The Von Dutch XAVW, Simon, and Doug…

This was one of those mornings when I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and knew I was wide awake.  No sense trying to roll over and continue sleeping when that happens, so I got up, made a cup of coffee, and fired up the old television.  The choices were watching the talking heads scream at each other on the political shows, cartoons, lions catching and eating stuff on the National Geographic channel, or DVR-recorded American Pickers reruns.   Hmmmm…no contest there.   So I clicked on Mike and Frank poking through other folks’ stuff and whoa….check this out!

The Von Dutch XAVW as seen on the American Pickers TV show

Yep, it was the show where the boys found Von Dutch’s old XAVW….a Volkswagen motor in a conjured-up motorcycle all topped off by an original Honda 450 black bomber gas tank!   And somehow, with the Von Dutch pin striping, it all just sort of melded together into something that just flat worked!  

There’s lots of stuff on the Internet about the XAVW, and one of the neatest things is that this bike now resides at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.   That’s near and dear to me because I wrote an article about the National Motorcycle Museum for Motorcycle Classics magazine a couple of years ago.   Trust me on this….if you’re ever in that part of the country, you need to visit the National Motorcycle Museum.

Our good buddy Doug over at Starside Designs does our custom painting.   He’s today’s edition of Von Dutch, and his artistry is right there.   I rode over to Doug’s shop with Steve a couple of days ago.  

Doug Starbuck of Starside Designs

Doug is doing several custom paint jobs for us right now…a turquoise-and-white P-51, a custom Military Series bike, and another one in the green-and-yellow theme we call the farm bike (you know…nothing runs like a CSC).   All cool stuff, and when those are done, I’ll show you photos of them here on the blog.

More cool stuff…my dear friend Simon Gandolfi just recently completed his moto journey in India.   You can follow reports about his trip on Facebook or in the UK newspaper The Guardian.   Simon’s posted some great shots, and my favorite is this one…

Simon Gandolfi, somewhere in India, proudly wearing a California Scooter Company T-shirt

Very impressive riding, Simon, and thanks for the great ride reports.

That’s about it for this Sunday morning, folks.   I’m going to install the bolt and spacer I picked up from Steve yesterday on my CSC motorcycle and get out for a putt a little later.

Ride safe, everyone.