John Napier - Brighton Cruisers????

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I have, it was a long drawn out deal with lots of promises and very little action until I went up there and stood over him. Unless he has a complete cruiser ready go and you have fully checked it out,, I would be leary. I bought my cruiser from him and we agreed on a good price. He also offered to do more work for additional money and it would take 3 weeks. After three weeks he told me it was almost done, but he ran into a personal problem. I gave him more time. Then he said he ran into a problem with my cruiser and was replacing the frame because the crossmember wasn't any good and he wanted it to be right. Weeks later of stories about cleaning, painting, installing the new frame it still wasn't done. Then he had another family crisis. I went up to his shop and waited for him. When he got there found he had barley touched my cruiser and it was the original frame. I hung out at his shop for two days and I finally got the cruiser, but not with everything we agreed too. The work he did was good though. He did not charge me any of the extra money we agreed on and apologized profusely. After 11 weeks (suppose to be 3) I got a good cruiser at a reasonable price.

He knows cruisers, he is a nice guy, when he does the work he did it well, but he didn't honor commitments and made up stories why. It may have been a bad time for him, but that was my experiance.

What is he going to do for you?
 
I spent some time on the phone with him, there was something that just never felt right, he wanted me to give him $5,000 up front for "something" he was going to put together. Come on, I might be stupid, but I ain't dumb. :D

I ended up heading to CO to look at some cruisers, and called on some that where in the post, I found a good one and decided to buy it. While filling out the paperwork on it, I asked the PO about that guy, he about went ballistic. Turns out my cruiser sat in John's yard for a long time after the PO gave him a lump of money for work, which never got done. The only way the PO got the cruiser back was to go and "steal" it back with a friend. He actually had a court date a few days after I bought my cruiser, it was small claims court to get his money back from John.

I hear that he does good work, but you really need to watch youself.
 
Do not know this guy, and I am not defending him at all....but...


Deposits on custom bikes/rods are far more than 5K....and if you are looking at spending 10-20K for a truck to be "built", asking for half up front is not unrealistic, depending on what is going to be happening to the truck. Look at Jonathan Wards (TLC) site. Land Crusiers, while not street rods or Harleys, are a collector vehicle with a collector market, and this is something that goes hand in hand with custom work.

Just another thought...

Again, I am not defending this guy, and I do not know him.

Good luck!

-Steve
 
Well Steve in my case I paid for the cruiser and another $500 for the work he was suppose to do. I probably would have given him the benifit of the doubt about the personal problems causing delays. In his status reports the winch was installed the windshield was replaced, the body work was done, The ignition was replaced, the hole thing was painted, The clutch Master was replaced, and he was just dorking with the Frame. When I got there, the winch was still in a box, the windshield was not replaced, the ignition was not replaced, the Clutch Master had not been replaced, the body work was not done, about 20% was painted and the Frame had not been touched. He also told me one of the delays was he had to drive to Grand Junction to buy a new airpump so it would pass emissions, still had the old airpump. There was nothing wrong with it. It was just another story.

I really liked the guy and wanted to believe him and give him the benifit of the doubt. I actually believe that he had some personal issues he had to deal with and he started making stuff up to keep me off his back. Thats no way to do business. He knew I was serious when I told him I wasn't leaving till the cruiser was done. I took it home where I had to finish up a lot of what he was suppose to do. But like I said, he didn't charge me for what I made him do.

He also promised to get me another pass Amb door because of the rust, he made this agreement when I bought it. I reminded him of that and he promised to get for me. I haven't heard from him and I was just thankeful to have my cruiser.

The plus side is I learned how to do body work and paint and I even installed the winch myself.

All and all, I got a good cruiser at a reasonable price. I just didn't like being lied to.
 
Sounds like this fella has too many personal issues and likes just a little too much to massage the "truth" to his advantage.
 
FWIW; I've dealt with a few guys on my 40 that would lead you to believe they're good guys (which, in heart and life, most are) but when it came to my Cruiser, and more importantly, my money, they seemed to have alter ego's and an uncanny ability to change personalities "with the quickness."

Bottom line. Some guys are real good at throwing you B.S. faster than the B can make the S. I definitely learned the hard way with this (over $4,500 worth of hard-way, and here I am, having to cash in a favor bill to relocate my entire drive train because of it) :doh: . My Advice, always be wary, always. Get it in writing, take a "witness" every time. (Usually shop guys will "gang" up on you in court).

Sounds like a fairly "painless" lesson. Glad you're enjoying your ride!!

IV
 
[quote author=Romer link=board=1;threadid=14449;start=msg135588#msg135588 date=1081472602]
Well Steve in my case ....[/quote]


Ken,

I have read both of your posts, and I say again...and perhaps you missed the point of my statement to folsoms comment..



"Do not know this guy, and I am not defending him at all....


Again, I am not defending this guy, and I do not know him."



Good luck!

-Steve
 
No problem Steve. I got that. I just wanted to make it clear, because I didn't say it earlier, THAT HE HAD MY MONEY AND MY CRUISER, That made the situation worse.

And Tommy, yeah now that it is over it was fairly painless. That 11 weeks felt like hell. What made it worse is the Wife was on my back because she wasn't thrilled about buying the cruiser to begin with. And then my kids looking at me wondering why I couldn't solve this problem. Thats why I went there and stayed there.

We all learn more from our mistakes than our successes. I learned a lot and all I had to give up was time. I can look back and chuckle. The funny thing is I don't hold any hard feelings for the guy either. I kind of feel sorry for him.

Enough of my rambling. Don't you hate it when you ask a question and you get a long winded response.

Question: Any body deal with John Napier?

Answer: Yes
 
I saw that you had paid for something, and had been jerked around Ken. I would be very sceptical of a situation like that also, and am sorry to hear that there is another person that is " into Land Crusiers" that appears to not be on the up and up...
 
Kinda reminescent of the "carb" saga over on Pirate.
 
I'm glad I went with my "gut"

It took the PO of my cruiser 6 months to get it back (less the cash,) what would have happened if I'd have give him my money for a cruiser I hadn't even seen. I only had his word and 350 miles between us to go on, I can bet I'd have learned a lesson that's in line with Tommy's.
 
Yeah as I read that, it made me reminise!
Some guys never got their carbs back after paying all that money> That would be a more expensive lesson.
 
[quote author=IDave link=board=1;threadid=14449;start=msg135637#msg135637 date=1081476075]
Kinda reminescent of the "carb" saga over on Pirate.
[/quote]

Glad I missed that...

What dave....no link ;)
 
I'm sure Dave Dearborn can link it for us. :-\ It pops to the top again every few days.
 
Woah.

Funny thing is, I helped (watched) David put that carb back on the truck when he got it. I heard the dude that rebuilt it was a d-bag but had no idea of the extent. I always sorta wondered why that one truck was sitting carbless in the shop for so long.
 
Yeh Bailey...glad to see I am not the only one that spent the half hour reading that saga....

Good fing god man....




Get a rope, period.
 
Let me say i dont know this guy and it sounds like he is running fast and loose. with the money. It is not possible to keep all the customers happy no matter how hard youy try. Running a Cruiser business is a giant PITA. Sounds to me that you got a fair deal with a bit of BS which made it not so great of a deal. Post it all over the place.
 
I thought about posting at first, but I decided against it. This happned a year ago. The only reason I "vented" was because someone asked. Had he truley Screwed me and stuck me for money or gave me a bumb cruiser I would have posted everywhere. Like Tommy said, it was a fairly painless lesson.

He didn't have a lot going on in his shop when ever I visited him. The Cruisre Business could not have been what was holding him back. I think he had other things going on. I know he drove a truck (18 wheeler) on weekends.

Now I have to contrast that with Ron from Rocky Mountain Cruisres. His shop is humming, his yard is full of cruisers and he knows how to run a business and treat customers.
 
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