CSC Blog

I’m back in California at the CSC plant and the new showroom is coming along nicely.   My guess is that all of the work will be finished next week.   Things are still under construction so I don’t have any cool photos to share with you, but watch for new ones in the next week or so.

We’re finalizing plans for the Destinations Deal Tour, and we have a couple of openings left.  If you want to ride with us, please send an email to us at info@cscmotorcycles.com with your name, your phone number, and your email.   We’re making hotel reservations on Monday of next week, and at this point we need your confirmation.

That’s it for now, folks.  Keep an eye on the blog.   Like always, we’ll have more good stuff to share with you, and you’ll see it here first.

Now this is cool…a Turkish photography contest!It’s going on right now on Facebook (here’s the link), and it’s pretty cool in that the photo they are using for the Facebook group title page (and on that poster above) is one I shot…it shows RX3s in front of the CSC plant in Azusa, California!  It sure would be cool if you join that group and post photos of your RX3s here in the US.

I met with some of the Turkish RX3 riders on my last secret mission to that beautiful country.  Some day I hope to ride Turkey; it really is an amazing land.  Istanbul, Kayseri, Cappadocia, Ankara, Pergamon, Ephusus, Izmir, the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Grand Bazaar, the Straits of Bosphorus…there’s just so much to see and do over there.  And the food…all I can say is wow!  Yeah, we have to do a ride through Turkey some day…

Our good buddy Angel, a TT250 rider, recently posted these awesome photos on Facebook.  With his permission, I’m sharing them here on the CSC blog…

The vintage bikes are in the Talbott museum here in California.

Angel, your photography is amazing!   Thanks for letting us share your talent with the rest of the CSC community.

Wow, what an action-packed 24 hours this has been!   Our guide has an awesome truck that’s a Jeep body on top of a Chevy Blazer chassis with a 350 cubic inch V8, 35-inch wheels, and the goodies it needs to get up and down the goat trails we covered last night…

We arrived at the ranch in Arizona yesterday and we hunted last night and this morning.  To cut to the chase, we had a successful hunt.  Paul nailed a monster boar last night, and I got mine this morning.  I’m not one for posting gory “kill” photos, so you won’t see any of that here. But I will tell you Paul’s .270 Winchester did the job, and so did my .30-06.  We both used our own reloaded ammo, and everything worked the way it was supposed to.

We’re up in the mountains above Kingman, where both the temperature and the scenery are cool.

This trip was a big deal for both of us.  I like hunting (I’ll make no apologies for that), and it’s been way too long since I’ve been on a trip like this.  This was my third time chasing hogs, and it’s the first time I got one.  It’s a pretty cool feeling.

Paul and I are both having the meat processed and I imagine we’ll both be hosting pork BBQs in the near future.   I’m told wild boar is much better tasting than farm-raised pork because the meat is a lot leaner.  We’ll see.

So we’re heading back to California later today, and then it will be time to start preparing for the next adventures…Singapore, Thailand, and then later in October, the CSC Destinations Deal Tour.  I’m really looking forward to it!

After an all-day drive, we’re here in the bunkhouse of our Arizona hunting lodge.   There are a  lot of cool trophies inside.

For us, the action starts later this afternoon.  The game is Russian boar, just like that mount you see at the top of this post.

Stay tuned…

Gerry Edwards, motorcycle maestro.

Last  year I had a Chevy dealer service my Corvette with predictable results.  The steering wheel was tilted to the left after an alignment, they told me the battery was fine (but I needed a new one a couple of months later), and they charged me for lubing the door hinges (I could see they had not).   The follow on interactions pretty much followed most of the experiences I’ve had with dealers…several trips back to fix the things they screwed up (it took three returns to get the steering wheel pointing straight ahead).  I was most bothered by the fact that they charged me for labor to lube the door hinges (I mean, who charges for such things?) without having done the work.  When I asked about that and showed them that the hinges had not been lubricated, the service manager explained that they didn’t have the required lubricant.  I don’t know what was more disturbing:  The fact that they charged me for something they had not done, or the service manager’s belief that not having the required materials somehow justified that bit of fraud.   Why, I wondered, couldn’t I find a service outfit for my Z06 with the same competence level as Gerry Edwards and his guys?  That’s that I wanted; a automotive technician with the skills and honesty that we have in our CSC motorcycle maintenance staff.

Well, I found one, but I got to it in a roundabout way.   We stopped going to the BMW dealer as soon as our 4 years of “free” maintenance ended on my wife’s car (what a joke that “free” maintenance was, but that’s a story for another time).   My buddy Marty (whose wife also drives an Uber-mobile) alerted me to an independent shop in our neighborhood.  Taylor BMW, to be precise.   We’ve always been happy with the work Taylor did for us (far more so than we ever were with the U-boat captains at the BMW dealership).

Taylor branched out, or expanded, or whatever you want to call it.  They opened another independent service place right next to their BMW shop, and this one focuses on American cars.   One day last week while driving home from CSC, I could feel the front brakes pulsating in the Vette.   I was due for a brake job.  There’s no way I would return to the Chevy dealer (I could hear them already…yeah, we charged you for pads, but we didn’t have any), so I thought I would try the new US option at Taylor’s.

When I stopped at Taylor’s with my Corvette, I noticed a very cool (and very old) Opel station wagon with a racing number on the side.  Mike (the manager) came out to meet me.  I told him what I needed and how I wanted to make sure the service tech didn’t sit in my car with screwdrivers sticking out of his pocket and….

Before I got any further, Mike (with a German accent, no less) told me, “Joe, see that Opel?  It’s mine, and I know exactly what you want.  I race autocross and the guys who work here work on my car.  Nobody here will do anything that hurts your car.  We are car people.”

Mike, in his 47-year old Autocross Opel.

Wow.  There’s something about an auto tech with a German accent that automatically instills a sense of confidence.  I liked the guy immediately.

When I returned later that day, my car was ready, it had been washed, and it was perfect.   Mike and I spoke a little more, and he told me about his Opel.  It has custom, period correct magnesium racing wheels (he found three wheels in one country and one in another).  It has a super-rare Steinmetz intake manifold and a custom carburetor.  It looked to me like it had new paint, but Mike explained that he spent a lot of time buffing it.   He took me inside the shop and showed me the ventilated disks that came off my car (they were way heavier than I would have thought).  Mike told me he put ceramic pads on my Z06 instead of the stock pads because “it’s what a car like yours should have.”

A very clean engine engine compartment showcasing a Steinmetz intake, a custom carb, and more.

On the drive home, the Corvette did the same thing both of my CSC motorcycles do every time I ride them.  It brought a smile to my face.  I am one happy camper.

I’m headed to Arizona to chase pigs very early Tuesday morning, so today I was out and about running errands.  The weather has taken a decided turn for the better here in the Peoples’ Republik of Kalifornia (no rain and the heat wave seems to be over), and it was just perfect for running around town on my TT250.   I do love my TT, and I love getting my knees in the breeze on that motorcycle.

I’m doing lots of travel these days.  After the boar hunt, I’m off to Singapore and Thailand (more secret mission stuff), and then a few days after I return, we’re starting our CSC Destinations Deal Tour.

I’m eager to get out on the next road trip, and that’s our RX3 run from 22 October to 27 October.   You can read our press release on it below.  This ride is going to be grand.   California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.  I can’t wait.

The new showroom is coming along nicely.  I was in the plant on Saturday and there’s lots happening.   Stop by when you get a chance, and I’ll post some photos when our new showroom is complete.

Busy, busy, busy…just the way we like it!

No, I’m not talking about the old Colt .45 sixgun, but I am reaching back a few years.  The Peacemaker in question is the United States Air Force B-36.   Quite an airplane, the B-36 was.   It was the world’s largest piston-engined combat aircraft, and it had a wingspan larger than a Boeing 747.  Six radial piston engines, four jet engines, and engineering that was something right out of science fiction movie.   I came across this YouTube video a little while ago and I thought I would share it with you.

The above scene was filmed at Carswell Air Force Base just outside of Fort Worth, Texas.  The B-36 was built by Convair (which became General Dynamics, which became Lockheed, which became Lockheed Martin), and they shared the runway with Carswell AFB.  I worked at General Dynamics when I got out of the Army (I was on the engineering team that designed the F-16) and I really got excited when I watched the video…the buildings you see in the background during the B-36 takeoff are the General Dynamics plant.   It’s a pretty cool airplane and General Dynamics was a great place to start an engineering career.  The guy I worked for there (an old timer named Lou Rackley) had actually been on the B-36 design team.  The old guys had a lot of cool B-36 stories, and ultimately, General Dynamics restored a B-36 and parked it along the expressway leading into the factory.  That plane was enormous.  Good times.

One of the great things about being associated with CSC is the team…we have an absolutely outstanding group of people.  I get to see the team nearly every day.  Many of you have stopped by the plant and you’ve met some of our people.   Many more of our riders and fans talk to us via telephone and email.  From time to time we’ve posted photos on the blog, but we thought it would be a good idea to let you see everybody for those of you who haven’t had an opportunity to meet us in person.   So here we go, from top to bottom and left to right, it’s:

• Steve, Maureen, and Patty in the first row,
• Gerry, Wade, and Sara in the second row,
• Carlos, Joey, and Christina in the third row,
• Andy, TK, and Matt in the fourth row, and
• Joe and a few of you in the last row.

Take a look, and I’ll tell you a bit about each of us below…

Steve and Maureen (who you see in the first row) are the owners.  Steve handles the company’s operations and most of you have already met Steve (either in person or on the phone).  Maureen is our CFO and chief strategist.   If you’re wondering where a lot of our great ideas originate (our approach to market, our online maintenance tutorials, things such as the “Don’t Miss The Boat” program, and many of our other “outside the box” ideas), it’s all her.   Maureen is the person who hired me; she drove out to my home and interviewed me while I was still recuperating from a motorcycle crash 9 years ago.

Patty has been with the company nearly from Day One.  She’s our office manager.   I’ve concluded Patty started working here when she was 2 (I’m basing that on how long she’s been with the company).  Patty started with the Pro-One Performance Manufacturing organization (one of our other companies).  Patty is super nice.  I like everybody who works here, and I especially like Patty.

Gerry is well known in the motorcycle world, having been a motorcycle racer, a sidecar racer, and a BMW whiz from way back.  He’s our Service Department Manager.   I’ve never seen Gerry flustered about anything, and I can tell you from personal experience that he can work miracles on a motorcycle.  Gerry’s the guy who walked me through all of the maintenance tutorials we’ve posted on line.  He’s an easy guy to talk to and if it’s anything related to motorcycle maintenance, Gerry is the “Go To” guy.

Wade is super cool.  He’s our Accessories Manager, and he’s also the focal point for all of our Harley service, custom work, and related activities.  Some of the bikes Wade has created would take your breath away.  Wade has an easy smile (except, as I found out, when you’re photographing him) and a killer sense of humor, and I really like being around him.   He’s a shooter, too, and we talk guns a lot.

Sara does everything.  If you call into CSC, odds are she’s the one who answers the phone.  Sara handles sales, administrative stuff, our data lists, shipping bikes to our customers, and much more.   She’s another one who’s always ready with a quick smile.  I like her a lot.

Carlos, the handsome dude you see on the left side of the third row, is one of our service techs.  Carlos is one of those people who is always in good spirits (come to think of it, all of us here are).  Another cool thing about Carlos is he’s bilingual, and when we’re setting up hotel reservations and such for our Baja expeditions, Carlos is our key guy for communicating with our friends in Baja.   He’s helped me a lot on the Baja rides.

Joey is one of our newest service technicians.  He’s relatively new here, but he’s been wrenching on motorcycles for a long time.   A cool thing about Joey is that his son is a spitting image of Dad; the first time I saw the two of them together I thought I was seeing double.   Joey is a shooter, too.   He’s another guy I like talking guns and bikes with.

Christina is one of the newest additions to our staff.   She works Sales, consignments, bike ads, and everything that goes with taking in and selling motorcycles.  Christina has a very well established track record in the motorcycle industry, and like all of us, she’s a rider (her personal scoot is a Harley Sportster).

Moving to the fourth row in our photo gallery above, we’ll start with Andy on the left.  Andy is another guy with a long tenure here at CSC (and before that, Pro-One Performance Manufacturing).   Andy is a rockabilly dude, and he’s super nice.   I don’t think I’ve ever seen Andy without a smile.

TK is another long-timer and a good friend.  TK works in sales, and he’s one of the first guys I met when I started with CSC.   TK and I have done many, many rides on our replica Mustangs.  TK has a lot of the same interests I do, and you should see his killer Subie WRX.

Matt (that young guy you see on the Cafe Racer who looks like a movie star) is our webmaster, MIS dude, and accessories guy.   If it’s anything computer-related, Matt is our man.  He’s helped me a lot with things I wanted to do on the blog and he’s another one of those people I just like being around.

The guy on the left in the last row is me.  I write the blog and I organize the CSC adventure rides.  Don’t tell anyone, but I think I have more fun than anybody else at CSC.

And finally, there’s all of you.  I couldn’t fit all of our customers in the photo collage above, so I grabbed a photo from one of our company rides.   None of this would be possible without you, and we recognize your great contributions to our company.  We’re in this together and we think about you every day.   Delivering high-quality and high-value motorcycles (and the adventure riding experience) to you guides everything we do.

… and it’s on our upcoming Destinations Deal Tour.   You can read all about it here!

CSC riders enroute to the Grand Canyon in 2015. We’ll stop at this exact spot on the Destinations Deal Tour for one of many group photos!

You know, it’s one thing to get glued to the keyboard reading and posting comments on Facebook and the Internet forums.  It’s a whole other thing to actually get out and live the adventure.   Which group do you want to belong to?   Drop us a line at info@CSCMotorcycles.com or give us a call at 909 445 0900, and come ride with us!