The owner of Hell Bent Custom Motorcycles, Ray Shott, shut his doors last week. He said he was forced out not by the tough economic times, but by a City Hall that said this business doesn’t conform to the city’s general plan. Shott said he got a business license in June and two months later city planners came back and said he needed to apply for an additional permit. When Shott refused, the city told him he had to close shop. The motorcycle shop builds and sells custom motorcycles. Some of them sell for $100,000 which could have meant huge tax revenues for the city of San Juan Bautista. But the city manager said money doesn’t talk as loud as the law. Both the city and the shop owner have obtained lawyers.
Legal Battle To Keep Hell Bent Motorcycles Open
Published by November 20th, 2008 in Builders and Customs.11 Responses to “Legal Battle To Keep Hell Bent Motorcycles Open”
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Mr. Shott ,
Bad Ass bikes and a town with blinders on .
Best of luck on your next business location .
Raycwheeler USA
Wow, I thought we lived in the year 2008 …… seems more like the year 1958 with the actions of this small town.
Good luck Ray!
Over & Out
Jeff
It looks as if the city issued them a business permit without first checking the zoning ordinance with the city planner. It’s zoned as mixed use which disallows motorcycle sales. It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
Sure sounds like there’s a case to be made for a refund on the first permit.
IMHO anyway…
-nicker-
This is a shit deal, no matter how you size this up. With the way things are nowadays with the economy and all, you would think that the city would be a little bit flexible so that some tax revenue could come into the town, jobs created, and all of the residual benefits that a small business offers to a community. If the guy tried to open a strip club or a porno shop next to a elementary school or church, yeah I could see city hall having a shit attack but this is a Motorcycle shop, think they need to think things through a bit more carefully before shutting this guy down. Just my opinion…
sorry… why not just move…. we have all seen Footloose right! Move across the tracks and have your dance in that county.
This sort of thing should not put a guy out of business, this is a worldwide industry (or at least nationwide anyway… how much local traffic could he be doing that could not be done a couple bocks or miles down the road.
F*ck that town!! Move down the street. Unless he’s just using this as an excuse to throw in the towel. Wow, if he’s building $100,000 customs he should have plenty of money to move. LOL. Tried to find some of those $100,000 customs on his website. Didn’t see them. I guess they keep those hidden away. Good Luck Hell Bent. In this shitty economy were all going to need it.
He got what he deserved!
The healthy state of the economy depends on the trust and cooperation among businesses.
Hell Bent Motorcycles, Ray Shott in particular, has ordered a set of 23×3.75 and 18×10.5 Apollo chrome plated radial laced wheels for one of his Custom Bikes from our company on June 2007.
Unfortunately, his check was bounced back, and all tries to contact Ray Shott were in vain. He never replied to emails,and dozens of phone calls with messages. We consider this to be an act of theft!
In case if you are riding these wheels, keep in mind that you have got stolen wheels on from HDW (www.hdwheels.com)
All things catch up with you in the long run!
Wow patrick dont you know there are 2 sides to a story(and guess what,,,biker eticate is you listen to both ,,,,then stay out a it,unless you know the track record of who u are talkin bout)
And Andrei,,,,,you know the story,,,,rocks in the chrome,,,leaking sealant over the nipples…customer would like to know ur #…when your spokes come loose on a chopper your in for a ride…do some testing,330 tire on the rear with the spokes riding in the center..Iv’e seen pic’s they look good….BUTT some of us ride!
I’ve been there and do know both sides of the story, and everything does come full circle, doesn’t it ray?! and oh, by the way, wheeler. . . you owe me brother!
signed: the ex-fabricator of those “100,000$” rides!
didn’t have to be this way! all i wanted was credit where credit was due!