CSC Blog

Mostly photos today, folks, from my Subie trip a couple of days ago with Marty up to Lake Isabella.

First, a word or two about that photo you see above…it’s an awesome Lake Isabella panorama shot!    There’s more to that photo…if you click on it, it will open in a new window and you’ll see it all.   I can only stick photos here in the blog that are 650 pixels wide, but this one is 900 pixels and part of it gets covered up by whatever is off to the right in the blog margin.   So click on it with your mouse and you’ll see it full size.

The Isabella panorama shot is an interesting picture…I took 11 photos of nearly the entire lake, and then I stitched them together digitally.   Photoshop (the program I use for editing my photos) lets you do this, and the effect is pretty cool.

There’s a lot going on in the photo above…you’re seeing a 270-degree sweep.   The left side of the photo is the south end of the lake, it sweeps through to the north shore, end then it heads south again to the side I’m standing on.   The intense colors are due to the polarizer I used on my Tokina wide angle lens.   And then, of course, there are the mountains reflected in the lake.  Cool stuff!

This is a story about a ride I’ve done a few times on the Bodfish-Caliente Road, one of California’s jewels.   The road is absolutely awesome…an incredible putt through beautiful country.   It’s a trek…the round trip is about 400 miles from my place and back, but it’s worth it.

In planning this trip, my first decision was what to take.   We’re in a cold snap and I knew I’d be headed up above 5,000 feet, so the bikes were out.   It would have been a nice Corvette ride, but I knew I’d be taking a lot of pictures and getting in and out of the Z-06 is tough (and the older I get, the tougher that gets).   That left Il Tangerino (my much-loved Subie), which turned out to be the perfect vehicle for this ride (especially since we’d be hitting some snow, but more on that later).

So it was a short jaunt east on the 210, a run up the 15 through Cajon Pass into the Mojave Desert, north on 395 to Highway 58, and then west on 58 for a few miles.   Sounds quick, but I just talked you through the first 140 miles.   At that point, 58 climbs up into the mountains, the temperature dropped into the 30s, and we kept our eyes peeled for the semi-hidden Caliente exit.

The Caliente exit marks the start of the Bodfish-Caliente Road.   That’s when the real fun begins…in the postage-stamp-sized town of Caliente, bisected by the Tehachapi Loop…

The Tehachapi Loop is just what the name implies…it’s a big loop the railroads use to allow trains to spiral up into the mountains.   We were lucky…we got there just as a long freighter was, well, looping up into the mountains.

And folks, make no mistake, the Bodfish-Caliente Road is the star of this trip.   It is a tight, twisty, awesome, climbing route that runs right through the Walker Basin, with some of the best scenery and photo ops in California.

Don’t believe all of my superlatives?

Well…here we go…

First, let’s take a look at some of the road shots…

That sign isn’t kidding.

I’ve described this road to my friends as a paved goat trail.

In some places where it winds through the mountains that’s what it feels like.   It’s just awesome.

Put this road on the bucket list, folks…it’s one we’ve all got to ride at least once!

The Bodfish-Caliente Road is great, but it’s only part of the story.   What’s on either side is even more fun.   There are some fascinating photo-ops along this road.

Take a look at the folks in this 1927 Buick…

Somebody out there has a great sense of humor.

And hey, take a look at this old fire engine by the trading post…

The Bodfish-Caliente Road is one of my all-time favorite rides.   It would be absolutely awesome on a California Scooter, and when it gets a little warmer, this will be one of our next rides.   There’s no traffic and after every corner there’s a picture postcard scene.    The road cuts through the Walker Basin, an awesome region.   The route is lined by ranches offering even more photo opportunities…

That stop sign above was pretty funny.    Like I said, somebody out there has a sense of humor.

One of the ranches had its own cemetery…

You no doubt noticed the snow in these photos, and when we got into the higher elevations, there was a lot of it.   I don’t think they run snow plows up on the Bodfish-Caliente Road (it’s a very remote area).   The snow just gets packed down by the pickups running over it.    And folks, it was cold up there!

The Subie’s all-wheel drive and its seat heaters were much appreciated on this trip…

After descending through the mountains, the first town at the edge of Lake Isabella is Bodfish.   (Get it?  It’s why they call this the Bodfish-Caliente Road.)

Bodfish is followed by the town of Lake Isabella, and I just had to stop to photograph this sign…

When I stopped for gas I asked a nice lady in the gas station where we could get the best lunch in town, and she recommended the El Rio.

That was sound advice, boys and girls.  Marty and I had a great Mexican lunch there.

As usual, I opted for a chile relleno, and we both had our favorite beer…

After lunch, we took the Subie off road to get down to the lake’s edge.   That’s where I grabbed the shots for the Isabella panorama (the one at the start of this blog).

I took a picture of Marty, too…

Continuing west, we headed out through the Walker Pass.   It cuts across the mountains, and it would bring us back to the 395 (our route home).

There’s a little town called Onyx, and of course, it has a general store…

The Onyx store had a sign on its side saying that it has world-famous sausage.   The next time I go through there I’m going to try it.

I mentioned earlier that we were in cattle country, but I didn’t realize exactly what that meant until we passed through Onyx.

Folks,  here’s a scene you don’t see every day down in LA…

The lighting was terrible from a photography perspective (the snow-capped mountains behind the cows made it tough to get a good exposure), but I grabbed a lot of shots and the one you see here is passable.

This was an awesome experience for a guy like me who grew up in New Jersey.    I felt like I was on the set of Lonesome Dove or Rawhide.    There was even a cowboy sitting tall in the saddle somewhere in that herd.   What a day this had turned out to be!

This is going to sound funny, but I knew one cow was giving me the old stink eye, and it was not a good feeling.   Those things are huge!  I’ve been known to enjoy a good hamburger every now and then, so I suppose a bit of payback would have been fair play.   I was actually having too much fun taking pictures, though, to think about it.

A woman in a large banged-up old Dodge pickup (she was wearing a cowboy hat) drove around my Subie and told me that you just have to inch forward and the cattle will get out of your way.  I let her go first.   Marty commented that she sure had a lot of scratches and dents on her Dodge (no doubt put there by driving through cattle).

It was a fun day, folks, and the stuff you see here is going to be part of a “Destinations” piece I’m doing for Motorcycle Classics magazine (so you’ll want to be sure to pick that issue up).

That’s it for our Bodfish-Caliente/Isabella/Walker Pass ride.   Ride safe, shoot straight, stay warm, and stay tuned.   As always, there’s more good stuff coming your way!

Just a quick shot this morning, folks, from a ride I was on many moons ago…

That’s the Bodfish-Caliente Road, which runs from Caliente (down near Highway 58) up through the hills to Lake Isabella.   It’s an awesome ride, and I’m going to be doing it later this week.  I’m the second guy from the front in this shot (I’m in the yellow Joe Rocket jacket), and if I recall correctly I was on my old Harley.

It’s still cold out here…we’re hoping for some warmer weather soon.

Ride safe…more photos to follow.

A fun afternoon today…lunch with the Geezers, a chance to look at both new and vintage motorcycles, a stop at a gun store, and a look at the latest bit of American iron at our local Chevy dealer.

Lunch with the Geezers, as you know from reading the blog, is kind of a Saturday ritual, and today was a classic.   After a cup of coffee and some conversation at Bob’s (as you know from a recent blog, Bob has a very impressive collection of vintage bikes), it was a hop in the car over to Applebee’s for lunch with all of my moto buddies.   I’m the youngest, and I haven’t been described as a spring chicken in decades.  Hence the name of this informal group – the Geezers.

The same nice young lady at Applebee’s waits on us every time and she always makes a big fuss.   I always wonder what she and the other Applebee folks chat about after we leave…a bunch of old graybeards in motorcycle gear telling tall tales.

Today was better than usual.  When the bill arrived, my good buddy Joseph did the computations (you know, the total plus the tip, divided by however many Geezers showed up that day, and we all kick in the same amount).   Marty wanted to have some fun, so after Joseph did all the above and our waitress collected the money, Marty looked at the receipt and told Joseph she forgot to include the Senior Discount (she had included it, but hey, Marty was on a roll).   Joseph took off after the waitress.   Marty got the grin.   It was fun.

On the way back it was raining.   Too cold and wet to ride or shoot, so Marty and I rolled over to a large gun store in our area…Ammo Brothers. Folks, I don’t like big chain stores, especially when they’re selling guns and ammo.   Part of the fun is buying stuff from mom and pop shops…and we’ve got a good one in our area, Bullet Barn Guns (http://www.bulletbarnguns.net), but today for whatever reason we decided to go to Ammo Brothers.

Let me tell you what these Ammo Brothers dudes are doing now…if you want to get help, you have to take a number.   Literally.  Like in a bakery.   From a little number-dispensing machine.   Then you wait until they call your number.   It’s ridiculous.  It de-personalizes the sales experience, and buying guns is like buying a motorcycle…it should be an experience that establishes a relationship.  It’s not like buying, say, a loaf of bread.

Being the compliant moron that I am, though, I took a number.   They were on No. 5.   I was No. 10.   After 20 minutes, they were up to No. 7.   I’m not even sure why I took a number…I didn’t want to buy anything and if I did, I would buy it from Bullet Barn Guns.   We bailed.

This morning I had read an article in the LA Times about Chevy’s newest performance sedan…the SS.   The LA Times was quite complimentary…they said the car was awesome.   I suggested to Marty when we were leaving the bakery…oops, I meant to say the Ammo Brothers store…that we stop at the local Chevy dealer to check out the new SS.   Marty was good with that and a few minutes later we were there.

I don’t like car dealers too much, either, and our local Chevy dealer is no exception.   The wolves were predictably lined up at the entrance, offering to help us.

“Don’t waste your time, boys,” I said, “we’re two old looky-lou geezers on Social Security…we just want to see the new SS.”

I think those guys appreciated that we didn’t waste their time.   They didn’t say anything and they didn’t smile.   It must be a terrible way to make a living.

So, on to the point of this blog…we saw the SS, it was indeed awesome, and I had my iPhone…

I like the color.  A lot.   I reminds me of the Baja Blaster, and as you know, I think any vehicle in cite-me-for-a-moving-violation red just flat works…as seen in this photo up on Glendora Ridge Road with my good buddy Carlos…

The new Chevy, while an American car, is actually mostly Australian.  The body and frame are made by Holden (a GM subsidiary) and the engine (the classic small block Chevy….last year’s Corvette engine) is made in Mexico.   I know this because it’s all spelled out on the new car sticker.

And speaking of new car stickers, the new Chevy SS is pretty nice, but this thing’s price was up there in Corvette territory.   The MSRP was just north of $47K, and the dealer had added a $2,500 “market adjustment.”

“Market adjustment” is a high-falutin’ dealership term for “stick it to ya.”   I don’t know if in the history of the world anyone has ever actually paid a “market adjustment.”   It’s just a way to temporarily shift the negotiation start point.   I don’t like it, though.  The manufacturer has suggested a retail price and asking more than that somehow just seems inappropriate.  We’d never do that at California Scooter.   It’s one of many reasons why a lot of people distrust dealers.

Not that any of the above bothered me at all.   I actually was just a looky-lou today, and I’ve been “market adjusted” to new car dealer pricing practices for decades now.   Still, it was grand entertainment and a great way to spend the day.

I think I’m going to wipe down the Baja Blaster, and if it warms up a bit tomorrow, I’ll fire her up and grab a little video.

Ride safe, folks.   ATGATT, and all that…

Folks, here are a few of my favorite Dubai build photos, with an emphasis on the paint themes…

That one above is very similar to the very first P-51 we built as Steve’s personal ride.   The Boss fully intended to keep that one, but when we put it on the blog when we introduced the 250cc line, the bike sold within minutes.   It’s a stunning look for these great street fighters, and you might be surprised at just how reasonable a custom paint job like this is.

The P-51 street fighter’s artwork (“nose art,” like our boys use to paint on their combat aircraft in World War II) is striking, too…

Here’s another Dubai bike, this time in a standard color….it’s our Military Series desert camo theme…

Another popular paint theme is the OD green we use on the Sarge.    Steve’s personal ride is the first Sarge we ever did (a CSC-150).    That bike continues to draw crowds wherever the Boss parks it.

We did a Sarge for the folks in Dubai…

And how about this….a Dubai BabyDoll!

Here’s a shot of a few of the Dubai bikes just before their test rides…

Folks, I know that if I don’t include photos with Lupe on a regular basis, I start getting the “where’s Lupe?” emails, so here you go…

And finally, my signature signoff photo…

I’m off to lunch with the Geezers in a bit, so you guys and gals stay warm and ride safe…

Later, my friends.

That’s NCO as in Noncommissioned Officer…check out this P-51 Sarge, my friends…

I love the looks of our Sarge series…a combination of California Scooter and combat…motorcycling and secret missions…riding and reconnaissance…ah, you get the idea.   It’s a great look and the above bike really caught my eye.   Steve had the spotlights done up in OD green, too, and it really works.   I still love my lipstick red Baja Blaster, but that Sarge is a visually-arresting motorcycle.

I had a real nice conversation with Barry from the San Francisco Scooter Center yesterday.   Barry put in an appearance on American Pickers when Mike and Frank bought a Vespa Ape (it’s pronounced Ah-Pay, and it’s kind of like a Vespa DeliverCycle).

Turns out Barry and I have more than a few similar interests, and we had a good chat about our other hobbies.   Cool stuff.

Well, folks, that’s it for now…I’m on my way to the plant today.   As my good friend Barry would say…ride safe and shoot straight!

When I stopped by the factory earlier, I saw this awesome P-51 Greaser being crated for its ride to Dubai. It’s a stock 250cc Greaser, but it’s still special. The Greaser is one of our best selling models, and they are just flat cool…

We sure had a lot of inputs on our caption contest for this photo I picked up a few days ago…

I think we need to move the Mensa meeting to next Friday.

All of the suggested captions were great, but my personal favorite is one that came in via email from our good buddy Tom, and it’s the one in the photo above.    Tom, call Steve for your first place prize!

It’s cold out here, boys and girls.  I made it out to the range earlier today for some trigger time, and my Subie thermometer said it was a cool 44 degrees (for southern California, that’s cold).   I called my Mom back in New Jersey and it’s actually warmer at her place than it is here!

The cold weather notwithstanding, it was still good for the old 1911, and I had a lot of fun punching holes in paper with it and my .45 ammo reloads…

I get to the range about once a week, and the last time I was out there, I was really surprised.   I would have thought these guys were done looking for love this late in the year, but this fellow was out and about…

He was a fast mover, and no, I didn’t shoot at him (other than with my camera, that is).   This spider was a man on a mission…he was moving along briskly and apparently had no desire to pose so I could get a good photo.   I tried to make him stop for a better shot.   My approach?   I  put my foot in front of him.   That was not a particularly bright idea, which I kind of realized when he climbed right over my shoe!   After I stopped screaming I set the camera at a high ISO to speed up the shutter and rattled off a bunch of shots, and that one above is the best of the bunch.   You gotta love our California tarantulas!

That’s it for now, my friends.   As always, ride safe!

My good friend Tim posted this on Facebook a short while ago…a shot inside the BMW factory, and I’m guessing it’s from the 1950s or 1960s…

Cool stuff, folks.

Here’s something you don’t see every day…a P-51 250cc CSC motorcycle in desert camo!

This beauty is part of the Dubai contingent, and I can picture it zooming about…I’ve never been to Dubai, but the color and the exotic locale conjures Lawrence of Arabia visions.   

More to follow, folks…

Folks, see our Facebook page and give us your thoughts on the caption for  this photo! 

Steve grabbed this photo of yours truly perched on top of a brand new P-51 Sarge headed for Dubai earlier today…

Folks, these puppies are fast!   Keep an eye on the blog…I’ll put a few more photos up in the next day or so…