CSC Blog

That would be my question if I took a seat at either of these bars…and in case you’re wondering, the title of this blog lists the three best beers in the world…

My good buddy Marilyn over at Mustang Seats posted the above photo…it’s pretty cool!  I think those have to be some of the most expensive bar stools ever made!

Here’s one I grabbed at the Olympia Bar in Portland, Oregon, a few years ago while on a secret mission for Motorcycle Classics magazine…

The Olympia bar in downtown Portland was a real treat…it had some fascinating bikes on display.   The Olympia’s owners collect antique motorcycles, and they felt there was no better place to display them than in their very own bar.  Folks, this is cool stuff.

In case you’re wondering, Singha is a Thai beer.  On a warm Thai evening (it’s hot and humid over there, folks!) it’s just perfect, especially when it’s on tap.  

Banks is the beer of Barbados.  It’s awesome, too.   It instantly became one of my favorites on the last secret mission.  I’ll have to check here in So Cal to see if it’s available.

And Tecate is one of Mexico’s best.  I believe it is the best of a bunch of outstanding Mexican brands.   I like it in a can, with sea salt around the rim, and a squeeze of fresh lime!  

Wow, I’m barbequeing chicken tonight, and I think I just decided what we’re having with dinner!

Well, not quite…but take a look at this cool photo Jimbo sent to us:

Hi Steve!

I couldn’t stop thinking of you when I ran across this brochure of the RM Auctions, October 11 & 12th 2012 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.   I had to photograph it on my monitor to capure the photo…

I have no idea what it sold for!…If you can bring up this site, there are some fabulous photos of antique bikes for auction.

Fact:  Mustang did not make any military models…this has to be a private project entry..

Cheers!

Jimbo

Jim, thanks for sending that to us!  As you know, we also have our Military Series, the first one of which was Steve’s personal CSC, the Sarge…

I didn’t know if Mustang ever actually made bikes for the military or not, so thanks for clearing that up.  I do know that Cushman actually made a bike designed to be air-dropped with US Army paratroopers…

That’s a military Cushman in the photo above that I grabbed when my good buddy Carl and I visited the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles last year.   Cool stuff, folks.

That’s it for now, my friends.   Ride safe!

Wow, take a look at Arizona Bill’s new bike!

The City of Phoenix will never be the same, boys and girls, when Bill’s new 250 hits the streets.   Bill had us set this one up with lots of chrome, apehanger bars, wire wheels, a rack, engine guards, spotlights, and lots more!  This is one very sleek motorcycle, and those apehangers really set it apart from most of the bikes we make here.  It’s awesome!

Bill, you’re going to have a lot of fun with your new ride!

Yep, we’re going to be adding a page to the CSC website featuring free classified ads…anything you have that’s motorcycle related and want to sell!  Bikes, accessories, clothing, parts…you name it!  Just send us a short description, a price (we have to have a price), your state of residence (we have to have that, too), and a phone number or email, and we’ll post it on our new CSC ad space page.  You can email photos and the above information to me at jberk@californiascooterco.com.   We’ll run your ad for free for 30 days!

It sure felt good to back at the plant today…and like always, lots of things are happening, folks.   We picked up a new dealer while I was out, TK and Steve have been selling lots of bikes, preparations for our upcoming move are continuing, and it turns out that none other than our very own Steve Seidner is setting the pace for engineering creativity across all industries (more on that in a bit).  Oh, and before I forget, we’re probably going to do a ride based out of the plant this Saturday or Sunday up in the mountains.  It’s Spring, and Glendora Ridge Road will be beautiful (it’s one of the primo spots in the country for wild flowers, and this time of year it’s in full bloom).  I gotta get up there to grab a few photos for everyone.

I grabbed a few photos after chatting up Lupe for a bit…one of our police motors was in and I had to grab a photo of it, and then another quick one in the shop showing our original ’53 Mustang, our Land Speed Record bike, and Steve’s Sarge.   We’re moving stuff around getting ready for the move to our new plant and showroom a few miles up the road, and things I hadn’t seen in a while are bubbling up…

So what’s this about creativity?   Well, as it turns out, the guy who brought you the CSC concept, the P-51 250cc CSC, the Land Speed Record bike, and a host of factory customs is being noticed by other engineering and manufacturing companies.   They want to know the secret behind Steve’s unbridled creativity, and…well, see for yourself…check out this interview!

That’s it for now, folks.   Come ride with us this weekend!

I’m back in California, folks, and glad to be home…and by the way, happy Easter Sunday to everyone.  

School starts on Tuesday at Cal Poly, so today I’m busy finalizing the courses I’m teaching this quarter.  

I don’t know what directed my thinking in this direction, but for whatever reason the Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 locomotive popped into my mind last night.  I dug around on the Internet just a bit and there was actually quite a bit of information out there about these magnificent old beasts.   Take a look at this YouTube video put together from a railroad piece back in the 1950s…

I was a railroad fan when I was a kid, I had a Lionel train set, and we lived just a half mile from the Pennsylvania Railroad mainline in New Jersey.  I remember going through the woods to watch these old trains smoke on by.   The old GG-1 locomotives were awesome.  They were a deep burgundy with five gold stripes running down their entire length.   Very classy.  I always wanted the Lionel version, but I never got one.   I found out that there were less then 200 of the real ones, and they last rolled down the tracks in the 1980s.  They first started running in the 1930s.  Cool stuff.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been on my Scooter, and I’m going to go for a ride later this morning. I’ll try to remember to grab a photo or two for the blog when I do.

Ride safe, my friends…

Whoa, another note from one of our good buddies in the Midwest USA!

Hey, Joe:

We could have literally passed in the night north of K.C. as my wife and I were headed to K.C. from Iowa at exactly the time you were down the road with snow and half asleep!!  Hard to tell exactly which “small” town you visited as in this neck of the woods most towns are small, tho, having a DQ means you were not in a really small town, just smaller than L.A.?  We love your reporting of these very secret meetings around the world and know you have our best interests at heart. 

Your scooter buddy…

Russ

Yep, I saw you, Russ…didn’t you see me waving? 

No, I really didn’t (just kidding), but you are right…I was pretty tired.  Thank the good Lord for 24-hour McDonald’s and their senior citizen coffee!  I sure drank a bunch of it that night!

So, my work on this latest secret mission is done, and after a great Thai dinner tonight (and my requisite follow-on cherry-dipped DQ for dessert), I saw this nice note from my good buddy Ralph…

Joe:

I see from the CSC blog that you got a little taste of Missouri in the spring!  You never know, last year at this time trees were budding and grass was growing.  This year it’s still snowing. 

I traveled for five years for my job.  I certainly have empathy for your exhausting trip!

I can only  assume you were at the engine plant.  Hope all went well there for you. USA made, maybe?  (I know, I know, it’s a secret!)   As usual, if you find yourself too tired for another trip, motorcycle, plane, or otherwise, I’m your guy!!  

Later,

Ralph

Well, Ralph, exactly where I was is, of course, Top Secret.  I will tell you, however, that I did indeed let the good times roll…

Letting the good times roll in northwestern Missouri...

That’s it for now, folks.   I’m wheels up at O:Dark:30 tomorrow, and it’s back to good ol’ California for me.

Can’t wait to get to warmer weather and a ride on my CSC!

Wow, talk about extreme changes and challenging environments…

I left Barbados at 4:00 a.m. this past Sunday enroute to my next secret destination (hint…it’s the title of this blog), and it was one of the toughest travel days I’ve ever had.  I had three flights in front of me that day, and the one from Barbados was the easiest.   It was a balmy 85 degrees at the Barbados airport (they only have one airport down there) and we left on time, but it was an exciting flight.   A woman took ill on the flight (seriously ill, apparently…it was one of those “is there a doctor on board?” situations).   Turns out there was, and whatever the medical condition was, the pilot put the pedal to the metal and told us we were going to make a “rapid descent.”   We dropped from our 38,000 ft cruising altitude to the runway in what felt like three minutes.   You could feel and see the airplane’s nose-down attitude.  It was wild, and we were 30 minutes early rolling into Miami.

My next flight was from Miami to Charlotte, and I could tell getting out of Miami was going to be a problem when I saw this board…

Lots of flights were cancelled and lots of flights were late.   I wasn’t too worried because I had a two-hour layover in Charlotte before I had to be on the plane to Kansas City, Missouri.   I did get a tiny bit nervous when we were about an hour late getting on the little jet in Miami, though, and a bit more nervous when we sat on the runway for another hour.   Wow, that would be cutting it close.

But you know how it goes.  In Charlotte, I found out that my flight to KC had been delayed for an hour.  Then two hours.  Then three hours.   I had my first meeting at 7:00 on Monday morning, and it was 80 miles north of KC.   Hmmm. 

Finally, at midnight, we boarded the flight in Charlotte.  Hmmm.   After 15 minutes, the pilot announced that the airplane’s refueling valve was broke, and they had to power down and start up the airplane’s electrical systems again. Pitch black, and then a slow reboot.   No luck.  These clowns tried that three times before they sent for a new valve.  They said that would take an hour.   Finally, after sitting on the plane for another 45 minutes, they announced that they were getting a new plane for us, but we had to all get off and check in again.   Wow, are these folks for real?

We got off, checked in again, and got on the new airplane.  Finally, we were in the air.  Two hours later, at 4:00 a.m., we were in KC, where it was 23 degrees.  I was dressed like a Barbadian (I even had on a tropical shirt).   The rental car bus didn’t roll around for another 45 minutes.  Talk about cold!

Check out the thermometer on the dash of my rental car!  Folks, I’m a California boy, and I sure didn’t like seeing numbers like that.   When I realized just how cold it was, I also realized there was ice on the road and it was snowing…and after running on empty (from a sleep perspective), I figured I better dial it down a notch…

It was a rough night and a rough drive.   Snow.  Ice.   27 hours with no sleep.  But I made that 7:00 a.m. meeting.   Lots of coffee, a long day, and I sure had no problems falling asleep Monday night!

The cold weather aside, there are a lot of nice things about Missouri.  The people are real and the place is conservative…the nonsense I have to politely listen to in California just doesn’t exist in Missouri.   Surprisingly, the little town I’m in right now has the best little Thai restaurant this side of Bangkok, and last night the chef prepared an absolutely awesome Kao Soi dinner for me.  You just don’t get this kind of cooking in California.  The chef told me she lived in California for a while when she first came to the United States, but when she had kids she didn’t want them to grow up in La La Land.  California’s loss is Missouri’s gain…seriously, I haven’t had Thai food this good since I was in Thailand.

One more good thing…this nice little Missouri town in which I’m conducting clandestine operations has a good old-fashioned Dairy Queen, and they still do soft cones dipped in cherry.  I haven’t had those in 30 years, but I’m having one every night I’m here!

Later, folks…ride safe!

Wow, 70 degrees, no humidity, and I’m right on the Caribbean.   All I need is an Aston Martin and the theme from James Bond playing in the background.   As far as secret missions go it just doesn’t get much better than this.

Biking is big in Barbados, with the emphasis on small bikes.   The roads are perfect for bikes in the 150 to 250cc range.  Here’s a shot of Neville, a Barbadian KLR 250 rider…he was pretty excited when I showed him photos of my CSC.

Tough duty, folks, but somebody has to….ah, you know what I’m going to say.   I’m glad it’s me!

Here are some miscellanous shots I grabbed with my iPhone in Christchurch Parrish, my home base for the next few days…

Barbados is an interesting place.   They drive on the wrong side of the road here (the British influence is heavy), and I have to tell you that makes every ride an extreme adventure.    It’s okay if you’re in traffic because the other cars kind of remind you where you’re supposed to be, but when there are no cars around it gets pretty confusing.  The roads are awesome, though, and this is a perfect place for a California Scooter.   Good times.

That’s it for now, boys and girls.   I’ve got to check in with M.  

Ride safe.