Busy, Busy, Busy…

Wow, there’s a lot happening at California Scooter Company!

I thought I’d be posting a blog entry every week or so, but there’s just too much going on in our world to wait that long!

The factory’s new offices are nearing completion, and that work is coming along extremely well.  While all that’s going on and with the phenomenal interest in our bikes, we’ve had many requests to visit the plant and to see the bikes.   Steve Seidner is taking it all in stride, staying on top of hosting visitors, giving plant tours, meeting with the press (and others interested in this exciting new company), and keeping the construction work moving sharply along.

This past Sunday Robyn Smietan visited the operation and test rode one of our Scooters.

Robyn is an industry insider, an accomplished BMW rider, and an avid scooterist. She rode in on a cold California winter morning on her bright red Vespa, had breakfast with us at Walter’s in Claremont (a great restaurant!), toured the new La Verne production facility, and test rode the Classic.  I grabbed a few photos of the Classic parked next to Robyn’s Vespa.  The two bikes are about the same size, but I think the Classic looks a lot leaner.  I could go on at length about how Robyn liked the Classic, but I’ll let the look on her face after the ride do the talking for me (check out the photo on the left).

Richard Backus, the editor of Motorcycle Classics, posted a blog about our company on the magazine’s website just a few days ago, and the response has been incredible.   We’ve gone viral, and I mean that in a good way.  More than 40 other sites tapped into Richard’s blog.   We’re seeing another ten or so sites with postings based on the Motorcycle Classics story every day.  There is a lot of interest in this motorcycle!  Incidentally, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Motorcycle Classics, you owe it to yourself to do so.   It is a first class magazine.  Every time I read it, I think they can’t possibly do better in the next issue, yet they always do.

Yesterday, I received an amazing photo from Jim “Jimbo” Cavanaugh, the original Mustang Motor Products Corporation production manager.  Jim actually owns the very last Mustang model manufactured in Glendale, and one of the very first California Scooter Company motorcycles.

To quote Jimbo’s email:

Here’s a photo taken recently of my 1962 Mustang Thoroughbred which was the last model produced before the company closed and my 2010 CSC CLASSIC…I love them both!..It’s ironic I have one of the last and one of the first!..Just thinking out loud!…

Jim is a valued advisor to the California Scooter Company, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about him in future posts.  The history of the Mustang Motor Products Corporation and the emergence of the California Scooter Company is a story waiting to be told.

Arlene Battishill, the president of GoGo Gear (http://www.Scooter-Girls.com) visited us yesterday to test ride the Classic.  Think of a kid in a candy store with a credit card, and you’ll have an idea of Arlene’s reaction when she saw the bikes.  She absolutely loved the Classic (as in jumping around, waving her arms, and telling everyone “I LOVE THIS BIKE”). 

GoGo Gear has a unique product line – they manufacture fashionable riding gear for women, with the emphasis on fashion and functionality.  Making motorcycle clothing fashionable is quite an accomplishment, and it’s GoGo Gear’s niche.   These clothes don’t look like the motorcycle jackets we normally see.  They look like something you’d see on a fashion runway.  GoGo Gear is the real deal, though – it’s abrasion resistant and fully armored. 

Arlene’s company makes an amazing product that meets a need for women riders, and her confidence is infectious.  In fact, after her test ride, Arlene asked us to tow her behind one of our bikes, on the asphalt, to prove her gear worked.  To say that was an unusual request would be quite an understatement, but our curiosity and Arlene’s enthusiasm took over.  The photo tells the story.   The GoGo Gear did exactly what it was designed to do, with its inner anti-abrasion layer remaining fully intact.

Wow.  It’s only been a couple of days since the last blog.  You have to wonder what the next 48 hours hold…