CSC Blog

Deep, dark, metallic blue, that is.   We are now offering the Classic in a dark metallic blue, and folks, I gotta tell you, this color is yet another show stopper!

Michael enjoying seat time on a new dark metallic blue Classic

I first noticed these bikes when I was walking around in the plant yesterday, and they’re awesome.   When the guys rolled the first one out in the sunlight, though, it absolutely came alive.  That’s Michael B, one of our bike builders, you see on the bike above…and the smile is real.   These are stunning bikes.

The Classic, by CSC, in dark metallic blue

So, let’s see, that brings our color offerings up to pink-and-white for the Babydoll, flat black for the Greaser, OD green, desert camo, or jungle camo for the Military Series, and you can now order the Classic in red, black, green, orange, maroon, yellow, and metallic blue.   And of course, custom colors.  Wow!

Check out the latest way to add some serious bling to your bike!  Our Pro-One Billet License Frame is show-chrome plated then topped off with genuine Czechoslovakian Crystals that really sparkle (no cheap plastic here).   The Pro-One guys are doing real well with this latest accessory.  It works great on Harleys, metric cruisers, and just about any motorcycle.   We put one on a Babydoll just to see how it looks, and it looks good!  You can get this latest accessory with either pink crystals (which works really well on a Babydoll), or clear crystals for any other color bike.  This latest accessory includes chrome mounting hardware, and they sell for $79.95.  It’s cool!

Mo bling! Genuine crystals, too!

More good things happening, folks!   Carl sent more cool photos from the Portland, Indiana Vintage Bike meet.   The first one is of a vintage Rupp collection.  Carl told me that Rupps were the king of the mini bikes in their day…and that sure comes across in this first photo.  Check these out!

Rupp mini bikes on display in Portland

Do you think those Rupps are cool? 

Well, here’s something even wilder.  

Carl told me that one of the great things about Portland is that guys like us (that is to say, us gear heads) really shine at this meet, and that sure comes across in these next two photos.   How about taking a Cushman golf cart and giving it a new (or old) look? 

Take a look at this….it’s a highly customized Cushman golf cart, styled like a Model T!

Another great shot from Portland courtesy of Carl...a Cushman Model T!

Another view of that awesome T-bucket!

Cool stuff, Carl, and as always, thanks for thinking of us!

Planning continues on the August ride…I’m really looking forward to it.  There’s an excitement that precedes any overnight motorcycle trip, and I’m sure feeling it.  So far, five folks have signed on.  We know that a lot of people don’t use the Internet, so we sent out a letter today to all of our California CSC riders.   We expect several more people to join the party, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.  We sure have sold a lot of bikes here in California.

Incidentally, we’re not restricting this 3-day road trip to California riders.   We just thought it might be easier for our California riders to participate.  If you’re out of state and you want to ride with us, consider yourself invited!

I’ll be showing a couple of cool license plate frames in the blog tomorrow, so keep an eye on us.  We’re adopting them from our Pro-One line, and one in particular really works well with the Babydoll.  You’ll see what I’m talking about when I post the photos tomorrow.

Later, folks…Mama’s home and that means it’s time for me to start cooking dinner!

We’re refining our road trip planning, and here’s how it’s shaping up.   We’re tentatively planning to ride 12-14 August, and we’re going to focus more on the Santa Barbara/Solvang/Cambria corridor.   We had thought about trucking the bikes up north, but we’d basically lose two days just getting there and back, and that’s too much for a weekend trip.  So….the idea is that we’re going to meet at the plant on Friday morning and head north on the bikes.  We’ll stick to surface streets, and our objective will be to make the ride as scenic as possible.  We’ll hug the coastline, too, to keep things cool.  We’re planning on 200 to 250 miles per day.   I’ve been riding this area for the last 32 years, and I can promise you we’ll make it fun.

Scenes from our planned August road trip. From the top left photo and moving in a clockwise direction...inside the Mission La Purisima, a typical scene along the Cerro Noestre Road, the Pacific Coast Highway, and one of the murals in Santa Paula!

We’re going to need commitments from you if you’d like to join us so that we can start to make arrangements with hotels and to organize the trip.  Our best estimate of the cost for each rider at this point is about $350.  None of that goes to us.  You’ll have to pay for your own lodging, meals, and fuel (we’ll make the hotel reservations, but you’ll have to pay the hotel and your other expenses).

So, what we’d like to know from you is this: 

• Are you going to join us?
• What weekend dates (Friday through Sunday) work best for you?  As mentioned above, we’re thinking 12 to 14 August, but let us know if different times will work better for you.

It’s gonna be fun, boys and girls, and it’s a great chance to meet fellow CSC riders and folks from the factory.   Just let me know as soon as you can!

Our good friends Steve Lorenz of Arcadia Cushman (our dealer in Indiana) and Carl Mungenast are at the Portland, Indiana, vintage motor bike meet all this week, so make sure when you visit to look for the Arcadia Cushman display.   Steve will have a half-dozen CSC motorcycles on display, and from the photos Carl has been shooting to me, there’s plenty of interesting things to see.  

Check out Carl’s shots of a very cool Diamond T truck and just a few of the bikes on display at the Portland meet…

Carl and Steve are reporting that the heat and humidity are even worse in Indiana than we are experiencing here in California, but it sure looks like there are cool sights!  Have fun, guys, and please keep those great photos coming!

Great weekend, boys and girls.   Got out on the Scooter for a bit, put a new battery in the KLR, rode my Bianchi bicycle with my Casa Colina buddy Chris, got lots of feedback on our last post about the moto books, and four people signed up for our California Scooter wine country weekend tour (and we haven’t even picked the weekend yet)!    On that subject, the CSC wine country weekend ride will be sometime in August; we’ll pick the date by the end of this week.

Melissa Pierson's newest moto book...you can preorder a copy now!

I heard from my good buddy Melissa Pierson, one of the authors mentioned in our blog post below (she wrote The Perfect Vehicle, which is one of the best motorcycle books ever).  I was very happy to learn that Melissa has a new book coming out about distance riding appropriately titled The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing.   It’s gonna be a good one, and you can preorder it here (I already did).

It’s been hot out here in California.  We’ve had temperatures right around 100 degrees all week, and it’s been humid, too.  It’s tough riding in this kind of weather without the right kind of gear, but you should always wear all the gear.   The acronym is ATGATT (all the gear, all the time).   It’s the way I always dress when I’m on the road.   I much prefer riding in cooler weather, when the combination of the gear and the weather makes for a comfortable ride.  In this heat and humidity, though, I’ll still wear all my gear.   It’s that important to me.   I have a mesh jacket that works well, and once I start moving, it keeps me cool (even in this weather).

I’m reminded of the times I’ve seen motor officers out on the road in this kind of weather.  They wear all the gear all the time, and it’s hot.   It’s no doubt a lot of fun to get paid to be on a motorcycle (hey, I should know), but doing it days on end in 100-degree weather can be taxing.   Sometimes that’s why you’ll see motor officers parked in the shade sipping a bottle of water.  Staying hydrated and keeping your temperature down is important stuff.

You probably already know that motor officers don’t just wear a jacket and helmet.   They wear a whole bunch of police gear, too.  Did you know that motor officers gain about 35 lbs when they go on duty?  It’s not from hanging out at donut shops, either.  It’s the gear they carry to do their jobs.  In addition to the helmet, the helmet intercom, and a bullet-proof Kevlar vest, their duty belt alone adds 25 lbs.  Here’s what’s on the duty belt: 

• A handgun (usually a 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP pistol; almost nobody uses revolvers anymore).
• 4 magazines (plus the one that’s in the pistol).
• 1 TASER.
• 1 pepper spray dispenser.
• 1 telescoping baton.
• 2 sets of handcuffs.
• 1 digital recorder (yes, they record every traffic stop).
• 1 Handi Talky (a 2-way radio).
• 1 flashlight.
• 1 key ring (with lots of keys).

A motor officer’s duty belt, weighing 25 lbs ready to go...that's Ontario Motor Sergeant Gene Eberhardt's belt with a very high end Wilson 1911 .45 auto, one of the best handguns ever made!

Many departments use traditional motor officer gear (double-lined cloth pants, cloth shirt, open face helmet, and boots), which offers less protection than what serious civilian motorcyclists usually wear (padded pants, padded ballistic nylon jackets like Arlene makes over at GoGo Gear, gloves, and of course, a full-face helmet).  Some departments go the extra mile for their officers, though, to make sure they are as well-protected as they possibly can be.  Ontario, California (that’s one town over from where I live), is one of the departments that is breaking with tradition to optimize officer safety.  Ontario motor officers ride with full-face flip-up helmets, and specially-designed Kevlar riding pants and jackets manufactured to Ontario’s specifications.  They are cool guys and awesome riders.

That’s it for today, boys and girls.  Keep checking back…there’s lots more to come, including a shot or two of our “Sunflower Special” all-yellow performance bike that I’ll be test riding on high speed runs this week.  And maybe some classic bikes we’re shipping (along with a truckload of California Scooters) to an undisclosed overseas location.  It’s gonna be a fun week!

Reading, writing, and riding, that is…

My good buddy Arlene B started riding her California Scooter about a year ago, right after taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation riding course.   The MSF course is a good one, and it you’re thinking about getting into riding, it’s an excellent place to start.   I met Arlene through my association with CSC, we became friends, and we talked about what it takes to become a good motorcycle rider. 

My theory is that the mechanics of riding are pretty straightforward, and if you can ride a bicycle, you can ride a motorcycle.  In my opinion, what separates the real riders from everyone else is…well, riding, and alertness.  I’m real big on alertness, and believe me, I’ve paid the price for not paying attention.  Not paying attention to everything when you’re on a motorcycle (other vehicles, your buddies who ride with you, road conditions, animals near the road, etc.) can be deadly.  I also mentioned casually to Arlene that once you’ve crossed the 10,000 mile mark, you’ve accumulated sufficient experience to call yourself a rider.  I hadn’t really thought about it that much, and the 10,000 miles I mentioned was what we in the engineering world call a proctological estimate.

Anyway, Arlene has been sending me great photos from her travels, and in particular, she’s sent several photos as she’s racked up miles on her California Scooter.  Arlene sent one yesterday showing 7,000 miles on the clock, and she told me she was eager to tick over 10,000 miles.  When I asked Arlene what was magical about 10,000 miles, you can imagine my surprise when she told me that magic number came from me.  I’d forgotten all about it.

Arlene's California Scooter, with 7,000 miles on the clock!

Well, Arlene, with trips all the way down to Cabo San Lucas and back in Mexico (which maybe one motorcyclist in a million ever accomplishes), up the California coast, and now, through the Five Passes area in our northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, you’re there.   You’re the real deal.   You’ve graduated early (10,000 miles or not).  

And the photos Arlene sent to me…they’re great.   I love seeing this stuff from anybody.  And the ride reports.   I’ll bet you guys and gals are like me…reading about motorcycle trips is the best reading I’ve ever done.  I love reading about other folks’ rides, and my favorite books are about epic motorcycle trips.  Dave Barr’s Riding the Edge is the ultimate road trip story, and there are many more.   Two Wheels Through Terror by Glen Heggstad is a good one, The Perfect Vehicle by Melissa Pierson is great, Old Man On A Bike by Simon Gandolfi (Simon ran the Baja trip with us on our California Scooters) is marvelous, Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon is another one of the best, Ten Years on Two Wheels by Helge Pedersen is a great and marvelously-illustrated story, The Longest Ride by Emilio Scotto (as in 500,000 miles!) is super, Lois on the Loose by Lois Pryce is outstanding, and Riding the World by Dr. Greg Frazier are some of my favorites.   They’re all great.  They’ve all got great photos and great writing, and they’re all about great riding.  It’s the best kind of reading there is.   And the photography…wow!

Great reading on a great topic - you won't go wrong with any of these!

And speaking of photos, check out these photos from Arlene’s current trip…

Arlene's CSC motorcycle in the northern Sierra Nevadas...check out the elevation!

What a shot!

Bridal Falls, in Yosemite

Riding the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains...it just doesn't get much better than this!

Boy oh boy, I gotta get out and ride more…I’m jealous!

Intrepid adventurer, that is…yep, Arlene Battishill, CEO of GoGo Gear and dedicated California Scooter rider, is riding through the Five Passes region of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Right now.   As you read this! 

Arlene crested Tioga Pass on her CSC motorcycle yesterday, the highest road in all of California at 9950 ft!   And, she sent this great photo to me of her bike this afternoon…check out the sign!  Talk about swinging for the stars!

Intrepid adventure rider Arlene Battishill's California Scooter, above it all, exploring the upper atmosphere!

 More to come, boys and girls!

The CSC-150 carburetor

There are three Phillips-head screws that hold the float bowl onto the carburetor.   Remove all three screws and then take the float bowl off the carburetor, like you see in the next two photos.

The float bowl attach screws (there are three)

Removing the carb float bowl

Once the float bowl is off the carburetor, you’ll be able to see the main jet and its carrier. That’s the brass piece shown in the photo below.  The upper arrow is pointing to the carrier, and the lower arrow is pointing to the jet.

The main jet and its carrier

You can unscrew these from the carburetor using a flat head screw driver. 

Removing the main jet

The main jet and its carrier usually come out together, like the photo below shows.   As mentioned above, there are actually two pieces (the main jet, and the carrier).   The main jet is screwed into the carrier.  Sometimes when you attempt to remove both from the carb, the main jet unscrews and the carrier stays in the carb.  No problem there.  You can use a wrench to remove the carrier, or you can just leave it in the carb and work with the main jet only.  You can see these two pieces in the next two photos.

The main jet and carrier removed from the carburetor

The main jet unscrewed from its carrier

Here’s another shot of the main jet.  The stock set up uses a 108 main jet.  You can see the numbers on the side of the jet (see the photo below).  This is a real little piece, and the numbers are hard to see.

The standard 108 main jet

That main jet in the photo above is what we are going to replace.  If you are going to be riding at higher altitudes, you may want to go with a 102 main jet.  It has a smaller hole, so it lets in less fuel.  That will bring the air fuel mixture back into the correct range (the air is thinner at higher altitudes, so we want to use a smaller jet to keep the ratio of air and fuel in the right range).  Just take a 102 jet (which we can sell to you) and screw it into the carrier.   Save the 108 jet, because you may want to use it again when you ride your bike at lower altitudes. 

After you’ve swapped the jets, screw the carrier and the jet back into the carburetor.  You can use a wrench to snug it up just a bit beyond finger tight.  Don’t overdo it; just a light torque will work (these are delicate parts).

The main jet and its carrier reinstalled in the carburetor

Let’s take a closer look at the carburetor while we still have the float bowl off.  The blue arrow in the photo below points to the D screw that we use to adjust the air fuel mixture at idle.   You’ll have access to this with the float bowl installed, but I wanted to show it to you with the float bowl off.  It’s a little bit harder to see with the float bowl installed and it’s less accessible.  We sell a special D tool for this adjustment that I’ll show you in a bit.

The air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

Here’s a shot of the float bowl off the carburetor.  The blue arrow points to the cutout area that allows access to the D screw when the float bowl is installed.

The float bowl, which provides access for the air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

Once you’ve installed the new jet into the carrier, and then installed the carrier and the jet into the carburetor, you can reinstall the float bowl back onto the carburetor.  Make sure you fully screw in the float bowl drain screw (you don’t want to let fuel flow out of the carburetor when reopen the fuel petcock on the left side of the gas tank).

Here’s a shot showing the D screw with the float bowl installed.

The air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw, seen with the float bowl installed

Here’s a photo of the D wrench we use for adjusting the air-fuel-mixture screw.   Tony likes to mark it so that he can track the number of turns.  

The D-wrench used for the air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

So, your bike is completely back together, and you’re ready to make final adjustments.  What I would do first is simply start the bike, let it warm up, and see how it idles.  If it’s idling okay, I’m not going to make any adjustments to the D screw.  

If the bike is not idling okay, I know I’ll need to adjust the air fuel idle mix with the D screw.  What we normally use as a starting point is this:  We’ll completely screw in the D screw (but don’t force it once it bottoms, or you can damage the carb), and then back it out three turns.  That’s a starting point.  We’ll then make quarter or half turn adjustments in either direction until the bike idles properly.  You’ll want to make this adjustment after the bike has warmed up, with the choke off.

Adjusting the air-fuel-mixture screw with the D-wrench

Folks, that’s about it.   The tough part about this is that, like I said earlier, it’s not an exact science.  There’s a little bit of playing with the jet size selection (we’ve suggested going from the stock 108 to a 102 main jet if you’re going to be running at higher altitude), and there may be a bit of playing with the air fuel mix at idle using the D screw. 

You can normally tell from a short test ride if eveything is okay (and that’s mostly all I ever do), but the real test is this…run the bike on the road for a bit, and then pull the spark plug.  If it’s white at the tip, you’re running too lean and you’ll need to go back up a bit on the jet size.  If it’s black and sooty, you’re running too rich and you’ll need to run a smaller jet size.  If it’s a nice light tan color, everything’s just right!

I had a unique opportunity today.

We’re shipping lots of bikes overseas these days. One of our overseas customers who bought a full shipping container of California Scooters and accessories also picked up a Sachs MadAss, a bike with very unusual modern styling.  He asked us to pack the MadAss into the shipping container with all of his new CSC motorcycles, and we’re  happy to oblige.   The really cool part is that we had an opportunity to wring out the Sachs.  Hey, that’s we live for…checking out new bikes and comparing them to ours.

Two flat black bad boys...the CSC Greaser and the Sachs MadAss

The title of this blog is a cool one, and it naturally flows from the name Sachs gave to their bad boy (the MadAss), and what more than a few folks have called our Greaser.  The Madass and the BadAss.  Cool.

For starters, we don’t view the MadAss as a competitor to our bikes.  Nobody that I’m aware of ever labored over trying to decide whether to buy a CSC motorcycle versus a Sachs (or a CSC versus anything else, for that matter).  Folks who want a California Scooter wouldn’t consider any other bike, and I’m sure folks who buy other iconic products feel the same way (folks who pull the trigger on a Vespa, a Harley, a BMW, or a KLR 650 know what they want, and they typically don’t consider other marques).  

That said, I’ll tell you that the Sachs appears to me to be a good product.  It’s not something I’d buy, but I recognize that the folks who engineered and built the MadAss did a good job.

A detail composite shot of both bikes' engines and tanks

Some things I noticed about the Sachs immediately…the seat is tall (way tall), and it slopes forward.  I felt like I was sliding forward off the thing the whole time I was on it, and my wrists were carrying a lot more weight than they would on my red CSC Classic.  Something else that was a little unusual…the kill switch on the Sachs does not cut off everything.  I almost ran the battery down trying to start the Sachs’ 125cc mainland Chinese motor before Tony noticed the kill switch was in the “kill” position.  On our bikes, if the kill switch is in the kill position, the bike and everything on it is dead (lights, starting circuit, engine, etc.). We like that for safety reasons.

So after I finally realized what was going on with the kill switch (a “duh” moment if ever there was one), I got the little Sachs out on the road.  I’ll tell ya, it wasn’t bad (other than feeling like I was gonna slide forward off the seat).  It was pretty peppy, but it topped out about 10 mph lower than my California Scooter.  I guess that’s to be expected with the smaller engine (theirs is a 125, ours is a 150). The styling is different, and to me, it evoked a kind of moped image.  Not bad, but nothing I’d really be interested in for a personal bike.  It’s all part of the fun in getting to try to new bikes.

Our next comparo test?

Or maybe old bikes.   Hmmmm.   There’s that ’53 Mustang Pony on the other side of the wall.  What do you think?   Should I convince Steve to let me ride it and do a comparison test to a new California Scooter?