A Product Comparison…

Hey, a new topic (something other than Baja…).

Steve spotted this ultra-cool Cessna 195 parked across the tarmac yesterday…we flashed on the orange-and-white colors because they match a couple of our bikes.

A 50-year-old, radial-engined Cessna 195 with matching California Scooters

The Cessna 195 came out right after the end of World War II, and it had a lot of cool features.  It was Cessna’s bizjet of the day…and the US Air Force bought a lot of them for light transport duty.  A few comparisons…

• The Cessna 195 has a 9-cylinder, 755-cubic-inch radial engine that produces 300 hp.   Our California Scooter has a single-cylinder, 9-cubic-inch engine that produces 13.5 hp.
• The Cessna 195 engine’s oil capacity is 5 gallons.  The California Scooter’s is 1 quart. 
• The Cessna’s radial engine consumes about 2 quarts of oil per hour.   Our California Scooters use about a quarter of a quart every 500 miles if they are being run hard and carrying big guys.
• The Cessna 195’s cruise speed is about 170 mph.   Our California Scooters cruise speed is 45 to 50 mph (with a top speed north of 60 mph).
• The Cessna 195 family of aircraft came out right after World War II, and continued in production to the early 1960s.   The Mustang motorcycle entered production in 1947 and it stayed in production until the early 1960s.

Tony and I had fun taking photos of this magnificent airplane…we even grabbed a self portrait in the prop’s nose!

A self-portrait

Gonna sign off for now…we have CBS News due here in a few minutes to do a story on your favorite motorcycle company!

And, we’re going to be at the Abbot-Kinney Festival in Venice, California this Sunday…look for us!