CSC Blog

No, I’m not talking about the old Colt .45 sixgun, but I am reaching back a few years.  The Peacemaker in question is the United States Air Force B-36.   Quite an airplane, the B-36 was.   It was the world’s largest piston-engined combat aircraft, and it had a wingspan larger than a Boeing 747.  Six radial piston engines, four jet engines, and engineering that was something right out of science fiction movie.   I came across this YouTube video a little while ago and I thought I would share it with you.

The above scene was filmed at Carswell Air Force Base just outside of Fort Worth, Texas.  The B-36 was built by Convair (which became General Dynamics, which became Lockheed, which became Lockheed Martin), and they shared the runway with Carswell AFB.  I worked at General Dynamics when I got out of the Army (I was on the engineering team that designed the F-16) and I really got excited when I watched the video…the buildings you see in the background during the B-36 takeoff are the General Dynamics plant.   It’s a pretty cool airplane and General Dynamics was a great place to start an engineering career.  The guy I worked for there (an old timer named Lou Rackley) had actually been on the B-36 design team.  The old guys had a lot of cool B-36 stories, and ultimately, General Dynamics restored a B-36 and parked it along the expressway leading into the factory.  That plane was enormous.  Good times.

One of the great things about being associated with CSC is the team…we have an absolutely outstanding group of people.  I get to see the team nearly every day.  Many of you have stopped by the plant and you’ve met some of our people.   Many more of our riders and fans talk to us via telephone and email.  From time to time we’ve posted photos on the blog, but we thought it would be a good idea to let you see everybody for those of you who haven’t had an opportunity to meet us in person.   So here we go, from top to bottom and left to right, it’s:

• Steve, Maureen, and Patty in the first row,
• Gerry, Wade, and Sara in the second row,
• Carlos, Joey, and Christina in the third row,
• Andy, TK, and Matt in the fourth row, and
• Joe and a few of you in the last row.

Take a look, and I’ll tell you a bit about each of us below…

Steve and Maureen (who you see in the first row) are the owners.  Steve handles the company’s operations and most of you have already met Steve (either in person or on the phone).  Maureen is our CFO and chief strategist.   If you’re wondering where a lot of our great ideas originate (our approach to market, our online maintenance tutorials, things such as the “Don’t Miss The Boat” program, and many of our other “outside the box” ideas), it’s all her.   Maureen is the person who hired me; she drove out to my home and interviewed me while I was still recuperating from a motorcycle crash 9 years ago.

Patty has been with the company nearly from Day One.  She’s our office manager.   I’ve concluded Patty started working here when she was 2 (I’m basing that on how long she’s been with the company).  Patty started with the Pro-One Performance Manufacturing organization (one of our other companies).  Patty is super nice.  I like everybody who works here, and I especially like Patty.

Gerry is well known in the motorcycle world, having been a motorcycle racer, a sidecar racer, and a BMW whiz from way back.  He’s our Service Department Manager.   I’ve never seen Gerry flustered about anything, and I can tell you from personal experience that he can work miracles on a motorcycle.  Gerry’s the guy who walked me through all of the maintenance tutorials we’ve posted on line.  He’s an easy guy to talk to and if it’s anything related to motorcycle maintenance, Gerry is the “Go To” guy.

Wade is super cool.  He’s our Accessories Manager, and he’s also the focal point for all of our Harley service, custom work, and related activities.  Some of the bikes Wade has created would take your breath away.  Wade has an easy smile (except, as I found out, when you’re photographing him) and a killer sense of humor, and I really like being around him.   He’s a shooter, too, and we talk guns a lot.

Sara does everything.  If you call into CSC, odds are she’s the one who answers the phone.  Sara handles sales, administrative stuff, our data lists, shipping bikes to our customers, and much more.   She’s another one who’s always ready with a quick smile.  I like her a lot.

Carlos, the handsome dude you see on the left side of the third row, is one of our service techs.  Carlos is one of those people who is always in good spirits (come to think of it, all of us here are).  Another cool thing about Carlos is he’s bilingual, and when we’re setting up hotel reservations and such for our Baja expeditions, Carlos is our key guy for communicating with our friends in Baja.   He’s helped me a lot on the Baja rides.

Joey is one of our newest service technicians.  He’s relatively new here, but he’s been wrenching on motorcycles for a long time.   A cool thing about Joey is that his son is a spitting image of Dad; the first time I saw the two of them together I thought I was seeing double.   Joey is a shooter, too.   He’s another guy I like talking guns and bikes with.

Christina is one of the newest additions to our staff.   She works Sales, consignments, bike ads, and everything that goes with taking in and selling motorcycles.  Christina has a very well established track record in the motorcycle industry, and like all of us, she’s a rider (her personal scoot is a Harley Sportster).

Moving to the fourth row in our photo gallery above, we’ll start with Andy on the left.  Andy is another guy with a long tenure here at CSC (and before that, Pro-One Performance Manufacturing).   Andy is a rockabilly dude, and he’s super nice.   I don’t think I’ve ever seen Andy without a smile.

TK is another long-timer and a good friend.  TK works in sales, and he’s one of the first guys I met when I started with CSC.   TK and I have done many, many rides on our replica Mustangs.  TK has a lot of the same interests I do, and you should see his killer Subie WRX.

Matt (that young guy you see on the Cafe Racer who looks like a movie star) is our webmaster, MIS dude, and accessories guy.   If it’s anything computer-related, Matt is our man.  He’s helped me a lot with things I wanted to do on the blog and he’s another one of those people I just like being around.

The guy on the left in the last row is me.  I write the blog and I organize the CSC adventure rides.  Don’t tell anyone, but I think I have more fun than anybody else at CSC.

And finally, there’s all of you.  I couldn’t fit all of our customers in the photo collage above, so I grabbed a photo from one of our company rides.   None of this would be possible without you, and we recognize your great contributions to our company.  We’re in this together and we think about you every day.   Delivering high-quality and high-value motorcycles (and the adventure riding experience) to you guides everything we do.

… and it’s on our upcoming Destinations Deal Tour.   You can read all about it here!

CSC riders enroute to the Grand Canyon in 2015. We’ll stop at this exact spot on the Destinations Deal Tour for one of many group photos!

You know, it’s one thing to get glued to the keyboard reading and posting comments on Facebook and the Internet forums.  It’s a whole other thing to actually get out and live the adventure.   Which group do you want to belong to?   Drop us a line at info@CSCMotorcycles.com or give us a call at 909 445 0900, and come ride with us!

Next week my good buddy Paul and I are headed to Arizona.  We’re hunting Russian boar.  I’m excited.  It’s been close to 30 years since I’ve been out chasing pigs, and I am really looking forward to it.   You may remember I wrote about the gorgeous curly maple Model 70 I bought earlier this year specifically for this purpose, and we’re ready.

I’ve got the right load and we’re pumped up about going.  Paul will be hunting with a Model 70, too.  His rifle is a classic pre-64 Model 70 in .270 Winchester that used to belong to his father.   The pre-64 Model 70s are the real aristocrats in the fine rifle world, and .270 Winchester is the quintessential cartridge.  It’s a fine rifle and a fine cartridge.

I’ll be posting about our trip from the field, and hopefully I’ll have a few good photos to include.   Stay tuned!

My good buddy Rob just forwarded this Constant Contact email to me about Malcolm Smith’s Baja tour.  You can get to the site promoting it here.  Now, the purpose of this blog is not to slam Mr. Smith or his dealership.  I’ve met Mr. Smith and he’s a fine gentleman of incredible accomplishment (if you look up “living legend” I believe the dictionary will tell you “see Malcolm Smith”).  Nope, I’m using Rob’s email as a prompt to tell you about our rides.

What grabbed Rob’s attention (and then mine when he forwarded the email to me) was the cost of the Baja Tour.  The Malcolm Smith tour is 7 days and if you sign up early, it’s $4,199.   Rob sent me his note to recommend raising the price for our 8-day tour.

Just so you know:  Our price (drum roll please) is exactly $0.00.   On our rides, you have to pay your own expenses (hotels, meals, and gas), and that works out to less than $100 per day.  I always tell people to bring $800 and they’ll go home with money in their pocket.

You might ask why we do this.   The answer is simple.  We’re not in the motorcycle tour business.  We’re in the business of selling the adventure riding experience, and we’re convinced the best ticket in is a new RX3 or TT250 motorcycle.   Our tours are an important part of our marketing strategy.

So what’s it like on our rides?  Well, we’ve had four CSC runs through Baja since we started selling Zongshen motorcycles, and one before that on the CSC 150 scooters.  In a word, they’re great.  Awesome beyond belief, actually.   I’m writing about them now in Moto Baja, and I’m making good progress.  And I’m having fun reliving each of these grand adventures.

Moto Baja is a look at my personal experiences in Baja, starting with my first foray in 1994 and continuing through the CSC adventure rides.   I’m having a blast just going through and selecting the photos, and Moto Baja will include many photographs never previously published.  Oh, it will be in color, too.   That bumps the price up, but the photos are too awesome not to show them in color.  Here are just a few favorites…

Would you like to ride with us on one of our adventure rides?  We have the Destinations Deal tour coming up…that’s an all-US run through California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, and it’s right around the corner.   It’s an ideal reason to buy a new RX3, and we’d love to have you ride with us.

Want a ride with an international flair?  Hey, let me know if you want in on our next Baja ride in March 2018.  We limit participation to 15 riders, and there’s no time like the present to commit to going.

That’s it for now, folks.   Ride safe, and like always, stay tuned!

I had a nice note in my inbox this morning from good buddies Mike and Christy (of Motos of Michigan fame)…

Hi Joe,

My first ride ever was on a 74 Harley with a sidehack outfitted for the 1960 JackPine Enduro National. On that day I was completely bitten by the bike bug and the sidecar rig as well.

I have always wanted a GL1100 Standard and when this under 30,000 mile ’83 showed up with the Vetter TerraPlane the pin wasn’t just pulled it was EXTRICATED!

Christy absolutely loves riding along in the rig and handles the road map (Michigan Gazetteer) as we knock about the Great Northern Swamp.

I thought you were owed “picture proof” that I’m still a motorcyclist and by my standard, more so than ever.

Best Regards,

Mike & Christy

That’s very cool, Mike and Christy!   You’ll have a lot of fun and it looks like you really scored with a dynamite rig.  My experience with sidecars is limited to the CSC 150 Steve had built by Doug Bingham several years ago.   It was fun and one of these days I’m going to have to get one.  Thanks for the note and for sharing your new ride with us!

Sue and I stopped at the local Starbuck’s this morning (I know, I know…please, no jokes…and no, I did not buy a BMW GS).  As we were walking toward the entrance, I saw this all original, super cool 1963 Dodge Dart…

I really liked it, and while I was drooling over that old car, the owner sprinted out of Starbuck’s and hopped in the front seat.  He was a young guy with a beard.  I guess you could say he was a hipster.  Or maybe he was going to an audition for a Smith Brothers cough drops commercial (let’s see how many of you are old enough to get that one).   He was clearly in a hurry, but I asked him if it was a ’62 or a ’63.

“You’re pretty good,” he said.  “It’s a ’63.   Bought it 6 years ago and it was the best $2,500 I ever spent,” and with that, he started the engine and was gone.  The car sounded great.

“Wow,” I said to Sue.  “That sure is a cool car.”

“You know why he was in such a hurry?” Sue asked.

“Yeah, I wondered about that,” I said.

“He was parked in a handicap space, and he didn’t have a handicap sticker,” Sue said.

“Ah, I see,” I said.  I missed that aspect of the encounter entirely.

More interesting stuff…we’re boosting a Facebook ad right now featuring the Destinations Deal.   That’s our upcoming October trip through California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.   When we first starting bringing the RX3 to America, we had our fair share of loonies posting negative comments on the bike strictly because it was Chinese and it was “only” a 250.   For the most part, the keyboard commandos crawled back under their rocks as the RX3 proved itself.   People experienced our superior customer service and our complete parts inventory.  Folks participated in our trips in the US, Mexico, Colombia, and China through the Internet (and in many cases by actually riding with us).

But we still get a few loonies and liars who pop up and post silly stuff.   We’re polite, and many times that infuriates them even more.   The bike is only a 250?  Hey, read this.  The bikes won’t go the distance?  Hey, check out our tours and read our books.  You can buy a used (fill in the blank with whatever motorcycle they bought used) for the same price?  Hey, no kidding, but then you’d have a used bike with no warranty.   The bike is Chinese?  Hey, nothing gets by these trolls, other than the fact that whatever they’re riding already has significant Chinese content.

Logic and politeness doesn’t always work, though, and after politely answering such comments with reasoned and accurate answers, a few of the trolls will post outright lies or become profane (usually they do both).  It’s a very predictable outcome.  We just delete their comments and block them, and in a few cases, that ratchets them up even more.  Ah, well…it’s the downside of using social media to get the word out, I suppose.  It opens you up to the world, and the world still has weirdos with WiFi.

Nope, not on a custom bike…we’re freshening up the CSC showroom!

I’ll post more photos when it’s all done, folks.  These are exciting times, so stay tuned for more updates.   You’ll hear it first right here on the CSC blog!

…and the book is Turner, the man behind the motorcycles.  The motorcycles, of course, were Triumphs.  Edward Turner was the engineer and executive behind Triumph’s success.   It was a journey that reached its peak in the 1960s, and it was a glorious time.

When I was a teenager, a Triumph Bonneville was the ultimate in high performance motorcycling. You know, it’s kind of funny…due to the successful brainwashing many of us underwent by Japan, Inc., today we would regard a 650cc motorcycle as a small bike.  Back in the day, though, the 650 Bonneville was the big bike we all aspired to as we worked our way through 90cc, 160cc, and 305cc road bikes.  I rode that route, and when I finally graduated to a Bonneville, I felt like I had really arrived.

The Turner biography, written by Jeff Clew, is an outstanding read.   They say you can’t tell a book by its cover, but I knew this one was going to be great when I saw the killer cover photo.  That’s Rita Hayworth behind Mr. Turner in front of Johnson Motors in Pasadena, the western US Triumph importer.   Other parts of the book were equally compelling, including the lengthy letter Turner wrote to his management team after visiting Honda in Japan.  Turner was shocked at how far ahead Honda was, and his letter (written well before the demise of the British motorcycle industry) pretty much predicted how things were going to go if Triumph didn’t change its ways.  They didn’t, and Turner’s predictions were realized.    Turner is a great read and for me it was a page turner (no pun intended).  You wouldn’t be making a mistake if you picked up a copy.

My good buddy Greg at Rider Magazine has an online story running on what’s new for 2018, and they included our Cafe Racer motorcycle.   You can read the story here.