Firefighters, the Future, and a few Photos…

This is my hero and good friend Chuck, a firefighter/paramedic on the Huey medevac helicopter based right here at Brackett Airfield.   I grabbed this shot of Chuck yesterday on a red California Scooter.   The bike is awesome.   It has our Greaser model’s red wheels, and it’s amazing how just that one change can make such a dramatic difference in the bike’s appearance.  

I had a lot of fun shooting this photo, because I used an ultra-wide 12mm lens, and its tendency to exaggerate things makes the bike’s front end really reach out. 

Yesterday wasn’t the first time I met Chuck.   Well, maybe I should more accurately say it wasn’t the first time he met me.  The first time our paths crossed I was actually one of Chuck’s customers, and I was unconscious during the experience.  Yep, these guys airlifted yours truly to a Level 1 Trauma Center as the result of pretty serious traffic accident (I was not on a California Scooter when it happened, though).  You are looking at one of the guys who literally saved my life, but that’s another story for another time.   Chuck, a heartfelt thanks from me to you and the rest of your team!

On to other topics, and this one’s a Duesy…California Scooter is doing something completely unique in the motorcycle industry, and completely unique in the marketing and engineering world.   (Come to think of it, this company is so innovative the words “completely unique” could be our motto.)   Rather than rely on marketing surveys, focus groups, and a bunch of other hit-or-miss techniques, the owners of your favorite motorcycle company decided to go right to the source for one of its next new products.   California Scooter is sponsoring a design competition for a new motorcycle.   Rather than try to guess at what today’s younger crowd wants, we are asking them to design it themselves.  Wow, is this ever going to be fun! 

Take a look at these next two photos, showing Steve answering motorcycle design questions from a group of Cal Poly Pomona engineering students.   This group of great young folks will be the designers of one of our next bikes.   We’re not guessing at what the next generation of new riders wants…we’re letting them design it!

Back to my friend Chuck…California Scooter Company is donating that red Classic you saw in the first photo to the LA County Firefighter’s Cancer Support Network.  This great group is going to have a raffle for the bike, and we hope they raise a ton of money in the process.

While I was grabbing a few photos of the Firefighters’ red Classic, Michael stopped in to get a Pro-One rear-view mirror for his sleek-and-slammed Harley Softail Deuce.   Michael’s Deuce is an ’05, the last year Harley made these beautiful motorcycles.  After I took this photo, Michael wandered over to the red Classic raffle bike in the background, and I grabbed another shot. 

I could tell Michael loves his Harley, but I think there may be a California Scooter in his future, too!

And while we’re on the subject of future California Scooter riders, take a look at this shot of Chuck and his son, Nathan…you don’t have to be clairvoyant to know what Nathan is thinking…

Well, guys, I have a cool day in front of me.   Steve and the boys are down in Costa Mesa at a Good Guys Rod and Custom Association show, and he gave a couple of free passes to me.  My Nikon’s battery is fully charged, and so am I.   I’ll get a few photos and have a report for you in the next day or so!