CY BUS NEWS HEADLINES:

12/24/04 OLD CYBUS SOLD
We sold the old CYBUS to a guy in Belmond, IA. We put it up for sale on eBay. It didn't sell there, but the guy saw it on eBay and contacted me independently. HE drove to Harlan on Christmas Eve and bought it. We're looking forward to the first time we see it at the games in Ames!

10/26/04 NEW CYBUS PURCHASED!!!
We have taken the plunge into a brand new CYBUS! The new bus expands our capacity from 10 to 15 and will have much more room and better abilities for road trips. The new bus is an old transit bus with a handicap elevator and everything. Design plans are in the infant stages, but click here to see the new bus!

8/21/01 PAINT JOB IS COMPLETE
The paint job is finally complete! It took a long time, but it was worth it. The logos look amazing! It may have taken a year, but the CYBUS is finally ready for solid tailgating. Visit the photo gallery for more of the latest pictures.

6/4/01 BUS TRAVELS TO BUFFETT
A bus load of people headed off to Madison, WI for the Jimmy Buffett show. The wild parking lot was a perfect home for the bus. Many parrotheads stopped to have their picture taken with "the short bus". While gas cost about $6,000, it was a wonderful inagural trip for the newly painted bus. Now we just need to get the logos added.

5/10/01 PAINT JOB NEARS COMPLETION
It's been a long process, but worth the wait. The paint job is nearing completion. Scott has most of it done. Then it will go on to a graphic artist to have the letting and ISU logos added. I have 2 sets of pictures that have been added to the bus photo gallery. We'll add more once the graphics are done. The bus is slated for June 2 as it's first road trip with the new paint job as we head to East Troy, WI for a Jimmy Buffett concert.

2/27/01 BUS TUNE-UP
Well it has taken a little time, but the CyBus is finally on its way to becoming a fine tuned partying machine. We are beginning with service to the engine. The mechanics at Sta-Bilt are going to give a go at it to see what needs to be done. It has been determined that some new shocks may be needed. Another main concern is the gas mileage which we hope may improve with a little TLC. Rick files this report today:
Had the bus up to Joe's to have him check out the gas usage. He found the
vacuum advance was old and not working and the timing had thus been
retarded. He put a new advance on and set the timing correctly. This could
have a profound effect on the gas mileage. I will test it out and see how
it runs now. All I have on the update for now.
-Rick

1/10/01 BUS GOES TO HARLAN
The CyBus has now ventured to Harlan for upgrades and painting. Check back to see what improvements are in store for CyBus.

11/10/00 CYCLONE PLATES ARE HERE!
The magic bus is now officially the Cy Bus! Our cyclone plates have arrived and have been put on the bus they read "CY BUS" and I think all agree they make the bus look much more official. Just in time for the Cyclones last home game of the season against KU. Looking to go 8-3 on the season! Can you believe it?!? Don't tell Cy Bus though... we're planning to fly to the bowl game.

10/28/00 NEW BATTERY & THE BUS IS NOT A CYCLONE JINX!
The CyBus has recorded its first Cyclone victory, and what an important one at that. With ISU's 39-20 victory over Missouri last night, the Cyclones moved to 6-2 on the season. This guarantees our first winning record since 1986 and likely our first bowl game since 1978! Had we known that the missing link for ISU bowl drought was simply a short bus, we would have purchased it much earlier. We are already making travel plans. We figure there is a chance the bus could make it to some limited engagements for a bowl game, but flying is more likely. The bus is rapidly becoming a fan favorite at the game with many onlookers and passersby stopping to comments on their appreciation of "the short bus". We had a large group there again and we have found that we can pack quite the tailgating spread into the combination of the bus and suburban. It was a great day. We have made a solid investment in a new battery for the bus. We should be able to store away thse jumper cables much easier now. The bus will be taking a break for a couple weeks as the Vikings and Cyclones have consecutive road games the next couple weeks, but we will likely be back in action for the KU game. ROLL ON STATE!

10/23/00 INAUGURATION REPORT
Well, it was an up and down weekend on the field, but for the Magic Bus it was a shining spectacle of tailgating fury. On its first ever trip to Ames, the bus took on even the most hardened tailgating veterans with ease. Even Marshall Burchett found the accommodations to be "comfortable and very drinker friendly, but definitely watch your head." We tailgated hard before and after the game, more so after the game as the Cyclones put on one of their most dismal performances in recent history (and that's saying something) losing to Texas A&M 30-7. We did have to get the jumper cables out to get the bus started at the end of the day, though. We think we have a plan to shore up the electrical system at Marshall's suggestion. We are probably going to add a second, larger battery so we can charge it and switch over to it in the parking lot, then switch back to the regular battery when we are driving. Sunday was a much better day for football and the bus as we really put the bus to the test. A crew of 8 people left Mason City at 7 AM Sunday bound for the Metrodome to see the Vikings play the Bills. The ride provided for heated card games on the table during the rides up and back. The game was also a treat as the Vikings scored 17 points in the final 10 minutes of the game to come back from 11 down in the fourth quarter and win 31-27. We were beginning to worry that perhaps the bus was a jinx, but that proved to not be the case. I am going to do a little cosmetic work on the bus this week and also have it serviced. It needs a little TLC if we are going to run it this hard again. Plans are set for the next tailgating extravaganza next Saturday as the Clones play a must win night game at home against Missouri. We did add some bumper stickers and a Cyclones window flag, but we need more. Also, in web page news: to reduce the load time of the main page, the thumbnail photos have been removed from the photo gallery, so you only have to wait for the pictures to load if you want to look at them. I didn't realize how many people were accessing this page, so I will try to accommodate.

10/18/00 READY FOR INAUGURATION AND NEW PICTURES
Well, everything is a go! I finished installing the stereo this morning which pretty much puts the finishing touches on the interior. Aside from maybe putting some stickers on the wall, it is set to roll. The stereo sounds good, but there is some concern over how the battery is able to stand up. After running the radio while working on it for about 20-25 minutes, the bus needed a jump to be started, so a new battery may be a necessary investment. I filled the bus up to get it ready for the trip to Ames tomorrow. I have determined through the manual that the bus has a 33 gallon fuel tank. That is a spendy fill. Bumper stickers have been added throughout the vehicle and I also purchased a Cyclone window flag for the bus. Anyway, the bus will make its first official road trip since the redesign to go to Ames tomorrow for a homecoming victory versus Texas A&M before returning to Mason city for a Sunday trip to Minneapolis for the Viking/Bills game. What a great weekend of football and tailgating! Check out the news pictures below. If you're wondering about Bob the head, that was a gift from Tony and he should be blamed for the only Viking paraphanelia in the bus. If it makes you Packers feel any better, you will notice that Bob's face features a grimace of amazing pain.

10/18/00 A PARADE OF GOOD NEWS!!!
As of 12:30 today, I hadn't heard anything from the company I ordered the radio from, so I checked in with them and they said they still haven't shipped the radio. The guy said he would get the shipping department on it as soon as possible. About 20 minutes later, the UPS man showed up at my door with the radio. Now that is service! Apparently it had been shipped, so the radio will be ready to go for the weekend. I also made a trip to the Winnebago Outlet Store in Forest City today and got a table for the back of the bus. It is the perfect size to fit. It is the old Winnebago type table with the ring in the floor, a metal pipe for a leg and the ring in the bottom of the table so we can take it down when we don't need it. Plus it was cheap! I also looked into ladders for when we do the deck and they are available. Short ones (4') are $12.50 and the long ones (8') are $25, but I don't think the long ones would fit on our bus. The other good news is that the school found some more keys to the bus. This is big because we didn't have a key for the doors yet so we couldn't lock the thing. Now we can, so no one will steal our beer! Along with the addition of the table, a foam finger has been glued to the wall above the door at Tony's suggestion. It points to the top of the door and reads "Watch Your Head" because of the very low clearance.

10/17/00 WE'RE LEGAL!
The title to the bus was handed over this morning and the bus is now registered and licensed. It currently holds a Cerro Gordo county plate: 136 JCO. I have applied for ISU plates. I had the woman at the DMV look up some possible plates and magic bus was taken every way I could think of to spell it. However, CY BUS and ISU BUS are both available so I applied for either of those. It will be a few weeks before they are in.

10/16/00 NEW PICTURES AND CABINET ADDED, MIRROR REMOVED
New pictures of the bus' interior have been added below. Also, a cabinet has been added to the bus. Underneath the back seat on the driver's side a cabinet has been built around the wheel well. Complete with football shaped knobs! This will serve as a place to keep all of the things that need to stay with the bus (i.e. jumper cables, tools, maps whatever.) This will be important because the glove compartment will be removed to make room for the stereo console later this week. Finally, at Rick's request, the front mirror was removed since we don't need to see if tailgaters are walking in front of the bus or not. If they do, we want to run them over anyway.

10/15/00 SEATS FINISHED
The seats were removed late last week and now the new seats have been completed. A "U" shaped bench seat encompasses the entire interior of the bus. The seat cushions are the same cushions from the seats that came in the bus, but new backs were constructed with particle board, 2 inch foam and read denim. The seat cushions are covered in red denim and yellow canvas (alternating colors between cushions). With the new seating, the bus now holds one driver plus 10 passengers comfrotably with an additional 2 bodies possible for a tight fit. The seats are high but it serves a purpose as there is 18" of clearance under the seats so coolers will fit underneath. Watch the Magic Bus homepage for new pictures of the seats. They will be posted soon!

10/13/00 STEREO ON ORDER
An in-dash CD player/AM/FM radio has been ordered for the bus and should be here soon. We got 2 free small speakers for the front from J.D. Miller that will be mounted to the wll. For the larger rear speakers we will be using Ryan's old truck box speakers that will be detachable so they can go out on the roof for tailgating. We are hoping for installation before the ISU homecoming game on Oct. 21.