One hour ago the Germany was on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean, sailing northeast at 12.5 knots. The vessel recently passed the Cape of Erimo, which is on the southeast corner of the island of Hokkaido. Here is an aerial photograph of the Cape of Erimo. :) The Germany last transmitted its position at:

LAT: 41° 55' N LONG: 143° 54' E.

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p.../104856143.jpg

Planet Earth is a sphere. The shortest distance between two points on Earth can be determined by stretching a string between the two points on a globe. This path is called the 'great circle route.' When drawing this route on a two-dimensional map, it appears as an arc. ;)

The shortest path from the current position of the Hanjin Germany to Long Beach, California, is very close to the flight path taken from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...routes.svg.png

Therefore, it appears the Hanjin Germany will probably sail along the island chain which stretches from Japan to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. Then the vessel will skirt the Aleutian Island chain before it sails in a general southeasterly direction toward Long Beach, California. ;)

Spud, I learn something from you every week.

19-inch wheel upgrade!
 

Check out the CSC blog ... there's a new 19-inch front wheel option with stainless spokes. The Trailwings look good too.

I was lucky enough to see it first and won myself a tshirt :)

Hey, doesn't the speedo run off the front wheel? I wonder how hard it is to recalibrate for the new wheel and tire?

congrates detours on the sharp eyes and T-shirt. I looked and looked but didn't get all 5 of the items. rj

Thirty-four minutes ago, the Hanjin Germany was sailing at 13.2 knots in a northeasterly direction offshore from Kushiro, the most populous city on the east coast of Hokkaido.

http://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/cruis...mages/main.jpg

Congratulations, Detours. :clap: Indeed, you have an eagle eye. :) If I may ask, what tipped you off? ;)

The speedometer pickup does connect to the front wheel. However, since the speedometer is about 15 percent 'optimistic' with the stock wheel, the larger wheel will only improve the accuracy somewhat. ;)

P.S. I knew a China Rider would win. ;)

The Hanjin Germany certainly travels the globe. :) Here is a short video of the Hanjin Germany being towed by tugboat up the Elbe River to the port of Hamburg, Germany.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghcoZjdMDx8

The Hanjin Germany is now sailing offshore Nemuro, the easternmost city in Japan.

http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-conte...3a-870x579.jpg

Very shortly the vessel will be offshore the Southern Kuril Islands, and leaving the vicinity of Japanese waters. The Southern Kuril Islands are disputed territory controlled by Russia since 1945.

Russia actually shares a border with North Korea, and the port of Vladivostock is as far south as the Japanese city of Sapporo. :wtf: The Hanjin Germany will be sailing outside Russian waters for quite a while, until it approaches the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. ;) The last reported location of the vessel is:

LAT: 42° 40' N LONG: 145° 52' E

The 19" wheel is the size that should have been installed at the factory for the US market. If the price is right I may bite on this option. If not I'll lace a 21".
This bike is really starting to come together. Great motor, acceptable wheel sizes, adequate stator, "good ergos".
The only limiting factor for me is the luggage but thats's easy, ditch the hard bags and throw on some my 60L soft bags.
If the bike proves to be rugged and reliable this may be the perfect turn key world crosser adventure bike!

I am not a fan of hard bags, but I have to say this bike looks amazing with the Tourfella panniers and top box.:tup:

What an odd winter, temps here in Ga should be in the 50's by now. Instead we have 4" of snow on the ground with a foreceast of another 5" to 8" by tomorrow. Oh and the temps will stuggle to make it above freezing. I normally ride all winter long, but not this year. Just as well the RX3 wasn't delivered earlier.>:(>:(

Congrats Detours. My last complaint about the RX3 was the front wheel size and I never would have caught it in a million years.:hmm:

This tire looks promising, with the 19" rim we now have it as a choice!
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...ort-front-tire

Has there been any more discussion on BMW type, tubeless wheels? :)

What fooled me at first was the wheel proportions. The 17/19 wheels in the new pic look about the same together as the old 15/18 wheels.

Comparing with an old pic of the blue RX3, I knew the rear had to be a 17 (too much space around the rotor). The front should have looked smaller in proportion, but it didn't, so I knew they must have bumped the size.

I do QA for a living so I love this kind of puzzle :tup:

It has been odd here also, but in reverse. We've already seen temps near 70F, and the blossoms are out in force. Very mild winter here.

To me, that's the answer. A 21" would be nice, but a 19" likely means no messing with the fender. There is an adequate selection of 19" front tires.

Tony:

Good question and thanks for asking it.

I spoke with the engineers at Zongshen when I was there a few weeks ago, and the short answer is yes, there was more discussion, but no, we are not going to pursue it.

The Zongshen engineers convinced me that this is not a good way to go. There are more than a few issues associated with the BMW concept of lacing the spokes on an outer lip to run tubeless tires, and we both decided we did not want to pursue this approach. The issues include increased cost, increased difficulty in mounting/dismounting tires (not a good idea for the kind of riding that may require fixing flats in the middle of nowhere), challenges in keeping the wheels trued, and more. For the foreseeable future, we're going to run wire wheels and tubes.

Joe

You are right; the 19-inch bolts right in and doesn't require fooling around with the fender. It does change the handling, the bike's stance, and responsiveness a bit. It works with the stock sidestand, but the bike leans a few more degrees to the left with the 19-inch wheel on the sidestand. A 21-inch wheel would not fit with the stock fender, and it would require sidestand modification.

What changes, Joe?
 

Does it 19" wheel slow handling and responsivness or?
Also, Do you recommend any of the tubless methods in aftermarket for our ue? ie: tubliss, etc?

The bike obviously sits higher, which was intensified by the Bridgestone Trail Wing tires and the sheepskin seat cover. I didn't ride the bike in the twisties, so I can't really comment on the overall handling impact. My ride yesterday was in heavy traffic and I only went a few miles (see the CSC blog for more info). The bike felt different to me, as I expected it to. In general, smaller diameter wheels and tires provide more responsive steering and quicker handling; larger diameter wheels and tires work better on rough terrain and in the soft stuff. There is no perfect wheel and tire size that does everything in an ideal manner or every motorcycle would have that size wheel and tire. The principal advantages of the larger front wheel are that the bike will work better in the rough stuff, and it opens up a larger menu of tires. It looks kind of cool, too.

I personally do not recommend any of the gimmicks for making a spoked wheel run tubeless. A few of my friends have tried it with mixed results. A guy I know who makes wheels for a living advised against it. Me, I just look at all of those spoke nipples in the wheel and recognize that every one of them is an opportunity for a leak if you attempt to seal the wheel so you can run tubeless. Other people will have different opinions and that's what makes the world go around, I guess. Converting a spoked wheel to tubeless is not something I would ever do, especially on a motorcycle that takes me to some "out there" destinations. It's solving a problem that doesn't exist (in my opinion).

As we have pointed out here and elsewhere, our three test bikes (the first RX3s to enter the US) have optimistic speedos. The larger front wheel and the larger Trail Wing tire corrected most of that error on the one bike we tested yesterday (i.e., the one shown in the photo). We have specified improved speedometer accuracy on the production bikes and Zongshen committed to providing that, so I don't see it as an issue on the bikes currently en route to the US.

That was excellent problem solving, Mr. Holmes. :tup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCOLTzk9Bk8

Just what I was looking for, Steve.
 

Thanks. I kind of suspected that it would slow responsiveness down from increased gyro effects and more unsprung weight also. Makes sense to me now. I also think I know why you went 19" instead of 21, also, re % on road vs offroad expected use of the RX-3 average owners rides.

The biggest issue was the rear 15" situation re tires when not home or shipping address is available or known. Glad you fixed that. Probably the #1 best thing (excepting importing the bike, that is, you've done re the RX-3 for USA buyers. Apparently everyone else agrees with that, as I have seen NO comments for the 15" wheel/tire combo.

Guess if it ain't broke, I'll just ride, for now:) re tubeless issues... I need some tire tools (proper ones) though. I remember changing tires/fixing flats, especially in the field! it being a HUGE PITA when I used to ride as a teenager... (screwdrivers are NOT proper tools to change tube or tires:)!! hehe

OOPs!
 

Joe, I called you Steve my bad:), sorry.

Today the high temperature will push 50 degrees Fahrenheit in East Idaho. Last week the temperature reached 60 degrees for three days in a row. :tup: This fellow in Kentucky is probably not accustomed to shoveling so much snow. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x84GKqcpY4E

Based on the latest blog pics of the new 17/19 wheels, the tires look like Bridgestone Trailwings TW39 (front) and TW42 (Rear). They seems like a good 60/40 (hwy biased) tire. If they wear anything like the TW101 & TW152 on my V-strom, they should last a long time, except a lot better offroad.

I like the idea of buying the 19" wheel/tire and switching back and forth from stock depending on the ride. But I wonder how much difference changing the front will make offroad if I keep using the stock rear till it wears out.

CSC just posted a tutorial on adjusting the drive chain. :) I have added a link to this tutorial under the Maintenance subheading in the RX3 Sticky thread. ;)

http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=14228

That's okay. I want to be like Steve when I grow up, so it was kind of a rush for me...

That's Steve on the left. I'm the good looking one in the maroon jacket on the right.

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/...C0049-650A.jpg

You could regain someone of the sharper handeling by dropping the forks in the triple clamps a bit. Will the 19" wheels be availbe to order and be delivered a long with the stock 18" wheels?

I guessed 4 of the 5 last night and was thinking bigger front wheel but just kept thinking a 21" would look lot bigger. Never occured to think 19", but thanks for the entertaining back and fourth Joe!

The owner ship experience for the RX-3 is proving to quite unique in all good ways and we don't even have the bike yet! Joe once this bike starts getting high visabulity with a bunch of us early adopters running around the back roads I hope CSC is prepared to grow!

Thanks for your kind words. Lots of emails last night. It was fun.

The 19-inch wheel kits will be available to order with the bike. We'll post a price shortly.

We are prepared to grow and we are very excited about this motorcycle. It's one of the coolest projects I've ever been involved with.

Thanks for the quick reply Joe. I appreciate it. Those all sound like good reasons not to pursue that project. :)

Amen on the great buying experience!
 

I mean, for example, look at this THREAD!! WOW!!
There is a LOT of interest in this bike for sure! My feeling, honestly, is there are a WHOLE LOT of fence sitters out there that as soon as we take delivery, ride some distances, and post up in here the bikes area "as advertised", the dam will break on sales, Joe. I seriously believe that, and thatmmanaging the groth will be your biggest obstacle long run, for success. If I knew the "whole story" I might not be concerned at all. Rapid growth can be very difficult to grow with, IMHO (and in my businesses I('ve) own(ed).

The honesty re everyone and everything to do with the bike (and ownership, maintainance w/o dealers, etc, ALL are very refreshing, to me. Thanks a LOT, Joe, and everyone at CSC.
Also, Thank you also, Quadz and Spud, for an excellent forum, and "voice" for all things RX-3. GREAT job, guys. Seriously.

Thank you for your kind words. :)

CSCDude,

I like your avatar. :)

Indeed, the only option I might consider for spoked motorcycle wheels is the Nuetech TuBliss system.

http://nuetech.com/tubliss/#sthash.VG4xZUWd.dpbs

http://nuetech.com/wp-content/themes...r-chambers.jpg

However, I much prefer using inner tubes, so I am not going to switch to the TuBliss system. ;)

Three hours ago the Hanjin Germany was sailing northeast at 14.5 knots. The vessel was offshore the Kuril island of Urup.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sian_names.png

Yesterday, a 4.6 magnitude earthquake occurred in this area.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/....php?id=429118

The Germany is sailing along the Kurile Trench of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and is heading next for the Aleutian Trench.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...f_Fire.svg.png

Here are some photographs of Urup, courtesy of Google Earth. :)

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...um/1125202.jpg

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...m/18454245.jpg

A few people have complained about the size and shape of the right side pannier. I think this pannier will make an excellent, large tool box. It can hold a spare inner tube and a nice, large tool kit. In addition, it's a good place to stash snacks and your rain gear. :D

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...a1dc87dd70.jpg

Yup. Ma rain gear is sitting nicely in there.

Now that I can see the inside of the right pannier, its less going to be much than the 18.5 liters I guesstimated based on Joe's exterior measurements. And I see why Joe did not attempt to figure the interior volume of the stock luggage: too many bends and indentations.

I should wait until I get my RX-3 and see how I use it before making a luggage purchase. Still, presuming I will stick with the stock hard luggage, I am surfing options for a duffle to strap on the seat, and use for light camping trips.

Right now the medium Nelson Rigg Survivor tail bag looks possible. About 40 liters, waterproof, about $60 with shipping, and its available in an orange color that might/might go with the RX-3 orange/yellow color option.