Deus Ex Machina

[metallyguitarded_imp]

I came across a video of this café/surfshop/custom bike shop on YouTube called Deus Ex Machina. It's in Venice Beach which is about 130 miles from San Diego. I had the day off, the wife was at work, so I decided to ride up the coast and check it out.

It was a beautiful day and the traffic was light. Well, relatively light for Los Angeles. The ocean was a brilliant blue and the air was a pleasant 79 degrees. The CB rode like a champ. The new grips get an A+. One stop in Huntington Beach to fill up then on to Deus which is on the corner of Venice and Lincoln.

There were a couple old Harley bobbers, a Triumph Bonneville, a Kawasaki W650, and a few custom Deus motorcycles in the parking lot out back. I pulled in, enjoyed a sandwich and a latte, then browsed through the place.

The café has outdoor seating as well as some tables inside where people were busy on their computers doing whatever it is that those people on their laptops do in cafes. From there, the place flows into a surf shop of sorts with boards lining one wall but with motorcycle art/prints on all the walls. Just past the surfboards is the clothing which includes some retro styled motorcycle gloves, jackets and boots. I picked up a t-shirt to bring home with me.

There were a few custom motorcycles throughout the place. All reminiscent of the early days of riding. The whole place had a cool but unpretentious vibe to it. It didn't seem to be a hipster hangout but even if it were, I have no problem with hipsters. I just can't fit into the skinny jeans they wear.

The ride home wasn't as fun. Traffic was bad. The three hour ride home would have been closer to four if it wasn't for lane splitting! All in all, it was a good day. Five and a half hours on the CB. She's breaking in nicely.

Here's a link to the YouTube video that turned me on to this place: http://youtu.be/x7sUnXhNASM

Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with 15 guys and gals from the VFR forum for lunch. Of course, I'll be riding my VFR to that one. It would be cool to get a group of So. Cal. CB riders together for a meetup. How many of you are out there?

Oh, "Deus ex machina" is latin for "God from the machine." I like it.