Sue and I had a great ride back from Jamestown yesterday…the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains all the way down to California 99 are awesome…it was all ranch country, and we actually saw cowboys on their mounts working the cattle in the early morning hours. It was pretty cool stuff. We passed through a little town called Snellling, and I guess the name of their high school team is the Mustangs. There was a big painted sign on the side of their school that said “Mustang Territory.” I should have stopped for a photo, but I was enjoying the ride so much I didn’t. Next year I will.
We sure had a great time up in Jamestown. Steve took us all to a great dinner Friday night, and it was a 5-star meal by anyone’s standard. And the reception we enjoyed from the visitors to one of our newest dealers (Jamestown HD) was absolutely first rate. I grabbed few more photos, shot a little bit of video, and…well, before I babble on any longer…let’s take a look!
An antique store window on Main Street in Jamestown
A custom-painted Harley tank...orange is very much in this year
Carol...she's going to buy one...I just know it
You'll see this in the video below
My new buddy Joe
Everybody loved the Babydoll
See what I mean?
We generated lots of smiles
A stairwell on Main Street
Another Jamestown street view
And, along with all of these still shots, we managed to grab a bit of video…here ya go…
Enjoy, folks, and try to imagine zillions and zillions of frogs going “ribbit…ribbit…ribbit” in the background…they almost drowned out the Harleys!
TK, Steve, Susie, and I just wrapped up a couple of fun days in Jamestown, California, with the Mitchell family of Jamestown HD. Jamestown HD is one of our California Scooter dealers, and we brought several bikes up for test rides…and to replenish the Jamestown inventory…these guys know how to sell!
This weekend is the annual Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee. We didn’t see any frogs (we were too busy with our friends at Jamestown HD), but we sure could hear them…even above the roar of thousands of Harleys.
I grabbed a bunch of photos and a lot of video. Here are the photos from yesterday…I’ll post a few more photos and the video in another day or two. I wanted to share these with you before I finish processing the rest of this good stuff. A warning up front…I’ve got quite a few Harley photos here (it’s not just about California Scooter in today’s post). The Harleys we saw up here are beautiful bikes, and I want to share the fun we had seeing them with you.
One of the first Harleys we noticed was a gorgeous 103-cubic-inch Harley up on a lift in front of the Jamestown HD dealership. It was beautiful and TK and I both talked about buying it during the day and again at dinner. I had Susie to act as a governor for me (she’s kept me in line for close to 30 years now), so my risk of parting with well over $20K was small. TK came a lot closer to pulling the trigger. At the end of the weekend, though, we went home without it. But it sure was pretty…
Up on a lift...a beautiful green-and-black 103-cubic-inch Harley
I liked the green Harley so much I grabbed a shot from the other side, too
A big part of the fun for me was people watching. The motorcycles that show up at any Harley event are interesting, and so are the people who ride them.
We saw a lot of Harleys this weekend
That’s Highway 49 in the background, named after the California Gold Rush of 1849. Jamestown is a historic town in the heart of California’s Gold Rush country. It’s a beautiful area.
The Harley crowd fell in love with the California Scooter concept, and quite a few folks took advantage of the opportunity to ride them through downtown Jamestown.
An ape-hanger-equipped Greaser test ride
A young lady on a Babydoll test ride
A leather shop in Jamestown
The Hamsters showed up in large numbers…they’re a club of well-to-do riders who ride extensively-customized baggers (full-dress Harleys). They wear yellow T-shirts. Arlen Ness, one of the better known Hamsters, even showed up at the Jamestown HD store yesterday. Quite a few of the Hamsters checked out our bikes, including our good friend Grady…
Our good buddy Grady, a bona fide Hamster, on a California Scooter
We saw (and heard) lots and lots of custom bikes. The paint work on many of these bikes was awesome. Some of these paint jobs cost more than a new California Scooter.
A custom Harley paint job
I enjoyed seeing the custom Harleys, but I enjoyed watching the action on our California Scooters even more. As always, the Sarge was a hugely popular bike, but all of the California Scooters attracted a lot of attention.
Checking out the Sarge
Honore preparing for a Babydoll test ride
This custom Harley grabbed my attention. It was coated with the same stuff used on pickup truck beds, and it had semi-knobby tires. It was a different look for a Harley, and it worked.
A custom Rhino'd Harley
The California Scooters were in near-constant use. We led a lot of test rides through Jamestown.
Getting ready for a CSC test ride
The California Scooter test fleet saw a lot of action this weekend
Our custom red Classic was a huge hit
Seat time on a California Scooter
Near the end of the day yesterday, a fellow named Don sat down in the California Scooter area and told me about the Cushmans and Mustangs he owns, along with several other modern bikes. TK pointed out a magnificently-engineered supercharged big twin Harley, and it turns out it was one of Don’s bikes. Check this out…
My last shot of the day...Don's supercharged Harley!
That’s it for now, folks. I have a few more photos and a lot of video footage I grabbed today, and I’ll post it in another day or two.
We sure had a lot of fun at the In-N-Out Burger Foundation Golf Tournament last night.
Let me cut right to the chase…Melanie Troxel was there (she’s the In-N-Out Burger funny car driver), and her crew won the auction. Yep, Melanie Troxel will be riding a California Scooter!
Melanie Troxel on her new California Scooter!
I had a chance to chat with Melanie, and she’s really nice. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised when I met her. You just wouldn’t know that a day at the office for her means going from a standing start to over 300 mph in about 4 seconds.
I got right to the point…my first question was: What’s it like?
When I was a kid, the AA fuelie cars were breaking into the 7-second range and hitting 200 mph, and watching was a combination of raw terror and disbelief. Seeing it for myself, my mind couldn’t wrap itself around accelerating to 200 mph in 7 seconds. Even as a mere spectator, it felt like the world was coming apart. The ground shook. The air was electrified. The noise was terrifying. The Hemi headers could have been hiding old Lucifer himself, threatening the world through an octet of oxy-acetylene torches.
And that was 40 or 50 years ago.
Now, like I said, it’s 300+ mph in 4 seconds. I asked Melanie if it was as terrifying as it looks. Melanie told me it wasn’t terrifying, but it sure was an adrenaline rush.
Okay, I’ll admit it: I would be terrified. Melanie is a lot braver than I’ll ever be, and I wanted to know more about her…so, I found this cool YouTube video with a bit of background on Ms. Troxel, our newest California Scooter pilot…
I told Melanie our engine makes just a little under 14 horsepower (her In-N-Out funny car cranks out around 8,000 ponies), our top end is a bit over 65 mph (as mentioned above, she’ll hit over 300 mph in her funny car), but…
We get over 90 miles per gallon. I think we have the funny car beat on that one…
Things have been hopping here at the California Scooter Company and everyone’s been busy…Steve and TK loaded up the truck for the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee yesterday, Tony and his crew are building bikes nonstop, and I’m flitting around taking photos of it all. I’ll be up north with Steve and TK tomorrow (we’ll be at Jamestown HD, one of our dealers in northern California, with a bunch of bikes for test rides). Tonight we’ll be at the In-N-Out event to see the In-N-Out bike charity auction. We’ll have lots of cool photos for you in the next few days.
With all this going on, the phones have been ringing off the hook. TK and all of the other folks who handle sales were either on the phone already or otherwise busy, so I answered the phone yesterday. I’m not a sales guy, and Bill from Tennessee (the guy on the other end) was just calling for information (he’d seen one of our ads). Bill asked about options…chrome wheels…a chrome pipe…a chrome luggage rack…all on a black Classic. I had to keep asking Patty (our controller, who sits just over the cubicle wall) the price of each option.
When I added it all up, the bike was just north of $5K. I thought I made a mistake (it seemed too low), and Bill had the same impression. Before either of us realized it, Bill bought a bike (or I sold him a bike, depending on your perspective). It was kind of funny. Just like that…Bill joined the California Scooter family, and I became a sales guy. It was fun.
After my conversation with Tennessee Bill, I took a walk to the other end of the building where Wade works his wonderful magic on the big Pro-One V-twins. Wade’s been working on his personal bike, an ultra cool custom Twin Cam Harley-engined bike. It’s one of those bikes that makes you stop in your tracks. It’s that beautiful.
Wade, an awesome artist and motorcycle maestro, with his latest creation
Wade’s bike has real charisma…a combination of mechanical, visceral, and aesthetic appeal (check out the oil tank…it’s the right rear half of the fuel tank). The detail work on Wade’s bike is beyond impressive. I’ve been around motorcycles for close to five decades now, and I gotta tell you, this bike is awesome. Wade’s an artist, and it shows in his work.
The In-N-Out 24th Annual Children’s Benefit Golf Tournament is this week, and we’re really looking forward to it. California Scooter built and donated a corporate custom last year for the In-N-Out Foundation. Last year’s bike sold at auction for about $8,000 (and all of it went to the In-N-Out Foundation). The 2010 In-N-Out California Scooter was a beautiful bike, and we’ve been looking forward to doing the same thing this year.
I don’t mind telling you that I had a little anxiety about the 2011 bike, because I couldn’t imagine us surpassing the 2010 bike. Read on, boys and girls, and see what our folks put together this year!
The good folks at In-N-Out asked us to base this year’s color theme on Melanie Troxel’s In-N-Out funny car, and we turned to Doug Starbuck at Star Side Design. First, take a look at the In-N-Out funny car…
Melanie Troxel's In-N-Out funny car
Doug came through in flying colors (pardon the pun), and the 2011 In-N-Out California Scooter is simply magnificent. Chrome Lucky 13 wheels, custom paint, a painted frame, a custom seat…ah, the list goes on and on. This is yet another awesome motorcycle! Take a look, and tell me if you don’t agree!
An awesome corporate custom...the 2011 In-N-Out Burger bike!
A port-side view of the 2011 In-N-Out corporate custom California Scooter!
I watched Lupe and Tony put the 2011 In-N-Out bike together, and it was a hoot. We like doing these corporate customs. Hey, we like making all of our bikes! If you’d like to learn more about a California Scooter corporate custom, give us a call! And watch the blog…there’s gonna be more up here on the In-N-Out event later this week. And I grabbed some great shots of Wade’s latest custom V-twin (it’s really special, and I’ll get those shots up for you tomorrow). And we’re headed to Jamestown for the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee! Wow, things are hopping…oops, another pun!
Time for lunch, folks! You know where I’m headed! Yep, In-N-Out! The best burgers on the planet!
More eye candy, boys and girls, and a new record of three blogs in one day! Just a quickie with some slick photos, because tomorrow’s gonna be busy (more on that in a moment)…
First, the all-red custom Classic I mentioned earlier this morning…here it is!
Our all red Classic, with custom seat, frame colors, and more! This bike just came off the line...will it be yours?
The little red Classic's custom seat!
Bright red, bright red, and more bright red!
Our all-red Classic is a very slick looking machine, and it isn’t spoken for yet…so TK and I have a little bet to see who picks it up first. We built it as a spec bike, just to see what it would look like. What do you think?
A bit more eye candy…at least it caught my eye…check out these Babydolls!
Pink and white, a very pretty combination...be nice and I'll post our video of Tony test riding these!
And finally, the In-N-Out 2011 bike is coming together! The tank and fenders came in today, and it’s awesome. The good folks at In-N-Out wanted a theme that picked up on their funny car, and our painter just blew us away with this one!
This is gonna be a fun one, folks!
Watch for more on the In-N-Out story this week, folks! We’re putting it together tomorrow, I’m grabbing photos and video of the entire build, and the In-N-Out banquet and charity auction is Thursday night. Lots more coming your way!
I just finished a super telephone conversation with Steve Smith, the owner of Scootersmith in Houston, Texas. Scootersmith is our newest dealer, and we’re sure glad we hooked up with these folks. What we especially look for in all of our dealers are enthusiasts who promote the sport, and like all of our dealers, Steve Smith sure fits that bill. He started Scootersmith in 2004, and he’s an active motorcycle racer (vintage motocross, vintage road racing, and modern stuff, too). And here’s something else that’s super cool: Steve started Houston’s biggest scooter club…the Scooter Battalion (they’ve got over a thousand people). I love that name, and I can sure see our Military Series bikes fitting right in with that group.
Scootersmith in Houston is our newest California Scooter dealer!
Scenes of the Houston Scooter Battalion
We like Texas, and we love the Houston area. We’ve been advertising in the Houston Chronicle, and the phones have been ringing off the hook. Texas is a great state from any perspective, but it’s an especially great state from a motorcycling perspective. We’ve sent a lot of motorcycles to Texas, and having a great dealer like the Scootersmith is good news for us and for Texas. And for all of you folks in the Houston area, by this time next week Scootersmith will have a great selection of California Scooters in stock, so make sure you stop by. Scootersmith is located at 727 Yale Street, right in the heart of Houston. Scootersmith’s phone number is 713 869 4885.
Yes, indeed, orange is in! Let me tell you right up front that this one is spoken for…it’s going to Steve Lorenz at Arcadia Cushman in Indiana. Orange is becoming one of our most popular colors, and it seemed like a fitting title for today’s blog…my other choice was “A Tale of Two Steves…” Read on, and you’ll see what I mean.
You’ve read about our new Grabber Orange color that Steve Seidner recently introduced as a standard color choice for the CSC Classic, and you’ve seen the magnificent custom we recently built to M&M Motorsports‘ specification (we featured it on the blog last week). Mike and Dianna sold that one to Jerry Hall almost immediately, and you can see those photos in our last blog.
We’ve also been working on another orange custom for Steve Lorenz at Arcadia Cushman. Steve was excited about this one (it is a bit different than the one we had just built for M&M, and watching it come together, I was, too). I asked the guys not to let it get out of the shop without giving me an opportunity to grab a few photos of it.
A Z-28 Camaro...the inspiration for the Arcadia Cushman custom Classic
There are two Steves involved in this one, so it gets just a bit confusing. Our Steve is the Steve Seidner who founded California Scooter Company, and Steve Lorenz is the owner of Arcadia Cushman. Our Steve first told me about Arcadia Cushman Steve’s desire to build a bike reminiscent of the muscle-car-era Z-28 Camaro a few weeks ago. I mentioned this a few blog entries back, and as many of you will remember, Chevy offered the Z-28 in a very hot orange with white paint stripe color theme. Our Steve explained to me that’s what Steve Lorenz had in mind for this bike, but he wanted to take it a step beyond. We started with our new Grabber Orange color, but we also applied (at Steve Lorenz’s request) a pearlescent final coat before striping the bike. The result is a show-stopper. A real show stopper.
TK called me at lunch on Friday to let me know that Tony had just finished assembling Steve Lorenz’s custom orange Classic, and wow, what a bike! The Boss and I finished up our Cheesecake Factory peanut butter pie, hopped in the ‘Vette (love those Chevy small blocks), and zoomed up the San Berdoo freeway to grab a few shots of this magnificent new motorcycle.
Okay…here’s a first shot of Tony pondering the beauty of the new beast to which he had just applied his finishing touches…
Our Master Bike Builder Tony B, in awe of his latest masterpiece!
I’ve had several great conversations with Steve Lorenz, and he’s a cool guy. He’s been a rider forever, and he told me that Arcadia Cushman believes CSC motorcycles are the next big thing (and the next big classic motorcycle). I couldn’t agree more. And with this latest bike, I think we hit the jackpot. So, enough chatter for now…let’s have the photos do the talking!
Steve Lorenz's custom Classic in pearlescent orange!
This is a magnificent color combo...and the shiny details (wire wheels, a polished sprocket, and lots more) make this bike really stand out! You can just start to see the pearlescent paint in this photo...in person, the effect is striking!
A shop view of the Arcadia Cushman custom Classic
Our standard beauty shot on the CSC lift
You’ve heard me say this many times before…I say it just about every time we build a new custom, and I’ll say it again: I think this is the prettiest bike we’ve ever done. ‘Til the next one, that is…and I’ll have photos of that one a little later today (here’s a hint…think red…and yes, we already have dealers requesting photos of it)!
And, back to that Grabber Orange paint theme that we recently introduced…it’s a stunning color. Steve Lorenz went all out on his bike, and it’s magnificent. You might be wondering what a standard Grabber Orange bike looks like, and I wanted to show that to you again. Take a gander at this photo…it’s a standard CSC Classic, and the only option on this bike is a set of whitewall tires…
A Grabber Orange CSC motorcycle with whitewall tires...it's sharp!
Gotta run, boys and girls…there’s a red custom Classic up on the lift now. We prepped it for the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee (we’ll be up there later this week with Jamestown HD). More photo ops beckon!
More good stuff, boys and girls. M&M Motorsports in Kansas City is heading for the Branson Motorcycle Rally, and Mike and Dianna at M&M are selling CSC motorcycles as fast as we can ship them there. I mentioned a few blogs back that we built a custom Grabber Orange bike for M&M, and I don’t think it lasted even a few days in the M&M showroom. Check out this email from Dianna…
Hello Joe,
M&M Motorsports sold the CSC Grabber Orange custom bike we received just last week. Apparently, not only Mike thought this customized bike was “TOO KOOL and A MUST HAVE,” so did Jerry Hall of Independence, Missouri. Jerry will now be riding it around as the new owner.
Jerry already has us taking it up another notch by putting your CSC Diamond Cut Ape Hangers on his new ride. Jerry told us he just had to have the bike after seeing its quality construction and craftsmanship, and the wide variety of accessories CSC offers.
Mike is now envisioning the next CSC customized bike we’ll order. We love seeing these CSC motorcycles roll out the door for everyone to see.
Thanks.
Dianna, M&M Motorsports
Dianna sent along this very cool photo of Jerry Hall and his new ride…congratulations to you, Mr. Hall, and welcome to the CSC family!
Jerry Hall and his custom California Scooter...a very sharp bike, Mr. Hall!
We’ve sure done some pretty bikes here at the California Scooter Company, and one of my all time favorites is our desert camo Military Series. When we put a photo of that one up on the blog, it sold the next day, and Lynn Reott is the lucky new owner. Lynn was kind enough to send us a photo, and I’m jealous all over again…
Lynn Reott and his desert camo Military Series CSC motorcycle...one of the best looking bikes we've ever done!
Lynn, you bought that bike before I could (I like it that much). Your bike is the very one Lupe posed with in our Military Series YouTube video (I put it at the end of this blog entry…it’s one of my favorite YouTubes).
And Lynn, I checked your Facebook page…it looks like you and I have more than just a love of CSC motorcycles in common. Some mighty big boars, Amigo…now I’m even more jealous…the only thing I got chasing those guys in northern California a few years back was a real bad case of poison oak!
Don’t worry, folks, because we have a bunch of new Military Series bikes in production. We’re doing them in desert camo, jungle camo, and OD green. We’re even doing one with a WWII fighter paint theme…a shark’s toothy grin on the gas tank (that bike’s gonna be a show stopper).
Wow, CSC bikes are going fast these days…we are literally shipping them as fast as we can build them. That’s a good thing, and yes, we realize how very lucky we are to have loyal enthusiasts and riders like Mike, Dianna, Jerry, Lynn, Cody, Steve L. in Arcadia, John W. in Florida, Arlene, Jimbo, Jim in Oregon, Dick R. up in Nor Cal, Jim W. in Glendora, Fred W. in the great state of Texas, Carl M. in Missouri, and literally hundreds of other good people riding around on these wonderful motorcycles. We’re blessed by your friendship, and not a minute goes by that we don’t think about it.
Next week we’ll be up in Calaveras County along with Mitchell’s Modesto HD and Jamestown HD (two of our California dealers) for the annual Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee. We’ll be there May 19 – 22, and we’re bringing a bunch of bikes with us. If you have a chance to stop by for a visit and a test ride, by all means, please do so. I’ll post more on the blog about this event next week, too, so stay tuned!
Okay, folks, here’s that Military Series YouTube video…
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer
TT250 Enduro