On the surface, with his collection of skulls, pet sharks, pit bulls and tattoos, Jesse James is the consummate motorcycle outlaw. Some of this comes naturally - after all, his great-great-grandfather was the famous outlaw's cousin. But this image is only a small part of Jesse James' persona. There's also his passion as an artisan and his success at custom building bikes (chronicled in Discover Channels video productions Motorcycle Mania and Motorcycle Mania 2). Now Jesse puts his talents to good use as the master builder in the popular new Discovery Channel series Monster Garage.

The New York Times bestselling self-portrait of a flawed but determined Jesse James: rebel, outlaw, gearhead, artist, entrepreneur, lost son, and fiercely committed father. Jesse James is everything you imagined him to be—and more than you ever expected. He has led a violent life. He’s survived lower depths, faced harder times, and beaten down more private demons than most—and lived to tell his story with honesty, introspection, and humility. He’s tough as nails and riding hard through life, with plenty of wisdom to share about taking a hit and coming back up. In American Outlaw, Jesse reveals all: from his volatile upbringing and troubled relationship with his father to his wild days of car thieving and juvenile detention; from knocking heads as a rock ’n’ roll bodyguard to his destructive drinking and barroom brawling; from building an empire from the ground up to marriages marked with both happiness and gut-wrenching pain; from living inside the hottest level of paparazzi hell to rehab and making peace with his past.

Legions of fans will devour the authorized story of this genuine American rebel--and popular television host--and the sexy custom motorcycles he creates for celebrities and wealthy bike enthusiasts. Includes 160 pages of full-color photographs.

JoAnn Bortles is the founder and proprietor of Crazy Horse painting and has had her custom bike paint jobs featured on the covers of leading motorcycle magazines across the world. In this book, she shares the techniques and tips for the beginner or more advanced custom painter. Detailed, step-by-step, full-color instructions show how to do a variety of custom projects, from standard to evil skull flames, pinups, and pinstriping to a number of finish techniques as well. Sport bike custom paint techniques are also included.

This book presents a step-by-step guide to building a West Coast Chopper's C.F.L. kit. Kit choppers are hot commodities. While few people can afford to buy a custom-built chopper from one of the high-end builders like Jesse James-bikes that often sell for $100,000 or more-many can afford to buy such bikes in kit form. Because of this, all the high-end builders sell their creations in kit form. For example, while Jesse James might build perhaps a dozen custom bikes per year, he sells hundreds of chopper kits. The same is true of any number of other builders like Matt Hotch, Cyril Huze, and Paul Yaffe. Authored by Mike Seate and featuring the photography of Joe Appel, this book is a step-by-step how-to guide for anyone building a kit chopper.