CSC RX3 Cyclone

Nothing bad to say about them,I have 1k miles on mine and it's an absolute joy to ride.I have many bikes and have had a WR and well it's silly to compare the two.
This is a bike that has no direct competetion.Zongshen and CSC have created a category all their own...the mini adventurer.Not available anywhere at any price,frankly.
This bike rocks with capable everything.Only thing left to be determined is longevity but Zongshen appears to have done their homework.One fellow rider's Zongshen has over 65k miles without any issues,others have traveled from China to Istanbul.
Let's see...heavy duty spokes,beefy subframe,Cush drive with 520 chain,3 pannier boxes,front and rear crash bars,front fender beak,tapered handlebars,wide platform cleated pegs,6-speed fuel-injected,3 oil filters,gear indicater,open road wind protection and screen,LED turn signals,USD forks,braided brake lines,SS exhaust,handlebar mounted accessory switches,4.0 gallon tank,skid plate.
Sounds like I may be describing some $12k + Bavarian or Austrian wonder bike.
It won't snap your neck with power but the payoff is exceptional MPG along with lightweight...a trade off I welcome.Just leave the European Ego and wallet at home.

Thanks for the update. I am thinking this may be a good do everything machine. A couple of vanity questions.... Do the panniers and tail come off easily? Is the bare bike still attractive?

The OEM FRP boxes are bolt-on, so not easily removable. The upgraded aluminum boxes are easily removable, and the bike looks good with or without them, or even with just the top case.

There are a couple bad things about the RX3.

First, changing oil is messy. All three filters dump right into the skidplate. Removing the skidplate is a hassle, and the filters still drain all over the frame. The oil fill caps are nicely blocked by the exhaust or too small to be much fun, resulting in messy pours.

Second, the seat absolutely SUCKS!, just like every other bike with a swayback seat, only worse. Plan on doing something with the seat. I did a SS1000 on a stock TW200 seat no problems but the RX3 seat had my butt hurting in less than 12 miles.

Finally, the stock headlight is a 35/35 watt H4. Scrap it in favor of a 55/60 watt 9003. Fortunately, the wiring and switches seem up to the task. My next project will be a relay system for the headlight just to be sure. Have fun with the 11 bolts and screws it takes to access the bulb. You'll need a JIS screwdriver of the appropriate size and the appropriate Allen wrench. I still haven't figured out the blue projector-like lens, but I'm planning to hack the housing and install a halogen projector headlight so when one burns out I'll still be legal looking because changing a bulb on a cold dark rural road isn't going to happen.

EDIT: There's a thread in General I started when I FINALLY got a picture to upload with a long winded first impression after a 200 mile ride yesterday.

Ken, three filters? Why did they do that?

DFW_Warrior said:

Ken, three filters? Why did they do that?

Click to expand...

One filter, two screens. I have no idea why. When I can find an oil system schematic I'll take a look, but I'm thinking the screens are prefilters for the filter as the screens are quite course compared to the filter's material. And the oil drain plug is magnetic.

Seems to work well as a system. The initial oil change (before starting for the first time) had an aura of slivers sticking out of a mm layer of sludge over the entire magnet. I suppose the mess was from the initial dyno run at the factory. The oil I drained at 200 miles looked perfect. Only one little chip on one screen, a bit of sludge and a half dozen chips on the magnet. Second screen and filter were spotless.

If the couple of worst things you can say about a new bike is oil drain gets on the skidplate and the seat hurts after a bit then it's good indicator you might have a winner.

Well, there are some other changes I want to do. The mirrors are slightly curved, I prefer flat with spots. The grips are a smaller diameter than I like but nothing wrong with the stock grips at all, and not enough vibration to need gel. Stock headlight is not bright enough, stuck in a 55/60watt 9003 and cured that problem. Suspension is a little soft for a fat guy, so I'm expecting a free fix with the adjustments on the bike and fork oil. The stock luggage won't hold a full face helmet and is not removable, so I sprung for the good stuff. The bike is geared for highway travel, I prefer a lower gear because I rarely see the high side of 60mph. The tweeking never ends.

Like any other bike, mostly a matter of personal preference. Other than the seat and the headlight bulb, nothing really wrong with the bike. All the expensive bits are there. Lots of little things subject to personal preference, as with any other bike.

Wow, 2 screens and a filter, not bad to see overkill in that area of engine maintenance if you ask me. Who knows, you might find that the motor doesn't even require you to clean the screens once the motor is good and broken in. But it is nice to know they are there.

Slide a piece of aluminum foil between the engine drain and skid plate. Maybe figure a way to make channels for oil to drain and keep the skid plate clean.

I haven't cleaned the screens other than to pick off one sliver of metal. Seems like the magnetic drain plug does a really good job of intercepting the slivers and sludge. I've not found any aluminum in the drained oil or screens. Hmmmm?

Great idea, Valker, I'll try that.

5500 miles on RX3s --- some thoughts

I know we were not one of the first folks ordering our RX3's but we were early enough to be part of the initial $2895 group. When we ordered the bikes we knew full well what we are going into, just having had one very negative experience with a Chinese bike (for which we have the first court chat on Monday, but thats a different story). After Karen and I ordered our bikes we did a LOT of research, looking at pictures, looking at the track record of CSC and everything one can do in 6 months before the bikes actually arrived.

Then in the tumultuous weeks as the bikes finally arrived we shocked CSC a little bit by buying our plane tickets before we even knew the bikes would be available, and I had the feeling from Joe's reaction he felt we kind of forced their hand, even though that was not our intention. Its just the way our calendar worked. Would the bikes not have been available we would have moved the flights. I specifically purchased the tickets with that in mind, but as it turned out it worked out fine, the bikes were available and we were probably one of first 20 RX3 owners in the US. AND we packed them up with everything we needed and immediately gave them a good workout by riding those little suckers back to Houston. This was the backdrop when our adventure started.

On Wednesday we managed to get a ride from my BIL to the airport and we stayed in one of the airport hotels since we were trying to avoid to travel all across town on Thursday morning for our flight leaving 5:30AM to Ontario, CA. The flight was uneventful, nothing to say about it, we arrived in Ontario around 9:30 local. Our plan was to get to CSC, get the bikes, mount stuff we "needed" for the long trek home (X-grip for the phones, USB power supply, ...) and be out by 3PM. That would give us plenty of time to ride the first 200 miles to be able to do the first oil change (200 miles, 1000 miles). Turns out since everything was ready to roll, prepared by CSC we were actually out the door by 1AM.

My immediate impression was: The clutch is grabby (but which new clutch is not?) and this thing accelerates better than any 250 had any right to. Kind of reminded me of the XT350 and the XT500 of the 80's, except those were much buzzier. So off we go and after about 40 miles, we were still in the LA basin, disaster struck the first time. Its an adventure ride after all, right?

When I ordered the X-grips I made a mistake and I ordered the big ones. The ones for tablets or extra large phones. Or "standard sized iPhone 6 was just barely being held, in fact Karen's phone was not held any more at one point and it tried to go off on its own. Unfortunately as it turns out phones are not very good when left to their own devices and it just tumbled down onto the tarmac and following trucks had no regards and rolled just on and over her phone. Now there is one thing one needs to know about my wonderful wife: DO NOT COME BETWEEN HER AND HER MUSIC (stored on said, now damaged iphone) So, after we grab the phone from the road, we turn around and ride 15 miles back to the next Apple store to get a replacement. Apple's extended warranty is worth every penny!

So,,, 3 hours later we finally get going, and after a slight change of the course we are off and start climbing the mountains to get out of the LA basin. The first time I get a real feel for what this bike can do, and I am even more impressed, since even though it is "just" a measly 250 it has no problem keeping pace with the cars going up the mountain, AND it is a joy to ride in the twisties. Down the slope on the other side, and after 180 miles we call it a day, find a hotel and watch the sunset, ... while I change the oil the first time. With the exception that someone must have had too power in their hands when tightening some of the screws, changing oil is 30 minutes tops on each bike.

The next day is more or less boring. About 500 miles ride, gas up, ride, repeat. Oh, and the seat is atrocious. Just as any other stock seat I have had in the last 40 years. So we shift weight -- a lot. In the evening we arrive in a small town on the border between Arizona and New Mexico, in an even smaller hotel, have a chat with the owners, get a pizza from across the street and go to sleep. The next morning after a great breakfast (courtesy of the hotel) we get told that instead of riding I10 we might want to try Highway 9 I believe. Thats a road that literally goes along the US-Mexican border for more than 100 miles with nothing but the desert around. That was actually a great ride, no twisties, but still a great ride.

Somewhere along the Mexican border I start hearing SOMETHING. I cant put my finger on it, and after I while I stop and see that my center stand spring was broken and the center stand was hanging down. Oh, well, after some bungy cords being used to keep the center stand up we are back on track. After a while we pass through El Paso, TX the bikes have almost 1000 miles since we picked then up just 2 days earlier and instead of riding the back roads back to Houston I make an executive decision to superslab it back home. So we get on I 10 and for the first time in their lives the bikes are allowed to run. And run they do! While up this point we were riding moderate speeds and were getting about 60 mpg when slabbing the milage dropped to about 50mpg. But that was WOT 100% of the time. Another 50 miles on I10 and we hit 1000 miles, time for an oil change and a fillup again. And while we are rolling into the gas station Karen's center stand spring fails. An hour later we are back on the road, oil changed and by the evening we roll into Fort Stockton, TX. Somewhere along I10! The next morning, our last day on the road it turns into a real adventure. Its Sunday, so no bike shop is open, I do not have tire irons with me and the rear tire has a flat. Lucky enough the tow truck owner is a rider himself, and has all the tools in his garage, so after 3 hours delay we are finally on the road, but by now its 11AM instead of 8AM. Well, we say, we'll just run WOT all the way home. The bikes have had their easy treatment now they have to show what they can do. Unfortunately 250 miles down the road the patch that we put onto the tire in Fort Stockton lets go, or there was another hole, or, whatever, When we roll into Kerrville to get gas, there is no air again in my rear tire.

At least this time we are in a town with a MC shop, so we put the bike onto their lot, out of sight, load what we can onto Karen's bike we we slab it back to Houston two up. Did I mention that the seat is atrocious?

Even two up the bike runs better than any 250 has any business to do. A week later we drive out to Kerrville and pick up my bike and for a while it is now my primary bike. Just because I want to see what it can do and because its just plain fun to ride and nobody believes its a 250.

The last week I did the 3000 mile service and I decided from now on 3000 miles will be the service interval. The bikes get full synthetic oil at 3000 miles (Rotella T6) and Karen kind of decided as the weather will get a bit cooler when we get into fall she will switch from her GS to the RX3 to ride to work. That will make the bike get miles very quickly, since she rides about 200-300 miles each week just commuting.

So, what were the problem in the last (combined) 5500 miles?

-) Center stand springs (replaced by CSC under warranty) on both bikes
-) On my bike a mirror broke off at the ball (replaced by CSC under warranty)
-) on Karen's bike a mirror came off (replaced under warranty)
-) on both bikes the USB voltage regulators gave up after a while (both replaced under warranty)
-) on my bike the front rotor had thicker and thinner spots, which led to pulsing front brakes (front rotor replaced under warranty)

Conclusion: the WORST that happened was that the front rotor has thicker and thinner spots and that the front brakes on my bike were pulsing until I took the micrometer to it. Once I told CSC the results a front rotor was in my mailbox 3 days later.

All the other items are nuisances, but nothing that is really important to the operation of the bikes, and the reaction of CSC every time was exemplary.

Time for my meds now, Oh, and last week Karen sold a RX3 to a colleague just by telling them and that she liked hers. Maybe we can get a few RX3's together here in Houston.

Argh. You aren't helping me not buy one of these bikes :/

I guess that was my intention if I read your statement correctly.

Well, here's an update. Both brakes bad. Rumor is the hubs are not square where the rotors mount, causing warping rotors and pulsing brakes. The front pads heat up very quickly and go away on a high speed stop or after just a couple hard slow downs setting up for corners. Cure is a $300 oversize brake kit with new pads. I'm putting the kit on a 19-inch front wheel to raise the nose a bit, which will slow the steering and provide more stability on the highway, reduce the stupid seat design's tendency to shove sensitive parts into the tank (lots of people hate swayback seats, not just me, and the CSC $250 replacement is a lot better, but still a swayback that shoves sensitive parts into the tank), and the speedo should be a lot more accurate, currently showing about 13% fast. Rear brake works fine other than warping from bad machine work on the hub. Lining up the mount pads for the rotors will probably be pretty easy since all that needs to be done is filing down the taller pads.

One of the procedures I will do prepping my next new RX will be checking the hubs for flat rotor mounts.

Ken, if it really is the hubs not being square where the rotors mount then I would be highly skeptical of an oversized rotor being the fix. If anything, that might make it worse as it was highlight the out of square mounting surface even more.

Be careful!

The hubs are an easy fix with a fine file. They are aluminum and rotor mounts are easily compared with a straight edge. Bigger front brake rotor is also 25% thicker, and read somewhere CSC has manufacturer check hubs and changed pad material to reduce heat fade on current OEM. Problems solved. Even the original brakes didn't seem that bad to me until I loaded the bike and danced some tight twisties, which brought along the fade. It's not a race bike.

EDIT: I want the 19-inch front wheel, anyway, and figure the heavier, slower turning wheel/tire combo adds need of the stronger brake because I'm a fat guy, sometimes with heavy loads, and I like to sling it around tight little paved back roads with 12% grades, sections that are blind esseseessesessesesses, logging trucks and 8-wheeled tractors with implements whacking trees on both sides, and other stupid stuff like that. Met a sprayer in Ohio and had to ride under it because the sprayer's track was wider than the pavement. Things are a bit tighter around here than Texas. I would chose the brake upgrade even if the original rotor was not warped because of the wheel/tire change.