JESSE JAMES TO DEBUT NEW CREATION AT LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE

Jesse James has announced that his newest creation, a glistening aluminum-clad motorcycle and sidecar combo for client Airstream will make its first public debut at the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours on May 3rd.

As reported recently in Forbes* magazine, “James and his welders machined, riveted and hammered 18-gauge steel and razor-thin aluminum into a space-age-looking vehicle, applying some of the same construction methods Airstream uses in its shiny luxury trailers.” The result is “One of the most elaborate masterpieces James’ shop has ever produced.”

This is not the first time the West Coast Choppers founder, Monster Garage host, and Baja 1000 competitor has chosen to unveil a bike at Legend of the Motorcycle. At the inaugural Concours in 2006, James debuted his Radial Hell aero bike powered by a 7-cylinder Rotec radial aircraft engine (photo attached). The response from attendees was awe.

Other legendary custom builders displaying bikes at this year’s Legend of the Motorcycle include Japanese minimalist master Shinya Kimura, Choppers Inc. founder Billy Lane, and Brooklyn’s Paul Cox. Last year Cox and partner Keino, in addition to displaying two bikes by late friend, business partner and legend Indian Larry, debuted When Push Comes to Shove - a bike the pair built for client Brad Pitt - whose intricate and painstakingly detailed metal engraving was something typically only seen on handmade European shotguns. All three builders plan to unveil
something new at the May event as well.

The third annual Legend of the Motorcycle, including the Bonhams & Butterfields auction of motorcycles from the Mike Corbin Collection, takes place the first weekend in May, Saturday the 3rd, on the lawns of the ocean-side Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, just south of San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased, and additional information can be found, on the official website: LegendoftheMotorcycle.com

###

Joe Welder willl be there! will you?

Is it me or are there more and more internet crooks out there? I’m not talking about phishing schemes to steal your personal information, or the technically savvy computer hackers, but I am talking specifically about companies — people — stealing copyrighted material from our website. And it’s frustrating.

In the last year we’ve had several companies grip pictures and copy — words written by our technicians — and claim the content as their own. It has cost us several thousand dollars, not to mention hours of our time, to have the stolen material removed from competitors’ websites.

The first time we found our copyrighted information on another company’s website (brwelder.com) I contacted the company president directly by letter. When I got no response, I called him up and asked him, as a fellow small business owner, to remove the copyrighted material. First he told me everything on the internet was free for the taking and when I informed him it was actually a violation of copyright laws, he said, “So what. Sue me.”

Suing, and paying hefty legal fees was not the route we wanted to go, so instead we filed a DMCA Copyright Infringement Claim with the major search engines and with his web host company. The result was his websites were banned. When he received the notifications from Google and Yahoo, he called me crying about how tough business is.

So tough apparently he couldn’t take the time to write his own copy or take photos of the products he sells.

Not too long ago we noticed that Weldingsupply.com gripped some pictures and copy. They didn’t even remove our custom logo from the part! Then they posted it on their own website with a prominent copyright disclaimer. Of course it’s listed for less than our selling price… but we actually had the part to shoot the picture in the first place!

Our most recent find was at the aglevtech.net website. You may be familiar with Aglevtech as a low cost eBay seller. The site features two pages of content written by our technical experts, including a list of links to professional welding associations and manufacturers around the world in addition to a list of links to online welding articles. Now I’m not saying they couldn’t have found that information, however, what they did was replicate, word for word, the descriptions and the links. They didn’t even try to hide it because they obviously don’t think they did anything wrong.

Companies like those listed above are not really competitors, more like followers that can’t think for themselves. I would not buy from any of those companies.

When you’re looking for a company to do business with, be sure to consider: is there a phone number on their website? An address? Will you know who to contact if you have questions before you make a purchase? How about if you ordered the wrong part? Or it’s defective? Are the warranty and exchange terms clearly stated? How do they handle shipping? Do they know anything about the parts they are selling? Do they even stock the parts they are selling?

Conducting business with integrity is part of the culture that we encourage at Arc-Zone.com. We may not always be perfect, but we are honest and we don’t steal. Arc-Zone.com®, has a prominent Contact Us form and our contact information is on EVERY page of our website, including a toll free number. And, our return policy and shipping terms can be easily found as well. To me the key to business is to have repeat customers — people that would refer their friends and co-workers.

Hopefully you won’t have the same problems we have had, but in case you do, here are some links to resources so you can protect yourself:

United States Copyright Office.
Copyright Law of the European Union
World Intellectual Property Organization
Filing a DMCA Copyright Infringement Claim with Google
Filing a DMCA Copyright Infringement Claim with Yahoo
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

We get asked all the time “what is the proper stick-out for the tungsten electrode on a TIG / GTAW / HeliArc torch?”

That’s a tough question because there are many variables based on the type of front-end parts being used on the torch — and — the welding application. As we all know high-quality, consistently good looking and strong TIG welds are a combination of art and science.

With this new tungsten electrode stick-out tool you can reduce some of the variables by accurately measuring the tungsten stick-out by 1/16″ (1.6mm) increments up to 1″ (25.4mm).

It’s constructed of CNC machined brass with knurled locking sleeve and includes a key ring holder with nylon strap and spring type aluminum hook loop… and is available online at Arc-Zone.com!

INCLINE STUDENTS CREATE CUSTOM CYCLE
by CYNDI LOZA, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

At Incline Village High School, working on a hog is part of the curriculum.

Incline Village students unveiled Thursday a custom-made 2008 Paramount Roadster they constructed in their auto class with the help of Paramount Custom Cycles.
… READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE ONLINE–>

I thought this was a good story and I congratulate Aaron Greene from Paramount Custom Cycles. His comments are right on and I think encouraging young people to strike out on their own is a great idea.

I wish I had that kind of guidance when I was in high school metal shop!