Tag: California Scooter Company

Mustang Reborn: California Scooter Company

It was a bad one as motorcycles accidents go, and my recovery was a lengthy one.  A friend contacted me and asked if (while I was recovering) I’d like to write Internet responses to the keyboard commandos badmouthing a company making a new Mustang motorcycle.  Would I ever…and that’s how I hooked up with CSC Motorcycles and the modern Mustang.  The story is fascinating.  Here’s a bit of it, which appeared as a sidebar to my Motorcycle Classics Mustang article.

Ed Seidner founded one of the largest motorcycle superstores in the country, Bert’s Mega Mall in Covina, California, which today sells new Hondas, Ducatis, Triumphs and more. Son Steve ran that operation until he branched out on his own, starting motorcycle accessory company Pro-One Performance Manufacturing.

Ed never had a Mustang, but his friend Billy Buster had one when they were kids and Ed always wanted one. Steve grew up hearing stories about Billy Buster and his Mustang, so he decided to do something about it. He bought an unrestored 1954 Mustang on eBay and took it home to the Pro-One production facility to restore it, a surprise gift for Ed. Steve quickly discovered three things: Customers walked right past ultra-sleek Pro-One V-twins for a better look at the unrestored Mustang, the Mustang was
a simple design, and the little bike was solid. In fact, after Steve drained the stale gas, cleaned the fuel lines and filled the bike’s peanut tank, the old Mustang started on the first kick.

A 1954 unrestored Mustang with a new CSC-150 California Scooter.

Steve’s response was swift. With the 56-year-old Mustang as a template, he started California Scooter Company (www.californiascooterco.com), making the bikes he believes Mustang would build today. The new CSC motorcycles are EPA and CARB approved with modern amenities like electric start, turn signals, speedometer, hydraulic disc brakes, etc.

The bikes are built in La Verne, California, about 30 miles from the original Mustang factory, while the engines are sourced from Asia. Three years after introducing the 150cc CSC 150, CSC introduced the 250cc P51, taking the P51 designation from the World War II Mustang airplane. With its larger 250cc counterbalanced single overhead cam engine, the P51 absolutely rips. The Mustang formula — short wheelbase, light weight and 12-inch wheels — still works.

CSC-150 Mustang Replicas in Baja. That’s the Sea of Cortez in the background. We were at the Tropic of Cancer when I snapped this photo.  We rode our CSC-150s all the way down to Cabo San Lucas and back without a single breakdown.

So how does the new compare to the old? Fully broken in, my 150cc red CSC Classic tops out at about 66mph. With their 320cc engines, the original Mustangs were crazy fast. My geezer buddies tell me a stock Mustang would do 70mph (how they knew that is beyond me, as Mustangs didn’t get speedometers until the late 1950s). I’ve touched 80mph on the new P51.

I’ve ridden vintage Mustangs, but because of their value I was afraid to push them too hard. The old Mustangs feel a little wobbly to me, but of course they have old forks and old tires. The new bikes benefit from more than 50 years of advancements in technology. When I take my CSC on Glendora Ridge Road, the bike is light, tight and an absolute delight through the twisties. Which bike is faster or better is moot. Both are awesome, and each offers a riding experience like no other. There’s one fact, though, that riders of vintage Mustangs and new California Scooters both have to accept:
You can’t go anywhere without drawing a smiling crowd. — Joe Berk

As I mentioned in the prelude to this blog, when I wrote the Mustang story for Motorcycle Classics magazine I was also a consultant to CSC Motorcycles.  CSC Motorcycles stopped producing Mustang replicas a few years ago (around the same they started importing the advernture touring RX3), so there are no more new California Scooter Mustang replicas.  But the modern Mustangs do come up for sale now and then, and the best way to find one is by contacting CSC directly. If you’d like to know more about CSC, their Mustang replicas, and how the company became the North American importer of Zongshen motorcycles, you should pick up a copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.

Would you like to know about our CSC Mustang ride through Baja, as well other forays into Baja?   It’s all right here, in full color, in Moto Baja!

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The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of CSC

“Time’s fun when you’re having flies,” as the frogs like to say.

Susie and I were headed north in the Subie and we stopped at the In-N-Out in Gilroy.  I had an Animal Style burger.  We had just had a nice telephone conversation with Steve Seidner, CEO of CSC Motorcycles.  The two events had me thinking about the California Scooter Steve donated to the In-N-Out foundation.  I realized that had been 11 years ago.  Time speeds up as we age, I think.  It feels like it was yesterday.

Steve donated a custom built bike to the In-N-Out charity auction every year during the California Scooter days, each one painted with a custom theme, with all proceeds going to the In-N-Out Foundation.  That year, the good folks at In-N-Out asked us to base the color theme on Melanie Troxel’s In-N-Out funny car.

Melanie Troxel’s In-N-Out Funny Car.

The 2011 In-N-Out California Scooter was simply magnificent. Chrome Lucky 13 wheels, custom paint, a painted frame, a custom seat…ah, the list went on and on.  I watched Lupe and Tony put the In-N-Out bike together and it was a hoot.

That year’s In-N-Out dinner and auction was awesome.   I met one of the principals in the In-N-Out founding family who took me in tow and explained what the auction was all about, the prizes, and bit of the family’s background.  She is a most charming woman…bright, attractive, and articulate.  The CSC bike was the major item to be auctioned that year, she explained, and it brought a good chunk of money into the In-N-Out charitable foundation.  I met and chatted with Melanie Troxel, the In-N-Out funny car driver, who is bright, articulate, and attractive (are you sensing a theme?).  I asked her what it was like to pilot a funny car, and with a wink, she told me it was over before you realized it.

That was quite a night.  Those were good times.  And those were interesting little motorcycles.  We rode them all the way to Cabo San Lucas and back.  Yep, we rode to Cabo and back on 150cc motorbikes (you can read that story here).  And it all happened more than a decade ago.  It seems like it was yesterday.  Or did I mention that already?

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High end, high class small bikes…

On its face, it seemed like a weak market to target…folks  who want very high end, small displacement, expensive custom motorcycles. But it worked.

When CSC revived the Mustang motorcycle concept 10 years ago, the company didn’t really have a grand plan, a handle on the market, or even a clearly defined name. CSC was originally California Scooter Company, and the original plan was to re-introduce a concept pioneered by the Mustang Motor Company in the postwar 1940s.

Original vintage Mustangs. Both of these bikes, along with more than a dozen others, are in Steve Seidner’s personal Mustang collection (the largest vintage Mustang collection in the world).

The idea was to spin off of Pro-One Performance Manufacturing’s line of very high billet and other accessories (and complete large V-twin custom motorcycles), and apply it to a small, modern version of the Mustang.  Pro-One, CSC’s sister company, was founded by Steve Seidner (the same guy who started CSC).   And boy oh boy, did those little bikes sell. They were beautiful little creations. Jewels, actually. Hand made, and built to extremely high standards. Mirror-like paint. Billet. Chrome. Little choppers. Expensive little jewels you could actually ride.

Ah, but that name…the California Scooter Company. It created confusion. People would see the new California Scooter modern Mustang and ask: Is it a scooter or a motorcycle? They didn’t get that the name was old school. Back in the day, antiques (folks like yours truly) called any bike a scooter. A Harley was a scooter and so was a Triumph…as in “I’m going to ride down to Cabo on my Scooter.”

Me? I wanted to tell anybody who asked that question (is it a motorcycle or a scooter?) that they were too dumb to ride either, but I couldn’t do that. Then one day, the boss hit on the idea of just calling the company CSC Motorcycles. You know, go with the tradition of other world-class marques with three-letter names: BMW, BSA, AJS, KTM, and more. And that worked.  The dumbass scooter or motorcycle questions stopped, and the bikes continued to sell.

Back to the modern Mustangs…the initial thought was that the bikes would sell for $4,995, and they’d be a hit with young folks.

The modern California Scooter Greaser in the San Gabriel Mountains. Folks loved this bike and it was one of the best-selling paint themes.

Ah, what we didn’t know. The market will tell you what it is. Plans and fancy marketing studies mean nothing. A hit with young folks? The problem with young folks is that they don’t have any money and they don’t buy motorcycles. Hell, a lot of them don’t even want driver’s licenses. Just, like, you know, call an Uber.

Good buddy Walter B, back in the day, on his Knucklehead Harley-Davidson.

What we found out at CSC 10 years ago was that our modern Mustang market squarely centered on older folks (who often have a lot of money). Specifically, older folks who wanted a Mustang back in the day, but Dad said no. Or folks who rode big bikes way back when and who still wanted to ride, but they didn’t want to wrestle with 800-lb monsters.  Fast forward 60 years, Dad’s no longer around, an Advil a day is just the ticket, and what do you know, I can buy that Mustang I always wanted and still ride. And they did. In droves.

A near-standard CSC Mustang on the right, and two custom versions on the left. Nearly all California Scooters were extensively optioned with additional chrome, billet, and custom paint.

Almost no one bought the standard, no-accessories, $4,995 CSC 150. They could have (that bike featured a slew of custom high end stuff, like billet and chrome all over the place and a world class finish). But those old guys who were denied an opportunity to scratch that Mustang itch as teenagers wanted more. A lot more. They would call on the phone (“I don’t do the Internet”), option the little California Scooters up to over $10,000 with lots more bling (custom wheels, custom paint, and more), and then put it all on a credit card. They wouldn’t attempt to negotiate price. California Scooter buyers wanted to spend more. Negotiate a lower price? Nope, that would demean the purchasing experience. It was full boat, full freight, and here’s my security code number…

A custom California Scooter. This was the “Bobber” variant. Note the gangster whitewalls, chrome wire wheels, and other custom touches.
Steve Seidner built a personal aviation-themed custom California Scooter he called the P-51 (get it?…the P-51 Mustang).  Steve intended to keep the bike, but I put this photo on the CSC blog and it sold within an hour. Someone called with a godfather offer (a deal Steve couldn’t refuse).

Those little bikes were awesome. I owned one of the very first ones, and I found I was having more fun on 150cc than I had on bikes with ten times the displacement. I rode mine all the way to Cabo San Lucas and back, but that’s a story for another blog.  The Baja trip did a lot for CSC, too.  The 150cc bikes had Honda CG clone engines manufactured in Asia, and the Baja trips showed the bikes were supremely reliable.  We invited famous people to ride with us in Mexico and that was a force multiplier.  The press coverage was off the charts.

Simon Gandolfi, British novelist and world traveler, on the road in Baja with a California Scooter.  He cuts a commanding figure, doesn’t he?
Simon, suspenders flying, at speed on my CSC 150, just north of Cabo San Lucas.
Arlene Battishill, CEO of Go Go Gear, on the Sea of Cortez with her custom California Scooter.  Arlene later appeared on the TV show, Shark Tank, with this motorcycle.

One of the things that sticks in my mind is the uninformed and the ignorant occasionally posting somewhere on an Internet forum that you could get a used Sportster for the kind of money people were happily spending on California Scooters. These keyboard commandos just didn’t get it. You could actually get a new Sportster for that kind of money, but that wasn’t the point. California Scooter buyers didn’t want a Sportster. They wanted, and were happy to pay top dollar for, a custom-crafted bit of motorcycle jewelry that could be both admired and ridden. A current classic.

There’s a market for such a thing. I know. I was there.