CSC Blog

Looks like that new KLR battery did the trick.   I just finished the installation, the old girl fired right up, and I took her out for a couple of miles just to make sure everything is okay.

My good buddy J wants to do another Baja trip, and it wouldn’t take much for me to agree to that…

That photo above is from a trip Primo and I did down to Guerrero Negro in October 2009, which was the last time the KLR was in Baja.   I think the translation is Baja hace señas, and if Google translate is right, that means Baja beckons…

The Baja ’09 run was a fun ride, and if you want to read the whole ride report (including me being a fast food meal for the wild dogs of Mexico, discovering a cool shipwreck off a remote stretch of the Baja coastline, riding out to an  abandoned onyx mine, our re-discovery of an ancient Jesuit mission, and lots of good food and pretty girls), you can do so here.

Our next Baja adventure will most likely be in March…and we may even have an editor from one of the national motorcycle magazines riding along with us!   You can bet I’m looking forward to it.

Speaking of which, there’s lots happening in Baja right now.   Carla King (our good buddy from Misadventures Media) is down there as you read this, and she has been posting awesome photos (you can see those here).    The other newsworthy event is that an earthquake took down a stretch of the Transpeninsular Highway just south of Tijuana near Salsipuedas…I heard about this from J yesterday and the news is starting to come in…

I’ve ridden right through that stretch many times, including the CSC Baja trip a couple of years ago.   The CSC Baja ride sure was a hoot…here’s a photo with the bikes overlooking the Sea of Cortez, right on the Tropic of Cancer marker…

That ride was one of the best Baja trips I’ve ever done, and if you want to read that ride report…well, here you go!

I received a couple of nice photos and a nice note from our good buddy Russ, so watch for those in an upcoming blog.

That’s it for now…Susie and I are off to Harbor Freight to pick up a few items.   It’s one of those stores where I just like wandering the aisles, and Susie is okay with me doing so today.   Gotta strike while the iron is hot!

Later, folks!

That kind of day, I guess.   I thought I’d ride the KLR 650 today but it just wasn’t in the cards.    When I went to crank it over, even though I keep it on a battery tender, that thing was deader than Julius Caesar.

The battery in that Kawi just doesn’t last as long as my California Scooter battery…I pulled about 3 years on my first CSC-150 battery before I needed a new one.   I’m lucky if I can get a year out of the KLR battery.   I guess I just don’t ride it enough now that I have the CSC motorcycle.

So, it was off to my local parts dude, the Cycle Rider store, where I had a nice conversation that culminated in a $93 KLR battery.  I hope it lasts longer than the one it replaced (I sprung for a better battery this time).  I’ve got to give a first charge on the battery tender, and then I’ll install it in the Kawi (most likely tomorrow).

You probably noticed that bent license plate on the Kawi.   That’s from the last time I ran down through Baja with it.   My buddy John and rode a bunch of dirt on that trip in a quest to find some of Baja’s abandoned missions, and we did.   Very cool stuff.   The only downside of that trip was that the Kawi’s rear suspension travel and fender arrangement are not terribly well designed…the Kawi design lets the rear tire smack into the license plate when it bottoms, and that’s what I did.  I thought about getting a new plate, but I kind of like the look of the one that’s on there…well worn, well used, and not pampered.

While I was doing my best imitation of a motorcycle mechanic, I pushed the Baja Blaster out of the garage after taking it off of its battery tender.  I hadn’t ridden it in several weeks.  Sure enough, with a little bit of choke and a single touch of the starter button, that puppy fired right up.    I spent a bit of time going over all of the nuts and bolts making sure everything is tight, and my Scooter is ready to rock.  I’m going to get out on it this Monday, and I’ll grab some video while I’m at it.

Another interesting photo, folks…while I was picking up the KLR battery, this fellow pulled into the parking lot in a very interesting rat rod.  It was cool.   The guy driving and the car both could have come directly off the set of American Pickers.   It sure sounded good, too…

The afternoon got away from me…I was in a wrenching mood and the next bit of work was on my air compressor.   The air release on the bottom broke several months ago, and I kind of made do with a bicycle pump (and yes, I have strong arms now).    After playing with the fitting for an hour, I finally got the thing off the tank.   I’ll visit Harbor Freight tomorrow for a new fitting.   It’s not easy pumping up motorcycle and car tires with a bicycle pump, but after tomorrow, I’ll be back in business with a real air compressor.   Before I realized it, though, it was getting dark out.   Enough wrenching for today.   Time to get back on the blog….what with Christmas and all, I haven’t posted anything in a few days.  So…

More cool stuff…

Yesterday, Susie, my good buddy Greg, and yours truly pointed the Subie (aka Il Tangerino) north at 4:00 a.m. and we headed toward Death Valley.   Greg and I had been talking about a mini photo safari, and he and Susie had never been to Death Valley.   Greg and Susie are both California natives.   Their never having been to Death Valley just didn’t seem like a situation that I could allow to continue.

It was sure a fun day…the temperature got as low as  28 degrees on the way in, and it was as high as 80 degrees in the afternoon.   We had a great breakfast at The Mad Greek in Baker (you’ve got to try it if you’ve never been there), and then we headed into 20 mule team country.  The cameras were doing double duty.    It was great.

It was fun.   The scenery was incredible.   In addition to the regular photos, I also put together a few panorama shots using Photoshop.   We had some great photo ops, and there was even had a friendly roadrunner (the real one…not the Plymouth) hanging around our table when we had lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn.   Fun times, and I think I grabbed some good shots (take a look and tell me if you agree).

I really like the roadrunner photos.   Roadrunners are hard to get close to and this one was almost tame.  My guess is he was used to folks feeding him.   Beep beep, and all that.   I didn’t have the heart to warn him about Wile E. Coyote, whom I had photographed just up the road.

Death Valley is an awesome ride.  You may remember when TK, Arlene, and yours truly rode our CSC motorcycles there for the Hell’s Loop Endurance Rally.   Here’s a shot from that event…

…and here’s another shot of our good buddy Howard on his P-51 California Scooter in Death Valley…

I’d like to do another Death Valley CSC ride, and if any of you would like to join in, just let me know….

That’s it for now, friends…ride safe and stay warm!

My good buddy Brad went past the “end of the road” gate up on Highway 39, got caught, and captured the whole thing on video…

Cool stuff, boys and girls!

Want a cool winter project…something for which you can claim personal bragging rights?

Check this out, folks…our latest way for you to get a bike you can truly make your own…the CSC Bike In A Box!

We’ve had a lot of requests for this, and we’re going to give it an initial run on a limited basis.  This latest way to own a CSC motorcycle includes everything (and we do mean everything) you need to make your own motorcycle except the primer, the paint, and the fluids.  It’s a complete CSC 150 with bare metal tank and fenders (and everything else you’ll need) to build your own bike.   You won’t need any special tools, and every part you’ll need is here….every single nut, bolt, wire, washer, and even the zip ties to make this your personal motorcycle.

And the best part?   For a very limited time, this Bike in a Box is being offered at a substantial discount…it’s just $2,899 (plus freight) delivered to your doorstep!

Give TK a call (800 884 4173) and one of these puppies can be yours in just a few days!   We’re only offering a few bikes in a box, so don’t let this offer slip away!

You’ve seen this awesome ’63 on the blog before, folks, but Steve had it down off the lift this week and I thought I’d grab another photo…

It’s an awesome car, and I thought I’d have a little fun making everything behind and around it black and white, and kicking up the vibrance on the car.

If you think that photo is sharp, wait ’til you see the package CSC will be offering in the very near future.   We’re finalizing details on it now, so keep watching the blog, boys and girls!

Ride safe and stay warm, especially our friends up there in Reno!

And this one occurred a long time ago…1981, to be exact.  I spotted this post over the ADVRider web site last night, and folks, the vintage film photography alone makes this worth a read.  You can get to it by clicking here.

I sent the above link to the folks who rode with us on the CSC Baja ride (John, J, Arlene, and Simon), and we’ve been exchanging emails on it all day.   My good buddy John Welker and I, in particular, talked a lot about our 1997 Mexico trip.   That story is here.  It’s kind of funny to look at the bike I rode on that first big foray into Mexico, especially the way I packed it…

And of course, there’s the CSC Baja ride.   You can read that one here.     The California Scooter Baja ride was one of the best ones ever, and for a lot of reasons.    I knew we’d have bragging rights, and the camaraderie on that one was a lot of fun.   Good times, folks…

So, this new product I’ve been hinting at…is it something you could use in Baja?

You bet…but you wouldn’t be restricted to just Baja!

It’s going to be a good one, boys and girls!

Stay tuned!

TK visited our good buddy and custom painter Doug over at Starside Designs and he caught a glimpse of Doug’s personal ride…one of the original Honda import cars!  It’s their 600 model…and it’s very cool.

Honda started bringing these little jewels into the US in the late 1960s.   They had a 600cc twin-cylinder engine…that’s 36 cubic inches and 36 horsepower.

Cool stuff, and as you might imagine, Doug’s ride is immaculate.

Oh, and I just got off the phone with Steve, and we’re putting a few final touches on the exciting new product I mentioned in our last blog entry.  (It’s totally unrelated to Doug’s 600cc Honda, in case you were trying to make a connection.)   Folks, you are going to love it!

Folks, keep an eye on the blog…in the next day or so we’re going to be announcing something very exciting…a new CSC concept!   Trust me on this…if you’ve been thinking about us and your next toy, you’ll want to keep an eye on the blog!

Our good buddy Carol posted this photo of her CSC motorcycle on Facebook in a message to Simon Gandolfi yesterday and I spotted it right away…

That is a beautiful bike, Carol.   I ride a CSC-150, too, and I sure have had a ton of fun on mine.   Thanks for posting the photo and our best holiday wishes to you!

Sure, I ride a road bike…and I do this kind of stuff all the time….

This is a good one to watch with a cup of coffee and a strong sense of amazement. I found myself wondering how many bent spokes, blisters, bruises, and broken bones went into making that video!