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September 2007 Predator Callahan Custom Choppers |
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James Callahan might not have known it back then, but it’s clear to him now that all of this wasn’t an accident. He’s been destine to own a chopper since the first day his dad picked up a wrench. Now the owner of Callahan Custom Choppers, James got his inspiration from his father. He’d probably never fully admit to being a Daddy’s boy, but he’d also never hesitate to tell you what role his Dad’s die-hard enthusiasm played on the eventual starting of his own shop; “I been into bike my whole life. My father used to build old Panheads, Shovels and Indians. Around three years ago, I started doing my own thing. I got into building the newer, pointer, tribal-style choppers.”- James Callahan
That was then, and what’s now is something great. James is proud to be the owner of the fastest growing custom chopper shop in the country. Already established and successful, Callahan Custom Choppers, Inc. is revered by everyone in the industry for offering such a quality product at an unbeatable price. Such prices ranging from the most affordable shop labor at $50/ hour, to the most incredible value starting at $21,500 for a custom chopper build. It all goes back to James’ ideology when he finished his first chopper, with the help of his brother Jonathan, and of course his father (in their garage I might add). As James stood their looking at what he would say was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he thought of the thousands, upon thousands of people who would love to own their very own custom chopper. However, most of them couldn’t afford to pay the forty, maybe fifty thousand dollars that an average shop would charge to build the same bike he just built for twenty. It was at that moment, they almost collectively said, “Let’s do it!” and they did. With the guidance of his dad and younger brother Jonathan, James Callahan has created one of the most respected and recognized names in the custom chopper and custom motorcycle parts world, Callahan Custom Choppers! Now he certainly hasn’t accomplished all of this while remaining in his garage, despite how epic of a tale that would be. In 2006 James made the incredible transition into the state of the art facility where Callahan Custom Choppers now calls its home. Located right in the heart of Clermont, Florida, the shop accommodates six lifts which remain in use at all times. Also utilized is the full service area, separate area for welding, fabricating, etc. and of course a brand new CNC mill and lathe which is the latest buzz around the shop. James’ latest addition to his already successful campaign is the company C & C Design, Inc. Founded with chief design engineer, Darrell Cordova, C & C Design will operate under Callahan Custom Choppers, Inc. as the manufacturer of all the custom parts with custom designs. With these new machines, CCC will be able to design and manufacture their own line of rims, rotors, pulleys, sprockets, forward controls, just to name a few. “The most amazing part of this, customers will be able to bring a design to us (say for example they have their own idea for some rims), we can machine that part and offer it to them at a price greatly reduced from retail anywhere on the market.” James feels very strongly that being able to manufacture their own parts rather than outsource will not only allow them to maintain unbeatable prices, but also offer even further reduced prices and also greatly decrease the time on various builds and jobs. “Just to put it into perspective; you could come into our shop with a design for a set of rims, go and run that errand you’ve been meaning to do, by the time you get back we’ll have your rims ready and waiting for you. How cool is that!” – Jonathan Callahan |
Despite the level of success James has achieved while growing with Callahan Custom Choppers, he will always take time to remember all it’s taken to get where he is today. Callahan Custom Choppers frequents bike fest and several bike events every month and always gets involved with the communities. He feels that having that one-on-one personal relationship with every customer is one of the keys to his success. All of his effort and quality customer service has been recognized since the inception of Callahan Custom Choppers and James always appreciates the good fortune he has been granted by the industry. The first real test of James’ ability came late 2006 in the form of the first Annual Biker Build-Off, held by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, Florida. James used his unique vision while maintaining a mainstream appeal to create what he called “The Dragon,” and won over the crowed and clearly the judges as they named Callahan Custom Choppers, Inc. the winner of the event. Callahan Custom later built a chopper in conjunction with the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Chopper Giveaway. The chopper, a Hard Rock themed custom was the main attraction at the special even held at the casino on November 19th, 2006 where one lucky enthusiast became the proud owner of a beautiful Callahan Custom Choppers creation. Both of these efforts would earn James a feature in Born to Ride Magazine’s November-December Issues reassuring him of his great accomplishments.
With 2007 in sight, James focused shifted to getting the name out there and talks of the grand opening began. Callahan Custom Choppers would later team up with Benchwarmers of Clermont and hold its grand opening in the early stages of 2007. Also teaming up was Rhett Rotten, world famous motocross and flat land rider. The grand opening was a huge success with Callahan Custom handing out several best in class awards and Rhett Rotten performing in his infamous, “Wall of Death,” James was once again reassured of his success by another feature by Born to Ride, this time in their April 2007 issue. James would later announce the pairing with Rhett Rotten was such a success he had decided to be the official builder of an all new line of custom rides to be called, Rhett Rotten Originals. Since the grand opening Callahan Custom Choppers has been featured in several magazines, most notably Full Throttle Magazine and Biker’s 2000. James was also approached by an executive from Wal*Mart and teamed up with them to do a promotion for Full Throttle energy drink. The Callahan Custom Chopper know as “The Predator” could be seen on display inside the Wal*Mart Supercenter Clermont store for two weeks. When asked about the partnership with Wal*Mart, James commented, “It was great, I would do it again tomorrow. You could just see the excitement on people’s faces when they saw our chopper right smack in the middle of Wal*Mart. There was a huge buzz around town, and the kids, the kids just loved it!” James is also in talks with several very well established companies about some possible themed choppers. Some of which include; Sea World, Dickies, and the NHL in accordance with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So far 2007 has been yet another great year and James is looking to improve upon it each and every day. James has a credo if you will that he likes to say every now and then; “We do things different than everyone else and we plan to keep doing so. It’s go big or go home, and I don’t plan on going home any time soon…”
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