1. CruiserCustomizing Turns 5 Years Old

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2. Travels with Soncho

Don’t let the cool looks fool you, with 35,000 miles on the clock, Soncho’s Spirit knows well the long and dusty roads of the great American Southwest.

Soncho checked out sites for his proposed biker bar in little towns all over Arizona and New Mexico. He liked Deming, NM best.

Mr. Reliable. The only “breakdown” was the Honda’s low beam.

Hola Amigos,

This year I decided to divest myself of the usual 4th of July ride to Prescott, AZ for the Frontier Days Parade, or to Williams, AZ where I had a little dance with the police last year. No, this year I wanted to just disappear for a few days. So I loaded up the scoot and headed towards Globe, AZ. Who goes to Globe? Nobody…and I wanted to see why!

It turned out that nobody actually was in Globe, so I continued onto Safford where I was tempted to write a chapter for Lifestyles of the Dumb and Dumber. I continued on my way across the New Mexico state line where I rode through Lordsburg, Deming and Las Cruces, and there I spent the night. Deming I liked. Small—just 15,000 residents—and only three bars. It’s a nice area and a lot like Arizona, but more affordable.

In the morning I rode to the outskirts of El Paso, Texas when I decided to turn around and head back. Been there, done that, and that is one butt ugly city. Turning north towards Las Cruces, I stopped by the White Sands, New Mexico military base where I was stationed in the Army for Red Eye missile school. The Military Police refused me admission onto the base as I didn’t have a brain bucket (no brain, no need). I was wearing a headband, sleeveless shirt and camo pants and apparently they are not into the Biker Rambo. All I asked to do is fire another Red Eye missile again. Last time I fired one, it was the worst firing ever, and it was quite lucky it didn’t blow up in my hands. But it did blow up some unpiloted drone aircraft.

So I settled for the dunes instead, riding another thirty or forty miles into the White Sands National Park. Man, that was really cool! It’s been forty years since I’ve seen the beautiful snow-white sand dunes in the middle of the desert. The red scoot was stunning against the backdrop of the rolling white sands. The only thing missing was camels.

From White Sands I rode over to Alamagordo, NM, and it is not a bad town, one that I could learn to like. Not much to base an opinion on after only fifteen minutes in a gas station, but let’s say I have done worse. Rode around the loop to Truth or Consequences, NM, down through Hatch, NM (famous for their chili peppers) and back to Deming for the night. Plenty of great riding at lower elevations. Did a little bar hopping at two or three places in Deming. It all started out good, but Billy Bob, Bubba and Thelma Lou somehow got their panties in a bundle. I thereby got wind of the local mentality…or lack thereof. I still like Deming; it reminds me of Phoenix about a lifetime ago.

A morning ride of an hour or two gave me a little look-see around town. Then I headed forty miles south and crossed the border into the estado (state) of Chihuahua, Mexico. Just across the border from Columbus, NM is the picturesque village of Palomas, Mexico where I stopped for breakfast. Palomas is about three or four blocks wide and about a dozen blocks long. The paved streets turn to sand at the outskirts of town. All I wanted was a taco stand, a cantina and no policia. The local attraction is the Pink Store, which was packed with gringo tourists. I parked my bike in the “No Parking” where I could see it to make sure that it didn’t go bye bye without me. It was here in Palomas that I discovered Azul Tequila.

Crossing the border, a rain cloud took a whiz on me while in route so I made it only fifty miles out from Deming. It wasn’t the rain that bothered me; it was the lightning! Si, I know that I’m riding on rubber, amigos. However the rubber is coated with a nice layer of water, well-grounded by the pavement. I could visualize the headlines: “Biker Fried in Freak Accident.” With that Azul in me, I would have gone up like a freaking UFO!

I spotted a trashy motel occupied by gang bangers from Mexico—my kind of place—and it looked good to me. Normally I squeeze the scoot into the room, and crawl over it in the night if nature calls. But the room was just inches too small, so I parked the bike just outside the window. That night someone smashed glass all over the porch, close enough to my bike that I could have made a piñata out of some home boy. I am a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, but more importantly, I am a black belt in Mexican Judo. Here is my secret of Mexican judo: I just put my hand behind my back and then say “Ju don know what I got here.” This is followed by a stare that says soy muy loco en la cabeza. (“I’m real crazy in the head”)

Coming out of Globe on the road towards hell, Phoenix, the flames began to get painful. Man, riding in summer in Phoenix is just plain nasty. Last week it was 117 degrees coming back from Cave Creek. The worst part is, Phoenix just lit the pilot light. Every year some moron from the north cooks an egg on the sidewalk and, Wow, am I impressed!

Those Cobra pipes sounded great after 35,000 miles, kind of like they’ve become seasoned. When I pulled up to the house, my dog Oso, thrilled at my return, was trying to charge through the window. It was a great solitary week-end getaway. After 1300 miles on my scoot, my butt felt like a deflated inner tube and my dog still loves me. I did have a “major breakdown” on the road, though. I lost the low beam on the headlight. That’s a major breakdown for a Honda. After that, it never skipped a beat. Of course, it’s a HONDA. Fill the gas tank with a little sake and it’ll run forever. And about that biker bar I’d like to open, I might consider Deming…

I hope everyone else had a great 4th of July ride. What will be waiting for me on the next 4th of July when I’ll be 63? I can hardly wait.

About the author: Soncho lives in Arizona with his dog Oso. He has written for the website www.escapeartist.com about his rides through Venezuela and Mexico.

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3. 25,000 Miles with Curt

Big bike, big job. Curt is not only a long distance cruiser but a preacher who rides in service of the Almighty.

Cruiser Customizing member Curt intends to keep riding his 1998 Valkyrie “forever.” After the tragic loss of his wife of thirty-three years, he acquired his big Honda in 2005, which he has named “Bo”. In the past year Curt has put 25,000 miles on Bo’s clock, yet still he has many miles of exploring the mountains before him. Curt is determined to discover every highway in the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee on his big flat six cruiser, and I know that all members of our Cruiser Customizing family join Curt in spirit and ride beside him in biker brotherhood.

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4. CruiserCustomizing on the Road

Meet CruiserCustomizing on the Road.

The VTX that will be given away at Street Vibrations this year.

Meet CruiserCustomizing on the road at these fine biker rallies:

California Ride for a Better Chance - Livermore, CA - 8/20

Metric Revolution Bus Tour Stop - Cruiser Customizing Headquarters - Livermore, CA - 8/23

Las Vegas bike Fest - Las Vegas, NV - 9/14 - 9/17

Metric Revolution Bus Tour Stop - Las Vegas, NV - 9/14 - 9/15

Street Vibrations - Reno, NV - 9/20 - 9/24

Cruiser Customizing / Road Bike Magazine / Kuryakyn will be giving the VTX 1800 F away at Street Vibrations; be sure to enter! Click Here for more information.

Please email us at feedback@CruiserCustomizing.com if you would like to help us at any of the rallies.


Cruiser Customizing Sponsors “Metric Revolution” 2006 US TV Tour Bus.

Next weekend, the all new “Metric Revolution” television series, www.metrictv.com, will launch its promotional bus tour across America. The first stop is Broward Motorsports in Davie, Florida July 3, and the last stop, after a long and winding loop to the west coast, is Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach, Florida October 22. In-between are hundreds of stops in dozens of states, and Cruiser Customizing will be there every step of the way. They’ll stop by our showroom in Livermore, California on August 23. Stay tuned: this should be an amazing ride. Metric is going to be bigger than ever!

5. Cruiser Customizing Becomes First to Offer Schampa Coolskin in White

CC Staff Member Anthony modeling Schampa's White Coolskin Long Sleeve Shirt.

Schampa Products

At Schampa, makers of popular “Coolskin” rider wear, their credo is “sweat sucks, stay dry and comfortable.” Schampa’s Coolskin shirts, head rags, skull caps, balaclavas, neck gaiters and head bands, are designed to keep riders free of perspiration and comfortable in all sorts of conditions. Popular in all climates—warm, humid or cool—Schampa’s Coolskin apparel makes for year round riding comfort.

And now Schampa is offering Coolskin in white for the first time through Cruiser Customizing. Schampa couldn’t be happier with Cruiser Customizing’s attention to customer care, and Cruiser Customizing is stoked with Schampa’s quality and value. For your Coolskin apparel in white or whatever, Cruiser Customizing is the place. From the grueling Paris-to-Dakar Race to the vast highways of America, tens of thousands of motorcyclists are making Schampa Coolskin their riderwear of choice.

Thanks for riding along with us, Cruisers. Keep sending in those stories and photos.
We love hearing from you.

Cruise and be happy,
Miles Davis, (Pavandas)
Editor, Cruiser Customizing News

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