CSC Blog

You guys remember the photo we posted of Ed on his Mustang Stallion a week or so ago…

Many of you commented on the craftsmanship in Ed’s bike, and one of you mentioned that we ought to take a look at Ed’s Triumph, too.   So I sent Ed a note, and he sent these before and after photos of his Daytona to us…

Here’s the before shot…

And here’s the after shot…

That’s awesome work, Ed, just like you showed us on your Stallion.  I like both bikes.  I used to have a ’72 Triumph Daytona in original condition before the prices went through the roof.  Mine was green and I rode it here in California for nearly two years without ever licensing it (back in the day when I was younger and dumber).  I sold it for what I had in it (I’m too embarassed to tell you how little that was) without ever having registered the bike.   I like those old Triumphs.

I like old Mustangs, too, and I’m up here in New England to take a look at a few.  But that’s a story for another time and another place.

Ed, thanks so much for sending the photos of your Daytona to us.  Great work!

Our good buddy Howard is touring the US on a 4-month trip, and he sent this great photo from Shoshone Falls in Idaho…

Just awesome stuff, Howard, and thanks for sharing your great adventure with us…we look forward to more photos from your epic trip!

I have got to be the luckiest guy on the planet. I’m taking this great tour through the South, and yesterday we found ourselves in Memphis.  Memphis is a great city for many reasons, not the least of which is Graceland.  As I mentioned in the CSC blog yesterday, Susie and I took the Graceland tour and we loved it.   It was beyond awesome.  I’m a great Elvis Presley fan, and the opportunity to visit his home was not one to be missed.  Folks, if you ever get to Memphis, Graceland is a must!

Well, our good fortune did not end there.   We had an awesome dinner at the Rendezvous, a super barbeque joint my good buddy Georgia Robby recommended.  Folks, trust me on this…barbeque just doesn’t get any better than this!

The Rendezvous in Memphis...the best of the best!

After our great dinner, we moseyed on over to Beale Street.   That’s kind of like the Memphis version of New Orlean’s Bourbon Street…it’s the place to be in Memphis.  We noticed a lot of motorcycles heading that way, and then, hey, we saw that the street was shutdown…and it was nothing but motorcycles!  Turns out that Wednesday night is Motorcycle Night on Beale Street!  Check this out…

Midweek Memphis Moto Madness on Beale Street!

The Memphis moto night is one big street party, folks!  We were having a blast talking to the riders there.   They saw my California Scooter shirt and everyone wanted to know about the CSC bikes.   It was awesome.  We met a lot of people and made a lot of friends.

The photo below shows Carl and Ryan, a father and son team.  These are cool guys.  Carl was on his Gold Wing, and Ryan was on a CX500 he and Carl rebuilt.  Ryan just graduated from technical school, and when his father asked him what he’d like for a graduation present, Ryan just asked to go with Carl on his next motorcycle trip.  That’s pretty cool stuff, folks.

Wisconsin Carl and his son Ryan...riders extraordinaire!

We actually rode alongside these guys about 100 miles east of Memphis without meeting them.  Susie recognized the Gold Wing when we saw them again at the Memphis moto night.   Talk about a small world!

I grabbed a lot of photos on Beale Street.   Every body was having a good time.   I asked the fellow below if I could grab a shot, but he kept smiling for every shot and looking like too nice of a guy.  I asked him to strike a tougher pose, and wow, did he ever!

He's really a nice guy!

We were having a lot of fun.  We noticed police officers at each intersection making sure that Beale Street allowed no one other than motorcyclists, and I asked a couple of them if I could grab their photo.   They said sure, but only if Susie was in the picture…

Susie with two of Memphis' Finest!

The LEO on the left looks like he’s having a good time…but the guy on the right looks like he wanted me to explain that traffic ticket I never paid…

Well, hey, the next day we had an absolutely awesome Memphis breakfast….I had a French toast fluffer-nutter with whipped cream and blueberries, and hash brown sweet potatoes with marshmallows…

There's peanut butter and bananas sandwiched between those slices of French toast!

Hash brown sweet potatoes with marshmallows!

Steve saw the above photos and he told me I might need to lower the gearing on my CSC motorcycle when I return!

We made it to Mobile, Alabama last night, and it’s another great southern US city.   This morning we toured the USS Alabama, which is a floating museum just outside of Mobile.  It was beyond awesome.   The ship just bristled with guns.   I was amazed, and I have to tell you, it’s worth a trip to this part of the country just to see this magnificent battleship.  I’ll post a few photos of it in another day or so.

After seeing the USS Alabama, we followed the Alabama Scenic Byway to the Emerald Coast in Florida’s panhandle, and we had a great grilled amberjack dinner in Fort Walton Beach.  Imagine bone white sand and emerald green water, and you’ll have a pretty good handle on Florida’s Emerald Coast.

That’s it for now, boys and girls…more to follow!

Susie and I are covering some heavy duty miles this week.   Since Monday, we’ve hit Dahlonega (in Georgia), Oxford (in Mississippi), and Memphis (that’s today).   Great stuff and great scenery.  And due to the ways the roads wind around here, yesterday we actually blitzed through Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi all in the same day.  I’m doing a series of “Destinations” pieces for Motorcycle Classics magazine, and a bit of secret agent stuff for CSC.   Here are a few quick photos of our travels…with the best (at least so far) for last…

The Gold Museum in Dahlonega

The Lafayette County courthouse in Oxford

The folks here in the South sure know how to cook…check out two of the best dinners we’ve ever enjoyed!

Chicken and dumplings in the Square (in downtown Oxford)...it sure was good!

Susie had the pork chops...with pineapple and a Jamaican marinade...and I talked the waiter into giving me the recipe!

The roads in rural Alabama and Mississippi are beyond awesome. This is a very typical scene in Alabama…

Looks like a great road for a California Scooter putt...

And that part about the best for last?  Hey, we visited Graceland today.  Folks, it’s everything I thought it would be!

The Graceland mansion

The King's living room

I'll bet you remember this one...

The only Honda Elvis ever bought...I'll bet he'd buy a California Scooter in a heartbeat!

The pink Caddy Elvis gave to his mom...

Elvis's Convair 880, the Lisa Marie

Interesting magic marker artwork on the Graceland entrance...

That’s it for now, folks…we’re off for some of that famous Memphis barbeque…more to follow!

Folks, this is awesome!  Check out the nice note we received from our good buddy David and what he did with his blue Classic!

Steve. . .

Here’s what happened. Your BLOG post of the prototype Bobber in April set me on fire and somehow legitimized messing around with the original.

I shamelessly stole from your concept and had a great time producing my shade tree Bobber version (pics  attached). I’m a little embarrassed to admit I did the paint with Duplicolor and Krylon rattle cans, but you do what you gotta do!

I test rode this morning and the drag bars and seating position are great, The low seat helps us arthritic old geezers swing a leg over. . .cheers!

David

David, your custom Bobber is beyond awesome!  We are impressed.   Thanks for sharing these great photos with us!

Susan Carpenter is the Los Angeles Times moto journalist, and she’s one of our favorites.  You have to check out this super article she wrote about us in Saturday’s business section.   The story featured three bikes that are good for women riders, but you and I know there’s only one best choice!  Please make sure to see the video Sue and the Los Angeles Times put together, too…you can get to it by clicking on the screen below (you have to let it run through the ad first)…

This is pretty exciting stuff…being featured in the Los Angeles Times!

Yours truly in the Sierra Nevadas this weekend! My good buddy Carla King shot this photo!

I had to view the article on my i-Phone, because I was up in Lake Tahoe and the surrounding areas this weekend.   Can you believe it…I couldn’t find a print copy of the Los Angeles Times in Lake Tahoe, and I started looking at 5:00 in the morning on Saturday!

I thought the article looked good on my little i-Phone, but I really wanted to see the print version (I’m old-fashioned that way).  When I wheeled the KLR into my driveway late this afternoon, I made a beeline for the paper my wife saved for me.  And when I saw the print article, I was absolutely blown away!   There’s a photo in it that you don’t see in the online version…the photo shows all three bikes featured in Sue Carpenter’s article, but the Babydoll really stands out.   Just like it does in person!

Not being able to find the Los Angeles Times in Tahoe aside, it was a great weekend…I was invited up on a press junket to help spread the word about Lake Tahoe as a motorcycling destination.  My good buddy J organized it, and it was a hoot.   I put a little over a thousand miles on my KLR in the last three days, I met a whole bunch of great people, and I rode the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range!  The riding in and around Lake Tahoe is just awesome.  I used my new Midland video cam and I shot a lot of video, too.   Here’s a quick Midand camera minute showing some of the riding I enjoyed this weekend…

I’ll tell you more about the Tahoe weekend as this week unfolds…it’s busy, busy, busy here!   Like I said above, I just got back from Tahoe, and the ride back was spirited!  When I left Lake Tahoe at 5:30 this morning, it was 37 degrees!  And when I got down to the 395, it was even colder!  I rode about 100 miles at 7,000 feet elevation, and that was about the coldest riding I’ve ever done.  In June, no less!  I actually stopped and found a hill to walk up (there was no place to stop where I could go inside)…I needed to do that to warm up!  And then when I dropped down to around 3,000 feet in the Mojave Desert, it was in the 90’s!   I had to stop and peel off all the extra gear I put on to stay warm in the Sierra Nevadas!

That’s it for today, boys and girls.  It’s secret mission time again, and I’m off to the southern United States for CSC and a series of travel articles I’m doing for Motorcycle Classics magazine.  Then it’s up to Connecticut to talk about Mustangs (more on that later, too!).   It’s “wheels up” at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, so I’m going to sign off!  Stay tuned, and as always, ride safe!

Hey, Jimbo, I’ll bet you thought we forgot…but there’s no way that’s going to happen!

Jimbo and his lovely wife during a recent CSC visit. That's Wade's Harley behind them, and it's the color we're using on the next two CSC Bobbers.

Jim, here’s wishing you many more miles going down the road on your Mustangs and your California Scooter.

Loaded up, pointed out, and ready to roll!

Speaking of many more miles, my KLR is just about all loaded up, and it’s pointed in the right direction…out!

I’m hitting the trail tomorrow for the run up to Tahoe.   According to Google maps, it’s just under 500 miles.   I’m pumped!  I’ll be leaving super early, and I’m going to get up there in a day.  That’s a lot of miles in one day on a motorcycle.   It will be a great ride, and I’m probably going to have a hard time falling asleep tonight.  Maybe I’ll have a sip of Tequila before I hit the sack.  For medicinal purposes.  You know.

500 miles.  Gonna be fun.  I’ve done a little over 400 miles in a day on my California Scooter when we did the Hell’s Loop Rally earlier this year.   When we did the Baja ride on our CSC’s, we did 357 miles one day.  That was our longest mileage day in Mexico.  The weather was really rough down there (it was ultra hot and humid), and that wore us out every day.

When we do the CSC ride up to Tahoe on our California Scooters in August, we’ll take a more relaxed pace and do the trip up in 2 days, and we’ll take 2 days coming back to So Cal.  There’s actually a lot to see on the 395 as you head north, and it really gets pretty when you get up to Bishop and beyond.  The 395 runs right along the Sierra Nevadas, and they are magnificent.  The 395 is one of my favorite roads.  It runs all the way into Canada.  Some day…

On my ride tomorrow, I’ll cross the Sierra Nevadas on the Kingsbury Grade.    I think that’s going to be a first for me.  I’ll take lots of photos, but I won’t be posting them until Monday or so.

More good stuff, folks…take a look at a guy I’ve mentioned a few times in the last several days…Twin Peaks Steve!

Twin Peaks Steve taking delivery of his black Bobber...a stunning bike!

Yep, Steve picked up his new Bobber today, and it looks very, very cool.   Steve makes that bike look good.   We may just have to hire him as one of our male models!

That’s it for now.   Twin Peaks Steve, you enjoy your new CSC Bobber.  Jimbo, you enjoy your birthday!  And me, I’m going to enjoy getting my knees in the breeze!  Later, boys and girls!

Oh, wait…one more thing!  You guys and gals be sure to check the LA Times business section on Saturday….

Our good buddy Ed saw our blog photos from Kingman, and he sent these super pics of his absolutely incredible Stallion.  Folks, check this out!

That’s got to be one of the most beautiful Mustangs we’ve ever seen.   The sign below Ed’s Mustang details the modifications…check this out…

And here’s the money shot…a great photo of Ed on his Mustang!

Ed’s bike is magnificent.  The detail work is obviously a labor of love, and it shows.   Just awesome…there’s no other way to describe it.   And see that embroidered seat in the top photo?  Steve, I think we found the next custom touch for one of our bikes, with our buddy Richard sewing it all together for us!

Ed, thanks very much for sending these photos to us!

The Midland Miracle, charging up on my laptop!

Oh boy oh boy…got my new camera today.   It was waiting for me at the door when I came home tonight.   I’ve got it hooked up to my laptop and it’s charging as I’m typing this.   Wowee, I’m excited!  I am really looking forward to taking this ultra high resolution device with me to Tahoe on Friday morning (it’s 1080p…I’m not real sure what that means, but it sure sounds cool).   And hey, don’t forget about our Father’s Day sale…you can buy any CSC accessory (including the new Midland video camera) for 20% off MSRP.

The Tahoe trip is going to be a good one, too.   I just got an email from my buddy J and it sounds like we’re going to have a great time.   This is a prelude run for a CSC trip to the Tahoe Rendezvous in August…we’re planning a California Scooter ride up the 395 to this gorgeous destination.   I spoke to our good buddy Bruce, and he’s in.  I’m in.   What about you?

You know, the Tahoe run would be a pretty good way to pick up your own brand new CSC and combine it with a super vacation.   The trip from So Cal to Tahoe would be a great opportunity to ride with our factory riders, it would be a great way to break in your new bike, we’d service it when we return, and we could ship it home for you if you’re from out of state.   That would be an awesome getaway and an awesome way to join the CSC family.

Back to our good buddy Bruce.   You remember Bruce…he’s they guy with the turquoise-and-white California Scooter we painted to match his Harley Heritage Softail.  In fact, he liked the little CSC so much he bought the Rock Star when we mentioned on the blog that it was for sale.   You’d be surprised how many of our customers buy more than one CSC motorcycle.

So that’s it for now.  Susie and I running over to Target to pick up some things for my Tahoe ride.   Gonna be a fun motorcycle ride.  They always are!

Twin Peaks Steve, that is.

Hey, guess who got to ride Steve’s magnificent new Bobber today!

The National Hot Rod Association was having its Wednesday show today, and I can tell you that Steve’s black Bobber turned every single head when I rode by.  It was a cool feeling.  The bike is beautiful.  Steve, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this puppy up in the mountains!

Oh, more good stuff…I can’t tell you all the details yet, but boys and girls, you’re gonna want to read this Saturday’s LA Times.   The business section.   But I can’t tell you more.  Yet.