CSC Blog

The recent story in American Motorcycle Dealer magazine describes Steve Seidner’s fascination with the Mustang mystique, and it mentions the ’53 Pony Steve bought.   Steve’s original intent was to restore the bike, but he decided to leave the Mustang in its original condition.  I think I like it better than if it had been restored.  I’ve seen the bike around the shop a few times and it makes for a fantastic photo, especially next to the current crop of CSC cycles.    What I hadn’t realized is that the old girl is a real runner.  

When I visited the factory earlier in the week, Steve mentioned to me that he had just fired up the old Mustang and took it for a ride.  I had missed it by maybe an hour or two.  Steve’s a busy guy and I wasn’t about to ask him to fire it up again, but I guess he saw my disappointment in missing that photo op.

Sandy, Tony, and Steve  (you can see Sandy and Tony a few blogs down) told me about the Mustang when Steve first got it.   The bike had stale gas, a varnished-up carb, and all the symptoms normally associated with a bike that hasn’t been run in who knows how long.   Steve said when he first got the bike back to the shop, he took out the spark plug, pumped the kick starter a cycle or two, and confirmed that this nearly 60-year-old gal still had a spark or two left in her.  Then he cleaned the tank, used a rod to get the gummed up gas line flowing again, and cleaned the carb.  After putting it back together, the Mustang came to life on the first kick!  Wow!

So, when Steve saw me playing with my Nikon camera a couple of days ago, he disappeared into the assembly area and, whaddaya know, in a heartbeat that old Mustang was singing its song again.  I could hear it all the way in the office!   The old Mustang’s big single-cylinder engine has a great sound – it reminded me a lot of my ’66 Triumph Bonneville.   It had that deep, rich, throaty bark that only a long-stroke motor with a mostly-open pipe makes.   It was very cool, and this time, my Nikon and I were there.   So, here you go…a great shot of Steve on his ’53 Mustang!

Here’s a tighter shot of Steve’s ’53 Mustang.   Take a look at the right-side shifter, the kickstarter (the pedal doesn’t pivot out of the way!), and the big exposed flywheel on the right side of the engine.

We recently sent around a special invitation to members of the Mustang Motorcycle Club of America, and the response has been amazing.  The feedback from the folks who like the revival of this iconic style is wonderful.   We’ve received nice letters from a lot of people, and we really appreciate your kind words.   If you own an original Mustang and you’re not in the Mustang club, you might want to check them out.   And if you want to know more about that special invitation to own a new CSC motorcycle, well, just give us a call or shoot us an e-mail, and we’ll get a package to you!

Here’s a cool shot of Tony and Sandy, two key CSC team members, getting ready for a photo shoot with a very lightly accessorized, yet very distinctive Greaser. 

Sandy is one of our artists, and Tony is a master bike builder.   The Greaser in this photo has only three accessories from the CSC catalog – red apehanger handlebars, a pleated metalflake seat, and a chrome Jardine pipe.  Our man Wade (another master bike builder featured two blog entries earlier) designed the powder-coated apehangers, and they really work with the Greaser’s styling (nicely done, Wade!).  These three CSC accessory touches make an already unique bike stand out.  It’s amazing how the right combination of just a few pieces completely changes the bike’s personality.  Of all the CSC bikes I’ve seen so far, this one is my favorite.

The good folks from 2wheeltips.com featured this very bike and Sandy in a recent interview at the New York City International Motorcycle Show, and you can see it here.

From $4,995 to $49,995, we have you covered…what a great title!  I wish I could say I thought of it, but the credit for this one lies elsewhere.  Take a look at the bikes below, and you’ll see a customized CSC Classic (in the foreground), a stock CSC Greaser (on the right), and Pro-One’s $49,995 Rogue (in the background), all from the same great group of folks here in our La Verne factory.

In prior posts, we mentioned Pro-One Performance Manufacturing, California Scooter’s sister company. Pro-One Performance Manufacturing designs and manufactures high performance V-twin accessories and complete V-twin performance motorcycles.  When Steve Seidner started Pro-One way back in 1989, his concept was to offer big-inch, high-performance motorcycles that made no compromises, and the effort has been a huge success. Pro-One has produced over 1,000 motorcycles since its inception, delivering motorcycles both in the United States and internationally. Production by American workers on these motorcycling masterpieces is continuing even in these tough times.

Pro-One motorcycles represent the ultimate in high end custom bike design and fabrication, and Pro-One was one of the first companies to offer complete, street-legal, high-performance V-twin customs. Pro-One is where CSC’s engineering heritage originates, so I thought a quick peek at the Pro-One bikes might be of interest to our California Scooter blog readers. 

As mentioned above, Pro-One offers a complete line of accessories for Harley-Davidsons and metric V-twins, and the company also offers four complete motorcycles: The Dominator, the Hyper 4, the Rogue, and the Vapor.  These are ultra-sleek custom motorcycles, with 121-cubic-inch, 100-horsepower engines delivering 121-ft-lbs of torque.   Rumor has it that when you crack the throttle on one of these torque monsters it can cause the earth to shift off its axis.  The Rogue and the Vapor have Softail-style rear suspension, and the Dominator and Hyper 4 use a Pro-One-designed 4-link rear suspension based on the approach used by Formula One race cars. The bikes are radically attractive, with incredibly well executed paint, chrome, billet, stainless steel braiding, and the kind of attention to detail you would expect from motorcycles costing as much as $49,995.

Wade is a long-term Pro-One master bike builder; he’s one of the guys who creates these mechanical marvels.  That’s Wade below with a brand new Pro-One Rogue.

Wade is the “go to” guy when it comes to building the Pro-One V-twins, and he’s been with us for nine years.  Wade customizes and services Harley-Davidson motorcycles, too.   He’s an all-around motorcycle maestro, and if you want a bike to sing, he’s the man to see.

Steve Seidner, our company president, has his hands in a lot of things here at California Scooter Company, but the thing he loves doing most is leading the design and production team.  He’s a man who just likes creating and making new bikes.  The good news for us is that the same team that does the Pro-One bikes also does the California Scooter Classic, Greaser, and Babydoll motorcycles.  These CSC motorcycles are literally built by the same people who build Pro-One motorcycles, and the CSC bikes get the same level of attention.

Let’s talk for a moment about how this high-end performance V-twin experience has carried over to the CSC motorcycles.

For starters, the CSC bikes have a near-complete absence of plastic (California Scooters are constructed almost entirely of steel and aluminum, including a steel gas tank and steel fenders).  You don’t see plastic on a $50K custom bike, and you don’t see it on a California Scooter, either.

Every CSC motorcycle makes extensive use of machined billet aluminum parts. These include the disk brake mounts, the rear wheel adjusters, the top and bottom triple fork yokes, the wheel hubs, the speedometer case, and the handlebar risers.  Here are a few photos showing the billet parts.

Steve likes chrome, and that’s evident on these little CSC jewels.  The forks, the seat springs, compartment covers, and lots of other pieces stopped at the plater before they came into our factory. 

Nearly everyone who sees these CSC motorcycles comments on the paint, including guys who ride some fairly expensive prestige bikes (BMWs, Triumphs, Harleys…you get the idea).  

Check out the mirror finish on this stock CSC Classic in black, and the chrome on the front end.  That’s a deeply polished black; you could comb your hair in it!   The paint on these bikes is world class.  And the custom bikes, well, keeping reading and we’ll get to them in a bit.

We’ve already mentioned the front and rear custom-designed disk brakes. Steve went first class here, too, incorporating braided stainless steel brake lines (a feature seen on very few factory motorcycles, including the high end marques mentioned above).

So far, we’ve only talked about the stock CSC motorcycles. If you want to create an all-out custom California Scooter, well, we’ve got you covered there, too.  You can take advantage of the talent reservoir this great organization has – the same design talent used on the Pro-One bikes.  Both stock and custom CSC motorcycles receive the same level of craftsmanship (by the same people) as a Pro-One performance V-twin, but there’s something a bit wild about a Mustang-sized motorcycle that’s had the full treatment. 

Here’s one I call the Creamsicle Classic…it’s a customized Classic done in pearlescent white and orange.

The attention lavished on the above bike is nothing short of amazing.  The custom paint is obvious, as is the pipe, the air filter, the seat, and many other items.  It’s the subtle touches that also contribute to the overall effect, like the bared edges on the engine’s cooling fins and the painted white handlebar.  This is a very, very cool bike.

And custom paint?  Well, if you like custom paint, take a look at these photos.  Here’s the tank on the $49,995 Rogue…

And here’s a tighter shot of the custom paint on the Creamsicle Classic…

The Classic, Greaser, and Babydoll motorcycles all have the same manufacturer’s suggested retail price ($4,995).  If you go for an all-out custom bike like the Creamsicle Classic shown above, it’s pretty hard to get these jewels north of, oh, say around $7,800.  A surprisingly high percentage of our customers do exactly that, using the same talent that goes into the big bikes at less than one-sixth the cost.

Like we said, from $4,995 to $49,995, we have you covered…

A week or two ago I talked about our top secret technical tasks on the legendary Yuill Brothers R&D dynamometer.  The Yuills operate Freedom Cycles, a great dealership up in Reno, Nevada (they sell Pro-One, CSC, Triumph, MV Augusta, and Vespa cycles, and they’ve been in business for 38 years).

Many of you are probably familiar with dynamometer testing, but for those of you who are not, here’s the Reader’s Digest version.  The way it works is the motorcycle is strapped into the dynamometer, with its rear wheel resting on two rollers.   As the motorcycle drives its rear wheel, the rear wheel drives the dynamometer rollers.  The two dyno rollers are attached to linkage and instrumentation that measure rear-wheel torque.  The dynamometer performs calculations to convert the torque measurements into horsepower as the motorcycle runs through its rpm range.  Other instrumentation measures the air/fuel mixture (more on this in a minute).   It’s complicated, but don’t worry about how the dyno does all this.  We just need to know that we can strap the bike in, wind it out, and the dyno will tell us horsepower, torque, and the air/fuel mixture throughout the rpm range.

Steve sent a CSC Classic up to the Yuills with a simple directive to optimize its performance, and wow, did they ever!  One of the first findings was that the bikes were geared way too low, so Steve changed the front and rear sprockets from a 17T/35T combination to a 16T/26T combination.   That change alone resulted in a huge improvement in how the bikes feel…they are dramatically more relaxed, with a much smoother ride.   The change basically dropped the engine speed about 1000 rpm in top gear.  It’s a change we incorporated on all bikes.

There’s a lot going on in one of these dyno runs, so a bit of explanation is in order here.  Each dyno run, like we mentioned above, evaluates three factors:  Horsepower, torque, and the air/fuel mixture.  Horsepower is a measure of the engine’s power.  Torque is the engine’s “grunt” (it’s what we feel in the seat of our pants when we crack the throttle).   The ideal air/fuel mix is 13.8 to 1, and we’d like that number to be met as closely as possible throughout the rpm range (it means the engine will run smoother, without being too lean or too rich).

The Yuills evaluated various combinations of needle settings, jetting, air cleaner type, exhaust pipe type, and (as mentioned above) gearing.

Here’s an early dyno run:

We can see in the above run that we attained 10.24 max horsepower, and the maximum torque is 7.09 ft-lb.  Not bad, but not as good as it can be.  We also see that the air/fuel mix does not adhere too closely to that ideal 13.8 ratio (that’s in the lower part of the chart).

Here’s another one where we get 10.77 horsepower, and a little more torque than the run above:

It’s better than the run above, and the idealized air/fuel mix is better (but still not right on the 13.8 line as closely as it could be).

Now, take a look at this run (which we really like)…

The torque is up to 8.07 ft-lbs, and that’s good news.  Really good news, actually.  Torque is what you feel when you crack the throttle.  It’s what makes riding a big V-twin such a rush; you get that kick right now, down low, without having to wind the engine out to a zillion rpm like you do on the multicylinder sports bikes.  And on this last run, notice how flat the torque curve is when it is at its maximum.  That’s another good thing.  It means that higher torque comes on sooner, and lasts longer.

You might be thinking wait a minute…I want more horsepower, and this last run is down a bit from the earlier runs.  Well, yeah, it is.   But that’s not the real story.  Our bikes are geared to run about 5400 rpm at 50 mph.  Take a look at the horsepower line for all three curves at that rpm.  In our last run, at 5400 rpm (where we will be doing most of our riding) the horsepower is actually higher.  That’s right – that last run gives us more power in the real world (at 5,400 rpm).  Unless your real world consists of running around at 8,000 or 9,000 rpm, the dyno tells us that on the last run (with its much higher and broader torque band, more power at normal engine speeds, and an air/fuel mix staying close to 13.8 throughout the rpm range) we have a much better-performing motorcycle.   And it is.  You can feel it as soon as you let the clutch out. 

Most of the time, if you want to extract the best performance from a motorcycle you have to buy dyno time and go through a number of runs evaluating gearing, jetting, exhaust systems, air filtering approaches, and other factors.  (If you just start bolting on high performance parts without dyno testing, you usually lower the motorcycle’s performance.)  The good news here is you won’t have to do this kind of testing with a CSC motorcycle.  Courtesy of the Yuill brothers, we already have all of that information, and you can configure your bike with a CSC performance kit to tune it for the kind of riding you like.

This is really cool stuff.   Dynamometer testing like this is usually only done on a few big V-twins and high performance sports bikes, and it’s not cheap.   Most folks never do it.  I’ve been around motorcycles since Moses crossed the Red Sea, and I’ve never seen it done on a small motorcycle.  It’s yet another touch that makes these CSC motorcycles unique.  To the Yuill boys up at Freedom Cycles, a tip of our helmets to you for a job well done!

I thought you guys and gals out there might enjoy a super shot of our percolating production line on another lovely La Verne day.   There’s rain coming here in southern California, but today was a great day for a ride.  More on that in a bit…first, our guys making your new motorcycles!

Sorry, folks, these bikes are all spoken for, but there’s more coming along right behind them!

We sure have great people working here at CSC, and we’ll be telling you a bit more about them in coming blogs.  We’re lucky folks because of the kinds of things we get to work on, and of course, because of our customers.  You’ve read about Jim Cavanaugh on this blog before…he’s the original Mustang plant manager, back when the Mustang Motor Products Corporation built bikes in Glendale.   Here’s a nice email I received from Jimbo this morning…

Hi Joe!…

I just thought I would drop a few lines, since it’s been about six months ago that I took delivery of my new CSC Classic!..Because I have three different restored Mustangs here, all show quality, I feel I have bragging rights based on the fact that this Classic also is show quality..It’s awesome..Everyone who sees  it agrees…Steve provided me with a custom made “heel-toe” gear shifter that is senior friendly, for sure!..I recommend this item!..My only problem is the weather!..Rain almost every day so all I can do is go out to the shop and start the Classic and listen to the beat of the exhaust…I’m looking forward to riding it along side of my Mustang Thoroughbred, which is not timid by any means….

Looks to me that you guys are doing everything just right so “keep doing it”!

Regards!….Jimbo

Jim, Oregon is a magnificent state; we toured it a couple of times and I’ve got some beautiful shots along the  coast.   Can’t help you much with the rain, though.  Speaking of beautiful shots, here’s one of you on your customized Classic…

Jimbo’s Classic has more than a few custom CSC touches on it.   If you like seeing these customs, keep watching this blog…wow, do we ever have some neat things coming right here in the next few days!

There are just so many exciting things happening that the toughest part of it all is deciding which ones to talk about.  All right, just one more bit of good news until the next blog…

TheScooterScoop.com is a website focused exclusively on small bikes (it’s America’s top small bike and scooter site, and it’s one of many sites that picked up the CSC story).  Steve Guzman is the guy who runs it, and he’s one interesting dude.  In addition to his Scooter Scoop activities, Steve is an associate editor for Motorcycle.com and Motorcycle-USA.com, so odds are you’ve already read his work.  We’re shipping a press bike to Steve in the next couple of days (it’s a gorgeous red Classic).  I know from first-hand experience he’ll love this CSC motorcycle.  You might wonder…how can I be so sure?    Well, I took a short spin on it today.  The sun was shining and the keys were in the ignition when I walked by…and I can’t pass up an opportunity like that.

Steve, you’re gonna have a lot of fun out there in the great state of Texas!

If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to check out the latest story on us, CSC Motorcycles Introduces a More Manly Scooter, appearing in Barnett’s Magazine.  Barnett’s is a mega-Harley-Davidson dealer in El Paso, Texas (a great place, and my old stomping grounds).  Barnett’s has the largest selection of Harley-Davidsons in the world.  They’re so big they publish their own well-respected magazine, and it is a great one.   Here are a few selected quotes from the Barnett’s article on CSC motorcycles:

I caught a glimpse of this bike the other day and knew exactly what it was, a recreation of one of the more interesting small bikes from America’s past. Most remember Cushman, with its ‘Harley-esque’ styling. Well Mustang was its hopped up cousin, evidently banned from flat track racing many years ago because it was humbling some of its full grown rivals. Mustangs were minibike-looking vehicles with huge engines. They could hit 60 or 70 mph which given their size, made them a hoot to ride….

…For all those guys who secretly would like a scooter but wouldn’t touch a step-through with a ten foot pole, here’s how you can run to the store in style without ridicule.

And speaking of hop up activities, oh boy, do we have a story to tell you…

Thanks to wizardry of the boys up at Yuill Brothers R&D and their dynamometer, would you believe horsepower gains of 34% and torque gains of 24% over our original engine configuration, all gained with improved “streetability?”  Well, the dyno doesn’t lie…and they are sending me electronic versions of the dyno runs so I can post them here for you to see.  Stay tuned…