CSC Blog

Well, the word is out…CSC is open for business, and boy oh boy, are we attracting an interesting group of folks!

We’ve had a lot of Internet and press attention, and we’ve hit the heartstrings of all kinds of enthusiasts – young and not-so-young, sportbike and cruiser riders, riders and nonriders, and industry leaders and workerbees like me.   People ask who our target market is before they see the bikes, but after they see the CSC motorcycles, they wonder who isn’t in the target market!

Just a couple of days ago we had a visit from a couple of real high rollers – Carl Mungenast and Bobby Darroll.    Carl is the retired chief operating officer of MS Carriers, formerly one of the largest trucking companies in the country, and Bobby is the founder and chief executive officer of Cheetah Software.  More to the point, both of these great guys are real riders – Carl’s done a number of Four Corners rides (that’s where you hit all four corners of the United States on a single motorcycle trip), and  his family operates the Dave Mungenast Classic Motorcycles Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.  The museum honors Carl’s late brother Dave Mungenast, an automotive industry leader and serious motorcycle racer.  And when Bobby Darroll isn’t starting up a new company or running his existing one, he’s out on his fully-restored ’69 Triumph Bonneville or one of his other bikes.   Carl flew in from Missouri, picked up his friend Bobby, and both men visited us last week for a personal look at the new CSC motorcycles.

Here’s a shot of  Bobby and Carl in the CSC Assembly and Integration area with a bright red Classic…these guys are having a good time!

And here’s one of Carl on a CSC Classic with the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains in the background…

As it turns out, Bobby and Carl were the warmup act…we had an unofficial, unannounced Open House today.  We were worried about the weather (the weather folks forecast rain), but hey, this was an open house at a new motorcycle manufacturer, and the skies cooperated.  It  rained hard last night, and it’s going to rain again tonight, but we had no rain today.  The skies were overcast, and that made for great photography.

Our good friend Art (he owns Doug Douglas Motorcycles in San Bernardino, CA) came in with a contingent of Triumph riders.  Art is a great guy, and if you are in the market for a new Triumph or Enfield, he’s the go-to guy.  Seeing those high performance Triumph triples parked in front of the factory sure warmed my heart on this cool February morning.  I know what those riders experienced on the ride in, but they had no qualms setting their Triumph loyalties aside when offered a test ride on the CSC Classic.  Every one of them took a spin around the factory!

Here’s Tom on his Triumph Tiger.  Tom put 20,000 miles on this bike last year.

My good friend Brendan is a very accomplished Speed Triple rider…here’s a shot I grabbed of him a couple of years ago on a ride through southern California’s magnificent Joshua Tree National Park…

And here’s a shot of Brendan this morning on the CSC Classic…

Okay, so maybe it’s a tough call, but isn’t Brendan wearing a bigger smile in the second photo?

Along with the guys from the Doug Douglas Motorcycles crowd, we also had a large contingent of folks from the Antelope Valley Touring Society join us this morning.  My riding compadre John is a member of that group.  John and I have covered a lot of miles in Mexico on our motorcycles (you can see some of those trips on www.motofoto.cc).    There’s some magnificent riding down there, especially on the Transpeninsular Highway in Baja. 

Here’s a photo of John in Baja’s Vizcaino Desert on a trip he and I did last October…

And here’s one with John on a CSC Classic earlier today…

I want to ask you the same question:  Where’s John smiling more?

And here’s another question:  Any of you folks want to do a run to Cabo San Lucas (at the tip of the Baja peninsula) after you’ve bought your new CSC motorcycle?   I know a couple of guys who would love to be your guides on a that trip!

Bryan and Sue came over with their boys, Sully and Jack.  No question about smiles here…

Here’s a pretty cool shot Bryan grabbed of Sully checking out the original Mustang…

We had another interesting observation today, and that was how people took to the kick starter.  The CSC bikes are electric start, but Steve also kept the kick starter on the right side (every CSC motorcycle has both an electric starter and a kick starter).  Very few motorcycles with electric starters have kept their kick starters, so the reaction to our bikes was really interesting.  People loved the kick starter.   Nearly everyone who rode the CSC bikes today had a lot of fun using the kick starter.   I was surprised at how much our guests enjoyed it.  It was something I hadn’t expected.

We have quite a few photos of the good folks from Antelope Valley, the Douglas Triumph boys, and more.    The nice thing about shooting these pictures is I didn’t have to ask anybody to say “cheese.”  The CSC motorcycles took care of everything in the smiles department…take a look at just a few of our guests below…

Annette from Antelope Valley…

Carmen from Glendora…

And this Antelope Valley gentleman, who was definitely enjoying his seat time on the CSC Classic…

The open house today and the visitors we’ve had during the week have been so much fun it’s hard to capture it with just a few words and photos.  The food Maureen brought in today was super, the party was great, and everybody really enjoyed themselves.  We want to thank everyone who made the trek out to the plant this morning.  The day was as special for us as it was for you!

The guys  installed a set of special wheels on a red Classic today, and wow, does it ever look sharp!  We’re going to use this bike in one of our ads, and it is beautiful.  Check this out…

Just how special are the wheels on this CSC Classic?  Look at this…would you believe they are spokeless?

Well, I believed it for a second, until Steve pointed out the ultra-high polish on these chrome wheels was reflecting the right fork leg!

I received a really nice e-mail from Dave Cavanaugh today.  Dave is Jim Cavanaugh’s oldest son, and Jim Cavanaugh (whom you’ve heard me mention before) is the former Mustang Motor Products Corporation production manager.   Jim is an important advisor to our company.   Here’s what Dave had to say:

Hello Joe:

My name is David Cavanaugh and I’m Jim Cavanaugh’s oldest son.  This past weekend I went north to Oregon to visit my Mom and Dad.  My wife and I arrived at about 8:30 pm on Friday night after driving 8 hours. I had my Dad take me right to the garage to see my 1963 Mustang Bronco (he had just finished putting it together after a color change) and to see his CSC Classic that Steve gave to him. 

Man, was I surprised when I saw that CSC Classic!  It is absolutely beautiful.  Saturday morning after Dad and I went to breakfast the next order of business was for me to ride my Bronco and then the CSC Classic.  I have to tell you that bike rode as good as it looks and I got as many looks on the California Scooter Classic as I did on my Bronco.  I even had a guy and his wife follow me home to see what I was riding.  They wanted the whole story about both machines.  It was a great weekend and I thought you and Steve would enjoy hearing about it.   Thanks for the blog; I really enjoy it.

David Cavanaugh

You bet, Dave!  Thanks for writing and thanks for sending along the photo of your restored Mustang (it is a beautiful motorcycle!).  We’re glad you’re enjoying both your original Mustang and your Dad’s new CSC Classic.  I’ll let the guys and gals in the factory know about your letter, too!

The California Scooter Company continues to convert dreams into reality. The factory office areas will be complete this week, our first shipments of components are arriving, and assembly and testing of the production bikes will start soon. There’s a sense of excitement in the air, and even the weather is cooperating. After a week of heavy rain, the skies in southern California were beautiful. It was shirt sleeve weather this week, nothing at all like what our friends on east coast have been experiencing.  That photo on the left, taken just a few hours ago, shows yours truly and Joseph Lee in front of the new factory (or JoeyBee and JoeyLee, as we’re known around the plant). 

The local newspaper, The Daily Bulletin, will be out tomorrow to do a feature story on the California Scooter Company for the business section. It’s not often that a company starts up operations in California and creates manufacturing jobs; we’re making news!  The word is out, and it hasn’t stopped at our borders.  The Internet coverage on the California Scooter Company has been phenomenal, and the interest is international.  Yesterday we provided information to a magazine doing a story on us in Germany; this morning we did the same for a magazine in Russia!  More news…we now have our own top secret Area 51 in Nevada, where a Classic is undergoing extensive dyno and road work to dial in the jetting and gearing.  Our guys are realizing significant performance and fuel economy gains as a result, and we’ll post the new figures here in the near future. 

Joseph Lee, our dealer development director, just got back from making the rounds at the IMS shows.  Those of you who saw our bikes probably met Joseph, Sandy, TK, or Carlos.  The bikes have been well-received at the shows, with great interest from both dealers and riders.  Many people who remember the Mustang’s classic styling look at the California Classic and fall in love with it.  Others who are too young to remember the Mustang see the Classic as a bike that will create memories.  And speaking of memories from the ’60s, I even received a photo from an old high school buddy, Mike Beltranena, checking out the black Classic at the New York City IMS show. Mike and I graduated high school in New Jersey way back in 1969 (just a few years after the original Mustang motorcycles went out of production).    That’s Mike in the photo on the right, taken by his son Matt.  Joseph goes back on the road this week, so look for him at the next shows and at the Indy Dealer expo.

We received a set of laced wire wheels today, which are being photographed before they go into the accessory catalog (the bikes come with steel wheels from the factory; the wire wheels are an option).  We’re putting them on a red Classic for use in our advertising, and we’ll post photos of that bike soon.

Quite a few people are asking about buying these bikes.  We’re already selling them.  You can order one now by calling the factory direct at 909 445 0900.  If you’re U.S. military, fire department, police, or prior military, ask about our “Those Who Serve” program.  If you want to become a dealer, we still have areas open, so give us a call!

Oh, and that visit I told you about last week from Arlene Battishill, president of GoGo Gear motorcycle apparel…well, you have to see it to believe it, and here’s your chance:  Riding the California Classic

Wow, there’s a lot happening at California Scooter Company!

I thought I’d be posting a blog entry every week or so, but there’s just too much going on in our world to wait that long!

The factory’s new offices are nearing completion, and that work is coming along extremely well.  While all that’s going on and with the phenomenal interest in our bikes, we’ve had many requests to visit the plant and to see the bikes.   Steve Seidner is taking it all in stride, staying on top of hosting visitors, giving plant tours, meeting with the press (and others interested in this exciting new company), and keeping the construction work moving sharply along.

This past Sunday Robyn Smietan visited the operation and test rode one of our Scooters.

Robyn is an industry insider, an accomplished BMW rider, and an avid scooterist. She rode in on a cold California winter morning on her bright red Vespa, had breakfast with us at Walter’s in Claremont (a great restaurant!), toured the new La Verne production facility, and test rode the Classic.  I grabbed a few photos of the Classic parked next to Robyn’s Vespa.  The two bikes are about the same size, but I think the Classic looks a lot leaner.  I could go on at length about how Robyn liked the Classic, but I’ll let the look on her face after the ride do the talking for me (check out the photo on the left).

Richard Backus, the editor of Motorcycle Classics, posted a blog about our company on the magazine’s website just a few days ago, and the response has been incredible.   We’ve gone viral, and I mean that in a good way.  More than 40 other sites tapped into Richard’s blog.   We’re seeing another ten or so sites with postings based on the Motorcycle Classics story every day.  There is a lot of interest in this motorcycle!  Incidentally, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Motorcycle Classics, you owe it to yourself to do so.   It is a first class magazine.  Every time I read it, I think they can’t possibly do better in the next issue, yet they always do.

Yesterday, I received an amazing photo from Jim “Jimbo” Cavanaugh, the original Mustang Motor Products Corporation production manager.  Jim actually owns the very last Mustang model manufactured in Glendale, and one of the very first California Scooter Company motorcycles.

To quote Jimbo’s email:

Here’s a photo taken recently of my 1962 Mustang Thoroughbred which was the last model produced before the company closed and my 2010 CSC CLASSIC…I love them both!..It’s ironic I have one of the last and one of the first!..Just thinking out loud!…

Jim is a valued advisor to the California Scooter Company, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about him in future posts.  The history of the Mustang Motor Products Corporation and the emergence of the California Scooter Company is a story waiting to be told.

Arlene Battishill, the president of GoGo Gear (http://www.Scooter-Girls.com) visited us yesterday to test ride the Classic.  Think of a kid in a candy store with a credit card, and you’ll have an idea of Arlene’s reaction when she saw the bikes.  She absolutely loved the Classic (as in jumping around, waving her arms, and telling everyone “I LOVE THIS BIKE”). 

GoGo Gear has a unique product line – they manufacture fashionable riding gear for women, with the emphasis on fashion and functionality.  Making motorcycle clothing fashionable is quite an accomplishment, and it’s GoGo Gear’s niche.   These clothes don’t look like the motorcycle jackets we normally see.  They look like something you’d see on a fashion runway.  GoGo Gear is the real deal, though – it’s abrasion resistant and fully armored. 

Arlene’s company makes an amazing product that meets a need for women riders, and her confidence is infectious.  In fact, after her test ride, Arlene asked us to tow her behind one of our bikes, on the asphalt, to prove her gear worked.  To say that was an unusual request would be quite an understatement, but our curiosity and Arlene’s enthusiasm took over.  The photo tells the story.   The GoGo Gear did exactly what it was designed to do, with its inner anti-abrasion layer remaining fully intact.

Wow.  It’s only been a couple of days since the last blog.  You have to wonder what the next 48 hours hold…