What a week!

Wow, it’s only Wednesday, and what a week it’s been so far.   April was great (and I mean really great…our bike sales were just super), I had a lot of fun on Saturday at the Fontana NASCAR track VARA event (more on this in a bit), I bumped into an old friend here in the plant on Monday, I had great phone calls from friends I’ve known for 40 years, I had fun shooting a few photos of TK’s rocketship, I spent a bit of time at the range,  Susie and I had a marvelous Mexican dinner at one of the “best-kept-secret“ restaurants in southern California, and here it is….not even 5:00 a.m. as I sit here typing this on Wednesday.  Wow! 

VARA is the Vintage Automobile Racing Association, and our good friend Hector Cademartori invited us to the VARA event at the NASCAR track in nearby Fontana, California.  Hector gave Steve and me pit passes, and on Saturday morning we rolled out to Fontana to take it all in.   

Hector and his 240Z Datson race car at the California Speedway in Fontana

Hector is a very cool and talented guy.   He does the artwork for our new motorcycle concepts, logos, and things of that nature, and he is really good at it.  Hector is also a race car driver.  Folks, it’s hard to put the VARA event into words.  Imagine all of the sports cars and race cars you lusted after as a kid reading Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Hot Rod magazines, and then try to imagine what it was like seeing them in person.   Up close.  Running.   Snarling.  Snorting.  Racing.  That’s what Saturday was all about. 

My good buddy Mike B in 1969 and in 2010 on a California Scooter

More good stuff…bumping into and hearing from old friends.   A fellow named Ken stopped by the plant to check out our California Scooters on Monday and we struck up a conversation.   Ken is real interested in our sidecar-equipped California Scooter, so I took him for a ride in it.   Much to our mutual surprise, we learned that we already knew each other…we worked together 30 years ago (we sat just a few cubicles apart designing fire control systems for the US Navy).   Then I spoke with my good friend Mike on Monday night (we went to junior high school and high school together a long time ago, and we’ve been friends for 40 years).  Mike retired as the Chief of Police of New Brunswick, NJ, and he’s a fun guy.  We’ve both motorheads.    And then just

My good buddy Denny R, on the rings in 1969 and in a more recent photo

yesterday the phone rang and it was my good buddy Dennis, another relationship that goes all the way back to junior high.   Dennis had the best line I’ve heard so far about Osama bin Laden…they nabbed in him Abbottobad, and Dennis told me that town is just up the road from Costellobad (if you don’t get it right away, don’t worry…you will).   Dennis is a fellow writer and a great guy.

More moto stuff…TK rode his nuclear-powered Kawasaki to work yesterday.  It’s a limited edition number, with flat black paint, flames, and power beyond belief.    One of the great things about the California Scooter Company is that everyone here is an enthusiast, and we’re all riders.    It’s an incredible environment, and the machinery we get to see is awesome.   Like TK’s Kawasaki.   Or Mike’s Ducati.  Or one of Wade’s big V-twins.   Or maybe even my KLR-650.  The funny thing is, though, that with all of this exotica (well, okay, maybe my Kawasaki is not quite that exotic), all of us put most of our miles on our California Scooters.  

TK and his Kawi...one fast motorcycle!

Remember these?

Quite a few of the other buildings here on the airfield are occupied by like-minded folks, and there’s just no telling what’s going to turn up.   Yesterday, for example, I saw a very cool dune buggy parked outside…I don’t know anything about this one, but I grabbed a quick photo when I saw it.  You just never know what will be here…it might be a pristine ’67 GTO, an early Vette, Josh’s awesome Camaro, a Stearman biplane, an original Mustang motorcycle, a World War II B-24 Liberator…the list goes on and on.   And yeah, they pay me to work here.   I know.  It ain’t fair.

The Lake Arrowhead Invitational

MSILSF’s Lake Arrowhead Scooter Endurance Rally is coming up in August.  It’s an invitational event, kind of like one of those exclusive golf tournaments.   If you’re a golfer, don’t take offense at what I’m about to say, but golf is a sport I never could get into…it just seems kind of boring (and I always had problems getting past the little windmill). 

I’m in for the Lake Arrowhead Invitational Endurance Rally, though, and so is my good friend Arlene Battishill.   This is a very exclusive event in a very exclusive area.   The Lake Arrowhead region is simply beautiful, and the riding is wonderful.  It’s up in the east end of the San Bernardino Mountains, and the roads are very hilly with lots of twisties and magnificent scenery.  Arlene is the Go Go Gear CEO, and she’s been making quite a name for herself both in the industry and as a competitive rider.   Don’t just take my word for it…check out this latest Dealer News story on her Salton Sea victory.

Go Go Gear's New Line

And speaking of Arlene and Go Go Gear, there are a couple of new developments there.   Arlene had a great story about finding a note on her bike with one question:   Where can I buy one?   We love hearing that, and you can bet we’ll be in contact with good ol’ Derrick to answer that question.  

Another new development is Go Go Gear’s new line of men’s motorcycle apparel (check out the bike, too).   There are lots of motorcycle apparel outfits out there, but there’s only one Go Go gear, and I know for a fact no one matches Arlene’s level of customer service! 

One of many good things Go Go Gear has going for it is the CEO is a rider and a competitor.   It’s not just another company chasing a quick buck…Arlene knows bikes and she knows riding.  I know because I rode all the way to Cabo San Lucas with her!

Derrick, you can expect a call from TK!

One of the things that’s always amazed me about motorcycling is that many of the riders I meet enjoy the same hobbies and sports as I do.   In addition to riding, two or three other hobbies seem to be a common thread in our riding community…photography, cars, and shooting.   I guess I’ve got a grand slam going, as I am deeply into all three.   Shooting is something I’ve been into since I was a kid, and in particular, I like Rugers.  I’d been looking for a particular Ruger for years, and I finally located and found it on Gunbroker.com.  It arrived a couple of weeks ago, I sat out California’s obligatory 10-day waiting period, and I picked up my new-to-me 35-year-old revolver Monday night.  It was too beautiful to simply leave in the box, so I bought some ammo and spent an hour on the range with it.  It was great.  My eyes aren’t what they used to be, but I still did well.  A semi-vintage American-made six shooter…it just doesn’t get any better.

Last night I rode out to LAX to pick up my wife, and security at the airport was tight (most likely a consequence of the wonderful job our US Navy Seals did this weekend in the land of We’ll-take-your-foreign-aid-and-lie-through-our-teeth-to-you-iStan).  On the way home, we stopped for dinner at La Casita Mexicana, a marvelous little restaurant tucked away in the City of Bell. 

Dinner at La Casita Mexicana in Bell, California. That's Ramiro with the Boss (my other boss, that is), enchiladas verdes de pescado, filete de pescado en huitlacoche, and lots of other marvelous Mexican delicacies

Calling the La Casita cuisine great would be a disservice…it is so far beyond great that I’m at a loss for words.  I had a marvelous sea bass dinner, and Susie enjoyed the fish enchiladas (they were great, too; I took some when she wasn’t looking).  This is no ordinary restaurant…it’s been on TV several times, it kicked Bobby Flay’s butt in a gourmet competition, and their signature Chile Relleno dish is beyond incredible.   Ramiro and Edgar treated us well.   Life is good.

Well, I’ve got to get on other things.  We’re seeing lots of interest in the new CSC-150P police cruiser, and I have to get cracking on a story about a couple of new dealers, including Tom Wilhite Enterprises in West Palm Beach, Florida.   I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.   Stay tuned, boys and girls!