Recently it was announced that Jesse James is relaunching West Coast Choppers. To many fans and friends, this is great news. Personally, I have always had a certain amount of respect for anyone who can back up the talk. Love or hate his work, the simple fact remains, he knows how to build and create things with his hands that many of us only dream of.
Jesse James has done for the Harley-oriented motorcycle community, what Jeremy McGrath did for motocross. He put it on the map. His art form mixed with his attitude has made him entertaining to say the least. These are the traits that seem to … Continue Reading
February 14, 2013 | By: Jeff Maddox
Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.
We bikers are a friendly bunch. You’ve seen it a million times during riding season-a wave with the left hand in a show of unity, and as a symbol of the sport we all love. I will say that in the surrounding miles of a rally where motorcyclists gather, the wave can get a little over-done. But I also think that a wave from seasoned riders can be a good thing for new riders who have just started their adventure in motorcycling. From the seat of our motorcycle we … Continue Reading
February 8, 2013 | By: Ryan Schwahl
There are three main criteria used in pricing motorcycle repairs. The first is labor, or what the shop charges for the time and expertise that goes into repairing your vehicle. The second is parts, and whatever other shop support materials are used in the repair process. The third is fixed costs or overhead costs the repair shop has to cover, but that’s not reflected on your bill.
To diagnose a computer problem on today’s modern motorcycles, certified technicians must go through very extensive (and expensive) training. In addition, the equipment used by the technician to get accurate readings is costly.
Certain costs are not passed onto the consumer. Those … Continue Reading
February 7, 2013 | By: Mike McGuire
Editor’s Note: Mike McGuire is a tech chatter in the Destination Daytona SuperStore. He’s been with J&P since December 2010, where he started as a phone tech. A Harley-Davidson tech, Mike has a master of chassis certification from Harley-Davidson. Originally from Michigan, he graduated cum laude from Walsh College in Michigan, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is also a graduate of the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. Before joining the motorcycle industry, Mike worked in design and building of tooling and fixtures for the automotive industry.
Married to Kelly, the two like to travel to the Caribbean and take road trips on their 2009 Harley-Davidson Electra … Continue Reading
February 5, 2013 | By: J&P Cycles
J&P Cycles’ Iowa showroom underwent some noticeable layout changes in the last few weeks with the restructuring of the soft goods and metric areas of the store. A major reason for restructuring was to give the ever expanding metric parts area a bigger footprint. This redesign provided an opportunity to not only remerchandise existing parts, but to eliminate slow moving and discontinued parts and add a selection of some of the newest parts on the market.
An added bonus of the redesign is the better traffic flow provided. Previously with the clothing located directly in front of the middle counter, the main counter where purchases are made, congestion was frequently … Continue Reading
Greetings everyone and welcome to 2013! First off, thank you for the support and comment posts on my last blog entries. It’s great to hear from you! Believe it or not, I read each and every comment and had a blast doing it. Now, let’s get down to business, shall we? We’re going to leave the worlds of motorcycling philosophy and needling popular culture behind for a while and get down to why you’re here, and I have a job…BIKES!
If you have been a customer of J&P Cycles over the years you have seen some killer custom machines grace our catalog covers and displayed in our showrooms. It’s been … Continue Reading
Over the years I have worked on all kinds of bikes, street bikes, dirt bikes, mini bikes and everything else under the sun. I am happy to say that I have never had to pay a mechanic to work on my bike. I have always managed to take the challenge of working on my bike head-on whether I knew what I was doing or not. I use the resources around me to get the problems fixed. Sometimes this is really a frustrating endeavor, but in the end, it is worth it!
Last year I was working on an old street bike and pulled a real bonehead move! While I was … Continue Reading
Today we are going to introduce you to Shawn Stone, head of our Quality Control department. In this capacity, he is responsible for a variety of duties at J&P Cycles. Shawn began his career at J&P Cycles in 2000 (five weeks after me).
It has been a pleasure working with him over the past 12-½ years. A Des Moines, Iowa native this 48-year-old spent a portion of his early life in Southern California, Phoenix, Arizona; Houston, Texas and Breckenridge, Colorado. A dirt biker since high school, he began riding on the street 30 years ago. Currently, he has a 1997 Custom Softail. On the side, he has a … Continue Reading
January 21, 2013 | By: Jeff Maddox
Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.
I was recently asked how many miles I have on my ’02 Road King. After explaining that I just traded for it and because of that have only put about 7,000 miles on it since July, I got the usual “7,000 miles since July?” look. You’ve seen it too. It is the wide-eyed, mouth open, step back look. The follow up question to that is usually “how in the world do you ride that many miles in just a few months?”
For me it’s not hard; … Continue Reading
January 16, 2013 | By: Jason Hayes
Another year in the books! As I sit here at my desk wishing I could go for a ride to release the stresses of the day, I remember that it is only 15 degrees out. For me that is just a little too cold even with the heated jacket liner I picked up last fall. Extending the riding season into late fall was great, but January is just a little too extreme for this biker. Between the frigid temps and ice/extra dirt on the road, I think that waiting until it gets nicer out is the smart thing for me to do.
On the other hand, I know there are … Continue Reading
Recently it was announced that Jesse James is relaunching West Coast Choppers. To many fans and friends, this is great news. Personally, I have always had a certain amount of respect for anyone who can back up the talk. Love or hate his work, the simple fact remains, he knows how to build and create things with his hands that many of us only dream of.
