A couple weeks ago, we opened Instagram and saw a video of Perry Kramer delivering SE Bikes in an awesome SE VW bus that we’ve never seen before! We were both stoked and surprised, so we tracked down the bus’s owner (@busesbythebeachsocal) for the story. Be sure to check out his IG profile to see more photos/video of the process.
“My name is Charlie Link and I’ve owned, bought, and sold vintage Volkswagens since ‘88. Since then, I’ve owned hundreds of them and have primarily tried to find the most original cars possible. About five years ago, I started a lineup at Doheny State Beach in SoCal where all air-cooled VW’s show up and park along the sand, and people network/chill at the beach together. I also began a large-scale VW dealership takeover at Capo VW over in San Juan Capistrano. This event has taken place last five years and has had write ups in Hot VWs magazine twice. My mother came over on a boat from Germany back in 1951. I’m first generation here in US and naturally drawn to Volkswagens.
“Rewind to when I was in grade school in the ‘80s and junior high where I raced BMX for a short period. I always loved SE bikes but never could afford one. A few years back, I started to buy and collect some of the modern big wheel versions of the 20” bike that I wished I had as a kid. I now live near Old Town Orange, CA, and we have a bike shop locally called Orange Cycle. I’ve made friends with the owner, John, and purchased all my SE bikes there. “I purchased this 1967 walk thru panel over a year ago and had different ideas for it, and I settled on the idea to logo it with my favorite bike logo! I sourced a local vintage logo artist who came to my house. I shared old logos I found, and he recreated a patina logo on each panel of my bus. I then drove it to Orange Cycle and said, ‘John, I have an idea! Let’s place SE bikes in my bus and have Perry Kramer drive it up to your shop like he’s delivering bikes.’ He said, ‘That’s a great idea. Let me call him!’ He called Perry and he loved the idea, and they both loved the bus!
“While I was at the shop there were numerous people who wanted to take selfies beside it, so that was cool. It gets looks everywhere I take it, so that’s 🤙."