New Custom Colors!

Paint2

Paint3More cool stuff today, my good CSC buddies…John brought in some of his latest custom paint jobs.   These are factory-available paint schemes that will really spice up your bike.   All I can say is…wow!

John started these jewels as bare tanks and fenders, and he worked up orange-and-black, yellow-and-black, and red-and-black combinations.   They are are all show stoppers.    Take a look at these!

And here’s a shot of Sandy with a bike John did a week ago…a black bike with copper panels (yes, the California Scooter guys actually let me hang around and take these kinds of photos!). 

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I’m still suffering from the same disease…every time I see one of these (I’m talking about the bikes, guys) I fall in love all over again.  I love my red Classic (it’s an elegant little show stopper), but if I had a spare $1495 in my pocket and I was buying another California Scooter, you can bet I’d go with one of these John Esposito custom paint jobs.  He does the tanks and the fenders as a set, and they’re perfect.  I think I like the black-and-red combo best, but it’s a tough call.  They’re all beautiful. 

Working with John is a lot of fun.  He’s an incredibly bright guy, a gifted artist, and a mechanical genius.  We’ve got a few tricks in development right now, and John’s ability to come up with creative engineering solutions is awesome.   He’s one of the best, but come to think of it, so is everyone else here in the California Scooter Company.  It’s fun watching these guys develop ideas…and it’s one of many great things about this motorcycle company.  It sure is fun.

I’m going to put some miles on my California Scooter this weekend…I might head up to Big Bear.  We’ve got a lot of good things cooking…one that is particularly exciting is the 150cc scooter land speed record we’re going for in November.   That’s going to be a hoot!  When these little guys are broken in (like mine is), you can see something north of 70 mph on them.   We’re going to be working closely with Dr. Horsepower (our super-secret engine souper-upper), and I’m wondering what kind of top end we’ll see from our 150cc dry lake burner.   It’s gonna be fun!

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Cool Rider Photos…

We received a couple of cool photos in the last day or so, and I thought I’d share them with you.

Check out this one from Bill Murar, our Lake Erie Loop rider…Bill just turned 1000 miles on his blue Classic…

csc150 1000miles

Bill’s getting ready to ride the Scooter Cannonball, a ride from Vancouver to Portland, Maine, and we’ll keep you posted on it right here!

And here’s a cool shot from Charles Aubuchon, who keeps his black Classic in Montana…

CSCCA

That’s a good-looking motorcycle, and that Ford GT in the background ain’t too shabby, either!

Thanks, Bill and Charles, for sending these great photos to us!

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Terry, Thomas, and Jimbo

Good morning, folks…here’s some of our recent fan mail…Terry Timmins and Thomas Watters recently bought new California Scooters, and of course, Jimbo Cavanaugh was one of the very first to take delivery on a new CSC motorcycle.

Terry owns both an original Mustang and a California Scooter…here’s his note…

Hey y’all.  Thank you for the great service and fantastic bike.  She runs like a top and looks like a dream with those fancy extras!  Will show her off at Laguna Mopeds.  Thought you might like some photos.

Terry Timmons

PS:  Special thanks to TK, Sandy, Lupe, Patti, Tony, Carlos, and Josh

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And here’s one from Thomas, who sent us photos showing his red Classic in Ohio…

Sandy!

Thanks very much.  Pictures enclosed.  Best to all of you.  Again thank the staff – Design, Production, and Assembly crews.   Excellent work.   End product is great!

Sincerely,

Thomas V. Watters

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And yesterday morning I had this email from our good friend and advisor Jimbo…

JimboHi Guys!…Yesterday I picked up my son Gary at the Eugene airport. He’s visiting from Bakersfield California, having moved there last year for a job opportunity…He’s entered in a golf tournament here in Cottage Grove, Or. playing with a lot of his old friends and buddies…When we got home I asked him if he wanted to borrow our car or my pick-up truck…He snapped back, “heck no, I want the use the (Classic) bike”…After putting his luggage and golf clubs away he immediately jumped on the Classic…Having ridden it when I first took delivery , he was familiar with all the controls…He was gone all day and returned at supper time (smart kid) and  he advised he visited many of his old friends…He visited Myrl Walther, who visited CSC recently and both cruised most of the day checking on mutual friends..If he could, he would have taken it to play golf if he had a way to take his golf clubs…He will be  here through Tuesday and I expect he will be glued to the Classic..He just can’t get enough of it!…cheers!….

Jimbo

We really enjoy getting mail and photos from our riders, and if you have a photo you’d like to see on our blog, shoot it over and we’ll post it for you!   You can email it to me at jberk@californiascooterco.com, or snail mail it to us at the plant.

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On a Pedestal…

Just spotted this photo on Facebook, posted by one of our newest dealers, NoHo Scooters in North Hollywood, California…

OnAPedestal

We’ve heard a lot of good things from our fans, but this is the first time someone’s actually put us on a pedestal! 

Thanks very much, Mike and crew!

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On their way…

A quick shot at the plant yesterday…more California Scooters on their way to our dealers.

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I’d write more for you this morning, but I’m going for a ride on my California Scooter in a few minutes.   More later, folks, and enjoy the weekend!

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Surf City, USA…HB Scooters Adds CSC!

Huntington Beach, California, is the location of our newest dealer – HB Scooters.   This is yet another great California Scooter dealer.   HB Scooters focuses on energy-efficient vehicles, and we fit right in at 98 mpg!   Wow, it’s just great to add these folks to our growing list of authorized dealers.  

HBScooters

Huntington Beach is a marvelous little town with a great shopping area, a fabulous beach, and a prominent place in our California and national culture.   This very town was the center of the universe at the height of the ’50s and ’60s surf music craze.  Dean Torrence (of Jan and Dean fame) still lives there – he’s a spokesman for the City of Huntington Beach. 

You know, it just feels right having a California Scooter dealer in this town…with our classic retro styling I think our bikes will fit right in.   If you’re in Huntington Beach and you see a gal riding a California Scooter, it might be our friend Robyn, or it might be Arlene on her Go Go Gear bike, or…who knows…it might very well be the little old lady from Pasadena!

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We’re In The News!

Kevin Smith wrote the following article on our recent design competition.  The article is appearing today in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star News, and the Whittier Daily News…

California Scooter Co. to use student design features

By Kevin Smith Staff Writer

Posted: 07/19/2010 05:25:34 PM PDT 

GregJoelChaseSm

Greg Fitch, Joel Walta, and Chasen Wendt...California Scooter Company Design Competition Winners

LA VERNE – When it comes to product design, it’s always good to get some fresh ideas.

And that’s exactly what Californa Scooter Co. got when it asked Cal Poly Pomona engineering students to help design a new line of retro-style scooters.  The La Verne-based company launched the design competition earlier this year and the winners were annnounced over the weekend.

The first-place award went to the team of Greg Fitch and Kevin Gutierrez, engineering technology majors in Cal Poly’s Engineering Technology Department.  Joel Walta, a Cal Poly mechanical engineering student, won the second place award. Chasen Wendt, also a Cal Poly Pomona mechanical engineering student, snagged third place.  In addition to gaining valuable design experience, the winners also received significant cash awards from California Scooter.

“We wanted to get someone else’s ideas for targeting the younger crowd,” said Steve Seidner, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “We’re trying to see what they want in a scooter. The students actually came up with some pretty neat things.”  No single design submission will be used in total, Seidner said, but ideas from all of the entries will be incorporated into the new product line.  “By taking a little bit from each one we’ll be able to see what direction we’re headed in,” he said. “They all had great ideas.”

California Scooter is looking to create environmentally-friendly, inexpensive, and stylish transportation motorcycles that get 98 miles per gallon.

Seidner said the new scooter line will likely not be unveiled until mid-2011.  The company’s current motorcycles incorporate styling that harkens back to the Mustang motorcycles that were manufactured in Glendale during the 1940s through the 1960s.

“It was exciting to be involved, but I also think it was a very intelligent move for California Scooter to give engineering students the opportunity to weigh in on it,” said Fitch, 25, of Redlands, a Cal Poly senior. “We submitted a preliminary design with a project proposal that was two or three pages. We also had engineering sketches.”  Fitch said he and Gutierrez spent about a month developing their design ideas and compiling their submission.  “It was great of Steve and his team to give us the opportunity,” he said. “They are really good people and I think that’s going to be a big company.”

California Scooter Co. is a spin-off of Seidner’s Pro-One Performance Manufacturing Inc., which makes custom motorcycles for hard-core fans.  California Scooter operates out of a 20,000-square-foot facility at Brackett Airfield in La Verne.

Professor Joseph Berk, who teaches undergraduate engineering subjects at Cal Poly Pomona, said the contest was “an incredible experience” for the students.  “This provides the ideal opportunity for young engineering students to have exposure to a really exciting industry,” he said. “It also creates a relationship between California Scooter and Cal Poly. They have this great supply of emerging engineering talent that’s only about four miles away.”  Berk described it as a win-win situation for the school and the company.

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Brown Ford: CSC’s Newest Dealer!

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

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

We’re proud to announce that Brown Ford in Cordell, Oklahoma, is California Scooter Company’s newest authorized dealer.  When Steve told me about it, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised…lots of dealers are adding California Scooter to their lineup…but a Ford automobile dealer?  We recently had another car dealer join the team (Continental Motors, in Oceanside, California), too.   I wondered why car dealers are picking us up…I’ve not seen this with other motorcycle marques.   I called Brown’s to get the straight scoop – I wanted to find out why a car dealer selling one of America’s best brands (Ford, which is really doing well) wanted to sell motorcycles, too.   I asked for the owner and in a few seconds Eddie Brown, Jr., was on the line.

Eddie’s story is not too much different than many of our other riders…he’s a long time car and motorcycle enthusiast, and he found our California Scooters very much to his liking.   Eddie told me he also owns a few other motorcycles and two vintage Mustangs (the motorcycles, not the cars), and that he had a Mustang motorcycle when he was 15.  When I asked how he heard about us, Eddie told me one of his good riding buddies (R.B. Mathis) is a preacher, and Reverend Mathis told him about the California Scooter Company.   I guess you could say the good Reverend is spreading the California Scooter gospel!  Eddie told me one of the several motorcycles he ordered for his dealership is going to RB.  How cool is that!

On another note, did you know that July is National Women’s Motorcycle Month?   Well, I didn’t know it, either, but I should have, because our California Scooters may very well be the perfect vehicle for both women and men.   Women seem to just naturally love these bikes, especially the low seat height, the light weight, and the stunning styling.   I do, too.  I love my Triumph Tiger, but truth be told, that bike is a 600-lb monster, and pushing it out of the garage is a bit intimidating.   I can wheel my 240-lb CSC Classic around with one hand, and these days nearly all of my two-wheeled miles are on a California Scooter.  Anyway, back to the National Women’s Motorcycle Month…this was on the Today show.   I’m not a big fan of talk shows, but this clip caught my eye, and I thought you might enjoy it, too.

One last note…the local papers are picking up the story on our California Scooter motorcycle design competition.   I’ll give you the link and all the details tomorrow!

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NoHo Scooters Adds CSC!

NoHo1NoHo Scooters in North Hollywood is one of the biggest scooter stores in southern California, and…you guessed it…we’re proud to announce that they are now a California Scooter dealer.   NoHo has California Scooters in stock, so check out our bikes at this very cool scooter shop the next time you stop in. 

Mike Frankovich is the NoHo Scooters owner, and as is the case with all of our dealers, he’s an interesting guy.   Mike told me that he first started riding scooters when he used to sneak out on his sister’s Honda Elite 80, and the thrill of the ride has stuck with him ever since.  Mike served his nation in the United States Navy aboard the USS

Our friend, Mike Frankovich

Our friend, Mike Frankovich

Abraham Lincoln and the USS Nimitz as a Machinists Mate, and as he traveled all over the world, his interest in scooters grew as he saw how prevalent they were in Europe and elsewhere.  He bought an old Vespa, fixed it up, sold it, bought another, and well, you get the idea.   One thing led to another, and Mike found himself running one of the coolest scooter shops in southern California.  

NoHo Scooters’ proximity to the movie industry has put Mike in a cool spot.   When the motion picture industry needs scooters, he’s usually the guy they turn to.   Mike’s even hosted casting calls for extras to appear in movies with scooters as part of the action.

No Ho Scooters has an active Facebook page, too, so make sure you check it out.   Mike has lots of cool photos there.

NoHo Scooters has been in business for 8 years, and they’re remodeling the store to double the size of their showroom.   Business is good.  Hey, when you sell vehicles like ours that can get up to 98 mpg, why wouldn’t it be?

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And the winners are…

Greg Fitch, Kevin Gutierrez, Joel Walta, and Chasen Wendt.  And, of course, the California Scooter Company.  Yep, the motorcycle style and design staff at your favorite motorcycle company selected the winning designs from the many submittals we received during our Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering design competition, and the guys mentioned above (and shown below) went home with the gold.

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Steve Seidner, Greg Fitch, Chasen Wendt, and Joel Walta...these guys have good reason for those smiles!

We’ve written about the design competition in this blog before…basically, Steve’s idea was to hear directly from the folks we want to buy our motorcycles what they want to see in a bike, and what better way to do that than to let them design it!  The entries we received were marvelous, and the folks who reviewed them told me that it was tough deciding the winners.  They all did a good job!

Pizza650

Yep, it was as good as it looked!

After meeting at the California Scooter Company facility with our winning engineering students and their families, we all rode over to a great pizza spot in La Verne for an awesome dinner.   Wow, it was good.  And watching the guys receive their awards….that was just great.   Steve told the guys how impressed we were with their work, and that they are already great engineers.   It wasn’t just talk, either…these guys went home with significant cash awards.  Who else does this kind of thing?

Greg and Kevin are Engineering Technology majors, and their design nailed the first place slot.   Joel is a mechanical engineering major, and he grabbed second.   Chase is also a mechanical engineer, and his design took home the honors for third place.  We are incredibly lucky to be located right next to Cal Poly Pomona…it’s one of the best engineering schools on the planet, and the guys and gals who study engineering there are committed to their profession.   Their designs show it, too, but you can’t see them yet…it’s a company secret until we release the next model.  Trust me…you won’t be disappointed!
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