Jesse_James_Sportster_HeaderWhen people hear the word “museum” it can conjure up thoughts of dusty old relics or long forgotten artifacts and when people think of a motorcycle museum they can often be led to think that its full of only pre-war “barn finds”. Now we do have our fair share of old bikes and barn finds are some of the coolest things we have on display. But we like to think of ourselves as a one stop shop for all things motorcycle. And one particular motorcycle display here in Anamosa not only demonstrates the range of different machines on display but the diversity of their stories.
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The 1990 Sportster based “XR1200” motorcycle that is on loan from a Jaey Sedlacek in Des Moines was customized by none other than the famous Jesse James, founder of West Coast Choppers. Now ordinarily that would be a pretty cool fact in and of its self, but the story goes deeper. This was one of the first bikes Mr. James customized, done long before his storied bike building career. As the story goes (and is documented in Jesse James book American Outlaw) he worked in the legendary hot rod shop in California owned by Boyd Coddington and was customizing motorcycles on the side when he turned out this particular machine.
Although it is a far cry from the choppers Jesse James is known for tuning out, the craftsmanship and attention to detail is very evident. The bike was definitely made to be ridden and ridden fast to boot, also a Jesse James trademark. Pictures truly do this bike no justice, if you ever needed a reason to come see us…this just might be it.

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