CSC Blog

The CSC-150 carburetor

There are three Phillips-head screws that hold the float bowl onto the carburetor.   Remove all three screws and then take the float bowl off the carburetor, like you see in the next two photos.

The float bowl attach screws (there are three)

Removing the carb float bowl

Once the float bowl is off the carburetor, you’ll be able to see the main jet and its carrier. That’s the brass piece shown in the photo below.  The upper arrow is pointing to the carrier, and the lower arrow is pointing to the jet.

The main jet and its carrier

You can unscrew these from the carburetor using a flat head screw driver. 

Removing the main jet

The main jet and its carrier usually come out together, like the photo below shows.   As mentioned above, there are actually two pieces (the main jet, and the carrier).   The main jet is screwed into the carrier.  Sometimes when you attempt to remove both from the carb, the main jet unscrews and the carrier stays in the carb.  No problem there.  You can use a wrench to remove the carrier, or you can just leave it in the carb and work with the main jet only.  You can see these two pieces in the next two photos.

The main jet and carrier removed from the carburetor

The main jet unscrewed from its carrier

Here’s another shot of the main jet.  The stock set up uses a 108 main jet.  You can see the numbers on the side of the jet (see the photo below).  This is a real little piece, and the numbers are hard to see.

The standard 108 main jet

That main jet in the photo above is what we are going to replace.  If you are going to be riding at higher altitudes, you may want to go with a 102 main jet.  It has a smaller hole, so it lets in less fuel.  That will bring the air fuel mixture back into the correct range (the air is thinner at higher altitudes, so we want to use a smaller jet to keep the ratio of air and fuel in the right range).  Just take a 102 jet (which we can sell to you) and screw it into the carrier.   Save the 108 jet, because you may want to use it again when you ride your bike at lower altitudes. 

After you’ve swapped the jets, screw the carrier and the jet back into the carburetor.  You can use a wrench to snug it up just a bit beyond finger tight.  Don’t overdo it; just a light torque will work (these are delicate parts).

The main jet and its carrier reinstalled in the carburetor

Let’s take a closer look at the carburetor while we still have the float bowl off.  The blue arrow in the photo below points to the D screw that we use to adjust the air fuel mixture at idle.   You’ll have access to this with the float bowl installed, but I wanted to show it to you with the float bowl off.  It’s a little bit harder to see with the float bowl installed and it’s less accessible.  We sell a special D tool for this adjustment that I’ll show you in a bit.

The air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

Here’s a shot of the float bowl off the carburetor.  The blue arrow points to the cutout area that allows access to the D screw when the float bowl is installed.

The float bowl, which provides access for the air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

Once you’ve installed the new jet into the carrier, and then installed the carrier and the jet into the carburetor, you can reinstall the float bowl back onto the carburetor.  Make sure you fully screw in the float bowl drain screw (you don’t want to let fuel flow out of the carburetor when reopen the fuel petcock on the left side of the gas tank).

Here’s a shot showing the D screw with the float bowl installed.

The air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw, seen with the float bowl installed

Here’s a photo of the D wrench we use for adjusting the air-fuel-mixture screw.   Tony likes to mark it so that he can track the number of turns.  

The D-wrench used for the air-fuel-mixture adjustment screw

So, your bike is completely back together, and you’re ready to make final adjustments.  What I would do first is simply start the bike, let it warm up, and see how it idles.  If it’s idling okay, I’m not going to make any adjustments to the D screw.  

If the bike is not idling okay, I know I’ll need to adjust the air fuel idle mix with the D screw.  What we normally use as a starting point is this:  We’ll completely screw in the D screw (but don’t force it once it bottoms, or you can damage the carb), and then back it out three turns.  That’s a starting point.  We’ll then make quarter or half turn adjustments in either direction until the bike idles properly.  You’ll want to make this adjustment after the bike has warmed up, with the choke off.

Adjusting the air-fuel-mixture screw with the D-wrench

Folks, that’s about it.   The tough part about this is that, like I said earlier, it’s not an exact science.  There’s a little bit of playing with the jet size selection (we’ve suggested going from the stock 108 to a 102 main jet if you’re going to be running at higher altitude), and there may be a bit of playing with the air fuel mix at idle using the D screw. 

You can normally tell from a short test ride if eveything is okay (and that’s mostly all I ever do), but the real test is this…run the bike on the road for a bit, and then pull the spark plug.  If it’s white at the tip, you’re running too lean and you’ll need to go back up a bit on the jet size.  If it’s black and sooty, you’re running too rich and you’ll need to run a smaller jet size.  If it’s a nice light tan color, everything’s just right!

I had a unique opportunity today.

We’re shipping lots of bikes overseas these days. One of our overseas customers who bought a full shipping container of California Scooters and accessories also picked up a Sachs MadAss, a bike with very unusual modern styling.  He asked us to pack the MadAss into the shipping container with all of his new CSC motorcycles, and we’re  happy to oblige.   The really cool part is that we had an opportunity to wring out the Sachs.  Hey, that’s we live for…checking out new bikes and comparing them to ours.

Two flat black bad boys...the CSC Greaser and the Sachs MadAss

The title of this blog is a cool one, and it naturally flows from the name Sachs gave to their bad boy (the MadAss), and what more than a few folks have called our Greaser.  The Madass and the BadAss.  Cool.

For starters, we don’t view the MadAss as a competitor to our bikes.  Nobody that I’m aware of ever labored over trying to decide whether to buy a CSC motorcycle versus a Sachs (or a CSC versus anything else, for that matter).  Folks who want a California Scooter wouldn’t consider any other bike, and I’m sure folks who buy other iconic products feel the same way (folks who pull the trigger on a Vespa, a Harley, a BMW, or a KLR 650 know what they want, and they typically don’t consider other marques).  

That said, I’ll tell you that the Sachs appears to me to be a good product.  It’s not something I’d buy, but I recognize that the folks who engineered and built the MadAss did a good job.

A detail composite shot of both bikes' engines and tanks

Some things I noticed about the Sachs immediately…the seat is tall (way tall), and it slopes forward.  I felt like I was sliding forward off the thing the whole time I was on it, and my wrists were carrying a lot more weight than they would on my red CSC Classic.  Something else that was a little unusual…the kill switch on the Sachs does not cut off everything.  I almost ran the battery down trying to start the Sachs’ 125cc mainland Chinese motor before Tony noticed the kill switch was in the “kill” position.  On our bikes, if the kill switch is in the kill position, the bike and everything on it is dead (lights, starting circuit, engine, etc.). We like that for safety reasons.

So after I finally realized what was going on with the kill switch (a “duh” moment if ever there was one), I got the little Sachs out on the road.  I’ll tell ya, it wasn’t bad (other than feeling like I was gonna slide forward off the seat).  It was pretty peppy, but it topped out about 10 mph lower than my California Scooter.  I guess that’s to be expected with the smaller engine (theirs is a 125, ours is a 150). The styling is different, and to me, it evoked a kind of moped image.  Not bad, but nothing I’d really be interested in for a personal bike.  It’s all part of the fun in getting to try to new bikes.

Our next comparo test?

Or maybe old bikes.   Hmmmm.   There’s that ’53 Mustang Pony on the other side of the wall.  What do you think?   Should I convince Steve to let me ride it and do a comparison test to a new California Scooter?

Our good buddy Jim Cavanaugh emailed this one to me…and it’s a Deusy! I’d like to be able to tell you we do stuff like this on our California Scooters all the time, but, well, take a look…

We’ve had quite a few folks write to us asking about our new tank badges. You’ve probably seen them here on the blog and in our other news.  We went to new tank badges about a month ago featuring our name, CSC Motorcycles.  It’s a raised emblem with an adhesive backing, and it’s pretty slick.  You can see it in the upper left portion of the photo below.

CSC logos...the upper left shows our new CSC Motorcycles logo on a red Classic, the upper right shows our original California Scooter logo on a Greaser, the lower left shows our CSC USA logo on a desert camo Military Series bike, and the lower right shows a hand-painted custom logo on our world speed record LSR race bike.

So why the change? 

Well, there are several reasons.

A maroon Classic with the new tank emblem.

For starters, we think it just looks cool, but there’s more to it than that.  We’ve had a few folks befuddled by our California “Scooter” name…you know the drill…is it a Scooter or is it a motorcycle?  Well, technically it’s a motorcycle, but like a lot of old school folks, we call anything with two wheels and an engine a “Scooter.”  My old Harley, my Triumph, or just about anything else is a Scooter in our book.  But the Scooter moniker is a bit confusing, so we are now badging our bikes as CSC Motorcycles.  The new name is cool, and it follows a long line of three letter motorcycle companies (BSA, JAP, KTM, ATK, BMW, etc.).  And finally, we’ve had a lot of requests for bikes with no decal on the tank.  We had a coat of clear paint over the old logo, so removing it was no simple matter (it required a new paint job).  With the new logo, if you want a plain tank, you can just peel the CSC Motorcycles badge off the tank.

Our new tank badge now comes standard on everything we make except the Military Series bikes.  The OD green Military Series bikes get a big white star, and the desert and jungle camo bikes get a military stenciled font (like you see in the photo).  And of course, we can custom paint just about anything you’d ever want.  The lower right image shows our LSR (that’s Land Speed Record) bike with a custom painted logo.  That’s cool, too.

My bike is a red Classic (one of the very first ones), and it has the original California Scooter logo. I like it a lot.  But I really like the new logo, too.  It works well on all of our bikes, and some just stop me in my tracks (we shipped a maroon Classic with saddlebags last week, and that one was drop dead gorgeous).

As you may know, we are ideally situated with front row seats for the annual 4th of July fireworks show here in the Pomona Valley. We’re directly across the street from the Pomona fairgrounds, and that’s where the fireworks are launched. It’s a cool deal for a lot of reasons. One is that there are shows in the neighboring towns, too, so we get to watch those from a distance, and then we’re up close and personal to the Pomona show when it starts.

CSC hosts a party for all of our folks at the plant on the 4th of July (we call it our KaBoom! Party). All of our CSC team members, their relatives and friends, friends of friends, and…well, you get the idea. We probably had a hundred people here last night for a fantastic fireworks show, but that wasn’t the best part. The best part was everybody bringing home-made desserts. And folks, I gotta tell you, I’ve got a lot of walking I need to do to burn off what I ate last night. The absolute star of the show was Joyce’s coconut cake (you’ll see it in the video below)…it was simply delicious – a wonderful treat at a wonderful party!

We’re already getting calls about our proposed Napa Valley trip (see the blog a couple of posts down). If you’re in northern California, it’s gonna be a snap for you participate. If you’re in So Cal, we’ll work something out where we can trailer the bikes up to Napa Valley. I know for hard core adventure riders like Arlene that’s not an issue (my guess is she’ll want to ride the entire distance from So Cal, and I may well do that, too), but for those of you who want to have us bring your bike up to Napa Valley, we’re happy to do so if we get enough riders. Keep an eye on the blog, and we’ll keep you posted!

The 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday, and my guess is that it’s one of yours, too. Who doesn’t remember going to see the fireworks as a kid, and who doesn’t enjoy a cookout on this most American of all holidays?

A photo from last year's KaBoom 4th of July CSC party!

We’re taking it easy today…just kind of hanging around the house, kicking back, playing a bit on the computer, and watching TV. We’re going over to the CSC plant tonight for the KaBoom party, and it’s gonna be fun. California Scooter Company is directly across the street from the Pomona fairgrounds, and we have ringside seats to watch the fireworks right from our factory! I snapped some great photos last year, and tonight I’m going to grab a few videos with my little Flip camera. So watch for the videos tomorrow, enjoy the holiday, ride safe if you’re on your California Scooter today, and stay tuned!

Susie and I subscribe to the NY Times on the weekend.  It’s a magnificent newspaper with great writing, and they carry interesting stories (far more so than the LA Times, in my opinion).  While I was enjoying my morning coffee and a tasty sun-dried-tomato-and-mushroom omelet, I found that today was no exception.  The NY Times travel section had a three-page story about touring Italy’s Collio wine region, enjoying the vineyards, sampling the vino, and doing it all on little yellow 125cc Vespas.  Hey, we’re not in Italy with our California Scooters just yet, so they are making do with the little Italian wasps (that’s what “Vespa” means in Italian).

A NY Times photo accompanying its story on a Vespa tour of Italy's Collio wine country

The story and its accompanying artwork are great, and the fact that it appeared today is more than interesting.   Like a good friend of mine says, there are no coincidences.  As it turns out, Steve and I were just talking about organizing a Napa Valley tour for our California Scooter riders a couple of nights ago.  Napa Valley is our wine country, and our wines are as good or better than any in the world.  That story in the NY Times was there for a reason (I don’t think it was just a coincidence), and I’m taking it as a call to action:  How about a 2-day California Scooter Napa Valley wine country tour?

It’s up to you guys this time…we’ve got quite a few CSC motorcycles running around California now, so if you’re interested in having us organize something like this, just let us know. I’m thinking maybe in late August or early September, not more than 50 or 60 miles each day, and doing it on a Saturday and Sunday.  It will be a BYOB event (that’s “bring your own bike”), but we’ll organize it and make it easy for any of our riders who want to join us.

Just let me know, folks!

You might think from the title that I’m writing about what I felt like on the Mexico ride last year, but no, I’m referring to the Iron Butt Rally. It’s the extreme sport for long distance riders – 11,000 miles in 11 days. Yep, that’s right, a thousand miles a day for 11 days. The folks who normally participate in this event have all kinds of electronic navigation goodies, auxiliary fuel tanks, and other high tech gadgetry on high end, sports touring roadburners, but I saw something in my email today that really got my attention.  My good buddy Alan Spears over at MSILSF sent it to me.

Check this out:  John Young finished the Iron Butt yesterday on a 1969 Triumph Trident…he finished the most grueling motorcycle event in the United States on a 42-year-old British motorcycle!

John Young and his Iron Butt 1969 Triumph Trident

As you know, among the big bikes, I’ve always liked Triumphs. I don’t ride big bikes too much any more since being introduced to my California Scooter, but if I did, I’d be on a Triumph again.

The Triumphs today, though, are not like the Triumphs from the 1960s…the ones today are modern bikes with all the goodies and super reliability.  But back in the ‘60s…well, let’s just say Lucas earned its “Prince of Darkness” moniker and leave it at that (Lucas manufactured the electrical stuff for Brit bikes in those days).  Finishing the Iron Butt on a 1969 Triumph is an impressive feat, and Mr. Young, our hats are off to you, sir!

And a word or two about that Trident…the Trident (and its cousin, the BSA Rocket III) were supposed to be the bikes that would hold back the onslaught of Japanese bikes in the 1960s and beyond.  Both the Triumph and British triples were good bikes, but it was a classic case of too little, too late.  Honda came out with its four-cylinder 750 in 1969, and that bike was the beginning of the end for the British motorcycle empire. I’ve talked about that before here in this blog, but I want to mention it again as the lead into an upcoming blog.  My good neighbor and friend Bill restores classic Hondas (including several 750 Fours he’s working on right now), and sometime in the near future I’ll include a story about him.

Stay tuned, boys and girls!

Steve and I rode with the Los Angeles Scooter Group guys and gals last night to see an advance screening of the new Tom Hanks movie, Larry Crowne. There were about 20 of us and we had a good time.  The LA Scooter Group sure is a fun bunch of folks.  We rode from North Hollywood (NoHo, get it?) to the Sherman Oaks Galleria, and it was a great ride there and back.

One of the LA Scooter Group riders raced ahead to get on the top level of the Sherman Oaks Galleria parking structure to grab this shot when we rode over to see Larry Crowne…

Check out the yellow arrows pointing to two riders in this photo...that's Steve on the left, and yours truly on the right!

Several Los Angeles Scooter Group riders posted photos from this great ride, and you can view them all here (that’s where I grabbed the shot above).

So, the movie….it was good. It is definitely more of a romantic comedy than a motor scooter movie, but the scooters played a cool supporting role. Tom Hanks rode a Yamaha Riva that Mike Frankovich at NoHo Scooters provided (Mike hooked up Universal Studios with all of the scooters used in the movie). Tom Hanks and crew rode an interesting collection of bikes that pretty much mirrored the scooters on our ride last night…Vespas, Genuine Buddy, a Yamaha or two…you get the idea. I rode alongside a fellow last night who was on a 1958 two-stroke Vespa.  Interesting stuff.

The movie’s story line is centered around Larry Crowne (played by Tom Hanks) losing his job and going back to school at a community college. I’ve read that Universal shot this movie at Cal State Dominguez Hills, which is just south of Los Angeles. Julia Roberts is one of his teachers. George Takei, of Star Trek fame, is one of the others.   Julia Roberts, of course, is Mr. Hanks’ co-star.

To me, the classroom scenes were the funniest parts. I do a little teaching myself (I teach in the engineering college at Cal Poly Pomona), and it was fun watching how Julia Roberts interacted with her students. She threw an eraser at one who was sleeping, which is something I’ve always wanted to do (but I think I’d get in trouble if I did).

Our ride back was great – a cool summer evening, lots of night life and neon on the streets of Los Angeles, and our fabulous California Scooters. We had a lot of compliments from the other scooteristas, and we enjoyed riding with them.

That’s it for now, folks. The 4th of July is looming large, and I’m looking forward to the long weekend. We’re having a KaBoom party at the plant on Monday night, and we’ll be watching the fireworks at the Pomona Fairgrounds across the street. To all of you military folks who are serving or who have served, our thanks to you!  And to everyone, enjoy the holiday…we sure plan to!

Yep, I rode over to Merenderos’ for lunch yesterday for a chicken taco and a glass of ice cold pineapple juice (wow, that stuff is good), and as always, my CSC motorcycle du jour draw a crowd.  I grabbed Bill Murar’s Lake Erie Loop bike, which is a strong-running little jewel in what is rapidly becoming my favorite color…these bikes just look great in blue.

This shot from yesterday shows my new friend (and fellow Merendero’s diner) Paul checking out my ride…

My good buddy Paul on Bill Murar's baby blue Classic at Merendero's

Yesterday was such a nice day that after lunch I took a quick spin up in the hills above Pomona. These bikes are just made to run up and down our mountain roads, especially with the 28T rear sprocket. Here’s a shot looking across the Pomona Valley with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background. Yeah, I know, it’s tough duty…

Looking out over the Pomona Valley...this bike ran in the Lake Erie Loop last year!

Erika and Amanda are on their way here as I type to pick up their bikes for the Westside Motorcycle Academy…oops, they’re here now…

Okay, I just watched what may well be the easiest upload of a motorcycle on a pickup truck I’ve ever seen…check this out!

Hey, check out this beautiful Classic in maroon with whitewall tires…it’s one of three going to the Reid family. Andy was crating the bikes for shipment this morning and I was able to grab this shot before they went in their boxes.

Andy with one of the Reid family's new CSC Classics...they bought three!

Maroon is another color that really works, especially with the whitewall tires. But then, all of the colors work. I still really like my red Classic.  And I’m gonna ride it this afternoon when Steve and I go with the NoHo Scooters crowd to see Tom Hanks’ new movie, Larry Crowne. I’ll have photos of that for you tomorrow, too, folks.

Ride safe!