Sucker Punch Sallys Back In Business. JP Barbeau New Vice President And General Manager.

In September 2011, when learning of the sudden death of Christian Clayton, co-owner with his father Geri of limited edition manufacturer Sucker Punch Sallys, not many in the industry thought that the company would be able to survive. At the time, Christian’s family contacted me to state their firm intention to continue the business. Then, complete silence until yesterday evening when Sucker Punch Sallys contacted me again to reveal that JP Barbeau has been appointed as Vice President and General Manager. Mr. Barbeau comes to Sucker Punch Sallys with nearly 20 years of motorcycle industry experience including substantial time in both dealer and OEM operations.  Most recently, he served as the Director of Dealer Development for Indian Motorcycle Company prior to its sale to Polaris in April 2011.

Sucker Punch Sallys was originally created in 2002 in Ohio by custom builders Jeff Cochran and Donnie Loos. It was the first limited edition manufacturer in the industry to specialize in old school stripped-down Bobbers and Choppers sold at reasonable prices. They were very successful, even more when the economy went down the drain making Sucker Punch Sally’s’ bike models even more desirable because of their affordability. Later, Geri and Christian Clayton joined the company with the big ambition of building hundreds of bikes every year at their Arizona manufacturing facility. After a 3-year transition, both Jeff and Donnie, somewhat tired of the production business, decided to definitively severe their relation with Sucker Punch Sallys and Christian Clayton and his father Geri became solely in charge of the business.

Sucker Punch Sallys intends to stay true to its traditional biker values by providing the best stripped-down bobber and choppers at affordable prices. The old school no- nonsense style of bikes that started Sucker Punch Sallys are the bikes that today they still want to build.  The company states they now rely on a modernized facility in Scottsdale, AZ with the ability to build up to 100 bikes a month.

JP Barbeau will serve as the lead in all company operations including sales/marketing, dealer development, product development and apparel. He said ” This represents a truly great opportunity for me to help grow a unique brand with a history of quality products and nearly limitless potential.  The Sucker Punch Sallys’ brand has the ability to become a household name in the industry, and that will be one of my goals” Sucker Punch Sallys.

20 Responses to “Sucker Punch Sallys Back In Business. JP Barbeau New Vice President And General Manager.”


  1. 1 olgraybeard Jan 7th, 2012 at 9:21 am

    It’s to bad a company who can make quality bikes like the one pictured above can’t make it with out the bull…t. But it is good having them back in the market even though they technically never left. Damn nice bike . . . whats up with the guitar.

  2. 2 Brett Jan 7th, 2012 at 9:29 am

    JP Barbeau. Holding this guitar (why?) you don’t look like a serious VP/GM. Bad initiative. Welcome back SPS.

  3. 3 ROCKSTAR Jan 7th, 2012 at 11:48 am

    black shirt.
    check.

    sunglasses.
    check.

    guitar.
    check.

    bwahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  4. 4 Darin Maltsberger-Instructor @ MTI Jan 7th, 2012 at 12:02 pm

    It’s nice to see the company has a plan and some leadership. I know you have fans of your products all over the country. Back in ’08, Rachel Shannahan helped us launch our Chopper building classes here at MTI with a couple of rollers. It was great support at a time when we really needed it. One of those rollers became the anniversary bike that is in the background in one of the promo-clips for the Powersports program. It still travels around with one of the recruiters to local high schools and the “Sponsored by SuckerPunch Sallys” signage always draws smiles and questions from students.
    Again, glad to hear the news and good luck.

    -Darin

  5. 5 Rodent Jan 7th, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    Only Donnie and Jeff ever succeeded with Sucker Punch Sally bikes.

  6. 6 Jason Hallman Jan 7th, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Not certain I understand what the point of this is. 100 bikes a month? Hmmm…I don’t see that either. Oh sure you can build them, but can you sell them? Hiring a VP/GM from a failed enterprise (lets all be honest here, Indian hasn’t been a success since the first company successfully went out of business decades ago) to run another “failing” enterprise doesn’t seem like the best course of action to me. Why would someone buy a “custom built” bike in the $20,000 range when you can buy almost any bike for half (or much less than half) of what any bike cost when new? I happen to know this industry fairly well from the retail side of things and not to be disrespectful…Sucker Punch was a joke the minute Jeff and Donny decided to leave. They were the creative team, they were the face of the company. Christian may (or may not) have been a nice guy…I only met him once and I have no opinion on the matter but this is only prolonging the inevitable. Put a period at the end of the Sucker Punch Sally story and lets move on. SPS has tried every single “niche” marketing adventure one could try: Energy Drink, Clothing, a partnership with Ami James (the Love/Hate deal)…nothing worked once Jeff and Donny left. I think this is good money spent after bad.

  7. 7 GetReal Jan 7th, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    It’s a welcome breath of fresh air to see Sucker Punch will continue operating as usual again.

    RIP Christian and ride on Brother!

    GetReal

  8. 8 MotorcycleMarc Jan 8th, 2012 at 9:39 am

    Interesting development. The power of excess capital looking for a way to disappear never ceases to amaze me. All the best nonetheless SPS.

  9. 9 Seymour Jan 8th, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Maybe they are going to be selling guitars and apparel and such…

  10. 10 Joe pace Jan 8th, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    What a mess, I own a 66 bobber. So my experience is firsthand.
    They started to use cheap drive trains, have no support for their bikes, have questionable dealers, are overpriced , workmanship is sub par and now are appointing a fellow with a underwhelming resume.
    RIP SPS it’s been due for sometime now. They are selling off their stock of bikes, suspicious . Speed king is the real deal , look jeff up.

  11. 11 Hugh Lyonsack Jan 8th, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    Who makes the billet wheels (that look like spokes) in the above photo? SPS does not show them for sale on their site, no are they shown in anu of the “roller” kits.
    SPS bikes are often shwon with these wheels, yet I have never seen them for sale anywhere.

  12. 12 Art Welch Jan 8th, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    Good Luck JP.

  13. 13 nick Jan 9th, 2012 at 11:23 am

    First.nice to see your name Rodent. Give me. Call.
    Also nice to see people actually paid attention. And.understand you can not buy or build quality on a budget unless you do it your self. And that. goes for BBB also. Yes without Jeff & Donnie there was no SPS. All the garage builders and poor quality bikes out there. Sorry but I also agree, Indian didn’t have anything to sell & neither does SPS. Because you can buy a bike on credit doesn’t mean you should.
    Innovation , design ,style. That’s what it takes. Originality!!!!!!

  14. 14 Heavy Metal Jan 9th, 2012 at 3:39 pm

    Hope they can come up with a better exhaust than the bike in the pictures.

  15. 15 Gregory Jan 9th, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Glad to see the company back up and running. Great idea and their marketing was starting to pay off. Best of luck!!

  16. 16 Hotrod Jan 9th, 2012 at 6:11 pm

    is jp wearing a tiarra? no seriously good luck.

  17. 17 Rick Peyton Jan 31st, 2012 at 10:10 am

    I have to agree with other comments, there is no SPS without Donny & Jeff. When they left so did the integrity and class of the company. They might as well call it quits and move on.

  18. 18 python Mar 1st, 2012 at 3:31 am

    i think you all need to pull your heads in
    SPS is about the only company thats giving it a good old fashion go of it with the economic times the way they are @ the moment Its the only professionally based company that i know of that has some sort of company structure and established branding So instead of pounding them into the ground stand by your brothers and help turn companys into great successful company just like what America’s all about
    LAND OF THE BRAVE

  19. 19 Midscooped Mar 17th, 2012 at 9:41 am

    Amen Python, America was founded on some great moral principles and a free entrepreneurial spirit. A system that aloud the hungry, poor and tired to pull themselves up and basically build something out of nothing. If you look at Americas past you see thousands of small manufactures of everything from soap to cars. Everyone had an opportunity for the American dream. Now, not just our economy but our administration is killing this dream, save a few, try and buy American! I love to seeing small Manufacturers, but they are few and far between.SPS may not be perfect but I wish them the best and not everyone wants to ride HD.
    Good Luck Mr.B

  20. 20 descombes Mar 23rd, 2012 at 4:54 am

    a jp barbeau bonjour monsieur je suis client chez vous j’ai payer le 27 10 2011 une moto avec des options pour 15749 dollars a ce jour je n’ai aucune nouvelles de ma commande pouvez vous me tenir au courant de la suite de cette commande sans suite de votre part je prendrais des mesures juridique a bientot de vous lire

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Cyril Huze