CSC Blog

We’re back from the Indianapolis Dealer Expo and we thought we’d share a few of our impressions with you.   I don’t have any photos from the show for a good reason…the booth was so packed the entire weekend there just wasn’t a chance to grab photos.   Okay, on with the blog…here’s the skinny on Indy. 

For starters, the Indy Dealer Expo is not your typical motorcycle show. It isn’t supposed to be open to the public. The show is designed for motorcycle manufacturers, motorcycle accessory manufacturers, and motorcycle service providers to be able to display their goods and services to folks in the industry. What all that means is that the primary show attendees are supposed to be dealers. It’s not that Advanstar (the show organizer) has anything against the public. The intent here is for the Indy show to provide folks in the trade a venue for reaching the dealers.

The show was good for us, and the interest in CSC Motorcycles was intense. Although we’ve advertised extensively in great publications (Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, Cabela’s, Popular Mechanics, Motorcycle Classics, Walneck’s, and others), it was obvious from the reactions at the show that many dealers don’t know about us. The typical reaction was a double-take. When the dealers saw our bike they knew it was unique; they just didn’t know right away what it was. More than a few recognized the Mustang in our bikes. Many others didn’t know anything about the Mustang and they just fell in love with our bike for what it is.

Many large multi-dealerships attended Indy, and we are signing up several. Yep, we’re on a roll. We’ve signed several new dealers recently (you read about it right here in this blog), and we have more coming. Like I said, Indy was good for us.

There weren’t many Harley dealers at Indy. That’s because the V-Twin Expo, a similar dealer expo that caters to the Harley crowd, was held just a couple of weeks earlier. There’s some talk that the V-Twin Expo and the Indy Expo may merge next year, and we think that’s probably a good thing. We do well with the Harley crowd and with Harley dealers. California Scooters are a natural complement to a Harley-Davidson dealership from styling, quality, and many other perspectives. We don’t weigh 800 pounds or cost as much as a Harley, but if you’re looking for a light bike with a reasonable price, we fit right in. More than a few Harley dealers understand that.

The number of exhibitors at the Indy show was still limited compared to prior years. That’s undoubtedly a result of the Great Recession. The industry is still feeling it. But things are looking up, especially in the small bike arena.

The interest in scooters and small bikes at Indy was very high. With gas prices moving up sharply, people realize that small fuel efficient vehicles (bikes like ours) are poised for dramatically higher sales. The dealers who have been around for awhile remember what happened the last time gas topped $5 per gallon (that was 4 or 5 years ago). When that crunch hit, scooter dealers who were selling 60 or so bikes a year were suddenly selling 80 to 90 bikes a month. I remember that one of my friends who owns a Vespa/BMW dealership was buying Vespas at retail prices out of state and shipping them in to meet the demand. Folks seem to recognize that we’re headed there again, and recent events in the Middle East will probably make what happened in the last gas crunch seem insignificant. I believe scooters and small motorcycles will continue to move from being a discretionary toy to basic transportation.

There were quite a few folks at Indy (too many, in our opinion) who weren’t dealers (but wanted to be). These were folks who see small bikes as the next big thing, but from our perspective, they are not viable CSC Motorcycle dealer candidates. We’ll only sign on established motorcycle and motor scooter dealers with superior reputations. We might be able to sell a few more bikes by signing up every Tom, Dick, and Harry who thinks it might be fun to be a dealer, but that would jeopardize your ownership experience. We want every aspect of owning a CSC Motorcycle to be superior, and that’s why we’re extremely selective in adding dealers to the California Scooter family. Our feeling is that the folks who run the Indy show could have been more diligent in who they admitted to the show (the wannabees looking to chase a quick buck sucked up valuable time).

We were approached by several dealers who lost a bundle (and their reputations) by selling cheap Chinese scooters. These were dealers who found (along with their customers) they had taken on poor quality bikes (you know the drill…bikes selling for under $2,000, with 30-day warranties that are expired at the time of sale, breakdowns within days of purchase, and no replacement parts). Well, word spreads quickly these days (think Twitter and Facebook; like Hosni and Muammar learned), and the verdict on the Chinese scooters came in pretty quickly. The dealers who were chasing these dollars are not motorcycle or scooter enthusiasts, and they’re not our kind of dealers. CSC Motorcycles wouldn’t look right in the same showroom as these machines. It’s just not who we are, or who you are.

We sure hear a lot about Chinese bikes. Some people dismiss us because they think we’re Chinese. As you know, we are not. Many of our components come from Taiwan and we’re proud of that. There’s a world of difference between Taiwan and China. Taiwan is way out front. And, there’s a world of difference between China and the US. As you know, our bikes are designed, assembled, inspected, and tested right here in La Verne (on the other side of the wall from where I am typing this). Sometimes this dismissive “Chinese Scooter” perception gets frustrating. It’s almost as if we need to change our name to the “We are not Chinese” Scooter Company.

Let’s talk about this a bit. A few years ago, the US experienced an influx of large numbers of Chinese bikes. Many (I’d say most) had terrible quality, and consumers learned this the hard way. They found they were buying short-lived, throwaway bikes. The dealers were burned badly by the experience, too.

And it didn’t stop with just lousy quality. A few of the Chinese bike importers were engaged in outright criminal activity (and they paid a heavy price). They were caught bringing in bikes that had not met EPA and CARB emissions requirements. I won’t name names, but I’ll tell you that you can check what I’m saying by asking my friends Manny, Moe, and Jack. I’ll also tell you that every single California Scooter is a fully street legal motorcycle meeting all state and federal requirements, including the very stringent California Air Resources Board emissions requirements. CARB is right up the road from us, and we have a good relationship with those guys. They are just as eager to see an American product do well as we are. They’re good people.

So, back to the Chinese bike issue. The Chinese bikes I mentioned above don’t have lousy quality because they came from China. They have lousy quality because they are made by lousy companies. They just happen to be in China. There are many other companies in China that make great products. I’ve worked in other organizations that bought products and materials from Chinese companies, and what they provided was of superior quality.

You may not realize it, but when you think you are buying an American product, at least a portion of it may very well come from China. If you think your BMW or Triumph motorcycle is made in Germany or England, the laugh may be on you. Even if you ride the proud American original (you know, the one with the bar and shield), well, spend a few minutes researching your bike. You’ll discover that some of that super-sweet “potato-potato-potato” music is being sung on off-shore components.

So, here’s the deal: CSC Motorcycles are not Chinese bikes. We’re saying that to dispel any notion that we are a Chinese bike. We’re not saying it to badmouth the Chinese. And I’m not telling you we’ll never have any Chinese components on our bikes. When we find competitively-priced components from reputable companies meeting our ultra-high quality standards (and we are always evaluating new components), we’ll buy them. There’s nothing we’d like better than to source everything right here in the USA, but that’s not always possible for a number of reasons. Wherever we source parts, though, you can be certain of this: We’ll continue to deliver the best motorcycles on the planet to you. CSC Motorcycle riders want high quality, original American motorcycles. And that’s what we deliver.

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If you’re in Indianapolis and you want to go to a motorcycle show open to the public where you can see CSC Motorcycles, you are in luck!  This very weekend, Steve Lorenz of Arcadia Cushman (one of our great dealers) will be at the Indiana Motorcycle Expo in Booth 414.  The Indiana Motorcycle Expo is in the Exposition Hall on the Indiana State Fair Grounds, and they’ll be open Friday through Sunday.  Check out this YouTube video of the upcoming show!

Just saw this on Facebook from Buzz Kanter…and I knew you guys would enjoy it!

Nicely done, Buzz!

I received a great e-mail from our good friend Jimbo this morning (that’s Jimbo in the photo to the left).   Jim is the real deal…we’re proud to have him as an advisor to the California Scooter Company, and he sure has the background for it.  Jim was the Production Superintendent at the original Mustang Motor Products Corporation!  And, Jim owns one of the very first California Scooters to come off the production line here in southern California.   This man knows motorcycles!

Hey, enough babbling from me…here’s the note from Jimbo!

Hi Joe!

After reading your blog this morning I could not help reflecting back on my first and only drop!  This was especially shocking to me after many years of testing new Mustangs, ten each day, rain or shine, through the testing area of the streets of Glendale, California. 

After testing thousands of the little jewels, I never had a fall or any kind of injury directly related to the job.  Last year, on the very first test run after taking delivery of my brand new CSC Classic, the odds caught up with me!

I had to wait a few days for a nice sunny day.  I already was familiar with all the controls and let it warm up before checking it out.  I slowly rode it around the block to the first stop sign.  I slowed as usual and used the front brake to make the very slow speed stop. Just a few feet from the stop  sign, my right foot felt paralyzed!  I could not move my right foot to put down to balance the bike at rest!  Both the bike and I fell graciously down.  I could not believe this!

There I was with the bike and me on our sides, the engine idling away nicely and gasoline pouring a steady stream from the gas cap.  I thought I had to get up quickly but I needed to take inventory of myself and check for injuries.  I realized my thinking process was OK and I didn’t seem to have any pain.

Realizing a fire could start at any moment, I got the strength to wiggle free and slowly got up and righted the bike.  While I was lying there, I thought all I need is a cop to see me down, since the bike was brand new and was not registered in Oregon yet (and I did not have the required driver’s license endorsement – a $750.00 fine).

Just as I stood up with the bike, a local police officer drove by slowly.  He looked real hard at me and saw I had a helmet on, and he waved hello!

What caused me to fall?  The shoe lace on my right tennis shoe looped over the brake pedal (no doubt caused by the “in motion” wind) locking my foot to the pedal and not allowing me to put my foot down at the stop!

The good news is only the rubber throttle grip was torn and no other damage.  New riding rules for Jimbo!  Wear boots only!

Steve knows about this but not the full details.

I enjoy the blog and check it out for new subjects every morning!

Cheers!

Jimbo

Jim, that’s good story and good advice.  I’ve come close to doing the same thing myself a couple of times with the lace-up boots I wear.   Thanks for sharing this with us!

Okay, guys, you know the problem…every once in awhile, if we’re not paying attention to what we’re doing, we drop our bike. Some of you may have already experienced a drop with your California Scooter.

Fortunately, California Scooters are pretty light, which makes it easy to get them back up on their feet, and usually no damage results. On other bikes, well, let’s just say it’s a lot easier to run up a big repair bill than it is to get the things up off the ground.

I originally wrote this piece for a friend who dropped a very expensive Italian motorcycle while putting it on the sidestand (that was a $2,000 tip over). He was really upset with himself and I thought he might enjoy hearing about the times I dropped my bikes. I stopped writing after I remembered the fifth or sixth incident because I was laughing so hard I thought I might hurt myself…. So, here goes….

Drop Number 1 – Impromptu Stargazing

I was on my ’82 Honda CBX and my buddy Lou was on his Gold Wing. That CBX was a magnificent bike. I bought mine from Steve’s brother Ron (it was 10 years old when I got it and it only had 4500 miles on the clock). It was pristine.

Lou and I were wrapping up a hard 500-mile day through Arizona. I know what you are thinking….500 miles is not that much for a solid day’s riding, but it was brutally hot in the way that only Arizona can be in the summertime. I was tired, a little bit dehydrated, and I wasn’t as sharp as I should have been. That’s a bad combination on a motorcycle.

We stopped for gas and Louis filled up first. While I was filling up the CBX, Lou rode over to the air hose to top off his tires. I filled my big Honda, fired it up, and rode over to Lou, paralleling the curb. I put my kickstand down and started to lean the CBX over. The next thing I knew I was staring at the stars.

I had no idea what happened, and then I realized…wow…I had fallen off my motorcycle. I was on my back looking at the stars above Arizona.

My first thought? “Did anyone see me?”

How could that this have happened? Well, what happened was this: When I extended the sidestand, it hit the curb before it fully extended, and it didn’t go over center. When I leaned the CBX over, it just kept on going.

Total damage? One turn signal lens cover, one scratched fairing (still got that scratch), and lots of lost pride.

Drop Number 2 – Lock-to-Lock Is Important

This time, I was easing into my own driveway on my 2-week-old Suzuki TL1000S. Gorgeous bike. Bright red. A real rocketship. As I executed a 90-degree turn into the driveway, I pulled the bars to keep my balance.

The Suzuki was designed for high speed stability, not low speed maneuverability. Turn-to-turn lock on the Suzuki was waaaay less than any motorcycle I had ever ridden.

The bottom line? I couldn’t turn the forks far enough to keep my balance at low speed.

The results? BAM!

The TL and I were both on our sides in my own driveway!

My first thought? “Did anyone see me?”

Total damage? One scratched fairing and lots of lost pride. Lots and lots of lost pride.

Drop Number 3 – The Sidestand, Again

A couple of weeks after Drop Number 2, I was letting my now 4-week-old, slightly-scratched TL1000S warm up in the driveway. The bike was on its sidestand, facing north.

Just past my garage door, the driveway slopes down ever so slightly. Ever, ever so slightly. I mean, hardly any slope at all.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the Suzuki move forward a bit. Nah, I thought, it’s gotta be an optical illusion.

A second later: BAM!

The Suzuki was on its side! Wow, I first thought, this motorcycle sure likes laying down in my driveway.

My second thought? “Did anyone see me?”

The results? I couldn’t tell. The fairing was scratched, but maybe it was the same scratch from 2 weeks ago.

No lost pride this time, but lots of cussing about Suzuki engineering and lousy sidestands.

Drop Number 4 – Dismounting Suzukis As An Olympic Event

This time I was winding out my 4-month old TL1000S on the road from my brother-in-law’s place. Hard. Awesome performance.

Wow, I thought, this thing is fast. I must have hit 80 miles an hour when I realized I gotta slow down.

That Suzuki slipper clutch works great, I thought…. just keep downshifting and it’s almost like an ABS system on the rear wheel.

Hmmh, that curve is coming up fast. Maybe I’ll just give it a touch of front brake. So I did.

Uh oh, I thought. I had unloaded the rear wheel when I touched the front brake. The corner was really coming up fast now, and the back end was fishtailing impressively. As I write this, I recall it as impressive. At the time, “fishtailing terrifyingly” would probably have been more descriptive.

I almost had the bike stopped when the front wheel just touched the curb.

Down we both went, again.

I executed a precision somersault as I departed controlled flight and rolled up into a sitting position.

My first thought? “Did anyone see me?”

This time, the answer was yes. There was a lady in a station wagon. I didn’t even think they still made station wagons. She stopped and and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, lady, I did that on purpose.” I didn’t know what else to say.

The results? I couldn’t tell. Maybe it was just the same scratched fairing. Again, lots and lots of lost pride. No injuries, though. My lucky day.

Drop Number 5 – The Prize Winner

This time I was changing the front tire on the CBX in my garage. I put the bike on the center stand and removed the front wheel. Bikes with center stands are great, I thought. Makes it a lot easier to change tires. I was quite a bit younger than. I had knocked down a few beers when I thought it would be a good idea to remove the front wheel so I could get a new front tire.

You can kind of guess where this one is going.

Once I had the front wheel off the CBX I started thinking about the replacement tire. I used Bridgestone Spitfires on that bike and they were great. I decided I would get the raised-white-letter Spitfires this time. That would really look cool.

Well, I thought, if I get a raised-white-letter front tire, I’ll have to get the back tire to match. So, I thought, I might as well take the back wheel off while I’m out here. I’ll just get them both changed at the same time.

In case you missed it, this is the point at which things decidedly turned south. Or maybe it was earlier…when I had those two or three beers.

What could I have possibly been thinking? Oh, wait, I remember. I was thinking how incredibly cool raised white letter tires would look on my white CBX. So, I started to remove the rear wheel. That’s right, the rear wheel. Bear in mind, I already had the front wheel off the bike.

The rear axle bolt was on really tight. I needed a bigger wrench, you know, more leverage, that sort of thing. I thought I might as well get another beer while I was up, too. I grabbed another beer, got the longer wrench, found the leverage I was looking for…and…and…uh oh…

The CBX started to roll forward off the center stand. Hmmh. No front wheel.

It was funny how everything seemed to go in slow motion all of sudden. And it was funny how I suddenly realized the bike wouldn’t balance itself on the center stand with both wheels removed. An epiphanous moment, as they say.

If you’re gonna drop a bike, guys, don’t do it this way. It was bad. The CBX fell forward with a sharp crack (that was the no-longer-in-production crankcase fracturing on the concrete). Then it made a sickening lean to the left. Right into my wife’s brand new Acura.

The bottom line? One dinged up Acura, one thoroughly upset wife, one busted and cracked CBX crankcase, oil all over the garage floor, and the certain knowledge that, well, nobody saw me actually do it. But there was lots of evidence.

So, if you’ve ever dropped your bike, don’t feel too bad about it. It happens to all of us.

Sometimes more than once.

Maria the goose cruising along with her friend Dominic

You would think she might have preferred chasing a Moto Guzzi (you know, a Goose), but she’s got it right:  Anything on two wheels makes for a honking good time…

The Mitchell family owns Mitchell's Modesto HD and Jamestown HD

Our dealer network is expanding, and we’re happy to announce the addition of three new great dealers to the California Scooter family.

Mitchell’s Harley-Davidson in Modesto, California, just signed on.  This is a super dealership, and it’s been family owned since 1938!  Wow!  That’s over 70 years!  All you guys and gals in central California, you’ve got another great reason to pay a visit to Mitchell’s – you can stop in to see the latest CSC motorcycles!

The Mitchell family hasn’t restricted their efforts to Modesto, though, and that brings us to the second new California Scooter dealer – Jamestown Harley-Davidson in Jamestown, California.   It’s also owned by the Mitchells, and what a great spot!   Jamestown is right in the middle of California’s Gold Rush country.  Boy oh boy, this is gonna be fun!  I’ve been on several motorcycle rides in that part of the world, and folks, it’s great.  Yosemite, Sonora, the magnificent passes through the Sierra Nevada mountains…it’s incredible motorcycle country!   You can bet we’ll be working with this great team to organize more than a few California Scooter adventure rides from Jamestown.   I can’t wait! 

How about a California Scooter ride out of Jamestown HD to Yosemite? I shot this photo on a motorcycle ride about 4 years ago, and yep, it really is just like this!

And we didn’t stop at just two dealers this week….we also signed up Barger’s Allsports deep in the heart of Texas!   Yep, this great multi-line dealer is in Waco, and that’s right in the middle of where a lot of California Scooters have been going.   You’ve read here in the CSC blog about the huge numbers of CSC motorcycles going to Texas, and it’s great to have dealer smack dab in the center of it all.  I had a great conversation with Bob Barger earlier today (Bob’s a Vietnam vet…and we thank you for your service, Bob!).  I gotta tell you the Barger family just feels right.   Barger’s Allsports is another family-owned-and-operated business (just like the California Scooter Company), and we know you’re going to like these folks.   They’re right on I-35 (Exit 331), and they’ve been in business for 21 years. 

We still have a few prime territories available, so if you’re a dealer and you’ve been thinking about adding California Scooter Company motorcycles to your operation, give us a call!

Trevor Summons is a pretty cool guy who writes a great column (Trevor’s Travels) for the San Bernardino Sun.  He rides a Harley and maintains a blog, which I started reading a few months ago.   Great stuff.  Like Simon Gandolfi (a fellow we introduced you to on the Baja trip), Trevor is originally from England.    Being from another country often gives folks different perspectives into what we take as normal behavior, and like Simon, Trevor has some interesting observations about things in the world.  It’s great reading.

Trevor visited the California Scooter Company today, and he may write something about your favorite motorcycle company in Trevor’s Travels in the next month or so.   Trevor’s Travels is good reading, so you might want to take a peek.

We sure do love getting photos and emails from our California Scooter riders. Here’s a great one from Bob in Tulsa, Oklahoma…

Hi all,

I attached pictures of my bike and the recent snow (20” +) taken 2-5-11.  We are expecting another 5” to 10” tomorrow.  Then maybe it will be over for a while.  Decided not to go for a ride.  Note the color match with the scooter and my Blazer.

I get a kick out of reading the blog – generally check it out a couple of times a week.  It looks like everyone is busy and having fun. 

I did enjoy the U tube video of the riders at the intersection in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  Believe it or not, I could have been in that picture in 1969 or 1970, probably at the same intersection.  I had a Honda 90 that I drove while in Saigon my last year and a half in Vietnam.  Interesting to participate in the movement of 3 million people, most with Honda 50s or =, from one side of town to the other.  Managed to come through that unscathed.

Interesting too, the trip to Ft. St. John, B.C.  I lived about 11 miles south of there on the Alaska Highway in a place called Taylor, on the North bank of the Peace River, from 1957 to 1961.  Went to school at the junior senior high school in Ft. St. John.  I saw a still air -58 degrees F. one time; darned cold.  Neat place to live.  Hockey and curling in the winter, baseball, hunting and fishing spring through fall.

It will be interesting to see if my bike will go 70 MPH when the break in period is over.  I did a mileage check on mine before the snow storm; 68 MPG with about 90 miles on the bike.

Best regards,

Bob

Bob was kind enough to send along some great photos, too…this may be the first recorded instance of someone converting a California Scooter to a snowmobile!

Bob, thanks so much for taking the time to send photos of your beautiful Classic to us.  Love the color (it’s the same as mine!) and the windshield (it’s the same as mine, too!).   The bikes tend to get better mileage as they break in, and after switching to Mobil 4T motorcycle racing synthetic oil, they tend to run and shift perceptibly more smoothly.  You are going to have a lot of fun on your bike, and if you can break away in March, please think about joining us on the ride down to Scammon’s Lagoon to see the whales!

Ride safe and keep the shiny side up!

Gas prices are climbing…premium is approaching four bucks a gallon here in southern California, and I don’t think that’s the limit…

So, what’s the answer? Well, how’s 98 mpg sound?

In fact, maybe someday we’ll see a YouTube like this one, but with California Scooters…

My good friend Tony alerted me to this YouTube video…good music and great riding…check this one out!