Northwest Cycle Report

When planning for our 16 day semi annual family vacation this past winter with my wife, we decided it was time to head to Southern Cal and do the Disneyland thing with the kids. My sons 13, 10 and 5 had never been to Disneyland and it had been 18 years since my wife and I last visited. As we were planning our trip the idea came to me that I could combine Hog Radio with our vacation. Little did I know at that time the magnitude of my decision.

Without belaboring the Disneyland portion of the trip, I will just say the three days we spent in Disneyland with my boys was a real thrill as it took me back to my very first visit as an 8 year old back in 1967. I was transformed into a younger image of myself and it was magic all over again.

Our vacation officially kicked off Saturday June 21st when we left the drive way and entered the Interstate at Lynnwood, WA a mile from where we live. On our first day we planned to make it to Redding, CA. At one of the many rest stops along the way, I met Ron who had stopped to take a smoke break. He had recently purchased himself a brand new 105th edition copper/black Harley-Davidson and while I was waiting for the family we chatted about it and all the things bikers talk about. After everyone was back in the van I handed Ron my Hog Radio card and said good-bye and we were on the road again.

That night, over 500 miles under our seats, we pulled the van into a Coupon Saver motel that looked halfway between a brothel and legitimate motel. Not being overly choosy we took it for $45.00 bucks. After all, it had a functioning pool and that was good enough for us. Upon waking, I noted the van was still in one piece, so we grabbed coffee and pastries compliments of the management, and hit the road. After many hours driving in 100 plus degree weather we made it to Buttonwillow, a truck stop of a town, right off I-5. This night we got a better motel for under $45.00 also with a swimming pool. The only draw back was the air was pretty thick with smoke from the hill fires that were burning miles away, and the occasional wafting of cow manure.

The Third day we made our way south on I-5 with the first stop (pit stop for our 5-year old) at an Information center above Diamond Head Lake. There we learned all about water, and the lack of it in CA. 2007 saw 5 inches of rain and 2008 isn’t doing much better, suffice it to say they’ve had over 1000 fires this year in CA. After that we drove straight to our first real destination, the LaBrea Tar Pits just outside of Hollywood.

That night we finally ended up at the Roadway Inn in old town Temecula. This was a bit more pricey at $65.00 for the night but it had a pool and was very nice. Temecula is a beautiful little town that works at balancing the tourist/wine tasting business with commercial and light industry. It is nestled down amongst the wine growing hills in the area.

After a good night’s sleep we jumped into the van and set off for the first of what would be three major Hog Radio/Motorcycle related stops this day. After ten minutes of driving we found ourselves pulling into the parking lot of Ultra Motorcycles.

When we arrived at Ultra I was met by Robert Dick who heads up sales and business development. We chatted for a bit, and then Karsons Cavanaugh, son of Craig Cavanaugh, took me for a walk-through of the shop. What I could see were a couple of technicians putting together a bike, and lots of spare parts ready for future assembly. After we left the shop we headed to the show room where they had some of their finished bikes on display.

Ultra Motorcycles, for those who never heard of them, began producing “production” custom choppers in 1995 and was started by entrepreneur and designer Craig Cavanaugh. In their hey-day Ultra turned out 200 bikes a month. They also built an impressive list of Celebrity clients who purchased bikes from them.

Upon entering the show room we were greeted by some very nice eye candy. It was while I was chatting with Karsons that my five year old climbed up on the seat of a scooter and began pretending he was a rider. Well as you might guess, he began to tip over and was on the verge of hitting the scooter next to him which was sitting next to 5 big-money bikes; fortunately Karsons quickly reached out and stopped him from falling over. Whew, that was a close call and I was quietly thanking God that I didn’t have to bank roll a massive re-paint job on 5 big-money bikes. While talking with Karsons, I learned that the Ultra Ground Pounder which premiered in 1995 set the industry on its ear as the first ever production custom to offer a massive wide rear tire. It set the bar for everyone else to follow.

Something else I learned while talking with Karsons was about his father’s second business. Craig owns a custom painting and detailing company which specializes in painting motorcycles for dealers and bike builders throughout California. Karsons pointed out to me various paintings on the show room wall that highlighted their artists’ work, and by the looks of things, they have some very talented artists there.

After Craig built the company up to the point where it was selling 200 units a month he sold it off. Today, Ultra is a shell of its former self due in part to the inability of the new owners to keep it moving forward and a flattening of the market. Instead, they allowed production levels slip to a precariously low level of 6 units a month. Not wanting to see his dream go by the wayside, Craig has recently purchased the business back and is now rebuilding it. Ultra may never achieve the numbers it once did but with Craig’s vision and a handful of dedicated employees we may see Ultra once again at the forefront of the custom production bike business. I look forward to getting Craig on Hog Radio for an interview to get the full story behind Ultra Motorcycles.

After saying good-bye to Karsons, we made our way back to a local Starbucks parking lot in Old Town Temecula where we waited to make contact with J Peter Kaye, Publisher of Wheels of Grace magazine a former Hog Radio guest. After a 30 minute wait we decided it wasn’t to be, so we grabbed a coffee and headed north to Gardena, CA to make our second stop of the day where we would meet another legend in the world of custom bikes.

To be continued.