Breaking News. Owner Of Custom Motorcycle Shop Sucker Punch Sallys Arrested For Alleged Frauds

spslogogerie-claytonFollowing a 2 year investigation by Police Auto Crimes detectives, Gerie L. Clayton, owner of custom motorcycle shop Sucker Punch Sallys located in Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested for 2 felony counts of theft by misrepresentation. Clients in Canada and North Carolina allege that they paid $35,000 for custom Bobber style motorcycles that were never completed and delivered. In addition, since 2010, there is a total of 16 civil unpaid judgment against Sucker Punch Sallys for a total of $3,657,000. Gerry Clayton is personal co-defendant in 6 of these judgments. The Scottsdale police department think that there are more victims of Sucker Punch Sallys and of Gerie L. Clayton thefts by misrepresentation, for custom motorcycles, rolling chassis and parts paid in part or in full and never delivered to their clients. If you are among them, contact Scottsdale Police Dept. at 480-312-5000

SPSbisSucker Punch Sally 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. 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 and in disagreement with the Claytons, decided to definitively severe their relation with Sucker Punch Sally and Gerie Clayton and his son Christian became solely in charge of the business.

rying to capitalize ob the bobber/chopper craze of the time, they created a very short lived line of Energy and Moonshine drinks and a Diner in Scottsdale. Christian Clayton who was the face of Sucker Punch Sallys passed away in his sleep on September 9, 2011. His father Gerie immediately contacted me to inform my readers that he would continue the business without interruption. Since then, frequent rumors were swirling in the industry about Sucker Punch Sallys financial situation and commercial practices.

51 Responses to “Breaking News. Owner Of Custom Motorcycle Shop Sucker Punch Sallys Arrested For Alleged Frauds”


  1. 1 takehikes Dec 4th, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    sorry to hear another of these stories but its very very difficult to make it in the custom bike business on any kind of scale. Thats why so many sell parts and not bikes.

  2. 2 Greg Dec 4th, 2014 at 6:59 pm

    If you can’t make it in this business, STOP. Don’t scam clients to survive. You will end up in jail. One more on the list…

  3. 3 Blackmax Dec 4th, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    Wow!!!
    Both Jeff & Donnie are great people & gave me some of my first real interviews
    when I was just getting started.
    Being in the same “neck of the woods” it was cool to see local builders get that kind of national
    notoriety, but yet still be able to see them out & about on local runs & bike nights
    I was sad to see them sell the company, but as they told me,
    it was never their intention to be a mega-global company.
    They just wanted to build “cool old school” cycles and they both still are, in their own fashion.
    Well I’m certainly glad they are out & away from under it now

  4. 4 P. Hamilton Dec 4th, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    Another Big Bear Choppers story.

  5. 5 Boomer Dec 4th, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    Is the custom bike builder business dead for now?

    This really sucks because I have a gut feeling Clayton was really trying to make it at a time with the chopper and general custom bike time seems to be on hold in the USA. Going from making the big bucks to barely getting by is a hard hit and not uncommon for the last 5-6 years now.

    Maybe when the general economic and political times we are in right now improve and we have a more centrist and hopefully more business friendly POTUS; things will start moving in the right direction on main street as well as Wall Street. The entire developed world needs this; not just the USA.

    One can hope anyway… I sure do.

  6. 6 Dirtbag Dec 4th, 2014 at 7:48 pm

    35k for a motorcycle/bobber?!?!

  7. 7 Rodent Dec 4th, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    I thought sucker punch went belly up years ago.

  8. 8 Mike Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    I hate to see this. Bad news is bad for all of us.

  9. 9 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    Trends come and go. Choppers are dead or bobbers, Just like the fat tire trend. Its over run now by little beard broke 20 something kids trying to be a hipsters that just want something cool and trendy till they grow out of it and move on the the next best thing.

  10. 10 Zenaldo Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:26 pm

    It does reflect really poorly on the industry as a whole…and this, not too terribly long since the other shop in the Phoenix area was raided by the cops just a few months ago..a bad year indeed for the bike business in the Phoenix area…

  11. 11 Eric Maurer Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    Choppers aren’t dead….. it’s just the craze of anyone and everyone being a chopper shop, builder, etc. Well made bikes, quality parts and talented builders and respectable shops are still here too.

  12. 12 DirkDiggler Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    its the crappy justice system. You get scumbags like Alsop of Big Bear Choppers who rips people off and then bounces right back with some foreign help, and it just sends the message that not only can you get away with it, but people will still support you.

  13. 13 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 8:59 pm

    The garage and swap-meet so called builders :/ have killed the choppers and the market for quality parts. I see more junk passed off as “choppers” out there than a quality build. These very people (garage/swap-meet) junk bikes have put the chopper industry in the dumpster! There are parts companies/web-sites that are geared towards low quality cheap do it yourself crap that they flux weld together and has driven the chopper parts and bike scene to an all time low. The chopper industry is a sinking ship! Its not a matter of the strong surviving its these very same little garage builders that have put the nail in the coffin for a true chopper shop to actually make a living now. Its a slow death but choppers are dead!

  14. 14 troot Dec 4th, 2014 at 9:25 pm

    the chopper is not dead my friend, only the mass produced
    cheap crap is dead….. garage small shop choppers will a
    lways be around imo

  15. 15 Jim Watson Dec 4th, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

    Alexander Graham Bell

  16. 16 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    You just named every swap meet garage builder out there! Cheap JUNK. Your missing the point there troot.

  17. 17 BobS Dec 4th, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    The custom industry is hardly dead, but you have to keep the product and the marketplace in perspective. Take the bike pictured. Yes, it’s a cool bike and you can have one like it for 35k. Or you could take a used Sporty, put a peanut tank and drag bars on it, add some fat wheels and tires and you kinda / sorta have a bike with the same look, and a suspension, and spend far less than 10 grand. It’s not that a custom chopper or bobber isn’t still cool, it’s that if you want to sell bikes for 35, 50, 100k a pop it’s going to take more than some mad metal fabrication skills.

  18. 18 Scott Takes Dec 4th, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    I don’t know what frustrates me more… Learning about the news of another Fraud tag on our beloved industry, or reading the comments you guys are writing in response. You fellas are embarrassing. I hesitated to even write anything as to be associated with you. But I sm associated with the motorcycle industry so I am speaking for the rest of us. Choppers are not dead. Bobbers are not dead. There are sub cultures to this industry, and if you look closely there is s simple honest living to be made in all of these sub cultures. Right now the big dollars may be spent on the Baggers, but it sure does not mean everything else is dead. To all of you working in the motorcycle industry, honestly… And with integrity, I salute you. Jeff and Donny, cheers for launching an impressive brand, and having the foresight to remove yourselves as it did not feel it was your big picture.

  19. 19 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Rig up a shop to build a quality bike with hand made parts and 35K is going to make you broke in no time. The so called custom industry is a slow death. No one wants to buy quality? Ha they want to buy an image. The days of a quality CHOPPER are long gone. 20 somthing Kids with no money want to buy an image, hence all the low budget junk and sportster trying to look like it. Its like the ultimate faker putting on a costume to try and fool everyone.

  20. 20 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    Rig up a shop to build a quality bike with hand made parts and 35K is going to make you broke in no time. The so called custom industry is a slow death. No one wants to buy quality? Ha they want to buy an image. The days of a quality CHOPPER are long gone. 20 something Kids with no money want to buy an image, hence all the low budget junk and sportster trying to look like it. Its like the ultimate faker putting on a costume to try and fool everyone.

  21. 21 Robert Dec 4th, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    Im done Choppers are dead and the little hipster kids with no money and cheap crap bikes killed it! FACT!

  22. 22 Mike Tomas, Kiwi Indian MC Co Dec 4th, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    This is the United States of America and there is plenty of opportunity. Markets expand and contract. Styles come and go. Economies cruise along and go boom and bust. Is the glass half full or half empty. I’ve been in business over 26 years and every time the economy takes a dump, my business takes on a major expansion. Strange but true. The last great recession I sold more bikes than I ever had even in the booming economy. This is the United States of America and there are always people who have money to spend. Build quality products, be different and in innovative and they will come. There are plenty in this business doing what they love and making a living at it. Believe!!!

  23. 23 Robby White Dec 4th, 2014 at 11:00 pm

    This news does not surprise me at all. I have bought parts from Jeff, Donnie, and Christian when I was building my Sucker Punch. Jeff is a great guy whom had the most influence in my build. Christian was a good guy too but more money orientated not as passionate about the bikes as both Donnie and Jeff. Donnie and Jeff built the best bikes that came from that company period. When Christain passed away the Sucker Punch company that both him and his father took over died along with Christain. I hate to see this company go down the way it has. It was started out of love for the bobbers. I am glad Jeff started Speedking to keep that style alive!!!

  24. 24 Ernie Woods Dec 4th, 2014 at 11:23 pm

    Choppers live and r alive , even though I have a street glide my baby is a SIMMS Bay Area Custom Chopper , which will b with me till I die ! And remember everything comes back around , n I ask myself everyday where did all these guys with American iron hose go ? R the big bear bike ? OCC CRAP ! Simms has been here since 78 and not going anywhere as for WCC , Jesse jus took Ron style down south , n blew up fast n quick Jesse used to hang out at Ron shop back b4 all his tats when he had long hair after his hair cuts n tats he was the man all the sudden ! Things changed when Indian Larry died but his style n bikes r alive n well also if BILLY Lane would not of went 2 prison 4 man saluter who knows , a lot of shops jus have 2 follow trends 2 make that money n keep payroll flowing but shops like Denver’s And Simms n LA choppers will keep the real chopper culture alive …. Now days the main steam trend is big Wheel Baggers where they do all the crap but leave the stock wheel on the back …and they all run turbo now they say the fat tire is played out well the big wheel is not far behind 23, 26 30 32 yeah that shit will b out soon and FXR … Jus saying , so relax everyone has an opinion !

  25. 25 nicker Dec 4th, 2014 at 11:30 pm

    Seems what ya have here are several issues at play here.
    Firstly, custom scooters (of any style) can never “be dead” any more than can “Rock & Roll be dead.” Fads may come and go but core iconic concepts transcend all contemporary yammering.

    Moreover, the economy will exert cyclical pressure on any business, its the nature of free-markets.
    And businesses that trade in fads will always be at risk when economic and fad cycles coincide.

    Mix all this with the inevitable “bad players” that exist in any market (had a new roof installed lately?) and doom & gloom stories abound. But to lay all these problems on “the garage builder” is about as realistic as blaming a drop in the fine-art market on 1st grade refrigerator door drawings.

    Look, this is a very simply issue:
    – Few players in this field are competent enough to scale up into licensed production manufacturing, regardless what it says on their business card.
    – Owning a Harbor Freight MIG box doesn’t make you a welder any more than owning a motorcycle makes you a competent rider.
    – Increasingly fewer of the mechanically clueless are interest in, or have the disposable income to participate in a declining fad.

    There will always be a market for high-end, quality engineered products. But making money in this environment won’t be quite as simple as its been in the past. And so the marginal will fall by the wayside.

    -nicker-

  26. 26 Jay Horton's Private Shop Dec 5th, 2014 at 9:17 am

    What Nicker said above. Nothing more needs to be said other than get back to work. Later Jay

  27. 27 Paul Dec 5th, 2014 at 9:39 am

    No surprise when hearing things like this, same as Big Bear Choppers did and others turning to making money other avenues like Foundrymoto/Fxr division selling drugs and now ending up in jail for it. It’s sad these guys are to lazy to get a normal job and do the motorcycle thing on the side. I wonder sometimes do they really think the risk of prison time is worth scamming people and doing other illegal stuff!

  28. 28 Lex Dec 5th, 2014 at 9:55 am

    Said to hear ,
    it is hard and always will be hard to create build and sell top quality bikes only the best and honest will survive.

    One thing choppers aren’t dead and they never will be. If it is the kid that builds him self his first bike out of a bunch of swap meet parts or the company that builds good quality bikes , it is part of our scene ,us or whatever you want to call it i think it is the called creativity that keeps this wheel spinning.

    In regard to sucker punch i don’t think think it is our job to speculate or did any of you actually see the court paperwork …. Our job is to create and manufacture good parts and very well built bikes that last and are safe don’t oversell a client be honest ……….

    All the best

  29. 29 big tonys chopp shop Dec 5th, 2014 at 11:58 am

    Why didnt kevin and mona olsop end up in the same boat?
    Every time these guys do this it hurts all good reputable builders.

  30. 30 Same old thing... Dec 5th, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    Seems like it’s either shops screwing customers or screwing vendors, using their money to keep them afloat. It’s still prevalent on the backside of the industry but some of us are nice enough not to mention names. The “used to be” guys during the chopper craze who have moved to other states and tried to rekindle what their name once was…they’re still out there screwing their vendors the same as SPS and BBC have done with their customers.
    Always clawing to stay alive no matter who they screw. Good riddance to all of them. Let the guys with some business ethics keep the hope alive…the rest can kick rocks and hang out with the gutter scum they’ve become

  31. 31 1550tc Dec 5th, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    HATE TO SEE THIS IN THIS SMALL NICHE INDUSTRY……….you see all the hype and expenses with these guys and then with simple math you realize how the f–k are they paying for all this BS and their not ………..

    what were 2 of PT Barnum’s ole sayings ??

    Money is in some respects life’s fire: it is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.

    and

    There’s a sucker born every minute 🙁

  32. 32 tussuck Dec 5th, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Lock him up for ever! Damn scumbag ripping off folks, there is NEVER an excuse.

  33. 33 Brett Dec 5th, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    wow…Mid West Choppers, Big Bear Choppers & Now Sucker Punch Sally’s….how do they figure they can get away with it??? Well I guess Alsop did get away with it & even had someone else buy the business & give him a job…..

  34. 34 J Dec 5th, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    Hmm, yeah- decreasing demand, higher input costs, flooded secondary market- economics and gravity suck, but are inevitable.

    Still no excuse for dishonesty, tho- game was over long before $3M in judgements, dude- do your time.

  35. 35 Meh Dec 5th, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    Chops don’t need to be produced by businesses looking to commodify chopping. The sooner the rich hipster market dies the better. The motorcycle culture is better off without it.

    No loss to the world when they fail due to dishonesty or incompetence. If the market shrinks, suck it up and downsize. That worked for Force Protection who built MRAPs and is a classic story of smart business. If more people emulated it more businesses would have survived market downturns.

    Fabrication and production for niche markets is vulnerable, so adapt or die. There is no excuse for taking peoples money then ripping them off.

    Rich old guys who want ass jewelry can commission local fabricators to do anything they want. Motorcycles aren’t nearly as sophisticated as cars.

    Meanwhile people who want to have fun will build according to their budgets. So what if it’s not “art”?

  36. 36 TONY DAVIDSON Dec 6th, 2014 at 8:58 am

    WHAT HAPPEN TO BIG BEAR CHOPPER ?

  37. 37 John the Baptist Dec 6th, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    Guess he should have used Kevin and Mona Osop’s lawyer?

  38. 38 Mack Dec 8th, 2014 at 8:11 am

    “Rock is dead they say……..long live rock”……some of you guys make me laugh ….do u have a clue what a chopper is ?…..this was a case of bad /dishonest business practices……nothing more nothing less……..btw Donnie loos straight up good guy, completly separated from these guys …….chop til u drop
    Choppers / bobbbers will never die.!

  39. 39 Mike Corbin.com Dec 8th, 2014 at 9:39 am

    Honest Work for an Honest Return , GrandPa 1948 !

  40. 40 DG Custom Cycle Dec 8th, 2014 at 9:50 am

    No matter what the industry is, your always going to find guys trying to take advantage of a good thing.

  41. 41 BlingBagger Dec 8th, 2014 at 10:38 am

    Its true choppers and BOBBERS are dead! get with the times. There is nothing cool about a clapped out old peace of crap sitting on the side of the road. Take note all you people trying to keep choppers&bobbers alive, look at this guy.

  42. 42 Jim Watson Dec 8th, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    -nicker- has got it right, well said. . . Thanks!

  43. 43 nicker Dec 8th, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    RE:
    “…get with the times…”

    Ah yes, yet another issue that needs some clarification.

    The concept of “Customizing” (anything) has no “Time frame.”

    In the context of motorcycles, customization started out being a mechanism by which an already limited participation activity was made even more “exclusive” by the very nature of the buy-in. And that was simply because, in order to participate one had to have the skill and talent to produce something that couldn’t be gotten any other way. Very few guys were going to sell you “their ride.”

    For various reasons things began to change:
    -1- “Meeting the nicest people on a Honda” made motorcycling OK, but that wasn’t cool enough.
    -2- Slowly more people wanted in on the “exclusivity” of customs and a market was born.
    -3- Media and entertainment created a custom motorcycling fantasy that snowballed into a “Fad.”

    And so we ended up with the obvious contradiction of “production custom bikes.”
    But its damned difficult to claim exclusivity with a mass produced commodity.

    Times didn’t change, people will always want “exclusivity.”
    The problem is that the market for such exclusivity is, by its very definition self limiting.

    Its a very simple concept:
    An item chant be “exclusive” if every Jack Mehoff can buy in.

    Today “getting with the times” may well mean going back in time. Where hand crafted exclusive rides were made by those who value the entire process (conceptualization, engineering, making unique parts, painstaking attention to detail assembly), including ownership of the end result.

    It used to be such people weren’t much into selling what they “created.” Maybe today that’s “changed”….???…. Either way, the “buy-in” into true custom exclusivity is not trivial, technically or economically. But then, that’s how it’s always been, nothing has changed.

    From my experience, anyway.
    -nicker-

  44. 44 Steve Hog Radio Show Producer Dec 11th, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Why all the crying about styles going out of style?

    The article is about a company who ripped people off, not the style of bikes they built. People wanted the bikes the company just didn’t deliver what these patrons had ordered while taking the money upfront. This is the story not the style of bikes the company once produced.

    In short, when you do bad business you will someday be found out.

  45. 45 HAPPY Dec 13th, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    SUCKS!

    What happens is times get a little lean. You have 2 bikes that need completion and no funds. You get that third order and use the money to build the other two bikes thinking then you can pull through. This domino effect keeps going and you keep getting deeper under.

    I would say they never had intentions of robbing anybody but when you get too big and there are a lot of people with hands out you do what you have to. Obviously taking peoples money isn’t the answer.

  46. 46 mike a SPS owner Dec 21st, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Hope they put J,P in the same cell with Gerie and throw steve in as there bitch like he always has been.

  47. 47 Susan Wallace Jan 15th, 2015 at 11:30 pm

    You are NOT going to believe this – Rumor has it that .the City of Scottsdale is not going to prosecute this guy. If you’re from Phoenix, you know his daddy is Mel Clayton and sells cars. I can’t even imagine the used cars this guy must sell. Anyway, Daddy is somewhat of a local celebrity and rumor is that he “disowned” Gerie. PUHLEASE!!! As Donald Trump would say – MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY – that’s what this is about – Daddy is bailing his 63 year old baby out. Check it out.

  48. 48 Sue Wallace Jan 20th, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    Correction to above. Maricopa county refuses to prosecute this dirtbag

  49. 49 Mark Cramer Mar 14th, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    I hope this dirt bag and Steve gets what they has coming to him. Ripped me off on a bike build. After that they had the balls to contact me about buying merchandise from his store.

  50. 50 Frank Beatty Mar 20th, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    Styles are always around somewhere. Fads are what come and go. We all were newbies once. Bikes are a fad with hipsters now, but some of them will stay with bikes. Some blowhards puff about how they are the best there is, but the cool heads just keep building. Garages breed some of the coolest bikes ever, that’s where the love is. Craftsmanship comes from the heart, not the mouth.

  51. 51 descombes robert Apr 7th, 2015 at 8:26 am

    bonjour a tous je suis moi meme victine de l’escros geriie clayton ……………j’ai commandé et payer par virement banquaire la somme de15749 us dollar le28 octobre 2012 je me suis meme deplacé a scottsdale j’ai une lettre de gerie clayton me prometant de me livrer la moto le plus rapidement possible a ce jour je nai rien recu je pense que d’autre personne que gerie clayton sont condamable je site jp barbeau et le bras droit de gerie clayton (steve) je vous informerais de la suite

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