How about this…check out Norma and her new California Scooter!
Norma’s Classic has a John Esposito factory custom black-and-purple paint job, a luggage rack, chrome engine guards, a windshield, and chrome wheels…it’s a real show stopper!
Norma is a new rider…she’s taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class to learn how to be a safe rider, and she’s learning on the perfect bike!
Norma, our best wishes to you! Ride safe, and we’ll see you on the road!
Yep, yet another magazine is running our story on the Baja trip! This time it’s White Line Magazine…it’s the number one online motorcycle magazine, and they are running our Baja story!
Shadow Wolf runs this great magazine, and this is WLM’s second featured California Scooter Company story (WLM ran a story on CSC a few months ago). Shadow, thanks very much! You have to come along on our next Baja trip!
So, boys and girls….the latest publication to pick up the story of your intrepid California Scooter Bajaenos (uh, that would be us) is none other than Rider magazine! This was such a fun trip…and every time I read about it, I remember just what a hoot it was!
The gas station in Catavina, about 350 miles south of the border
I’ve had an association with Rider magazine for a while, and I’m glad they’re sharing the Baja story with their blog readers. This was a real adventure, and I know that Rider’s readers will enjoy it. We sure did!
Last January, I wrote a story for Rider on police motorcycles. Writing that story was a lot of fun (and seeing it in print was great), but the best parts were talking to the motor officers and then seeing their comments in the following issue about how much they liked the article. Hey, I enjoyed writing it!
This article appeared in the January 2010 issue of Rider magazine...and these fellows are Harley-mounted motor officers in San Fernando, California
I have an interest in police motorcycles that started a long time ago (I wrote a book on this topic back in the ’90s), and as a result, I get police motorcycle photos from all over the world. I put the most interesting ones on the www.motofoto.cc site, and you can see them here.
In fact, I just received another interesting photo this week from US Army Sergeant First Class Ron Bowers showing a police officer in Dohuk, Iraq, and an Iraqi police motorcycle (SFC Bowers was in Iraq in 2008). SFC Bowers makes friends easily, and when his Iraqi counterparts learned he’s a rider, they arranged for the good sergeant to get some seat time on several bikes, including this 750cc Suzuki police motorcycle…
SFC Ron Bowers in Dohuk, Iraq
Okay, all you loyal blog readers…I know what you are wondering…are we developing a police motorcycle based on our California Scooter….maybe one for urban use?
Steve….oh, Steve….hey, I’ve got this idea…
Mike Dubron, FCSN founder and cancer survivor, with CSC rep Sandy
California Scooter Company recently donated one of our red Classic motorcycles to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (we did a blog entry on this event and the bike a few months ago). Our very own Sandy attended this gala event to represent us, and Sandy reports that it was a great evening!
The FCSN raffled the bike to raise funds to help firefighters who are fighting cancer. The FCSN group has grown exponentially after its founding by firefighter (and cancer survivor) Mike Dubron and his wife…the group now has international reach.
Rick Chambers (the Emmy-winning news anchorman) hosted the event, and attendees included several well-known entertainers and scores of firefighters and their families. Antique and other interesting fire trucks (including Engine 51 of the famous television series, Emergency), several paintings (including one by Beverly Lazor), and a really cool ice sculpture added to the excitement.
So who won the raffle? None other than “Digger” Graves (I can’t make these names up, guys!).
Sandy grabbed all of these photos, and I’d like to share them with you right here…
Three-time Emmy Award winner Rick Chambers on a California Scooter
A firefighter's helmet by Beverly Lazor, one of the items auctioned at the FCSN event
Sandy and some of the firefighters
The Squad 51 firetruck from the TV show "Emergency"
I was playing around a bit with YouTube today and I found this cool video of Evel Knievel at the Gardena, CA, racetrack way back in 1967!
Very cool stuff, folks! I didn’t know that Evel rode a Triumph in those days (I remember him on Harley flat trackers). In the video above, Mr. Knievel is on a 1967 Triumph TT Special (Triumph’s hot rod in the late ’60s). A few lucky guys bought TT Specials, added lights, and used them on the street. The Triumph TT Special was the ultimate bike back then…it had all of 54 hp and nothing could touch it!
My Dad had a 1966 Bonneville, and we actually saw Evel Knievel perform at the East Windsor Speedway in Hightstown, NJ in ’67 (Evel had switched to a Harley by then). He put on quite a show, and when I think about what it cost to see him (and a full night of racing), I realize just how much the world has changed. That night, my Dad and I saw stock car races, 250cc flat track motorcycle races, open class flat track motorcycle races (think Gary Nixon, Bart Markel, and others), Evel Knievel jumping over a bunch of cars, and a fireworks show…all for a $2 admission fee!
The Cyril Huze blog is the most widely-followed blog in the custom motorcycle world, and he picked up the story on our Baja adventure today. You can see it right here, or by checking on the Cyril Huze logo above!
Cyril, thanks for picking up this great story!
Sylvain Binau stopped by the plant last Saturday to check on the progress of his ride…and Sylvain’s ride is the bike we’re prepping for our 150cc land speed record attempt. Steve took a few measurements and we’re custom fitting this extra-special California Scooter to fit Sylvain perfectly…
Sylvain Binau on the 150cc land speed record assault vehicle
We met Sylvain on one of our group rides…he was piloting a 1-liter Yamaha sports bike, and we thought he would be perfect for our land speed record attempt in November. I won’t tell you how much Sylvain weighs, nor can I tell you how much our land speed record Scooter weighs…but I can tell you their combined weight is a cool 306 pounds!
There's a lot of work left to do, but things are moving along nicely
Our speed bike is looking good…a custom lowered frame, a shortened front end, original Mustang tanks for a lower profile, and many, many other goodies. We’re just getting into the engine, and I can tell you, this puppy will snarl!
Any suggestions on the color combo we should use for this bike? Drop me a note and let me know!
We’ll keep you posted.
Motorcycle Classics is a great magazine…every time I get a new issue, I wonder how they are going to make it better than the last one, and every time, it is. Great stories…great photos…it’s one of the best run and most interesting bike mags on the planet.
So, why the mention?
Well, they picked up our little adventure scoot down to Cabo and back, and you can read about it here!
J and John, cooling off in Todos Santos, about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas
California Scooter attended the Abbot Kinney street festival in Venice today, and it was a hoot! This is an annual event and the attendance probably exceeded 150,000 people. By mid afternoon it was shoulder-to-shoulder….the place was packed…and as you might imagine, our California Scooter booth was a very popular place. We had a great time…let me share some of the photos we grabbed earlier today with you!
Mom and son admiring the red Classic
A young lady checking out the Sarge
Rachel, a proud new Babydoll owner
Ink on a young lady's arm
It's a tough job...but somebody has to do it
Everyone wanted to be seen on a California Scooter
The Abbot Kinney Festival was a lot of fun
Another couple posing with the Babydoll
A young lady enjoying the Greaser
Two young ladies on the purple-flamed Classic
The Sarge and Joe...no kidding, that's the parrot's name
150,000+ spectators saw the California Scooters this weekend
An absolutely stunning young lady on the red Classic
Like I said...a tough job
Shane and friend
Steve working his magic...lots of young folks were intrigued by the California Scooters this weekend
The gourmet food trucks at the Abbot Kinney Festival
My lunch...an awesome chicken sandwich on lavash bread
Beef sliders...the Abbot Kinney food was outstanding
So there you have it, folks…stay tuned for several more blog entries in the next few days…I’ll have one on our new beach cruiser, another one showing Sylvain (our land speed record rider), one on the CBS news interview, and one on the Firefighters Cancer Survivor Network event Sandy attended last week…wow, there’s lots of good stuff happening!
Hey, a new topic (something other than Baja…).
Steve spotted this ultra-cool Cessna 195 parked across the tarmac yesterday…we flashed on the orange-and-white colors because they match a couple of our bikes.
A 50-year-old, radial-engined Cessna 195 with matching California Scooters
The Cessna 195 came out right after the end of World War II, and it had a lot of cool features. It was Cessna’s bizjet of the day…and the US Air Force bought a lot of them for light transport duty. A few comparisons…
Tony and I had fun taking photos of this magnificent airplane…we even grabbed a self portrait in the prop’s nose!
A self-portrait
Gonna sign off for now…we have CBS News due here in a few minutes to do a story on your favorite motorcycle company!
And, we’re going to be at the Abbot-Kinney Festival in Venice, California this Sunday…look for us!
TT250 Enduro
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer
RX1E Electric Motorcycle