Noted. Added to the mission list :tup:

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/

Seems Joe has been paying attention and has answered most of the questions I had to ask him today.

Heading out now. Should be there shortly after hey open. :hi:

X2. Looking forward to your thoughts.

That was really cool! The factory is automated well beyond what I visualized, and there are obviously Lean / Six Sigma practices in place. I also appreciated that the factory workers were chatting and smiling; it looks like a bright, friendly and encouraging environment.

I've watched most of the Twist The Throttle episodes, and this rivals the top Japanese factories.

Motomapper on a secret mission to gather info at CSC. Think of the theme from any of the James Bond movies...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...4a5b4daeecf00c

The air filter is accessed as I suspected. However, I wonder how difficult it is to remove the two plastic pieces which cover the air box? The Silk Road Rider claimed he had to remove luggage in order to access the foam air filter. :wtf: I doubt this is true, but I would like to know that both plastic pieces are easy to remove by simply loosening a few screws, et cetera. ;)

As I also suspected, the forks appear to be the standard, Chinese 37mm forks. If I am correct, these forks should have 6.5 inches of travel, instead of the 5.18 inches of travel reported earlier. Perhaps Joe measured the fork travel by compressing the loaded forks, and allowing them to rebound. I hope this is the case, since the preload on forks is usually 25 percent, and this would account for the extra 1.5 inches of travel available. ;) The full 6.5 inches of travel will appear only when the front wheel is lifted off the ground, or the forks are removed from the bike, and the weight of the bike is not compressing the 1.5 inches of preload. If I am wrong, I hope Joe will correct me. ;)

Thanks for posting the informative video, and the photograph of our 'spy,' Joe.

:hehe:

Joe, what method did you use to obtain the measurement for the fork travel? Also, please confirm you don't need to remove the luggage to access the foam air filter, as reported by the Silk Road Rider. ;)

I checked in the maintenance manual, saw 130mm, and converted to inches.

This is somewhat old news, and has been reported earlier on these forums. However, in case you haven't seen them, here are two 'Chinglish' videos describing Zongshen Motorcycle Group, and the Zongshen factory. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPfSKsrPgBo

Here's the second part of the video. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpkVengSMpY

Thank you for your prompt reply, Joe. :) I hope the Chinese have not accounted for the fork preload in their specifications. I will also check the fork specifications in the service manual for my Zongshen ZS200GY-2. My Zongshen forks have 6.5 inches of travel. I doubt Zongshen developed new forks with reduced travel for the RX3. :shrug:

Joe, please confirm you don't need to remove the luggage to access the foam air filter, as reported by the Silk Road Rider. :)

Sorry, I missed that part of the question. You do have to remove the trunk and the rack, and the two side panels on the left side of the bike. You don't have to remove the panniers.

Thank you for your prompt, and honest reply, Joe. :)

Do you need to remove the trunk and rack because of the one bolt circled in blue in the photograph below?

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/q...psb05e748c.jpg

As we say in Baja, Spud, si.