This article needs to be updated.(January 2011) |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 1992 [1] or 1993 [2] in Paramount, California, U.S. [3] |
Fate | In Business |
Headquarters | Austin, Texas, U.S.[ needs update ] |
Key people | Jesse James |
Products | Branded clothing and other tie-in merchandise, choppers |
Revenue | US$ 6 million [2] |
Number of employees | 50 [2] [4] |
Website | westcoastchoppers |
West Coast Choppers (WCC) is a brand that began selling screen-printed T-shirts and stickers with the company's Iron cross/Maltese cross logo while founder and "master marketer" [2] Jesse James was finishing high school, packaging the accoutrements of the chopper lifestyle long before any actual West Coast Choppers customs had been ordered or sold. [5] [6] [7] Even after the company did begin building custom choppers, 60% of revenue still came from sales of WCC-branded marketing tie-ins such as clothing, beverages and tools. [2] [8] Yearly sales of approximately 12–15 [5] motorcycles at prices of around US$150,000 each [4] actually lost money for the company, but attracted positive attention. [1] Publicizing the names of celebrity clients, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves, Ty Law of the Denver Broncos, wrestling star Bill Goldberg, actor Tyson Beckford, and NFL running back Jamal Anderson, was a central feature of the WCC marketing strategy. [1] [2] [5] [9] [10] [11] The other key to this strategy was the star power of Jesse James, presented mainly through television on the Discovery Channel in the Motorcycle Mania series and the 2002–2006 series Monster Garage. [5] [12] [13] [14]
The Long Beach, California headquarters of West Coast Choppers shut down in 2010, but later reopened in 2013 with a new headquarters in Austin, Texas. [15]
Founded in the early 1990s West Coast Choppers gained notice with the 2001 shows Motorcycle Mania I and II, on the Discovery Channel. In 2004 James starred with Kid Rock in Motorcycle Mania III. [16] With the release of these shows interest in Jesse James and the West Coast Choppers allowed the firm to expand knowledge of its brand and to expand its following. Jesse James also narrated a 2006 Discovery show called History of the Chopper, where he makes his own motorcycle to commemorate the 1960s. [17]
In 2004, the company's merchandise, along with the No Fear brand, was banned from the Simi Valley Unified School District in California for using the German Iron Cross, in reaction to violence between black and white students. Jesse James and a spokesman for No Fear have said the cross is based on the Maltese cross and does not represent white power or Nazism. James said the cross is used by many fire departments, for example. [18] A skateboarding store employee pointed out that West Coast Choppers sells a T-shirt which combines both the cross symbol and a WWII German-style helmet, representing "things he'd rather not be associated with." [19] A similar ban in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2003 drew protests from students. [20]
In 2005 West Coast Choppers agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a claim by the Business Software Alliance that unlicensed copyrighted software was used in the design of the company's motorcycles. [21]
In 2007 Jesse James was fined over a quarter-million dollars because West Coast Choppers sold more than 50 motorcycles from 1998 to 2005 that failed to comply with the air pollution limits of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). James explained that he was unaware of rule changes that required small-volume manufactures to comply with regulations. James said the CARB refused his offer to recall and modify the uncompliant choppers. Since 2005 West Coast Choppers has built emissions-compliant choppers. [22] James said the fines were excessive and intended to make an example of him due to his company's fame and his celebrity marriage to actress Sandra Bullock, but CARB spokesmen stated their enforcement efforts were aimed at the entire custom industry, and further that they were aware of no offer by West Coast Choppers to recall the motorcycles in question. [23]
In 2008 West Coast Choppers worked with the City of Long Beach to design steel artwork that will be placed in concrete planters between two city streets. West Coast Choppers also designed the "Long Beach 2030 Plan Van," a mobile classroom that will be used to promote the city's long range planning projects. [3] [24] The City of Long Beach renamed part of a street as "West Coast Choppers Place" in 2009 to honor the company. [25]
In 2009 West Coast Choppers stopped selling motorcycle customizing parts, offering only complete bikes, or clothing and other non-bike merchandise. Jesse James was reported to be trying to exercise more personal control over production, and to "battle knockoffs and establish a measure of quality control." [26]
In October 2010, West Coast Choppers closed the shop in Long Beach. [15] James' other Long Beach business, Cisco Burgers, remained, but no other details of the closing were announced, and it was not clear whether James would continue operations from his new home in Texas. [15] Cisco Burgers has since also closed shop. The website westcoastchoppers.com redirected to www.westcoastchoppers-australasia.com, which sells merchandise with the West Coast Choppers brand and logo, operated by Rev Head Apparel under a license agreement with Jesse James. [27] However, Jesse James, decided to open the company back up in 2013.
In 2019, it launched the KIMI by West Coast Choppers range of merchandise, in partnership with Kimi Raikkonen, 2007 F1 World Champion. [28]
The star personality of the company's founder and president Jesse James is a key asset in the marketing of the West Coast Choppers image. Monster Garage producer Thom Beers describes him as, "the perfect Gen-X antihero. He doesn't want to be worshiped ... he really believes in what he does, and he has a great sense of style." [5] Advertising Age Editor-in-Chief Scott Donaton says James is a, "relatable bad boy with blue-collar appeal" adding that West Coast Choppers, "has made a lot out of this bad boy image, has made a lot out of this connection to the name Jesse James and this sort of Wild West romance," which will remain profitable for years to come so long as it is "authentic." [1] James is compared with entrepreneurs like Martha Stewart and Coco Chanel for his ability to turn an image into multiple lines of profitable fashions. [2] [12]
The celebrity clients who order WCC bikes are a main avenue of promotion. The motorcycle made for Shaquille O'Neal cost US$150,000 and was customized for the athlete's 338 lb (153 kg) weight and 49 in (120 cm) inseam, and enormous hands, resulting in a dramatic 11.5 feet (3.5 m) long bike with footpegs made for size 24 feet. The result was, "priceless publicity". [2]
James sometimes displays a little unveiled contempt for his customers, as when he explained to Popular Mechanics how they conceived their US$3,000 kit for a chopper frame by saying, "We geared this towards the do-it-yourself mother—." [13] Or when he joked with the Los Angeles Times at the high prices of his branded clothing, saying, "Wife beaters for $200 bucks, I'm like—sucker. I could get three for 10 bucks" at a swap meet. [12]
This image is used mainly to sell clothing, the top moneymaker for the company. [1] Sales in Europe are ten times the US, according to James. [29] At one time, there were five clothing lines, including two sold by West Coast Choppers, two at Wal-Mart, as well as high-end lines available in more expensive department stores, such as T-shirts for "$100 a pop in Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and Fred Segal". [12] Koral Industries of Vernon, California is responsible for the design and manufacture of WCC clothing, as well as supplying the sales force to place the products in stores. [12] Clothing items include hoodies, tank tops, T-shirts and jackets. [30] There is also a line of Jesse James/WCC-branded bib overalls and other workwear. [31]
Besides clothing, and the small scale production of choppers made to order, tie-ins with other companies were a major part of West Coast Choppers. One such tie-in was a 2004 contest to win a motorcycle, with entries contained in bottles of chocolate Yoo-hoo, which helped to promote the launch of a new flavor, Dyna-Mocha, which is Yoo-hoo and coffee. [32] [33] West Coast Choppers also signed a multi-year agreement with Huffy in which West Coast Choppers will design Huffy choppers, to be sold at Wal-Mart. The objective was to duplicate success of Pacific Cycles' Schwinn Sting-Ray model designed by rival Orange County Choppers (OCC). [9] [10] While the OCC and WCC branded bikes had some success, the kids' bikes' sales at Wal-Mart and K-Mart was a fraction of bikes branded with children's characters such as Barbie, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer, Power Rangers and Spider-Man. [34]
Other brand tie-ins are a plasma arc cutter and other welding torches made by ESAB, designed by and named after Jesse James. [35] [36] Airstream trailers had a deal as well, which included a WCC motorcycle with a sidecar made with a polished aluminum body to simulate the appearance of the iconic camper trailers. [37] Besides Yoo-hoo, another beverage company, Coors Brewing Company, added West Coast Choppers logos and pictures of bikes to their product in a mutually beneficial brand tie-in. [38]
West Coast Choppers motorcycles are described as old school and minimalist. [39] WCC bikes have been called more stripped down when contrasted with decades-long established chopper builders like Arlen Ness, that is, a bike with, "not much there but engine, what the law requires, and something to hold onto." [29] In spite of this characterization, a WCC trademark is the use of 9×19mm and .44 Magnum shell casings as purely non-functional decorations, adorning the fuel or oil filler caps or top of the motorcycle's handlebar risers, or elsewhere. The presence of this 20th-century gun ammunition is intended to evoke Jesse James' distant ancestor, old west outlaw and gunfighter Jesse James. [2] [4] [5] [40] A strong metaphorical tie between the chopper-riding biker and old west outlaws is a mainstay of biker culture, established by "the biker world's Norman Rockwell," [41] painter David Mann. [42] The biker's cross logo, a version of the Iron Cross or the Maltese Cross, is also typical of a WCC bike, though that symbol is nearly ubiquitous in Kustom Kulture regardless. [43]
The old school label of WCC bike designs fits loosely as well, especially in recent years as WCC has moved away from the traditional Harley-Davidson chopper, seen by James as too mainstream, and stretched the style in search of originality. Specific influences include Lambretta scooters, Honda 305 Scramblers, and Schwinn Black Phantom bicycles. [29]
Logo and insignia designs used by West Coast Choppers have been farmed to professional design firm Akins Parker Creative, who carefully researched the colors and motifs dear to "old school bikers," such as Vietnam war squadron patches. This is crafted to reproduce for mass consumption the "odd, imperfect shapes" of old hand-painted bike art in order to gratify the customer's "keen sense of authenticity." [44] [45]
Jesse Gregory James is an American entrepreneur, automotive mechanic, and television personality. He is the founder of West Coast Choppers and former partner of Austin Speed Shop and current CEO of Jesse James Firearms Unlimited, both based in Austin, Texas.
Orange County Choppers (OCC) was an American motorcycle manufacturer and lifestyle brand company based in the town of Newburgh, located in Orange County, New York, that was founded in 1999 by Paul Teutul Sr. The company was featured on American Chopper, a reality TV show that debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel. The series moved to Discovery Channel's sister channel TLC in 2007. Following cancellation of the Discovery series, the company was also featured on Orange County Choppers on the CMT network in 2013. Orange County Choppers returned to Discovery Channel in March 2018.
A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in the US state of California in the late 1950s. A chopper employs modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance. They can be built from an original motorcycle which is modified ("chopped") or built from scratch. Some of the characteristic features of choppers are long front ends with extended forks often coupled with an increased rake angle, hardtail frames, very tall "ape hanger" or very short "drag" handlebars, lengthened or stretched frames, and larger than stock front wheel. To be considered a chopper a motorcycle frame must be cut and welded at some point. I.e. the name chopper. The "sissy bar", a set of tubes that connect the rear fender with the frame, and which are often extended several feet high, is a signature feature on many choppers.
American Chopper is an American reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr., and his son Paul Teutul Jr., who manufacture custom chopper-style motorcycles. Orange County Choppers is in Newburgh, New York. The contrasting work and creative styles of the father-and-son team and their resulting verbal arguments were the series' hallmark until 2008 when an explosive argument led to Paul Jr.'s termination and departure to start a competing chopper company, Paul Jr. Designs.
A custom motorcycle is a motorcycle with stylistic and/or structural changes to the 'standard' mass-produced machine offered by major manufacturers. Custom motorcycles might be unique, or built in limited quantities. While individual motorcyclists have altered the appearance of their machines since the first days of motorcycling, the first individualized motorcycles specifically labeled 'Custom' appeared in the late 1950s, around the same time as the term was applied to custom cars.
Paul Michael Teutul is one of the stars of the American reality television series American Chopper, also starring his father. Teutul was the chief designer and fabricator. Prior to this, he was head of the rail shop at Orange County Ironworks. He is the founder of Paul Jr. Designs, which manufactures custom motorcycles and sells branded clothing. Teutul, along with his father and younger brother Michael, became celebrities when they became the focus of a reality television series American Chopper on Discovery Channel in 2002.
Indian Larry was an American motorcycle builder and artist, stunt rider, and biker. He first became known as Indian Larry in the 1980s when he was riding the streets of New York City on a chopped Indian motorcycle. Respected as an old school chopper builder, Larry sought greater acceptance of choppers being looked upon as an art form. He became interested in hot rods and motorcycles at an early age and was a fan of Von Dutch and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whom he would later meet in California.
David Mann was a California graphic artist whose paintings celebrated biker culture, and choppers. Called "the biker world's artist-in-residence," his images are ubiquitous in biker clubhouses and garages, on motorcycle gas tanks, tattoos, and on T-shirts and other memorabilia associated with biker culture. Choppers have been built based on the bikes first imagined in a David Mann painting.
A cruiser bicycle, also known as a beach cruiser or (formerly) motobike, is a bicycle that usually combines balloon tires, an upright seating posture, a single-speed drivetrain, and straightforward steel construction with expressive styling. Cruisers are popular among casual bicyclists and vacationers because they are very stable and easy to ride, but their heavy weight and balloon tires tend to make them rather slow. Another common feature is their ability to be customized with accessories including fenders, lights and saddle bags. They are designed for use primarily on paved roads, low speeds/distances, and are included in the non-racing/non-touring class and heavyweight or middleweight styles of the road bicycle type.
The terms suicide clutch, and suicide shifter or jockey shifter, refer to some motorcycles' foot-operated clutch and hand shifter to change gears. Foot clutches (rocker-clutches) and hand shifters (tank-shifts) were found on early motorcycle designs from around the turn of the 20th century to the 1940s or 50s, and reappearing on modern retro styled custom motorcycles and choppers. Modern motorcycles do not require removing a hand from the handlebars to shift gears, using only the fingers for the clutch and the toes of one foot to select gears. In contrast, the fanciful slang "suicide" was applied to designs where the rider removes one hand to change gears, or cannot put both feet on the ground while using a foot clutch to disengage the transmission. Sometimes the shifter is referred to as a "jockey shifter" while the foot clutch is called a "suicide clutch".
Nishiki is a brand of bicycles designed, specified, marketed and distributed by West Coast Cycle in the United States, initially manufactured by Kawamura Cycle Co. in Kobe, Japan, and subsequently by Giant of Taiwan. The bicycles were first marketed under the American Eagle brand beginning in 1965 and later under the Nishiki brand until 2001.
A bobber, originally called a bob-job from the 1930s through 1990s, is a style of custom motorcycle. The typical construction includes removing the front fender, shortening the rear fender, which is "bobbed", and stripping excess bodywork as well as all superfluous parts to reduce weight.
The Honda Fury was the first production chopper from a major motorcycle manufacturer (Honda). In a break with tradition, the Fury was the first chopper to have an anti-lock braking system The Fury's styling has been likened to custom-made choppers from Paul Teutul Sr. or Arlen Ness. The Fury has been sold not only in North America, but internationally as well, although in some markets Honda eschewed the Fury name and offered the bike simply by its model ID: VT1300CX.
Lossa Engineering is a custom motorcycle manufacturer based in Long Beach, California. Founded in 2007 by Jay LaRossa, it specializes in café racers based on Japanese, Italian and British motorcycles from the 1960s and 1970s.
A wheelie bike, also called a dragster, muscle bike, high-riser, spyder bike or banana bike, is a type of stylized children's bicycle designed in the 1960s to resemble a chopper motorcycle and characterized by ape hanger handlebars, a banana seat with sissy bar, and small wheels. Notable examples include the Schwinn Sting-Ray and Krate lines and the Raleigh Chopper line. Other notable manufacturers and retailers that offered models include AMF, CCM, Columbia, Huffy, Iverson, J. C. Penney, Malvern Star, Monark, Murray, Ross, Sears, and Vindec.
Paul Jr. Designs (PJD) is a lifestyle brand motorcycle customizer and clothing vendor, based in Montgomery, New York, USA. Paul Teutul Jr. founded the design firm in 2009 after waiting out a one-year non-compete clause with his former company, Orange County Choppers (OCC).
Ron Simms is an American custom motorcycle builder, operating his business, Simms Custom Cycles, in Hayward, California. Simms has been building custom motorcycles for over 47 years. He has been featured in Easyriders magazine, and the photo essay book Art of the Chopper, where his work was compared to Arlen Ness as epitomizing the East Bay Style. In 2017 appeared in American M.C. Season 1 episode 1. Jesse James of West Coast Choppers apprenticed under Ron Simms.
Mike Seate is a motorcycle journalist, TV producer and presenter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to newspaper columns, Seate has authored books and is the founder of Café Racer magazine.
Clifford A. "Sonny" Vaughs was an American civil rights activist, filmmaker, and motorcycle builder. Vaughs designed the two chopper motorcycles used for the 1969 film Easy Rider, while an associate producer on the film. He also produced and directed the documentary What Will the Harvest Be? (1965) and Not So Easy (1972).
The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is a luxury hotel and golf resort in Half Moon Bay northern California. The hotel is a Forbes Five Star hotel, and was featured on the travel channel series Great Hotels. The hotel has 261 rooms, that in 2019, started at US$920 a night. The hotel began construction in 1998, and finished in 2001.
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