Chinese Takeout

CHINESE TAKEOUT

CW RIDING IMPRESSION

CSC MOTORCYCLES’ RX3 CYCLONE IS A WHOLE NEW TAKE ON THE ADV-BIKE SCENE

Mark Lindemann

Several years ago, two of my uncles were at a backyard barbecue. Uncle Number One mentioned that he was wearing a $300 pair of shoes. Uncle Number Two pointed to his own feet: "These? Twelve bucks at Walmart." Each one laughed, thinking he’d gotten the better deal and the other sucker had gotten scalded.

When it comes to the CSC Motorcycles RX3 Cyclone, we might as well confront the elephant in the room straight on: As shown here (windshield, engine guards, luggage) it costs a mere $3,495 new, and that’s all some folks will need to hear. It’s also made in China, which is maybe all another group will need to hear. It’s also a 25OCC adventure bike in a land where most ADV bikes are four or five times larger.

Some backstory: CSC Motorcycles is an Azusa, California-based firm that imports the RX3 Cyclone from Chongqing, China, where it’s built by Zongshen, a company founded in 1992, employing 18,000 and claiming a yearly output of more than a million bikes.

The RX3 uses a Zongshen-designed 25OCC, SOHC, liquid-cooled counterbalanced single, fuel-injected and with a 77 x 53.6mm bore and stroke. Its smoothness and powerband are surprisingly good: The fuel injection meters flawlessly, and the modest power is linear all the way up to redline.

And as with any 250, you’ll be spending a lot of time flirting with that redline. At freeway speeds—an indicated 78 mph but a verified 70—the engine is turning 8,000 rpm; redline is 9,000, and the rev limiter cuts in around 10,500. CSC claims 25 hp at 9,000 rpm; our observed top speed was an indicated 82 mph (actually 74), but a steep hill, headwind, or running at elevation takes a bite out of that pretty fast.

There are plenty of other areas where the Cyclone is surprisingly good. The seating position is just about perfect (from a 6-foot, 160-pound test rider’s point of view); it’s possible to ride for miles through urban traffic without ever putting your foot down, always a good indicator of a balanced bike. The small windshield does an excellent job all the way to the motorcycle’s maximum speed, a real surprise given the shield’s modest size. The clutch pull is light and the engagement linear. The six-speed gearbox’s shifting is likewise excellent.

Of course the RX3 is not without fault. The 262mm single front disc with two-piston caliper requires a mighty squeeze and even then returns only modest stopping power. The 258mm rear brake is better.

The Cyclone’s suspension is likewise less than what one would expect from a more expensive Japanese bike. The inverted fork and single shock both do an adequate job but feel oversprung and underdamped (front/rear travel is 5.4/5.6 inches). Adding a 125-pound passenger (for a total load of 285 pounds of human and 24 pounds of fuel) makes the ride less harsh. And it also brings up an interesting point: The RX3 is equipped with a passenger seat and pegs, but a sticker on the tank states, “Operator only, no passengers.” Max load is 330 pounds.

Since it is an ADV-style bike we took the RX3 offroad, and it performed fine so long as those dirt roads were relatively smooth and we kept the speeds down in deference to the suspension’s limits and street-oriented tires. Run pretty much wide open the Cyclone averaged 59 mpg. Around town it was easy to get it up to the lowto-mid 70s. Fuel capacity is 4.2 gallons, but the low-fuel light comes on at about the halfway point.

Just as many of us order our books and music online, if you want an RX3 Cyclone, you contact CSC Motorcycles and purchase it directly from the company. A local shop handles your warranty service with reimbursement through CSC; parts are available online.

The other elephant in the room: How reliable, longterm, is the RX3 Cyclone? China is a country, not a company, and it’s impossible to make any kind of meaningful judgment about the RX3 based solely on where it’s built. But we will note the following: Most companies send Cycle World low-mileage testbikes; CSC sent the RX3 Cyclone with 5,700 miles on the clock, which has to be taken as a vote of confidence on its part. CSC offers a two-year unlimited-mileage warranty.

Is CSC’s RX3 Cyclone the right fit for you or someone you know? That may well have more to do with where you buy your shoes than anything else.

SPECS

2015 CSC RX3 CYCLONE

PRICE: $3,495 ENGINE: SOHC single DISPLACEMENT: 25Gcc SEAT HEIGHT: 31.3 in. FUEL CAPACITY: 4.2 gal. CLAIMED WEIGHT: 385 lb.