Bourget Motorcycles

I'm not sure about Bourget but I don't think the chopper craze is quite over yet. I see more of them than ever around Atlanta. The chopper craze among people that don't have the means to own a chopper is over however. That mostly comes from all of the chopper related shows going off and decreased level of marketing being done by the chopper industry. I hope Orange County Choppers and West Coast Choppers diversified before the market for their merchandise tanked. One cool thing about choppers, however, is that there will always be chopper riders around regardless of how popular choppers are. The true chopper enthusiasts are not easily swayed by trends.

 

I am in the industry and I do not think Bourgets is doing anything different than they were previously. I would be very surprised if he had gone under, because Roger had a pretty big shop, a nice building and 100+ employees. If he isn't selling complete assembled bikes it could only be because he's making so much on parts to make it not worthwhile but I'd be very surprised since I haven't heard about it. The DOT/NHTSA/EPA has implemented lots of new rules. That, combined with the chopper fad coming to an end has changed a lot of things. The shops that were around for a while will generally do OK. The people that are dropping like flies are all the Johnny-come-lately places who wanted to cash in on the chopper crazy by selling parts on eBay, or opening up parts shops, or becoming "chopper builders".

 

Some good comments above.


I don't think the chopper craze is over, it has just tapered off a bit.

It seems that from 2000-2005 everyone was jumping head first into the chopper hype, and now that the marketing and exposure has cooled off, so has the buyers heat.

It looks as if guys like Billy Lane, Jesse James, Bourget, Bob Yaffe and the rest of the crew are comfortably living off their millions$ earned during those few years.

I agree, there will always be chopper riders, (customers) because its a great style and a different market, so the quality builders will always be around.

 

If its not over it is headed down market.

 

I dunno, I think the craze is over... the chopper market is going back to what it was 10 years ago, before it became a fad. As for the guys who "got rich", meh... some did, many didn't. Billy Lane has been selling all his assets including most of his bikes and many of his parts. He's moved into a new location - purportedly to get away from the crowds - but nobody seems to know where this new location is or even if it exists. Billy killed a guy while driving drunk a year or so ago and is in the middle of a civil suit over it as well as a criminal suit for manslaughter or whatever it is. It seems he's hurting to pay his legal bills or at least liquidating almost everything. Jesse does Ok but he never jumped into the chopper craze like many guys did - he has just done the same thing he's always done and it's working well. Bourget I'm sure will be seeing a huge contraction of sales of choppers as will Yaffe.. I'm not sure how much expanding Yaffe did during the chopper years but he was always pretty big, I think he's got around 80+ employees, so as long as he didn't go buy a huge building and staff it with the expecation of riches, he should be OK.

The ones that may end up screwed are OCC. They just (I think in the last couple weeks) moved into their new "world HQ" that's a gigantic building with tons of staff and such. They made more of a mint in the chopper world than anyone, but they have given themselves huge monthly expenses too, so we'll see how long they can hold out before going under

 

You mean the "cover your bike in chrome" fad is over? thank God.

 

OCC seems to be a safe bet. Thoe Teutels may seem like a bunch of bloated rednecks, but they have good heads on their shoulders.

And there will always be room for a popular, quality builder who can perform custom magic to any motorcycle.

Don't forget, the OCC guys own many CNC, CAD software, and laser cutting machines (which guys like Lane, Yaffe, JJ don't) so they are able to create wild designs and bikes. Thats a huge advantage over the other guys.

 

I have been a motorcycle owner for ~38 years and owned everything from motocross bikes to sports bike. I owned an American Ironhorse LSC chopper for about three years and did enjoy it. But, I recently sold it and bought a 2008 Hayabusa because the chopper experience just wasn't my cup of tea.

 

Can't agree with this...

I don't think the OCC guys are a safe bet at all. They have gone on a massive spending spree... but the problem is they benefitted more than anyone else from the "chopper craze". They do not have a respected name amongst the traditional biking population. Showing up to a rally like Sturgis or even your local watering hole on an OCC Chopper is more likely to get you laughed at than respected. That doesn't matter for the Johnnt-come-lately's who never really understood the bike thing, and just wanted a shiny new chopper to show off in the garage of their McMansion to their friends, but now that those people are deserting the Chopper market in droves, it will matter a lot. OCC makes most of it's money from merchandising, shows, and TV. Their TV show is going to get cancelled very soon. Merchandising sales are way down. And there simply aren't the long lines there was before at the shows. They will always be celebs but they will lose the majority of the income they were getting up until now. The problem is that they've increased their operations to handle the level of sales they are doing now. They really went all out on their new building... but when their income drops, the bills they have on their equipment will still be due. I think OCC is going to be harder hit than almost any of the other big names in the industry. The OCC guys simply are not seen as quality builders to *most* of the core chopper market. Most people don't want the OCC name on their bike anymore than you or I would want to wear the Chanel brand. Despite the costumes they wear and the loner/badass image they promote, most chopper/biker/Harley guys are the biggest sheep following the herd you will ever see. OCC "isn't cool" so they are going to have a very hard time selling to that core market. It will be especially hard when they try to sell themselves as quality builders on the heels of things like their "Bass (fish) themed bike".

As for the other guys - Yafee and JJ don't own equipment? Thats news to me... I guess I didn't see that room full of CNC machines at WCC that I thought I saw last time I was there? Yaffe too - he makes a lot of his stuff in-house and has been very successful as a parts supplier for years (much much more succesful at it than OCC has ever been).

JJ has staying power because his name is most definitely *in* with the core group of builders. JJ has done what OCC will be very lucky to do - build a large operation while maintaining street cred. Stories like when JJ was asked to do a bike for Honda, and he refused to commit to any design ideas or to accept any of their creative direction, other than not to have swastikas on the bike, are what give JJ his street cred. Contrasted to Paul Sr. making a reindeer themed bike with his halfwit son.... not so much street cred. There is very little innovation at OCC at all. JJ has some remarkable stuff... hand-beaten copper gas tanks, jockey shifts, and a very distinct style to his bikes to the point that CFL (JJ) frames and gas tanks and other parts are usually on a standard 6-month backlog, and parts-in-hand usually sell for above retail. Contrasted to OCC who poaches an employee for RC components (for example) and has him making wheels in various shapes that we've all seen a million times but are called "original designs". People will pay a premium to have a WCC air cleaner housing. People won't for an OCC air cleaner housing.

OCC tooled up for business more than any other shop I know. I think in 5 or 10 years they will either not be around anymore, or they will be a mere fraction of what they are now. Once their TV show gets cancelled, and once they try to come crawling back to the "real" bike market, they are going to see where they stand.

Hey, I hope OCC does continue to stick around - they are a customer of mine and you could buy some of "their custom parts" on their website that were made by me on my CNC machines in my shop but have their name on them. It's all good - as long as I get paid

But OCC are in the worst position amongst the biker crowd - far from the best. Yaffe and JJ have nothing to worry about. Lane's biggest worry is how much jail time he's going to do for killing Gerald Morelock in a DUI accident while he was driving recklessly, drunk, on the wrong side of the road. Lane was always quite a lot of sizzle, not a ton of steak. If he does time, it may add to his cred or it may shut down his shop for good.

Interesting fact - Billy Lane is a very small guy in person. On the shows he looks like a built mofo. I couldn't believe how tiny the guy is the first time I met him IRL. Dude's gotta be 5'8" or something....

 

Supply/Demand=Price

 

Bourget has experienced some tough times like all that were living high on the hog. I would not say he is broke but he had to backpedal on the lifestyle he was leading. Gone are all the boats, the jet etc. I have heard there are less than 16 employees at his facility. The chopper business is down at least 85%. American Ironhorse has gone under. Everything has gone to baggers. Yaffe has scaled way back and is now making custom bagger parts. We actually buy a lot of his parts from him. OCC is a big joke in the industry but I know they made sick money while it lasted. Their show up fee for an event here in Arizona a few years back was $110k for the weekend.