CSC Blog

Things are popping at the P-51 plant, folks!   

After a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, Susie and I hopped in my orange Subie (now known as “The Tangerine”) and braved the Black Friday freeways to stop by the California Scooter factory.    I’m happy to tell you that everything is zooming right along.   The first thing that caught my eye as soon as I entered was a dynamite high performance VW engine Steve built up to show off the Pro-One accessories line…

Wow, that engine just glistened!   The funny thing about VW engines is they remind me of motorcycle engines…air cooling, horizontally-opposed cylinders, and the mechanical beauty of the things.  It’s easy to understand why VW hot rodders often remove their engine lids.   Engines this beautiful should not be hidden!

When I wandered into the factory, our folks were hard at work on the next big order….we’re sending an entire P-51 squadron to Dubai!   That’s fascinating…a bunch of folks in Dubai zooming around on California Scooters!    Take a look at just at just a few of the bikes in work and soon to be headed to the Middle East…

And before you guys start sending the “where’s Lupe?” emails to me, here you go…

We’ve had a bit of rain in the last few days, although Thanksgiving was a gorgeous So Cal day.   It was raining again this morning and there’s snow up in the mountains behind my house.   I caught a foul weather photo at the California Scooter factory showing our favorite riding region…the San Gabriel Mountains!  This is what we see every day right out the factory door (except that usually the sky is bright blue)…

Knowing So Cal, it will only be a day or two before it’s sunny again, and then I’ll be back on the Baja Blaster making another video.   I can’t wait, folks, and if you can’t wait to get on your very own CSC-150 or the street-fighting 250cc P-51, give TK or Steve a call!   Trust me on this…these guys are in a dealing mood!

I guess that’s it for now, except for one last shot I grabbed on the way out using that dynamite VW engine Steve built…

Ride safe, and keep an eye on your CSC blog!

This very cool video came to our attention courtesy of Twin Peaks Steve….seems the bike was discovered at the end of World War II in Germany…

I’d heard of this “engine in the front wheel” concept a few years ago when my good friend Marty told me Jay Leno owned a Megola.    Seems Marty and Jay Leno had a conversation about unusual motorcycles when Mr. Leno asked Marty if he had ever heard of a Megola.   Marty had not, nor had I when Marty told the story to me.    If you’ve never heard of the Megola, don’t feel bad…most haven’t.

Take a look at this, folks…

Just in case you’re wondering, there are no plans for a front-wheel-drive California Scooter. The concept sure is something different, though. Makes me wonder if that post-World-War-II bike in the first video came from the Megola folks.

Sue and I will be stopping by the plant later today, so keep your eye on the blog for more photos, folks.    And Twin Peaks Steve, thanks for sending that first video to us!

We had a gorgeous day today, and I wanted to play around a bit with the Midland XTC video cam on a different pair of wheels…

That’s my Bianchi Campione, and don’t let the Italian name fool you.   Although Bianchi is literally the world’s oldest bicycle company and they’re from Italy, this puppy was made in China (as are all Bianchi bicycles these days).   My Campione is decidedly old school with a steel frame (not aluminum or carbon fiber like the hot rods), downtube shifters, and plain old pedals (not clips).   It may look like something expensive, but it’s not.   It’s just a basic bike and I love riding it.   When I’m two wheeling and I’m not on the California Scooter, odds are this is the set of wheels I’m on.

I love bicycling.   I got started like you probably did….on a hand-me-down Schwinn that was the coolest thing in the world.   That old balloon-tired green monster from Chicago worked.   It was my first taste of freedom.   It was the first hint of what it was like to get my knees in the breeze.    It represented independence, fun, and all that is good in the world.   I still get that feeling today when I get on a bicycle.

Haven’t been on a bicycle in a while, you say?   Hey, let’s go for a ride…

That first taste of two-wheeled freedom sticks – it’s been with me for nearly 60 years.   Not surprisingly, many of my motorcycle friends ride bicycles.   Steve does, and so do a lot of other guys and gals I putt around with.   It’s great fun and you can get into it without spending a fortune, or you can go nuts throwing cash at fancy bicycles.  I’ve done that, but these days it’s the inexpensive steel-frame Bianchi you see in the photo above that floats my boat.

We’ve sure gone from one extreme to the other in the blog this weekend.   The Big Boy weighs 1.2 million pounds.   My bicycle weighs 20 pounds.   Quite a spread.  

So, enough about bicycles, locomotives, and other cool stuff.    This week I’m going to get out on the Baja Blaster and grab some video…maybe I’ll even ride it to work one day.   We’ll see.

Later, folks!

Maybe it’s a guy thing. For me, motorcycles and trains are inextricably related.  

There’s the obvious:  The suggestions of travel and adventure suggested by both the motorcycle and the locomotive. 

There’s the subtle:  The mechanical beauty of the beast, be it a locomotive or a motorcycle. 

There’s the analogy often used for a fast motorcycle:  “This thing pulls like a locomotive.”    It’s an expression I’ve often used for my old 1995 Triumph Daytona, which makes no sense at all, considering the leisurely acceleration of a locomotive compared to even a small motorcycle.  In engineering terms, you just can’t defeat f = ma.   We still use that expression, though.  It conveys great power, an attribute we like to apply to our motorcycles.

Then there’s the musical:  Arlo Guthrie sang of motorcycles and the City of New Orleans…

That music works for me, as indicated by this YouTube Lupe and I did on a California Scooter sidecar ride….

And there’s the environmental – like many men of a certain age, I grew up in the Lionel era, dividing my drooling between things like the streamlined maroon Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 locomotive and a variety of British vertical twins (all of which in my adolescence I knew had to pull, well, like a locomotive).

Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in a long time…I had lunch with another group of men of a certain age (or, as I usually describe it, lunch with the geezers).  I’m the youngest guy in that crowd.  To put things in perspective, my good buddy Jerry (who rides both a Piaggio and a Sportster) celebrated his 84th birthday yesterday.  It was fun, and I realized I had been away from the geezers for far too long. 

My good buddy Wes showed up (he rides a six-cylinder BMW, an Uber-tourer that, you know, pulls like a locomotive) and he was excited.  He had seen the “Big Boy” at the Pomona Fairgrounds earlier.  Only half-listening to the conversation initially, I thought he was talking about a hamburger, and then I realized the focus of his attention was a steam locomotive.  My Lionel antenna immediately went to full extension and like everyone else at the table, I focused on Wes’s description of the beast.  To cut to the chase, Marty, Jim, and yours truly decided to try to steal a glimpse of this rail-borne gladiator on the way back to the shop.  As you can see from the photo I posted yesterday, luck was with us…

Here are a few more photos…what’s cool about these is that I grabbed all of them with my iPhone.  They would have been better if I had thought to bring my Nikon with me, but that little iPhone did a pretty good job…

So I’ve got a few more cool things for you to peruse today, boys and girls…the first is an interesting quotation lifted directly from RailwayAge website about Pomona’s very own Big Boy No. 4014…

Very cool stuff, folks, made all the more interesting by the fact that No. 4014 is going to be fully restored and put back into service for special runs.   Yep, the photos I grabbed yesterday show the Big Boy being maneuvered for placement on the MetroLink rails (the very rails shown in my first photo above with the Baja Blaster).   It’s going to be towed back to Union Pacific’s Wyoming repair yards for a complete restoration.   Wow!

That’s it for now, my friends. The boss told me we’re heading over to Costco to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey early, so I’ve got to wrap it up and run.

Ride safe, my friends…

Nope, we’re not talking about burgers, boys and girls…

Check this out!

Saw this puppy on the way home after having lunch with my geezer motorcycle buddies…more to follow today or tomorrow!

22 November 1963.  

I was 12 years old and in the 7^th grade (Ms. Pollack’s afternoon study hall period, to be precise) when I learned of President Kennedy’s death.   Mr. Rose, our vice principal, was an older guy who never seemed or sounded like an old person until he made that announcement over the school’s speaker system.  

Even as 12 year olds, we reacted with stunned silence.  

I remember that day and all that followed as if it happened last week.   The memories are that strong.  I had been chatting with my friend, Bob Dixon, who wondered aloud who would do such a thing.

I liked President Kennedy and all that he stood for.   He understood and pursued equality.   He served with distinction in World War II and he was the skipper of PT-109.   He put us on the path that put a man on the moon.   He approved our Special Forces wearing the green beret.   He stood up to the Soviets.   He was a charismatic leader who understood that the United States is, indeed, an exceptional place.   The media later published negative things about the President, but I don’t know why.   Some things we just don’t need to know. 

Years later when I lived in Texas, I visited Dallas and Dealey Plaza.  I wanted to see the place that I had seen on television 15 years earlier.  I saw the sixth floor window, the streets, and the grassy knoll.   The place looked so ordinary, yet it had a hushed tone and everyone seemed to know it was special.   I returned to Dallas 20 years later to interview the Dallas PD for my book on police motorcycles.  The interviews lasted well into the night (police officers like to tell stories and they had some great ones).   A couple of the motor officers drove me back to my hotel, and our route took us directly through Dealey Plaza.   I recognized the Texas School Book Depository building and started to ask…”is that…” but before I could finish one the officers simply and quietly said “yes.”   Everyone understood.

It’s been said that anyone who is old enough to remember knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first learned of the Kennedy assassination.   I sure do.   50 years have passed, but it seems like it was yesterday.  

Rest in peace, Mr. President.

We have a lot of it out here today, so no riding for me this morning.   Maybe it will clear up later.   Rain is a funny thing on a motorcycle…if I’m out on the bike and I get caught in it, I don’t mind.  But I usually won’t start a ride if it’s raining.     So, I’m doing the next best thing…and that’s looking through some of my photos from past rides.   Here’s one that’s a  favorite from our last company putt…

We sure had great weather that day.   The photo was at the intersection of Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road up in the San Gabriels, but it looks like it was taken at the ocean.   Funny thing is if you’re at that exact spot looking in the exact direction of this photo, on a clear day you can see the Pacific Ocean about 40 miles away (including Catalina Island). 

Well, enough tapping away on the keyboard…my mission today is to make Italian meat sauce per my daughter’s directive, and I’ll need to run to the store to pick up a few things to start that process.  It will be good.

I’ll get a few photos of the next big order at the plant tomorrow or Saturday.   It’s the Dubai order.   Yep, we’re selling in Dubai now, and the bikes are being built as we speak.  

That’s it for now, folks…duty beckons!

Stay dry and ride safe.

Do you remember that show?

Death Valley Days first aired on radio way back in 1930, and then it made the jump to television in 1954, where it remained until 1970.  

I watched Death Valley Days all the time when I was a kid.  In fact, some of you might remember a young fellow named Ronald Reagan who hosted and sometimes acted in the series (it was Reagan’s last acting job before he entered politics).  

I loved that show, and Death Valley held a special place in my mind for decades.    Living here in southern California I was only a couple of hundred miles away from it, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I actually visited the place.   It was all I hoped it would be and more.    Magnificent scenery, great roads, and great riding.  

It took me awhile to actually get around to visiting Death Valley.   I saw signs on the 395 and the 15 pointing toward it, but I never actually got out there until Brown’s BMW dealership sponsored a ride, and then I went on my KLR (I was the lone el cheapo KLR in a sea of uber-expensive BMWs, and that was fun all by itself).  It was an awesome ride.     Then another opportunity emerged when MSILSF ran the Hell’s Loop Endurance Rally.   TK, Arlene, and I rode that event through Death Valley on our California Scooters.   That ride was even more awesome (you can read about it here).   

Opportunity struck again when Motorcycle Classics magazine asked me to do a piece on Death Valley for their “Destinations” column.   Interestingly, that article has been picked up as a reference for other works on this magnificent place.   Suddenly, I went from knowing about Death Valley only through the television show to becoming a cited expert on the place.   Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

What got me to thinking about Death Valley all over again was a super cool note and a couple of photos I recently received from our high mileage California Scooter pilot (and good buddy) Nevada Howard…

Joe…

I did a banzai run through Death Valley last week.    Here are a couple of pics I thought you might like.  First is from Dante’s View, overlooking Bad Water.  And a panoramic shot of Scottie’s Castle…

Be well and take care.

Howard

Howard, those are super photos.  Thanks very much for sharing them with us!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m up for another ride through Death Valley.   Anybody want to go with me?

Whing-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding…..

You know the sound. If you’re one of us (that is to say, men of a certain age) two-strokes were a big part of the motorcycle world back in the day. And that’s what they sounded like….whing-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding…..

When I stopped by the factory on Friday, I spotted this classic moto-crosser tucked away in a corner of the warehouse.  Whoa!   What’s this?

Steve picked this puppy up last week…

It’s a 1967 Hercules Sachs, and our good buddy Jose traded it to Steve for some of our Pro-One VW parts.   The bike’s two-stroke engine is a 125…

The Earles front fork is pretty cool, too.   Better known on early BMWs, Earles forks give a very cushy ride, and folks in the know say they work way better if you’re hauling a sidecar.    I just like the way they look…

And here’s a macro shot of the logo…

This vintage stuff sure brings back memories…in 1967 I was a sophomore in high school!   It was all about Bonnevilles, Tigers, and Super Hawks in those days, but the two-strokes made their presence known…whing-ding-ding-ding-ding!

Later, boys and girls…just got some cool photos from Howard on his trip through Death Valley, and I’ve got to check those out!

I recorded another GoPro video  this afternoon, and this time I mounted the camera on my helmet.   I knew from my Midland camera experience that helmet mounts are much more stable (like I said below, my fat head makes a good vibration dampener…kind of like the rubber mounts Harley uses for their engines).  It was cold and misty up in the mountains today (real Thanksgiving weather for us), but it was still a lot of fun.   Anytime I get on a motorcycle, it’s fun.   

This video is a long one, folks…but making it sure was a hoot.   And the video quality and clarity are outstanding.   So, fresh from the run down Mt. Baldy (and starring the Baja Blaster), here you go…

I’m still getting used to the GoPro camera, and there are still things I like about the Midland better, but the GoPro is a nice little camera.   If any of you watched 60 Minutes this past Sunday, they actually had a segment on the story (and success) behind the GoPro company.   It was a great bit of reporting and I found a link to it on the Internet here.   That was quite a coincidence…I bought the GoPro on Saturday at Costco, and on Sunday I watched a TV show about it.

One of the things about the GoPro I haven’t decided if I like or dislike is the field of view.   The Midland seems to have a wider angle lens, and because of that, it is less sensitive to where you aim the thing (in other words, the up or down and left or right angle doesn’t matter too much because the Midland’s wider angle lens captures it all).   On the GoPro, the angle is not as wide.  I think I got the left and right part squared away, but the up and down is off a little (I think the camera was aimed to low).   Next time I’ll angle it up a bit more.  It might be that there’s an adjustment on the cameras that would make them the same, but that would require actually reading the instructions and I don’t do too well with stuff like that.   I want to just take the thing and use it.   In that area, the Midland is clearly the winner.   But wow, the image quality from the GoPro is outstanding!

The GoPro comes with two camera case backs, as I mentioned earlier today.  One is for below 100 mph and above water (it’s open), the other is intended for use above 100 mph or under water (it completely seals the camera).   The earlier video (the one I posted with the camera mounted behind me) had the open back, and I could hear a lot of wind noise (not as much as with the Midland, but still more than I liked).   In the video included in this blog, I used the “over 100 mph” case back.   It let almost no noise get through (you can barely hear the engine).   But as my speed increased, I could hear the wind.   I’m not sure where I picked up the idea that the GoPro had wind noise canceling software (maybe it does, and it’s just not that effective, or maybe I just need to read the instructions).

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed the ride.   You can bet there are more coming.