the CG engine well, having ridden many long-distance trips on CG-engined CSC motorcycles. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the CG engine, and the Janus bikes showcase the engine well. I know where the engine is made (China) and I know where the design originated (Brazil and Japan), but this vertical single has a distinctly British look. In fact, even though the Janus and nearly all of its parts are fabricated and assembled in Goshen, Indiana, the bike looks British to me. Not British as in Triumph’s Kawi-inspired multis or today’s Thai-built Bonnevilles, but British of the Cotton 650 single, the BSA M20, or Brough Superior days (and I realize as I type this that the naysaying keyboard commandos will have no idea what I am talking about). I like that early British look, and I think the Janus guys nailed it. Maybe that’s why I bonded with the bike. Cue in the theme music from any James Bond movie, with Sean Connery’s voiceover: Bond. Janus Bond.
I like that you can see the motor. It’s a motorcycle, see? You’re supposed to be able to see the motor on a motorcycle. You can see the engine on this bike. It’s the way God intended a motorcycle to be. Body work? Fairings? We don’t need no stinking fairings!
Here’s something else I like: The Janus folks don’t like chrome. That doesn’t mean the bikes have no shiny components (they have many), but when you see something on a Janus that’s shiny, it’s not chrome. In nearly all instances, it’s polished stainless steel. Made in Goshen, Indiana. That’s right here in the US, you know. Tell me again why you think $7000 is too much for this hand-built motorcycle?
About 25% of our trip involved riding in the mountains and that meant tons of twisties. The bike handles well, even with the weight I had strapped on the rear rack. Devin told me that I went through a corner with the motorcycle leaned over way more than he had ever seen. I told him I wanted to assess how the bike took a corner hard; I didn’t tell him I hadn’t been paying attention and I entered that corner way too hot. Trust me on this: The bike handles.
The Janus motorcycles excel in drawing a crowd, far more so than any other motorcycle I’ve ever ridden. The things are magnets. People know they are seeing something special, and once they get close enough, the Janus attention to fit and finish makes the motorcycles even more visually appealing. The closest thing I’ve ever seen to a bike attracting this kind of attention were the CSC Mustangs, and the Janus was even more of a magnet. Many folks thought the Janus motorcycles were restored vintage machines. We experienced this kind of attention at virtually every stop.
Look, I know you can buy a used (fill in the blanks here, keyboard commandos) for less than the cost of a new Janus. That’s missing the point entirely. I’m fairly confident that no one ever considered a used Sportster as an alternative to a Janus. Nope, this bike is for someone who wants something special, something different, something that is not made to appeal to the broadest possible market. I asked Devin if he and Richard Worsham (Janus’ other founding partner) did a market study before they introduced the bike. You can guess the answer. “No,” Devin answered. “We built the bike we wanted to build.” So, if you’re a person who follows the crowd, this is not your motorcycle. If you’re a person who makes your own decisions, though, then you’re in the zone here, folks.
About that $7K price: The keyboard commandos have said that’s too much for a 250. I don’t think so. Consider the BMW G 310 GS recently reviewed here on the ExNotes blog. That’s a 250-class bike made in India that goes for something north of $7K. Consider the Versys 300 Kawi. Same story there by the time you’re done screwing around with the typical dealer’s larcenous setup and freight charges. Yeah, there are other machines out there for less, most notably the CSC motorcycles with the same CG engine (the TT250 and the SG250). The CSC motorcycles are phenomenal motorcycles and their value is off the charts. They don’t have the look and the exclusivity of a Janus, though, and they are not made in America. Is that important? I’d say no, but a lot of people think otherwise to read their Internet forum comments (which they type, of course, on computers made in China).
Think about that for a second. Motorcycles made in America. Yeah, the Janus CG motor is Chinese. What’s your point? Nearly everything else is fabricated and assembled right here. Maybe it’s time for some of the naysayers and keyboard commandos to put their money where their mouths are. It’s not likely the strokesters would ever do that, but maybe it’s time they should. Me? I think what the guys in Goshen are doing is amazing. You have two young guys with a vision and a great team building motorcycles in America. Exquisite motorcycles with style and a unique character. Motorcycles that can take you through Baja and bring you back safely. Motorcycles with a soul. A motorcycle with which you can form a bond. What’s wrong with that?
Want to read the rest of the story? Please visit our Baja page for an index to all of the Janus Baja blog posts!
Yours truly on an earlier ride to San Felipe. I’m buggy about riding in Baja!
By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on the road on a Janus Gryffin with Devin and Jordan headed toward San Felipe. It’s something I’m really looking forward to…a road trip on an exotic 250cc motorcycle in Baja. That’s a formula for a good time, any time.
I’m always a little apprehensive before a big ride and I probably will not have slept well the night before you read this. But I’m relaxed in the knowledge that as soon as the wheels start turning I’ll be completely at ease. I know I’m going to have an awesome time. And I know the memories will last a lifetime. It’s always that way. If you ride big rides, you have had these same feelings before, during, and after any adventure.
Yesterday afternoon was packing time. I always travel light. It actually takes more time to pack light than it does when you can just bring whatever you want. I’ve get a set of Wolfman soft bags I’ll pull off one of my other motorcycles, and I’ve got a Nelson Rigg tailpack I’ll use for carrying my laptop and my camera. I’m thinking I won’t need the Wolfman bags, as I want to get everything into the tailpack. A change or two of underwear, an extra pair of socks, my meds (all us old guys need our meds), my riding gear, and I’m good to go.
There are all kinds of riders in the world. I’m the kind that lives for big miles on rides that cross borders. I guess folks call that adventure riding, but I’ve been doing it before it had the label. Back in the day, we simply called these things motorcycle trips. My first one ever, when I was a college kid, was from New Jersey to Canada. You know what they say about Canada: It’s almost like going to another country. All kidding aside, that was a great ride. This one will be, too. They all are.
I love what Janus is doing, I know the CG engine is a classic stone-cold reliable motor, and I love riding in Baja. I know many of you reading this were alerted to the ExNotes blog by Janus’ Facebook posts. Thanks for joining us. If you’d like to get more info on where we are headed (and Baja in general), please take a look at our Baja page. Our ExNotes site has a lot on Baja, and that’s for good reason: It’s a great motorcycle destination. If you’d like to know more about San Felipe (our destination on the Sea of Cortez), please take a look at this “Destinations” piece I did for Motorcycle Classics magazine a few years ago. And for those of you who are loyal ExNotes blogistos y blogistas but you haven’t heard about Janus yet, please take a look at this awesome review my good buddy Richard Backus did on the bikes earlier this year in Motorcycle Classics magazine.
This is going to be a fun ride, my friends. Hang with us here on the blog, and you’ll be a virtual reality Bajaeno. One of these days, I hope our paths will cross on a Baja ride!
Don’t forget…if you’d like to get automatic updates on the ride and on future ExNotes blogs, please sign up for automatic email notifications on the widget you see here on the blog. We’ll never provide your email address to anyone else, and you’ll be eligible for a drawing for one of our moto-adventure books!
Want to read the rest of the story? Please visit our Baja page for an index to all of the Janus Baja blog posts!
Bright and early Sunday morning (that’s tomorrow), we’re headed south on Janus motorcycles! It’s cold here in the Southland and it promises to be a chilly ride tomorrow, but I’m going to be dressed for it and I’m ready.
The Janus Gryffin. That’s not me in the photo. My wheelie license expired.
I’ll be riding with Devin and Jordan from Janus, and I’ll be on a Gryffin. It’s going to be a grand thousand-mile adventure ride, and you’ll be able to follow us each day right here on the ExNotes blog. I’ll have my laptop and my Nikon with me, and I promise I’ll do my best to post lots of photos and descriptions of our ride. Our bikes will be covered by BajaBound Insurance (the only insurance I ever use in Mexico).
Along the Malecon in San Felipe!
Mexico’s had a tough go of it lately, what with the caravan arrival in Tijuana and the storms along Highway 5 washing out portions of the road. We won’t be near TJ, but we will be traveling on Highway 5 down to San Felipe. Whatever. It’s not an adventure ride until something goes wrong, because that’s when the adventure starts. Like I said, we’ll keep you posted right here!
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Want to learn more about Baja and the best riding on the planet? Just click here!
Want to read the rest of the story? Please visit our Baja page for an index to all of the Janus Baja blog posts!
This is a blog I wrote for CSC Motorcycles a little more than 4 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 back in September 2014…
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.
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?
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.
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. 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.
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 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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It’s a go, and it’s going to be a grand adventure. In just a few days we’re headed to Baja with the good guys from Janus Motorcycles!
I’m excited about this trip. It’s four days and roughly a thousand miles, I’ll be riding with Devin and Jordan from Janus Motorcycles, and we’ll all be on 250cc Janus classic bikes. We’re hitting the best of southern California’s mountains and forests, Tecate, San Felipe, the Sea of Cortez, the Rumarosa Grade, Ensenada, the northern Baja wine country, and more. Fish tacos. Lobster burritos. Chilequiles. Birreria. Tequila (after the bikes are put away for the night, of course). It’s going to be grand, and you’ll be able to follow the adventure each day right here on the ExhaustNotes blog. We’ll be riding some of the most beautiful roads in one of the most beautiful parts on the planet, and you can bet we’ll be covered by our good buddies from BajaBound Insurance.
Northern Baja’s Rumarosa Grade. Look closely in the lower right foreground, and you’ll see the cars that went over the side.
This will be my first ride on a Janus Motorcycle, and I’m very much looking forward to the experience. A classic lightweight British-styled motorcycle manufactured right here in the United States, powered by the iconic and bulletproof CG engine, on a run through northern Baja…this is going to be awesome!
Want to read the rest of the story? Please visit our Baja page for an index to all of the Janus Baja blog posts!
One of my favorite publications, Motorcycle Classics magazine (I write their Destinations column), recently published an article on Janus Motorcycles, one of the companies we featured just a few blogs down. Richard Backus (MC‘s Editor-In-Chief) penned this one himself. It’s an awesome motorcycle review titled Artisanal Ambitions: 2018 Janus Gryffin. You might want to take a peek; it’s a great read about a great motorcycle.
