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. Since so few motorcyclists in America have ever ridden a Chinese bike, this alone makes it an interesting riding opportunity. It's also a 250cc 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 which 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.