Jesse James, Inc.

JESSE JAMES, INC.

ROUNDUP

WORKING A ROCK concert security detail in the early 1990's, none of our crew could have imagined that some day one of us would be a wealthy, successful motorcycle builder and TV star. If we had, we might have done things differently. For starters, when then-

20-year-old Jesse James talked about the custom motorcycles he hoped to build someday, it might have been a good idea to take notes. The ambitious kid I met back when he made his hay as a bodyguard for alternative rockers like Danzig and Slayer-while I risked my neck for the $50 daily fee paid a stage-

hand/security guard-has become nothing short of a media and marketing icon. James has almost singlehandedly made motorcycling hip by showing up in trendy fashion mags such as GQ and Maxim, and appearing on “Late Night with David Letterman.” Meanwhile, his custom-made,

big-inch motorcycles are about the most sought-after luxury item this side of a Learjet. The difference being, people with enough jingle to purchase their own private jets can simply plunk down the digits and do so. Now that Jesse’s weekly Discovery Channel TV series “Monster Garage” is a certified

hit (pulling 1.6 million viewers per episode) and Long Beach’s favorite son is slated to appear in the upcoming motorcycle flick Torque, punters are looking at a two-year wait for a West Coast Chopper of their own.

Chalk that up to a public hungry for working-class heroes, a role that James fills with ease. “People remember when their fathers or grandfathers made a living working with their hands, and ‘Monster Garage’ offers them a glimpse at that. That’s why the show is so popular with all different ages and types of people,” explains series creator Thom Beers.

Beers visited a dozen leading custom motorcycle builders before settling on James as host. On the show’s set-a former pickle factory that’s been transformed into a weird cross between Frankenstein’s lab and a backstreet chop shopBeers broke down the Jesse James phenomenon into something he called “vertically integrated marketing potential,” I lollywood-speak for some serious ca-ching.

By Christmas, for instance, Beers said toy-store shelves will be stocked with die-cast miniatures of each of the show’s wacky concept vehicles. The stretch limousine that James & Co. turned into a working fire engine or the Mini Cooper retooled for snowmobile duty are naturals for the Tonka Toy set. Word has it that James, who retired from the bouncer industry in 1992 after sustaining one too many on-the-job injuries, may appear under the Christmas tree as an action figure-riding a toy WCC chopper, or course.

Middle America first met James when the Discovery Channel featured

West Coast Choppers on “Motorcycle Mania,” a pair of toprated documentaries offering a bold departure from the network’s usual fare of erupting volcanoes and grainy WWII footage. Early in 2003, producer Hugh King began filming Jesse James Rides Again, a featurelength version of the “Mania” series to be released in theaters this fall.

James, who pals around with high-profile bikers including rapper Kid Rock and supermodel Tyson Beckford (both owners of West Coast customs, naturally), will admit that it's been a pretty dizzying rise from the trenches of smoky rock clubs to the peak of motorcycling celebrity. During a recent visit to West Coast Choppers’ Long Beach HQ» I watched a constant stream of tourists, many clutching camcorders and autograph books, desperately jockey at the shop's spiderweb-shaped iron gates for a glimpse of Jesse The Star.

“I’m still just a guy who builds

motorcycles,” James shrugged, but the experience of seeing an old homeboy hitting his stride in Tinseltown was quite the mindbender-just over a decade ago, it was Jesse on the other side of the flash bulbs, risking his neck to fend off overzealous rock-androll fans. Even though his life now resembles those who James was once paid to protect, success hasn’t spoiled the country’s most likeable outlaw.

When asked how it feels to be on the celebrity side of the fame game,

James’ old in-your-face self surfaced for a moment. “Dude, I don’t need a #$%@ing bodyguard. I’m my own bodyguard,” he snapped.

Hey, I believe you.

—Mike Seate