I just received this cool photo from Juan Giménez, the Sub Commissioner of Police in Montevideo, Uruguay, and I thought you might enjoy seeing classic police motors from South America…
Police motorcycles de la Policia de Uruguay
Commissioner Giménez, that is a beautiful and classic photo. Thanks very much for sharing it, and look for the California Scooter Company catalog we just sent your way!
The Paducah Twins - Linda and Terry's CSC Motorcycles
Well, here we are. Christmas Eve. In a few more hours, Christmas will be here. This is one of the best times of the year, and I sure am looking forward to opening gifts tomorrow morning. Actually, I’m more looking forward to watching my kids and Susie opening their gifts. I’ve pretty much got everything I ever wanted, so whatever the girls bought for me is just icing on the cake.
Without question, the best toy I picked up this year was my red Classic. I love my California Scooter and I am proud of what I’ve done on it (most notably riding down to Cabo and back). Yep, I still have the Bajabound.com and Mama Espinoza’s decals on it (take a look at the photo below). I left the decals on my bike to let people know these bikes can go the distance, and truth be told, I don’t mind bragging about that accomplishment.
I know two people (along with a whole bunch of others) who fell in love with California Scooters this year. That would be Linda and Terry from Paducah, Kentucky. The bikes you see in the photo on the right are theirs (Linda’s is the black one, and Terry’s is the red one). Linda and Terry sent these photos to us and I wanted to share them with you. Check out the custom paint with the original Mustang logos, too…these are two great looking bikes!
My Baja Blaster
If anyone had told me a couple of years ago I would be running around on a 150cc bike I probably would have thought they were more than a little bit weird, but the small bike world has proven to be a remarkable place. But most of you already know that, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. In a word, small bikes are cool. And if you’ve been watching what gasoline prices have been doing in the last few days, small bikes are getting cooler every time fuel prices ratchet up. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next year. If fuel prices continue to climb, well, the California Scooter’s 98 miles per gallon will become a whole lot more significant.
I didn’t get my California Scooter to save money, though (even though it does that every time I ride it). I got it because I thought it would be a lot of fun, and I was right. You can have the same kind of fun, and you can save money just like me, Terry, Linda, Jimbo, Carl, Arlene, Vernon, Eddie, Fred, Norma, Digger, Mike, Jim, Hans, RB, Billy Joe, Charles, Thomas, Don, and a whole bunch of other California Scooter riders.
Hey, have a Merry Christmas! I won’t make a blog entry tomorrow, but I’ll get in another one or two before the New Year. Enjoy your holiday!
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been catching up on a lot of things in the last few days as we draw down on Christmas and the new year. I love this time of year. I’m inundated with a lot of things I have to do, but I’m enjoying the time at home and the constant stream of emails from friends and family.
The good news is that the rain has stopped, but the bad news is that it’s only a temporary situation. We’ve got another storm rolling in, and the skies are already turning dark with the clouds rolling in for Round 2 (or maybe it’s Round 3 or 4; I’ve kind of lost count). Here’s what it looked like from the shop a day or two ago…
I don’t much like the thought of riding in the rain, but the funny thing is that when you’re out in it, it’s not that bad. And, my most vivid riding memories are from when I got caught in the rain. These memories are crisp, even though some of them go back 40 years. There was the time back in the early 70s I rode up to Montreal on my CB750 and it rained all the way home (from the Canadian border, all through Vermont, and beyond). There was another time a girlfriend and I rode that same Honda in a downpour for hours. John Welker and I once got caught in the El Nino storms in Baja. Those were the old days, when we wore leather, and leather doesn’t work too well in the rain. I actually got hypothermia on that Baja ride. After checking into a hotel and trying to get warm, I didn’t stop shivering until 4:00 a.m. the next morning.
I started wearing good riding gear about 10 years ago, and it makes a world of difference. My friend Marty and I rode for nearly two solid days in the rain on the Three Flags Rally a few years back, and we were fine. Good gear keeps you warm, dry, and cozy. Oh, and on that subject….guys, if you’re wondering what to get your significant other, get her a GoGo Gear riding jacket. It’s a great gift and it’s great gear.
Riding into Telluride, Colorado, after a crisp rainstorm during the Three Flags Rally
To me, the best part about riding in the rain is when it stops. It sounds almost a bit funny to say that, but I’m serious. I love how the sky looks (it turns silver), the air feels (crisp and clean), and the aroma of the desert and the mountains after a downpour. While it’s still overcast, the conditions make for great photography – the lighting is even and the photos are always crisper. And when the sun starts to come out, the white clouds against a bright blue sky make for dramatic shots. Once in awhile, you can even get a great rainbow shot. This business of riding in the rain…it all works out, I guess.
So anyway, I’ve been receiving these emails all day from friends sending jokes, good wishes, and interesting YouTube Videos. On a sad note, Fred Foy (the guy who did the introductions on the old Lone Ranger TV show) passed away yesterday. His passing highlighted an amazing voice, an amazing time, and an amazing TV series. If you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember this…
And my good friends Jerry and Carl sent this very funny video to me about a guy having a problem with his Blackberry…
That’s it for now. More rain is on the way here in California. As always, I’ll keep you posted.
We’ve had three steady days of heavy rain here in southern California, and the forecast is for three more days of the same. The weather dudes tell us there are two more storms backed up off the coast, and they’re headed this way. What all this means to me is that I’m for sure not riding my Scooter in this kind of weather. I’ve been caught out in it before, and I’ve even left on a couple of long trips when it was raining, but given the choice, I’m old enough to realize that I like staying warm and dry.
The weekend hasn’t been a total loss, though. I bought a video editing program, and I spent most of yesterday playing it. (I bought something called Pinnacle, which seems to work well. I tried Adobe’s Premiere, but I found it to be cumbersome and it kept locking up.) Anyway, all of this rain had me thinking about the Land Speed Record Trials last month, so I pieced together my videos, a couple of still shots, and John’s stellar video of Sylvain on his record run. With apologies in advance for my amateurish first effort, here it is…
As you may remember, I bought a Flip video camera, and for $179, I am impressed. The whole video thing is new to me, and I am having a lot of fun with it. As soon as this weather lightens up a bit, I’ll try a few more California Scooter videos and I’ll post them here for you as I continue to emulate Cecil B. DeMille.
Red is a very cool color, and it just seems to fit the Christmas season. I think all of our California Scooters are fabulous, but red is unquestionably my favorite color, and when it was time for me to pick out my bike, I naturally went for a bright red Classic.
I’ve always liked red, and it probably didn’t hurt that the first California Scooter I ever saw (back in January of this year) was a red Classic. You might remember me writing about that when we first started this blog…my good friend Joseph Lee dropped by the house with a red Classic. I fell in love the first time I saw a California Scooter, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Out in the shop today, I saw Tony loading another red Classic on a pallet with chrome billet wheels. Wow, that bike is sharp! Tony told me it’s going to Vernon in Wimberly, Texas. We sure ship a lot of motorcycles to Texas, and this is one more that’s going to light up the Lone Star State! Red Classics and Texas seem to go together, judging by a review of our orders over the last year. Vernon, you’re going to have a lot of fun out there!
Norm's 1959 Corvette
So, why the red ‘Vette in the photo above? Well, our good buddy Norm bought a California Scooter this week, and that’s Norm’s car in the photo above. Norm’s a California boy, and his car sure is one sweet ride. It’s a drop dead gorgeous ’59 Vette. Norm’s done a lot of work on his Vette. It’s got a ’96 350 engine, and the car looks like it’s new. What caught my eye, though, was the color. Wow, this car looked good. In fact, I thought about the only way to make it look better would be to park a red Classic California Scooter right next to it…
Two red Classics
Norm’s picking up his bike later today. It’s not a red one; Norm had Tony build him a flat black Greaser with chrome wheels and several other chrome touches, and it looks nice. Norm plans to paint the bike himself (which is why he wanted one in flat black), and my guess is that it’s going to look a lot like that ’59 Vette before he’s done! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention…wire wheels are in! Yep, and they look good! We’ll post a photo or two in the near future, so stay tuned!
Wow, here it is, the 14th of December already. We’ve been reading about the cold weather the rest of the country is experiencing, but it’s sure been nice here. We actually hit 90 degrees over the weekend. Friday was just a bit cooler and a tiny bit overcast, which was perfect riding weather. Arlene, TK, and I took our favorite ride…up to the Mt. Baldy Lodge for lunch (their tuna melt with Ortega chilis is awesome), and then over to Glendora Ridge Road for some great riding in the mountains. I had my ultra-wide Tokina lens with me, and I thought I’d try to grab some action shots on the road. Not too many words today, folks…let’s get right to the photos!
TK, Arlene, and the California Scooters at the east end of Cow Canyon
Chasing TK and Arlene into the sun
TK zooming
Arlene on the Go Go Gear California Scooter
That’s it for now, folks. I’ve gotta run a few errands, so I’ll catch ya later!
Howard Aviation is one of our neighbors on Brackett Airfield, which you probably already know if you follow the California Scooter blog. You’ve seen a lot of photos on our blog with airplanes in the background, and Howard Aviation services most of them. Mr. Howard is pretty cool guy and he’s always been quick to help us when we want to get up close and personal with an interesting airplane.
I spotted a very cool old biplane parked in the Howard Aviation hangar yesterday. It was just magnificent (there’s no other way to describe it)…it’s a recently restored Boeing PT-17. Most of you probably know this airplane as the Stearman (that’s what it was called before Boeing bought the Stearman company in 1934). Boeing and Stearman built about 10,000 of these airplanes before and during the early days of World War II. The US Army Air Forces (the predecessor of the US Air Force) and the US Navy were snapping them up as trainers. After the war, the government sold them as surplus. There are about a thousand of these wonderful machines still flying today.
When I saw the PT-17 in its original Army colors, I knew I had to grab a shot of our blue Classic California Scooter with it. The only blue bike we had handy was Bill Murar’s Lake Erie Loop Rally bike, so I rode it right into the Howard Aviation hangar and grabbed this shot…
Two blue beauties...a 2010 Classic by California Scooter and a PT-17 by Boeing
I had a super wide zoom lens on my Nikon (I have the 12-24mm Tokina, which is a great lens), and it was perfect for this shot. I was only about 4 feet in front of the motorcycle when I grabbed this photo. That 12mm wide angle is really cool. You can get some interesting effects with a wide angle lens – take a look at this one…
Up close and personal...two beautiful blue Classics
This version of the PT-17 has a Continental 7-cylinder radial engine, and I can’t wait to hear it run. This is a magnificent airplane, and this particular specimen looks like it’s brand new. If you love classy machinery (and you wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t), you sure would be impressed with this old bird. I know I was.
So, about that engine…
Seven air-cooled Continental cylinders...good for about 98 mph!
If I’m in the plant when they fire this beauty up I’ll try to grab a video of it and post it here.
That’s it for now, boys and girls…enjoy the weekend and the holiday season..I sure am! I think I’ll get out for a bit on my California Scooter tomorrow. I may even wear a white scarf, a leather jacket, and flight goggles!
The gecko I’m talking about is the one you see on TV…in what I consider to be some of the coolest commercials ever!
I mentioned a few months ago that my old insurance company had raised their rates in what I felt was a capricious manner, and I shopped around a bit. I was surprised at how inexpensive Geico Insurance was (just $98 per year for my California Scooter), so I went with them.
When our favorite people (that would be you folks) ask about insurance, I always mention what I discovered, and I guess more than a few of you did the same thing I did…you went with Geico.
I was in the office yesterday, and a box in the mail had my name on it. I sure was surprised when I opened it…it was a box of goodies from our good friend Dan Chao at Geico, and it included a stuffed gecko. Yep, it’s the gecko hitching a ride on my red Classic (as you see in the photo above). Everybody at California Scooter wants the Geico gecko that Dan sent to me, but sorry folks…this one’s mine.
I told Dan about the reaction to the green lizard, and he’s sending a bunch more our way. We’d like to return the favor and send a bunch more customers Dan’s way, and we’d like you to get a good deal on your insurance. So if you’re looking for insurance on your California Scooter, give Dan a call at (925) 676-1111 or drop him an email at dchao@geico.com. Tell him Joe sent you…
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