CSC Blog

Mike and Dianna's custom Classic

Our good friends Mike and Dianna (of M&M Motorsports, one of our California Scooter dealers) will be at the Branson Motorcycle Rally in Missouri from May 19th through the 22nd, and they’re going to have a bunch of CSC motorcycles on display.   The Branson Motorcycle Rally attracts upwards of 10,000 people (it’s one of the major motorcycle events in the United States), and it’s going to be great. 

You may remember us featuring M&M Motorsports on the blog a couple of months ago.  M&M Motorsports is located at 5058 Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, and their phone number is 816 358 8500.  

Mike’s the real deal…he owns Cushmans and older Hondas, he’s a rider, and his operation has been in business for 14 years.  As we mentioned back in early March (when M&M signed on with CSC) Mike has a passion for vintage bikes.    

Mike’s prediction came true; his new line of California Scooters is perfect for his business.  And, in addition to the stock bikes in their showroom, Mike and Dianna spec’d out a custom California Scooter with Grabber Orange as the dominant color (it’s the one you see in both of these photos, and it shipped today).   As you know, we offer our Classic in the new Grabber Orange color, and the good folks at M&M fell in love with it…Mike and Dianna ordered their custom bike with everything orange.   Mike and Dianna are not the only ones who like the Grabber Orange colors….check out some of the CSC crew admiring this fabulous new motorcycle… 

TK, Andy, Mike, Lupe, and Tony with M&M's new orange custom Classic

If you’re in the area, you gotta roll over to the Branson Motorcycle Rally.  It’s gonna be a great one, and please make sure you stop in at the M&M Motorsports booth to check out the California Scooters!

You guys and gals know that I occasionally get very cool photos of police motorcycles, and this weekend was no exception. 

No, I take that back…it was an exception.  I received the first ever photo (at least for me) of the new Kawasaki Concours 1400 police motorcycle.   This thing is a real rocketship, and as a full-sized police motorcycle, it’s gotta be awesome.   The photo came to me from the Newport News Police Department in Virginia, a department that has had a motor officer contingent since (get this) 1910!  That’s right…they’ve been on motors for a cool 101 years!

MPO Sonia Hale of the NNPD

More cool info…the motor officer on the Kawi in this photo is MPO (that’s Master Police Officer) Sonia Hale, and she’s been on motors for 8 years.   MPO Hale has been assigned to four different kinds of police motorcycles, and the Kawi 1400 has to be one of the fastest she’s ever ridden.   Gee whiz…it’s one of the fastest bikes on the planet!

Motor officers are pretty cool people, and they are pretty upbeat folks.   I once asked a motor officer in Dallas why they’re all in such good spirits all the time, and his answer was simple:  “We get paid to ride motorcycles, we serve the public, we’re outdoors most of the time, and we have fun.”  

Ah, if I was 18 years old and had it to do all over again…

The Sonia Hale photo above is great, and the good stuff from the Newport News PD didn’t end there.  The good folks at the NNPD also sent this absolutely wonderful vintage photo from 1911…it shows the Newport News PD a century ago with a bicycle and, wow, an Indian police motorcycle!

The Newport News PD, circa 1911

Our hats are off to the Newport News PD…the next time any of you NNPD folks are in California, please stop in for a visit.  Lunch, a factory tour, and a CSC ride up in the San Gabriel Mountains are on us!  Our California Scooters aren’t as fast as your Kawaskai 1400s, but there’s a very good chance we’ll have you smiling more!

About that million dollar Mustang I mentioned yesterday….okay, here’s the story…

Steve stopped by my desk yesterday and told me about three World War II warbirds that landed here on Brackett Airfield.   “They’re at the other end of the runway,” Steve said.  “You wanna ride over and grab a few photos?”

How can you say no to something like that?  

My Speed Triple...a really pretty motorcycle

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had to have medical procedure for a leg problem.  It was 7 weeks ago today.  Well, “medical procedure” actually makes it sound pretty easy.  What really happened was about 18 months ago I got tagged by a woman in an SUV in an intersection.  I was on my Triumph Speed Triple.   You can guess who came out on top in that little get-together. 

The docs at County USC did the best they could putting me back together in 2009, but the lower of two fractures in my leg never healed right.   My recent medical procedure, the one they did 7 weeks ago, involved breaking my leg again and using bone grafts and other tricks of the trade to get things to grow back the way they should.   (Where I grew up in New Jersey I knew guys who would break your leg, but you had to borrow money from them first.)   I’m doing really well now.  Things are moving along nicely, and my doctor did a really good job this time.

Back to yesterday…a chance to get back on a California Scooter, a ride a mile or so to the other end of the airstrip, and an opportunity to grab a few shots on a brilliant sunny morning of the aircraft that won the Big One.   I know I’m not supposed to be back on a bike yet (I’m still using a cane), but who would ever know?  It would just be a short trip.  I’m feeling pretty good.  Steve and I can keep a secret.

Getting back on a California Scooter was great.   It was beyond great.  And the aircraft….wow!  

Check out this photo of a B-24 Liberator with our red Classic parked out front.    These are incredible airplanes.   Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego (just 110 miles south of us) designed these magnificent warbirds, and during the production peak, the United States was producing one airplane an hour.  Our production might and the incredible skill of our soldiers won the war for us.  This airplane was one of the ones that participated in those world-shaping events.  Every branch of our military and several of our allies flew B-24 bombers, and they flew in every World War II theatre.  It’s hard not to choke up a bit when thinking about what our parents and their parents did so that we can enjoy the things we enjoy today.

A California Scooter in front of a B-24 Liberator

And the next one…well, here’s that million dollar Mustang I told you about…

Steve Seidner, a CSC Greaser, and that other Mustang...

Oh, were you thinking it was a Mustang motorcycle?   Nope, it’s a North American Aviation P-51.  The one in the photo is the P-51C, the two seater version.   These guys were taking people up for around $3600 an hour.   (For just a little bit more, you can get our version of the Mustang and fly around for as long as you want!)

I wanted to get a photo of an OD green Military Series bike in front of one of these planes (especially the B-24, as the colors hook up pretty well), but the fact is those bikes are flying out of our factory fast.   We didn’t have any left to photograph!   No worries, though…the next Military Series lot is in production, and we’ll have them available soon.   Yep, there will be more Military Series bikes coming your way.

Remember what I said at the start of this blog?  You know, the part about I shouldn’t really be back on a bike yet, but who would find out?   Well, guess who was about to go up for a ride in that P-51C Mustang yesterday?  Wouldn’t you know it…it was my doctor!  Yep.  Small world, ain’t it?  Doc is a cool guy, though.  He kind of just looked at me and shook his head.  It’s a reaction I get a lot…

One of the questions we hear a lot is what rear gear is appropriate for your bike.   So, here’s a short tutorial on what’s available, what the costs are, and what gear ratio you might want to use on your bike. 

Gears and more gears...we offer gears in 26T (the stock configuration), 28T (the one I use), 30T, 33T, and 35T

Standard equipment on a CSC motorcycle is a 16T (the “T” stands for “tooth”) on the countershaft sprocket, and a 26T gear on the rear wheel.   The countershaft sprocket is the drive sprocket that comes out of the engine/transmission case (it’s on the left side of the bike), and the rear wheel sprocket is on the, well, rear wheel.   By changing these sprockets we can adjust a lot about how the motorcycle operates, like gas mileage, top speed, acceleration, and hill climbing ability.   The 16T/26T stock configuration gives a good balance for all of these factors, with a nod toward maximizing fuel economy. 

The countershaft sprocket on the left (stock is a 16T gear), and the rear drive sprocket (shown on the right)

Hwy 58 across the San Andreas Fault in central California...perhaps the perfect place to attempt 173 mph, but not for this boy!

Here’s some more good stuff to consider.  Normally, a higher gear ratio gives a higher top speed and better fuel economy (but less acceleration), while a lower gear ratio gives a lower top speed and reduced fuel mileage (but better acceleration).   The key word here is normally, and we need to recognize that there are limits to what you can get in terms of more top speed by going to higher gearing.  The principal factor is where the engine is in its powerband as the vehicle approaches its top speed.  It’s possible (and common, actually) for many performance vehicles to be geared so high for fuel economy that they can’t reach the engine’s rpm limit in top gear.  Here’s a pretty cool example:  My Z-06, which is a marvelously engineered automobile, has 405 hp, gets 28 mpg on the freeway (phenomenally good fuel economy, a real tribute to the Chevy engineers), and has a top end of 173 mph!  But it won’t see 173 mph in 6^th gear.  You have to downshift to 5^th to see the top end (I’ve never explored the upper limits in this car…all this is what Chevy has in the owner’s manual).

A gear ratio chart...the stock setup is in the top row

So what’s all this mean to us?  For most of us, if fuel economy is your dominant concern and if you are a lighter person, stick with the stock 16T/26T gearing.  If you want a little more giddy-up from your CSC motorcycle, you might want to consider a lower gear ratio.  I weigh a little over 200 pounds and I ride with the 28T rear gear on mine (the bike still delivers over 80 mpg, and the improved performance in the hills with this slightly lower gearing is amazing).  Another thing I found that kind of surprised me is that I actually gained a bit on the top end when I went to the lower gearing.  That’s because the lower gearing allows my CSC bike to get into its powerband and overcome aerodynamic drag in 5^th gear at higher speeds (it’s like downshifting the Corvette to see that rumored 173 mph).  

Big John, who made me look slow in Baja

My buddy John Welker weighs around 260, and he used the 30T sprocket on his CSC when we did the Baja trip.  To my surprise, even though I’m about 50 pounds lighter than John, he could out-accelerate me and he had more top end than I did.  Again, it’s all a function of getting the 150cc motor up into its powerband.  And for what’s it worth, when we stopped for gasoline south of the border, John’s bike and mine both took the same amount at each stop.  Go figure.

We also offer a 33T and an 35T rear sprocket.  One of our riders used to weigh about 350 pounds (yep, 350 pounds…he was our “full figured” rider), and he rode with the 33T rear sprocket.  The bike performed just fine.

There’s no magic formula that equates rider weight to what sprocket you should use.   You need to consider what you want (fuel economy, top end, performance charging up hills in the mountains, your weight, etc.).  The stuff above gives you an idea of what you might factor into your considerations.

Oh, and if you want a different sprocket, you need to get a new chain, too.   The bigger sprockets necessitate longer chains.   We’ll sell you a new sprocket for $44.95, and the chain is $19.95.   If you buy a new bike, you can tell us what size sprocket you want, and we’ll install it for you right here at the factory.  And if you’re not sure, just give us a call and we can talk about it.

Lupe says hi!

Okay, enough about gear ratios for a bit…a lot of other cool things that are happening in our world,too.  With the advent of great weather, the Military Series going full tilt, more dealers joining the CSC family, our advertising, and our incredibly-successful Affiliate Program, things are indeed hopping.   I was out in the shop this morning shooting a few photos, and I grabbed one of Lupe.  Lupe puts the final touches on every bike that goes out of here, and that’s one of many reasons we get so many compliments.

I also grabbed a shot of one of the latest Military Series bikes, too.  This one has our spotlights, a rack, and an awesome OD green military paint scheme.   Maybe it’s just me remembering how much fun I had 40 years ago playing Army.  Or maybe it’s trendy.  I don’t know.   Whatever it is, these green machines are way cool.  The OD green bike is cool, and so is our Desert Camo bike.  Take a look at this OD green Military Series bike and tell me what you think.  I think I’m jealous…

The Military Series, in OD green...a very distinctive motorcycle

Just as I was finishing this blog a few minutes ago, Steve came over to my desk.  “How you feelin’?” he asked.  “I’m okay,” I said. 

“Feel like riding yet?”  Steve asked…

Hey, he’s the boss…

But that’s a story for tomorrow.  Stay tuned, boys and girls, for some really cool photos, including one of an absolutely stunning Mustang that’s worth over a million dollars.  Yep, you read it right…a Mustang that goes for over a million bucks. 

Stop by the blog tomorrow.  You won’t be disappointed. 

I promise.

There sure is a lot going on in the California Scooter world.   Can you believe that when we started this blog a year and a half ago I actually worried about not having enough stuff to post?  Now it seems like it’s exactly the opposite…there’s so much going on I’m afraid maybe I am posting too much.   You guys let me know if I’m overwhelming you…there’s just so much good stuff happening, and I’m having so much fun writing about it, that it’s hard not to put it up here.

Steve Lorenz of Arcadia Cushman

For starters, I got a real nice email from our good buddy Steve at Arcadia Cushman last night.  He loves our bikes and he was one of our very first dealers.   Steve wrote to tell me that Arcadia Cushman will be at Plain City, Ohio, from May 5^th through the 7^th for the mid-Ohio Scooter Show and Swap Meet.   Man, that sure sounds like fun!  Steve will have the California Scooters on display, and if you want, you can buy one at the show and take it home with you!

Steve had some great things to say to us about these motorcycles…

I haven’t talked with you much but I think the California Scooter is the greatest thing to come out in a long time. I truly believe that this little scooter will be the next Mustang or Cushman type collectable 30 years from now.  People will remember someone having one and they will want one because they didn’t take the time to get one themselves.  But what makes a collectable?  I have found it has to be good the first time, it has to be cool, it has to be bulletproof, and if necessary it has to be repairable and then rebuildable (not disposable).  Hey isn’t it cool that our little scooter has all of these things going for it?

I’m with you on that, Steve, and after the Baja trip down to Cabo and back, I can tell you these bikes are most definitely bulletproof!  We ran 1,100 miles coming home flat out in 103-degree weather, and the bikes didn’t miss a beat!

Eddie Brown and his 1939 Ford, winning the 2010 Texas Rock-N-Rumble Best of Show award!

Eddie Brown (of Brown Ford, in Cordell, Oklahoma) called to let us know that he is going to be in Lubbock, Texas, this weekend for the 13^th Annual Blue Ribbon Rally Car and Bike Show.   That’s a one-day event, boys and girls, and it’s going to be from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 30^th.  The event is in Lubbock’s Depot Entertainment District.  Eddie will be there with seven California Scooters, so if you are in the area it will be a good place to visit to check out the latest from CSC Motorcycles.  

Eddie is a cool guy, and just in case you didn’t know, Brown Ford is our Numero Uno California Scooter dealer in terms of sales volume.  Imagine that…a Ford automobile dealer in Oklahoma is our largest dealer!   Maybe it’s the name, and those guys are just used to selling Mustangs!

Both of the above events really sound like fun.  Wish I could get out there, but there’s a lot going on here, too.   In addition to our normal production, we are working several custom bikes.  We just finished the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps bike for Jim Swanson (that’s a Classic in police colors), and we had a lot of fun with Jim Watson of the Upland PD shooting photos of it last week.   The Military Series bikes are getting a lot of attention, too.   They are great looking motorcycles.

That's what a burger is all about!

Our current custom efforts are focused on the next In-N-Out bike.  You’ll recall the bike we did for the In-N-Out corporation last year.   This year’s In-N-Out bike is going to be even more fun.  

The 2011 In-N-Out bike is coming together with Tony, Lupe, and bunch of other folks weaving their magic on it.  This bike is going to be even more special than the one we donated for the In-N-Out Charity Foundation auction last year.   Everything that is black on a stock CSC motorcycle has been powder coated red, and this year’s In-N-Out motorcycle will have a silver engine.  We can provide engines in either silver or black,  and a lot of our customers specify one or the other for a special look.  It’s a pretty cool way of personalizing your motorcycle.

But on the In-N-Out bike, we’re not stopping with just a few red parts and a silver engine…we’ll add a bunch more custom touches with guidance from the In-N-Out people.  We love doing these special bikes, and this one will be special!  Stay tuned, as there’s lots more to come!

When you have your choice of any California Scooter to ride, what would you grab?   Steve is our CEO and styling guru (he’s kind of like Willie G, but without the beret), and when we get in the wind, his first choice is the Sarge.  It’s a one-off custom bike and it was the very first of our Military Series…

Steve's personal ride...the all-out custom we call "The Sarge"

There’s a lot of work that went into that Sarge…everything (and I do mean everything) was dechromed and powder coated in either OD green or flat black (the frame, nuts and bolts, etc.).  The Sarge uses genuine .50 cal ammo cans for the saddlebags, the seat is genuine cowhide, it has fork gators, a spotlight kit, and lots of other custom touches.    A lot of work went into this bike…it actually cost more to prep and powder coat all the stuff we did on this bike than it does to add chrome.   If you want an all out military custom like the boss rides, we can build you a Sarge for about $7495.

Another option is to get one of our regular Military Series bikes.   They have custom paint jobs (OD green, jungle camo, or desert camo) and a rack, and they go for a cool $4995.  Considering that a custom paint job is normally around $1500 and the rack is around $250, that’s a heck of a deal.

These bikes are real attention grabbers.   Like all CSC motorcycles, the Sarge and our other Military Series motors draw a crowd wherever they go.  They’re fun.  Take a look at our YouTube video again and you’ll see (and no, the rifles don’t go with the bikes…).

Jim Swanson, a 2nd-generation VMMC rider...and the lucky new owner of a CSC motorcycle in police bike colors!

Jim Swanson is picking up his beautiful Victor McLaglen bike tomorrow, and I’m sure going to miss that motorcycle.   With its black and white police colors, it’s stunning.  I just like looking at it.

But then, I like looking at any of our CSC motorcycles.  The first time I ever saw a California Scooter, it was a bright red Classic, and I had two thoughts:

1. What a bike for a Baja trip (you guys and gals know what that led to), and…
2. What a great choice for a city police bike (I could visualize the bike in black and white, and I liked what I was imagining). 

Jim Swanson is the first person to get a California Scooter in police colors.   You saw his bike a few blog entries down.  I think it’s an awesome bike.  A California Scooter looks great in any color, but as a police bike, it’s a show stopper.   As I took in Jim’s VMMC bike, I started wondering…what if I could get a photo with an active duty motor officer on it?

I’ve been fascinated by police motorcycles for a long time, and over the years some of the writing I’ve done has led to my meeting some really cool motor officers…guys who earn their living protecting you and me, and doing it from the seat of high performance law enforcement motorcycles.  One such officer is Jim Watson of the Upland PD (not to be confused with Jim Swanson of the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps).   Officer Watson helped me a lot when I wrote an article a year and a half ago for Rider magazine on motor officers, and because I live in Upland, I see him on duty from time to time.  Seeing our guys on their police cruisers is cool.   We have a great police department in Upland, and it’s staffed by great public servants like Jim.

My friend, Motor Officer Jim Watson of the Upland PD on his Honda ST1300-P police bike

Hmmmh, I thought, Jim Swanson and Jim Watson.  I gotta reach out to Jim and Jim.  A couple of quick emails later confirmed that Jim Swanson was cool with our using his bike for a photo session with Jim Watson, and this afternoon Tony and I took a ride to the Upland PD.

We had a good time with Officer Watson.  He’s a great guy and we had a blast taking these photos.  Jim was fascinated by the bike, as were all of the other people we saw in the Upland city yard.   Everyone came over to see the bike, and quite a few pulled out their phone cameras to get a shot.  It was fun…and everybody wanted to know about our CSC bikes.   More than a few thought that Upland was buying the bike for police duty.  TK, maybe we should give the guys in Upland a call….

As I was taking my photos today, I again marveled at these bikes’ universal appeal.  Everyone falls in love with them.  They’re puppies.  Who doesn’t like puppies?

Officer Jim Watson on Jim Swanson's VMMC California Scooter, with the ST1300-P Honda police motor in the background

I was having fun working the camera and my super wide angle lens, and Officer Watson was having a good time, too.  He asked if I was getting the entire bike in the photo, because I was only about a foot away for some of these shots.   From time to time people ask me about some the photos I put on the blog and what kind of equipment I use.   I use a Nikon D200 digital camera (it’s awesome), and one of my favorite lenses is my Tokina 12-24mm wide angle zoom.  It’s an impressively sharp lens, and you can create some really wild effects with it cranked way over on the 12mm super wide setting.  I shot all of today’s photos with it.

A super wide angle lens lets me create interesting perceptions simply by shifting my perspective.  I can make the bikes look like their actual size, or smaller than they actually are, or bigger than they actually are (as you can see here).  It’s all a question of perspective.  If I get down low in front of the bike, it looks enormous.  If I get a few inches over Jim and the bike, I can make the bike look tiny.

It's all about your perspective...same Jim Watson, same California Scooter, same camera, same lens, and same distance from the camera. The shot on the left was shot from a high vantage point; the shot on the right was shot from a low vantage point. You can change your perception if you change your perspective.

Perspective…it’s what drives our attitudes, our beliefs, our perceptions, and our decisions.  Maybe it’s influencing your perceptions.   Do you think you’re too old to ride a motorcycle?   Most of my riding buddies are in their 70s; a few are in their 80s.   Simon Gandolfi did the Baja run with us, and he’s bumping up against 80.   Do you think you don’t want a small bike?  Try riding one of ours without smiling, and then tell me about your perception of small bikes.  I’m not selling, folks…I’m just making a point about about how our perspectives drive our perceptions.

Sometimes simply changing our perspective a tiny bit can help us to change our perceptions dramatically.   One of my great pleasures, for example, is bicycling.  As I got into that sport about 10 years ago, I started wondering if maybe I needed a fancier bicycle.  I found a sleek road bike, but wow, it was $1,300.  Yep, $1,300.  For a bicycle.   I visited the bicycle store repeatedly, but I couldn’t pull the trigger.  I stared at that bike so much I might have worn the paint off.   Finally, the salesman took me under his wing…

“Joe,” he said, “you’ve been in here a half dozen times looking at that bike.  You obviously want it.  What’s holding you back?”

“I’m having a hard time justifying $1,300 for a bicycle,” I said.

“Why do you want it?” he asked.

“Health reasons,” I said.  “I’m getting old and flabby, and I think I can whip my sorry butt into better shape with a new road bike.”

“Well, there’s your answer,” he said.  “Don’t look at it as a bicycle. Look at it as a training instrument.”

Wow, just like that.  He completely changed my perspective and my perception.  I bought the bike that minute, I quickly put 3,500 miles on it, and I knew it was one of the best purchases I ever made.   Then I sold it and I bought an even more expensive “training instrument.”   My current road bicycle cost more than my California Scooter, and I love it.

Then there was the time I bought my first Harley back in ’79.  It was an Electra-Glide Classic, two tone tan and cream with brown pinstripes, a full dresser that was drop dead gorgeous.  It was $5,998.30 out the door, way back then.   Seems cheap now, doesn’t it?  (There’s no doubt in my mind that if I still had that bike, I could sell it for more than that today.)   But I had a hard time justifying $6K for a motorcycle until Marvin, the sales dude, asked me what was preventing me from buying it.  Marvin had seen me staring at it during many visits to the Fort Worth Harley dealer.

“I’m having a hard time justifying spending six grand for a motorcycle,” was all I could say.

“Yeah, that’s a lot,” he said.  “Do you have the money?”  I did.  “Are you working?”  I was.  “Are you married?”  I wasn’t.  “So who do you need to justify it to?”  Oh yeah, Marvin was good.  Well, you know the way that one went.  My first Harley.  Life for a single guy with a new Harley in 1979 in Texas was very, very good.  It still is, as a matter of fact, for an old married guy in California who gets to hang around the California Scooter Company (yep, that would be me).  That’s my perception of the world, and I like it.  A lot.

Why all this rambling about lenses, bicycles, and motorcycles? 

Well, it’s all about perspective and perception.  You might be thinking about buying yourself a California Scooter.   You know the drill.   Maybe you always wanted a motorcycle and just never acted on that urge.  Maybe you always wanted a Mustang when you were a kid but you couldn’t afford one.   Maybe you ride a Harley or a Gold Wing today and you don’t want to wrestle with a 900-lb motorcycle every time you get in the wind.  Maybe you had a Mustang or a Cushman when you were younger and you want to feel that freedom again (one of the sharpest people I know told me a few days ago that scooters were cool back in the day, and they’re even cooler now).   Maybe you realize that you only get to make this trip once….and folks, the clock is ticking. 

With that in mind, think about your perspective on this grand sport of ours and your perceptions about buying a CSC motorcycle, and then check out our latest CSC ad.  It’s right here.  And make sure you read the text at the bottom of the ad.

Our latest ad...it's going in the Good Guys magazine...read the text at the bottom!

That’s it for tonight, boys and girls.  Jim and Jim (and Tony), thanks for helping with today’s photo shoot.  Ride safe, everyone.   But do ride.   We only get to make this trip once.  Don’t let the wrong perspective keep you from doing what you know is right.

We’ve had a lot of bikes flying out of the factory lately as people learn about the California Scooter Company. The orders we’ve been taking lately range from stock bikes to bikes with a few accessories, bikes that are loaded to the gills, and bikes that go all the way (custom paint jobs and more). We’ve had quite a few emails based on the different colors we’ve been posting here lately, and I thought I would follow up with a blog about some of the accessories and other custom touches you good folks are putting on your bikes.

Sometimes I’m just not fast enough. For example, the guys were crating up a burgundy Classic with saddlebags a day or two ago, and I gotta tell you that bike looked good.  Really good.  It’s on its way now to our good friend Bobbie in Minnesota.   Bobbie first saw a California Scooter through one of our Affiliates (that would be Jim Lorence, in Mound, Minnesota). Bobbie, the burgundy color works well with those saddlebags…you’re getting a very classy Classic. It sure got my attention.

Bill Brunton recently purchased a red Classic from us, and he put his own red-tinted windshield on it. Check out the photo of Bill’s bike waaaay up there in North Dakota…it sure looks good.  Those Lucky 13 chrome billet wheels look right at home on Bill’s bike, too.

It’s always a lot of fun for us to see how our riders customize their bikes, and we learn a lot when we see these bikes.  Bill, that tinted screen on yours is a nice touch…it reminds me of the tinted windshields Harley dressers had in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Sometimes a just a few touches completely changes the nature of a California Scooter. We received a lot of email on Kristy’s Babydoll…the only additions to Kristy’s bike are the chrome billet Lucky 13 wheels, a chrome pipe, and the white leather seat. It is an amazing bike…a real show-stopper.   You can see it a few blog entries back.

A few days ago I grabbed a photo of a red Classic with wire wheels and a rack…that’s it in the accessories department, but wow, it’s a good-looking bike. Take a look and tell me if you don’t agree…

And how about Jim Swanson’s VMMC (that’s the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps) Classic in police bike colors? I’ve just got a teaser photo on it in today’s blog, because we’ll have a lot more in the blog on this bike in the near future.   Jim had his Classic painted in police bike colors, and he’s going to ride it with the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps drill team.  That’s going to be very, very cool.

I shot a few videos of Wade assembling the VMMC bike yesterday, and Jim will be taking delivery of this fine motorcycle either later today or tomorrow.  If I’m here when Jim stops by I’ll get some video of him riding this bike.  It sure looks cool, and it sure would make a great police city bike.  Small, maneuverable, lightweight, it would be perfect for this kind of work.  The police in NYC and New Orleans use foreign-built scooters, and maybe…..well, we’ll see where this goes…

Our good buddy Joe in Michigan went for the whole nine yards on his red Classic.  I spotted Michigan Joe’s bike up on one of the lifts yesterday when Tony was putting the finishing touches on it, and I thought I would need sunglasses to look at it.   Chrome works well with any color, but on a red Classic, all I can say is…Wow!

Jim specified nearly every chrome accessory in the catalog for his bike…wheels, switch covers, clutch and brake levers, engine guard, chain guard, license plate bracket, LED turn signals, rear brake and gear shift levers, triple tees, risers, speedometer case, chrome billet hubs, battery cover, and more. 

Have some fun…scroll through the photos below and let me know if I missed anything!

You guys and gals out there especially need to check out the photos showing the front wheel (see the one in the lower right corner in the montage below).  

Nope, we haven’t gone to twin disc brakes up front (the single disk has more stopping power than you’ll ever need), but that chrome wheel sure makes it look like we’ve got twin discs. It’s just a reflection.

Steve Lorenz at Arcadia Cushman (one of our primo dealerships) just ordered an all-orange Classic. We’re even doing the frame in orange on that one, and it’s also getting a white competition stripe. Steve wants this one to recall the golden age of Chevy’s Z-28 Camaro. Those early Z-28s and their short stroke 302-cubic-inch engines were hot. I remember my good buddy Manny Zaccarelli (hey, I can’t make these names up) had one when we were in high school.

Manny’s Z-28 was a fast car…way faster than my GTO, even though the GTO had a hundred cubic inch advantage. Those were good times. Manny’s family ran an Italian restaurant that made the best pizza on the planet, and somehow we always seemed to wind up there when we were done cruising around. Our lives revolved around our cars and our bikes. Hmmm. Maybe they still do.

Ah, the 1960s. I used to think those were the good old days. When I’m on my CSC motorcycle, though, I realize it’s just like the lyrics to that old song….these are the good old days! My buddy Jimbo is coming over here for lunch today. He rides a California Scooter. We’ll probably go for Italian food and talk about…well, cars and bikes. Who says you can’t go home again?

It’s a question we hear all the time..and here’s the answer we always give: It depends on several factors, with your weight and whether the bike has a windshield being the most significant. I weigh a little more than 200 lbs, my bike has a windshield, and I can see about 62 or 63 mph on a flat road with no wind. If I have a tail wind, I’ll pick up a little bit. If I take the windshield off, I’ll lose about 4 or 5 mph off the top end (yep, the windshields actually add about 5 mph to the bike’s top end).

My bike has the 28T rear gear, and even though that’s lower overall gearing than stock, it gives me a bit more top end that does the stock 26T rear gear.  The lower gearing lets the engine get into its powerband. I’ve seen over 70 mph on my bike, but that was on a slight downhill on a long straight.

Our good friend Arlene weighs a lot less than me (I’m too nice a guy to ask her weight).    Arlene tells me she sees 72 mph all the time. When Arlene was down in Baja earlier this month, she actually grabbed a shot showing that…

Speedy Battishill in Baja!

You can read about Arlene’s latest Baja trip here, and if you would like to check out her Go Go Gear (and you should), you can see it here.

And speaking of Arlene’s recent trip in Baja, she just assembled this YouTube video…it’s really cool.   Check out Arlene’s high speed runs, the Mexican infantryman waving her through a checkpoint, and marine life in the Sea of Cortez as seen off the coast of Bahia de Los Angeles. That’s about 500 miles south of the border…

Nicely done, Arlene! Sure wish I could have made that trip with you guys. Next time for sure!