BLAINE, Tenn. What do the country music group Rascal Flatts and NASCAR racer Tony Stewart have in common?
They got motorcycles from Celebrity Choppers, a firm based in Blaine, Tenn.
, that sells specialty bikes costing up to $150,000.
Joining them soon could be English guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top and rhythm and blues star Brian McKnight.
Plus, the motorcycles, the stars and the company could be headed to network television.
The company is negotiating with a couple of networks to run prime-time, one-hour shows featuring the lifestyles of the stars and their motorcycles being made.
Celebrity Choppers was the brainchild of James Copeland, the company s president. Copeland co-owns the firm along with Del Morgan and his son, Justin Morgan, who is the company s vice president.
Noted craftsman Arlen Ness, who has operated Custom Choppers since 1967, builds some of the bikes. With him is his son, Cory Ness. Other builders include Dave Perewitz and Donnie Smith.
We have been working on this for nearly two years, and it has taken a life of its own, Del Morgan said.
Copeland got the idea for the company while watching a motorcycle program out of California.
The bike Rascal Flatts purchased will go on a year-long tour with the award-winning group.
Copeland said that Rascal Flatts has agreed to show the bike and sign autographs at several motorcycle shows, including one at Daytona, Fla.
After touring with the bike for a year, the band has agreed to auction off the bike with the proceeds going to Children s Hospital in Nashville.
This month, Celebrity Choppers staff attended the CMA Awards in Nashville.
After after the show, they went to a Warner Brothers party, where Sheryl Crow became interested in buying one of the bikes, Copeland said.
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