“In an effort to focus 100% of our talent, facilities and resources on manufacturing the worlds finest motorcycles. Effective immediately West Coast Choppers will no longer sell parts to the public. Effective 3/13/09 all orders and Po’s will be canceled. With exception to orders that were prepaid. These will be filled in a timely fashion. El Diablo’s, CFL’s, and Dominators will all be available as complete motorcycles only. WCC will also continue to customize Harley Davidson’s on a limited basis for select dealerships.
“Jesse James is back to building motorcycles at West Coast Choppers”. I will have my hands on every motorcycle ordered. West Coast Choppers will continue to lead the way by focusing on customer service and superior quality. Thank you for your business and continued support” Jesse James, West Coast Choppers, 718 W. Anaheim St, Long Beach Ca. 90813. (562)983-6666
Complement Of Information Saturday March 14, 12.10 pm EST: In the comments below and by direct emails to me, some of you think that Jesse james is going to continue to sell his parts to dealers through distributors. This morning I contacted Jesse and he just confirmed to me, in his own words that: “everyone is officially cut-off, including the distributors”.
Great bike (so JJ who never changed his style). Great picture. And glad that Jesse James is coming back to getting his hands dirty building bikes. Good news.
Agreed Jeremy, we’re going to see some seriously cool stuff roll out of WCC again. And without access to all the parts now, less imitators.
Welcome back.
Glad to hear it, Jesse. Best of luck to you! By the way, I’m looking forward to seeing you win on The Apprentice.
Very interesting… a solid way to assure your brand’s identity & value is to limit its availability, it also lets you control how your parts are used, how they are presented, and limits liability.
Smart move if you ask me.
How is he going to build bikes when he is selling cupcakes on Celebrity Apprentice?
Interesting strategy. Most custom builders make very little, if anything on the bikes, but make up for it with sales of their name-branded parts. I have a feeling there’s more to this, but wish him well.
Jesse does what he wants, like us. BTW, there is money to make on parts, but it requires a big investment and a long time to recoup. And don’t forget that the liability issue is also on parts, not only on motorcycles. Jesse has other activities, so it’s possible that he wants to keep the one he prefers (that all builders prefer), building a few bikes a year.
I bet Cyril knows more…
Will there be a cup cake bike?
If the parts business is too much of a hassle it’s the right decision to take. The result could be more one-off custom bikes from Jesse. No complaint.
Wasn’t there a listing on this blog for some of his parts last week?
There are are still a lot of high quality parts out there from different manufacturers to choose from.
Revolutionary, earth shaking news!
i beleive the public will still be able to get his parts through drag specialties and cci and other distributors…he just doesnt want to deal with joe smith at retail…as a manufacturer we would rather trim the profit and sell large quanity to a distributor to handle billing, shipping, returns and focus on other parts of the business..returns, ordering, warranty kill a lot of time..so i think people are misunderstanding this post.you can still get his parts just not directly from w.c.c.
Yeah I believe that is the deal–you’ll only be able to walk into one of his dealers (like us) and order his parts – The person without a shop or parts business won’t be able to call up and buy anymore. My question is…Will us dealers still be able to get the frames?
“Yeah I believe that is the deal–you’ll only be able to walk into one of his dealers (like us) and order his parts – The person without a shop or parts business won’t be able to call up and buy anymore. ”
OK, that makes sense, I was probably mis-reading it. I’m guessing then it’ll be made in China alongside most of everything else in Drag so it can get marked up 3x ?
Hey Jesse best of luck to you in any endeavor you take on! Like him or not the man has an incredible amount of talent, drive, work ethic and business sense that is a huge part of his success..I’m looking forward to see what comes next!! Roadside Marty
“Complement Of Information Saturday March 14, 12.10 pm EST: In the comments below and by direct emails to me, some of you think that Jesse james is going to continue to sell his parts to dealers through distributors. This morning I contacted Jesse and he just confirmed to me, in his own words that: “everyone is officially cut-off, including the distributors”.
Just noticed this at top—–that’s messed up…He has a good thing going..why in the world wouldn’t you sell parts for the guy who can’t afford a WCC bike but wants to support WCC or one of my customers who wants his exhaust…..on his bike.
Whatever— it is what it is—guess I gotta pull his stuff off website. Hope WCC crew contacts us dealers and gives us an official word–I shouldn’t have to read this kind of thing in a BLOG.
Yep. some of the readers missed the point and Cyril’s footnote at the bottom of his post. No more parts to anyone. Period! For all those who don’t know. Selling parts to a retail clientele is a pain! Selling parts to dealers is very low profit margins. Selling parts to big catalogs/distributors is unprofitable after buying the liability insurance they now require before carrying your parts. Now, maybe you can understand Jesse’s decision.
Wish you the best on this idea Jesse.
WELCOME BACK MY BROTHER! WE MISSED YOU!
Over & Out,
Jeff
A great move, nice to see Jesse going back to what he does best. While it does keep WCC out of the hands of some consumers, it helps maintain the quality of the bikes that bear the WCC insignia and allow Jesse and his crew to build bikes how they want them, all the time.
lots of people are doubting this and writing it off as rumor or pubicity stunt, whatever…. Jesse just did a huge push at NVP (Drag Specialties/Parts Unlimited dealer show) to have his line in Parts Unlimited just a few months ago. Not to mention that he has a full parts line in CCI too.
If it is true, wow! I guess the price of whatever WCC parts I have left just went up considerably.
btw… there is no mention of this on the WCC website… so either their web guy is lagging or it’s a hoax. Regardless, I am sure Fred Fox is going to have some questions for Mr. James 🙂
Good luck to him,He will probably have a more enjoyable work load and allot less stress.
If you happen to be reading this how about more History of the chopper DVD’s .
The one you did was bloody great and a couple more would fill in a few of the many gaps covering those old school builders.I have watched the first one a number of times and really enjoy the content and the way you put the story forward using that old chop.Now you have more time should’nt be a prob….lol
James
james
Great move on Jessie’s part! It also gives small mc shop owners a chance to buy all the WCC items off ebay in order to profit on them later. Better buy now!!
You guys are all missing the point. Jesse is for all practical purposes shutting down. He’s just keeping the WCC name for himself and keeping enough staff to produce the bikes that have long been paid for and not delivered. He’s fired all the parts staff — quite a few folks, who happened to be about the only part of his business that was still producing revenue for WCC. I expect he will sell one of his buildings. Jesse wants to focus not on making bikes but on being a TV and film star. Sad.
Shovelhead. I think you are 100% right.
It seems that the vultures have already begun to circle to make a buck. I myself am saving back food and water for when the vultures themselves start getting hungry and thristy.Then I can rid them of their misgotten gains.
RE:
“…. Jesse wants to focus not on making bikes but on being a TV and film star …”
Well,
Bostrom brothers’ uncle once confided that MC sponsors now days required their riders to go to “charm school” in order to make them more “media-genic”.
Hope JJ’s decision was made in consort with a good Agent.
A bit of Charm School might be helpful……… 🙂
-nicker-
I can’t believe you all are falling for this. Looks to me like another FREE JESSIE moment remember a few years ago he told all the sheep that he had been arrested with pounds of coke. He sold t-shirts so fast they could not keep up, but did he go to prison No either it was a stunt to sell the FREE JESSIE SHIRTS or he is a snitch. I would call it great marketing . Got to admit he does know how to promote himself, What better way to get people talking about your parts and buying them than telling them that they will no longer be able to buy them or make money off of them. Bet the orders will double by monday. Some of you guys are already thinking the price should go up.You should buy all you can at inflated prices so that when he says next month that he has decided to sell parts again you will have shelves full of parts that won’t sell for half of what you paid. Don’t you guys think if this was true he would just cut people off once the supply was gone and not before. Custom bikes are not selling very well right now but with a stunt like this he may be able to dump all those parts that he does not need anyway. I bet he has a warehouse full of made in china parts that he wants to unload and from what I have read on here looks like his warehouses will empty pretty quick. This guy is smarter than the average guy thats for sure. Hell when his show was on he had people thinking he hand pounded every gas tank selling dozens per day do the math I don’t care how much talent he has he could have made maybe one a day not dozens. He is currently on THE APPRENTICE and I read on this blog that he has A NEW STUNT SHOW coming out so when does he have time to build bikes?
Great job at marketing, That must be what TRUMP see’s in him.
LMFAO
tsk tsk. peace
I gotta give Jesse the thumbs up for a smart move. He cant keep pouring money into his part suppliers while his inventory grows. The “no more parts” announcement will create a fire sale and lots of free publicity.
Bottom line is to sell what you got and this stunt will do it.
Just my opinion,
You are a retarded idiot man. He was not arrested for having “pounds of coke” on him. Find out the true story before you act like the typical lying Liberal press. It had nothing to do with him having coke on him.
1) why is it that people always have to find an angle of what someone is doing and why they are doing it.
2) I didn’t know mr. james had gone anywhere to welcome him back from.
3) some of you, if you can’t buy it, maybe you shouldn’t be bolting it on then in the first place. make your own stuff.
4)recognize that the guy probably wants his product to have respect again.
5)nuff said.
Jesse: Glad you’re gonna devote more time to building again.
I just want to know when/if you reached across the table, grabbed Clint Black by the throat and ate his hat. I want to make sure to DVR that episode.
And Conrad,”retarded idiot” is redundant but I get your point.
i would imagine that the wonderful california property taxes are eating him up on the other building too. cali will soon be a business ghost town.
Brilliant,
I thought about assembling a “custom” with WC parts — but what would I have? Now I don’t have to consider that option!
Jim
Conrad;
You are a retarded idiot man. He was not arrested for having “pounds of coke”
I never said he was arrested, but that was the story floating around at the rallies where he and his people were selling FREE JESSIE t-shirts like they was hot cakes. I don’t know who started that story or for what reason and I don’t care but it did seem to help sell the T-shirts. If I was going to bet on it I would say it was some one working with Jessie or Jessie him self either way it was brilliant, I also said he is very smart, so smart in fact that I believe he can fool idiots into buying out-dated parts at higher prices. I personally don’t give a fuck what the true story was all I was doing was giving my opinion and telling things as I was hearing them at the rallies. If you don’t like people giving opinions than move to china, you may be happier and you will have better access to those parts you so desperately desire. If you believe this story you must be the retarded idiot. Nobody would cut off companies or individuals from buying there parts if they was selling and making money. Do you really think that after selling parts every where and selling toys at Walmart he now thinks he should stop so that his parts are more valuable? It seems that you may be a little slow so let me give you an example.
Sell 100 parts at a profit of 50 dollars per unit total profit of $5000.00
Sell 100,000 parts at a profit of 10 dollars per unit total profit is $1,000,000.00
Do you really think a man that has based his life around being as successful as he is would give up profits? NOT LIKELY
But if the parts you have are not selling and you are paying insurance and rent on a building to store them it would make sense to dump those parts, But how does one do that?
At this point go back and read Jessie’s story you may see some light this time.
any real business man knows this concept so don’t try to convince a real business man that stopping the sell of parts is anything other than a stunt to sell out-dated parts.
There was an inspiring actor in LA (ironically) named Jesse James (ironically) that was arrested for possession and an attempt to distribute.
After it was published everyone started calling Jesse with astonishment, (Jesse wouldn’t do that, and especially at the start of his stardom) and it was such wildfire news in our motorcycle industry that Jesse was smart enough to ride it out.
Truly great marketing at it’s best!
Nothing makes bigger news than bad news…
There is breaking news on the E! channel that Jesse just took a full-time gig to sit next to Donald in the boardroom on the next Apprentice.
People should not double-guess Jesse’s statement to Cyril. He stops selling parts because 1- he has some bikes to do (for now he still wants, to keep his “motorcycle builder” image because he likes bikes). 2- parts are not so fun to sell, and not as profitable as one can imagine. 3- Because he has no time to worry about selling his parts and supervising those in his shop selling them. 4- he wants to be a tv personality and if possible film actor because it’s hugely more profitable and more fun with less efforts. He is in a “married position’ very helpful for very good direct showbiz contacts. And he takes advantage of it. Who would not?
“In My Opinion” is a groupie who doesn’t know much about the industry (your financial demonstration is funny because nobody has ever sold $100,000 parts, especially a custom builder) and who want to look smart by “revealing” a “between the lines” story when there is none except what was published.
I bet “Gunrunner” belongs to the industry. He knows….
Fred your lack of industry knowledge is showing big time. Of course there are companies selling 100,000 parts or more. Who do you think makes the parts that go on Harleys and Big Dogs and Bourgets and on and on. Several companies sell a hundred thousand parts or more. NO BODY cuts off the people selling there parts let alone the people buying them. Now it may be true that WCC has never sold 100,000 sets of pipes or any other part but that does not make my example a joke. I am sure that WCC is in business for the same reason as anyone else “making money” and you can’t do that by cutting off your customers and distributors. This is either a stunt to sell un-needed inventory or a going out of business sale.
Now lets look at your statements
1- he has some bikes to do (for now he still wants, to keep his “motorcycle builder” image because he likes bikes).
I am sure he likes bikes and I am sure he enjoys his builder image. But it is tough to build bikes at WCC when your busy filming TV shows in New York. Face it your idol builds bikes like Paul Sr. does. He is the face of the company but he is not there turning wrenches on a daily basis. He is much smarter than that.
2- parts are not so fun to sell, and not as profitable as one can imagine
That is why companies like Custom Chrome do the selling for these guys. And who do they sell too? Bike shop owners and individuals so why cut them off.
3- Because he has no time to worry about selling his parts and supervising those in his shop selling them.
As with most of the custom parts creators the majority of there sales are not from there own shops but through other shops and more times than not the creator of these parts turns over the manufacturing of there parts to others and they do not see these parts between the time they are made in China or Thiawan and sent to Custom Chrome or the other distributors. It takes very little of there time once these contracts have been signed so why cut off the profits?
4- he wants to be a tv personality and if possible film actor because it’s hugely more profitable and more fun with less efforts.
On this statement we are in total agreement. Knowing this is true why would he want to build bikes and not sell the parts to others? If he does not have time to check on his help as far as the parts end of the business then where will he find time to build bikes?
I still say it is brilliant marketing. Wonder if he has any free Jessie shirt left. If so bet Fred would buy one.
So, “In My Opinion”, you think that Jesse pulled a stunt with the complicity of Cyril? I don’t think so. As another readerr wrote, why are you double guessing. Jesse didn’t create the ‘Free Jesse”.. He used it. He even didn’t create the “Jesse Who?”. He used it for its own benefit. (It’s another builder. Guess who? if you know so well the bike biz)
I doubt this opinion will be very popular. But what about all the loyal fans that bought frames to buidl their own cfl’s and such and are now stuck in the middle of a unfinished project ? They have no access to a lot of the stuff they had been hoping and planning for. In America if you sell a car you have to supply parts for the next ten years or contract with someone who will. Maybe the custom parts seller or bike in a box dealer should be held to the same standards?
Yes these people will find a way to finish the projects with someone elses parts but that is not the point. Nobody knows Jesse’s mind or business but him, but to me this was a stab in the back to many people. If I had a frame of his I know I would be most unhappy and be thinking many unfriendly thoughts about where to put that frame. Just my opinion. Let the beating commence.
You read the article. That’s it. No interpretation needs to be done. Period.
Looks plain on it’s face:
RE:
“… In an effort to focus 100% of our talent, facilities and resources on manufacturing the worlds finest motorcycles. Effective immediately West Coast Choppers will no longer sell parts…”
“Jesse James is back to building motorcycles at West Coast Choppers”
I read that as, JJ saying he’s gonna sell only finished scooters.
His after market parts business is closed.
So why is he doing this….???
RE
“… [to] continue to lead the way by focusing on customer service and superior quality…”
Sounds like he feels he’s an industry leaders and to maintain that position is will require quality & service and focusing on builds (no volume parts mfg.) will do that.
So if ya take all that at face value, the only issue would be a possible conflict between the statement:
“…. I will have my hands on every motorcycle ordered….”
And all this stuff about TV and Acting.
So either :
– the Acting/TV personality stuff is not expected to happen.
or
– the volume of builds is expected to be so low they won’t get in the way of Acting/TV
Clearly the business decision was to bail out on volume parts mfg.
That’s a call only “Industry” numbers can validate.
What’s not clear is the business case for Acting/TV.
Don’t knowing anything about the Trump show or Stunt thing.
But, if we’re talking about “Acting” ……. well, suffice it to say that Check Norris JJ ain’t………..
Now a TV “Personality” would have to be based on a connection with the custom industry.
So, no business, no connection. No connection, no Personality.
Building is JJ’s strong suit. In tough times ya get back to basics
And a good dose of charm-school certainly wouldn’t hurt……… 🙂
Sorry, i just calls-em as i sees-em
-nicker-
Quit your bashing and ride. If you got something good to say about the man and WCC, then say it. He has fucked up several times just like most of us has, but give Jesse James the credit he is due for what he has done for this industry.
Boss Hawg
You guys are over thinking this. Jesse has fired everybody to stop the cash bleeding. He’s waiting for his Dead Man show to hit the air and, he hopes, bring a revival in demand for his bikes and T-shirts. Then he’ll crank up again — if the cash is there. If not …
As long we can still get ‘OCC’ stuff, things will be alright
Who gives a crap?
Build your own bike. Plenty of parts out there. Make something in your garage or workshop, or even your living room. Learn to weld. You don’t NEED to pay out the rear. And it won’t look like anybody else’s bike. I promise…
Dirty Dee-/So-Cal
I think there are a few people posting on these comments that are acting like they know the business when they really don’t.
I manufacture parts that I sell to the same distributors that JJ sells to. This idea that they buy 100,000 of anything is ridiculous…. maybe tires, but not the stuff JJ is selling.
Furthermore, I don’t understand why we are all trying to second guess the reason behind what JJ is doing. The man does very well for himself… he is getting residuals off TV shows, he commands a high salary for his performances, and his bikes are enough ‘in demand’ that he can change a huge premium for them.
I’m going to throw out my own guess too – an educated one. I bet JJ just looked at how much money his parts business is making him, and the hassle of running it, and decided he just didn’t want to do it anymore. Not because it’s bleeding money, or because he’s almost broke, or anything else… but rather because he CAN. He makes enough $$$ that he can pick and choose what he does.
I’m also going to guess that he doesn’t want ten thousand guys who built bikes with WCC parts on them running around talking about their “West Coast Chopper”. HE wants to be the only one making WCC’s. It’ll probably allow him to command an even higher price for his bikes too.
People are assuming that nobody would turn down money… we all do it every day. We could all be working a second or third job at the Quickie Mart for $8/hr right? Why don’t we? Well, because our time is worth more than that, and at $8/hr it’s not worth it for most people. Most can’t understand the numbers JJ is looking at, I’m sure… maybe his parts biz has sales of $2mm a year and earns him $300k after expenses. You guys may think “NOBODY would turn that money down!”, but if JJ is able to get $500k per episode for a TV show, and sell a bike for $100k, and makes a couple million on merchandising (where he really doesn’t need to do any work at all), then all of a sudden that $300k he’s making on parts seems like an awful lot of work for not a ton of money.
Just like you guys think of working at the Quickie Mart for $8/hr.
I’m sure he does well enough that he doesn’t need whatever $$ he earns on his parts. I’m also sure he won’t mind the fact that only HE can make and sell a WCC part from now on. Working TV and movies and making some high-dollar bikes while you work on your own schedule out in the shop without customers coming by to bug you and the phone blowing up from people who are pissed about their parts being late and Custom Chrome nickel and diming you on margins and liability insurance going sky high and people knocking off your parts and everything else… he won’t miss that at ALL I bet.
Just my educated 0.02.
Mike. Of course your numbers are incorrect, but i can state publicly that you understand very well our industry and how business decisions are made…I will not say more.
CFE,
Also to add to what you say about the Jesse who, I believe that “builder” ( lol ) spelled JJs name wrong when he made his stickers and such without knowing he did!!!
Ok so I had lunch with my dad today and he brought up a very good point. Have any of you noticed how worked up you get when Jesse and Billy Lane are posted on the Blog? Its incredible. its almost like some of you are jealous of their names and accomplishments in life.
The Jessie who? stickers (spelled wrong) were a direct response to the stickers (I’m Jesse James) that Jesse was handing out to everyone at the Cinncy Dealer Show. All meant in good fun. You don’t want to take yourself too seriously. Jesse rose very quickly and has made a lot of smart marketing moves, let’s just see what he does next.
Anyone that has ever been to West Coast Choppers can see that there is an awful lot of real estate on the corner of Anaheim and Oregon in Long Beach to manage and keep operating. The recesion has certainly hit the high end market just as it has hit the low end of the spectrum. Whether you are of the opinion that Jesse builds a quality product or not is not at question here, it is a question of economics. If Jesse feels that it is in the best intrest of his business to create a demand for his bikes, and not just his parts, then moving all of the operations back into one building and creating a “lean” manufacturing model for his business is the best litmus test you can have. The WCC brand is known worldwide and I think that others in the business can use this to their advantage too. If this is successful as Jesse thinks it will be, then perhaps the next era of prosperity is only around the corner. That being said, I think that in time we will see WCC parts available again, but not for quite some time. For now, the parts that are in circulation will be sold off and this will only help Drag and Custom Chrome make room for new products on their shelves.
jeese was majorly responsible for the huge surge of custom bike building, he was an idol for many. he made good for himself and i’m personally glad he was there to push all the industry forward. you got to give him his due.
no parts to anyone now that is how to sell one off bikes and make money
love him or hate him, sinner or saint you gotta admit the man is interesting. he just about single handedly brought custom bike building to the masses. whatever he’s doing and whatever this is about you can be sure people will take note. the only thing worse than being talked about is being ignored. good luck jj
HATE TO SEE YOU COME BACK AT A TIME WHERE YOUR BIKES ON EBAY ARE GOING FOR HALF THE PRICE . I GIVE IT YOU YOUR BIKES ARE THE BEST QUALITY OUT THERE NO ONE COMES CLOSE I BEEN BUILDING BIKE OUT OF MY GARAGE FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS KNOW
AND EVERY BIKE I BUILD HAS SOMETHING WCC ON IT ITS SUCKS I HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR PARTS IF I CAN FIND THEM SO GOOD LUCK HOPE THIS STUNT WORKS OUT FOR YOUR COMPANY . P.S. I DONT THINK ANY BIKE IS WORTH $100,000.00 SORRY AMIGO FROM
LBCSEEYOULATER
I’m not an industry insider, and I won’t pretend to be. I’m just a guy who wanted a WCC frame kit because I liked the look of the CFL frame better than, say, a Paughco. Guess Jesse has his reasons for shutting down the parts deal or downsizing the company. It’s his business, he can do what he thinks is best and he can deal with the consequences. Or not.
Guess eBay is my friend. Anybody hears about an unfinished or basketcase CFL for sale, holla.
For those of you still wondering about Jesse’s decision to stop selling his parts, check out the interview he recently did with Rick Fairless on his internet radio show (www.strokersdallas.com). Jesse talks about it and it makes good business sense. Some of you are correct in your comments here. Others are way off. But isn’t that always how it goes with opinions and guesses? Check it out and see what you think.
Good to hear Jesse!!!
Chico