Checking in with Hot Bike Alum Jesse James
Hot Bike: How many HB editors from over the years can you name off the top of your head?
Shit let me think… Buck Lovell, Howard Kelly, Jeff Holt, the dude before Buck (forgot his name…) but honestly Rob, Courtney and Skip Coiner and myself did whatever we wanted.
HB: Got a favorite Hot Bike story you can remember?
JJ: Oh man, let me think of a good one… In the late ’90s Hot Bike sponsored the Mikuni Show at Santa Monica airport. Howard asked me to judge the bike show, so I just picked Tom Foster’s bike to win. His bike wasn’t really a “show bike.” It was nice but Tom built bikes to ride. He was my friend so I picked his to win. After Howard announced him as the winner all hell broke loose with all the “show bike” builders. A fight broke out, then somebody got stabbed. The moral of the story is: Don’t ask me to judge a bike show because I’m just going to pick my friend’s bike.
HB: What about a favorite Hot Bike cover you were featured on?
JJ: Oh, it’s for sure the Wheelie cover that Wes Allison shot. I must have done a hundred wheelies that day for him to get that perfect shot. That cover really made people know who I was. I remember riding that little high bar bike at Laughlin River Run after that issue came out. I was sitting at a stop light and this group of black dudes on the corner pointed at me and yelled “There goes the wheelie dude!!” Man, I knew I had made it to the big time.
HB: Any other Hot Bike tales you care to share?
JJ: I really miss the days with Courtney “Fatty” Halowell. It was just amazing times in the mid-’90s. I had just left Boyd’s and opened my shop in Paramount. Courtney was by every week doing “How-To” articles with me welding and making stuff for the mag. Drinking beer, shooting fireworks into the neighbor’s house… It was really the best of times.
HB: Your bikes have been featured in so many Hot Bike mags we lost count. It’s cool to see you still creating and building. It’s been a while since we last spoke… So, what’s new?
JJ: We are just plugging away. Shops are still busy building bikes, cars, and guns. Our new Dominator-S bike has really evolved into the best riding bike we have ever built. I’m looking forward to getting our New Scorpion chassis into production.
HB: What do you think of the motorcycle scene these days?
JJ: It’s in a really awkward spot. Born-Free has turned into Coachella with bikes. Every build has to have some kind of gimmick instead of a bike that you can ride hard. Also, pre-showcasing all the bikes on social media takes the excitement of discovering them with your eyes in person. Thankfully the whole big-wheel bagger craze has run its course. But unfortunately, it’s evolved into “performance baggers.” It’s so painful for me to watch. I feel like there is more fab work going on, but it’s more focused on building bolt-on bikes. Modifying stock bikes that already exist. Very few are building things from scratch. Even fewer are building things that are progressive. I guess I have to just push myself to move things that I want to see forward.
HB: What manufacturers are doing it well? What builders?
JJ: Harley is still King. The engineering, fit, finish and durability is now unmatched. Indians, not so much. It’s really sad to see one of the most Iconic American brands devolve into slapping a logo on a Polaris and calling it an “Indian.” How many companies have done this? Ray Sotello? American Eagle, that Curtis Craft company, etc., etc. The only one that showed promise was Roush, but it never got off the ground. Until Polaris/Indian develops their own engine that is forward thinking it will never really be an Indian.
HB: Any current custom motorcycle styles you like?
JJ: I really want a new Yamaha YZF R1. It’s been a few years since I had one.
HB: Any styles you hate?
JJ: Baggers that look like they were melted in an oven.
HB: Tell us about this new network you’re starting. Any details you can share?
JJ: I think it’s time for a network to showcase real world building, skills, and fabrication. I’ve been fighting for 24 years to get good stuff like this on TV. I figured the only way it’s going to happen is doing my own network Outlaw TV.
We start filming tomorrow. I’m doing a new show American Craftsman. A new show with Paul Sr. called Senior Living. And a new show with Billy Lane about his life and his vintage racing series Sons of Speed.
We also have several documentaries in the works.
HB: What’s the goal with this network?
JJ: I think I want to push all the principles forward that are close to my heart. Without some cable network stiffs dumbing it down and deciding what they think people want to see.
Basically, giving myself freedom to do what I do.
HB: What do you think of all the custom bikes these days? And how Harley FXRs and Dynas, baggers, are all based around “Performance”?
JJ: FXRs and Dynas are cool. Baggers are still super lame (see answer above)
HB: What bike projects are you working on at the moment?
JJ: Right now I’m focused on getting my Top Fuel bike done. Working on a Nitro Funny Car for several years put some ideas in my head that I really want to try with it.
HB: You build bikes, cars, hotrods, guns, all kinds of shit… Anything you’ve always wanted to get into that you’re thinking about starting?
JJ: LOL. I think I’m good for now on projects.
HB: Shit man, I don’t know… Anything else you wanna add? Floor is yours!
JJ: Thanks for bringing back Hot Bike man! It has always been really meaningful to be in it and on the cover. It has always been the best thing about the motorcycle industry.