From Alabama to a Beijing Garage: The Story of OFFRAMP and Hclay Jones
In Memory of Our Friend, Brother, and Forever Old-School Rider
For many years, OFFRAMP has never wanted to be just another brand that “makes parts.”
We have always wanted to be something closer to a real garageborn brand — one that understands the bike, the rider, the culture behind American motorcycles, and what every custom build is really trying to say.
From 1998 to today, OFFRAMP has gone through repair work, custom builds, fabrication, product development, and production. Along the way, we have served countless American motorcycle riders and businesses. Through all that time, beyond the tools, the experience, and the parts we built, there was one man who left a deep mark on the cultural foundation of OFFRAMP.
His name was Henry Clay Jones. Among friends, we naturally called him Clay. In the OFFRAMP garage, he was simply known as Old Clay.
Clay came from Birmingham, Alabama — a man truly shaped by American motorcycle culture. From a young age, he loved American iron, V-Twin engines, old-school machinery, rock and punk, garages, open roads, and freedom. To him, a motorcycle was never just decoration, and riding was never a consumer label. It was a way of
life, a choice, and a spirit that only makes sense when you are really living on the road.
Because of Clay, OFFRAMP’s understanding of American motorcycles never stopped at models, parts, and installation. We came to understand something deeper: freedom, honesty, machinery, the road, and the long relationship built between a rider and his machine
The Soul of an Old Rider: Not Lifestyle, but Life
Clay carried the unmistakable character of an old-school American rider. He was direct, funny, stubborn, and kind. He loved the pulse of a V-Twin, the raw mechanical feel of old iron, and the no-bend, no-sellout attitude of rock and punk culture.
But what made Clay special was not that he looked like an oldschool rider. It was that he actually lived the culture. To him, a motorcycle was never just transportation, and never just an expensive toy. It was Life — a life built around freedom, individuality, dignity, and choice.
He once said:“…. but as with all, it is about the ride and having fun … no matter if your ride is a Vtwin or an Axe”
The bike is not a prop. The culture is not a slogan. Real motorcycle culture has to survive the road, the years, and the people who actually ride. That line had a deep influence on OFFRAMP. When we develop a part, we do not only ask, “Can we make it?” We ask whether it belongs on the bike, whether it carries the right stance and attitude, whether it solves a real fitment problem, and whether it helps the rider keep that raw, original riding experience after the build is done.
From American Motorcycle Culture to a Chinese Garage
Clay always had a strong interest in Chinese culture. That was no accident. Every real rider has a streak of exploration in his bones. The road, the distance, unfamiliar people, and unknown cultures — all of that is part of the ride.
In 2001, Clay came to China on his own. Over the following years, he lived, rode, watched, and gradually became part of the early American motorcycle scene in China. Back then, big-displacement bikes were far from common. Getting a bike legally on the road was difficult. Parts supply was unstable. And people who truly understood American V-Twin culture were rare.
But in that environment, Clay saw the desire Chinese riders had for freedom, individuality, and machinery.
He once wrote: “In China technology works as a signifier for class, lifestyle, and respect.”
That sentence reminded us of something important: if we were going to go deep into American motorcycle culture, we could not settle for surface-level “American style.” We could not treat American big twins as nothing more than expensive imported toys. What truly mattered was combining technology, taste, mechanical understanding, and the spirit of the rider.
A good motorcycle part should not just “look American.” It should understand the structure of the bike, the riding situation, the proportions of the build, and why riders care so much about every little detail. That was the kind of judgment Clay brought to OFFRAMP.
Meeting the Wang Brothers: The Moment OFFRAMP Became Whole
In 2008, Clay met the Wang Brothers. At that time, the Wang Brothers were already running an American motorcycle custom shop. It was not a polished brand space built for show. It was a real garage — tools, parts, riders, breakdowns, and real-world fitment problems that had to be solved every day. The shop was not yet called OFFRAMP, but it already carried the DNA that would later define OFFRAMP: real bikes, real customers, real problems.
When Clay met the Wang Brothers, Chinese garage experience and American motorcycle culture came together in a real way. The Wang Brothers understood the motorcycle market, the repair environment, customer needs, and the problems riders faced with their bikes. Clay brought a more native American motorcycle
perspective, an old-school rider’s spirit, and a deep understanding of the V-Twin way of life.
One side understood the real needs of riders. The other understood the cultural soul behind American motorcycles.
Together, those two sides slowly shaped the foundation of OFFRAMP. That is why OFFRAMP never became just a brand making “fitment parts.” We set out to make components that actually understand the logic of American motorcycle customization. A good part cannot be judged by specs alone. You have to see how it sits on the bike — the stance, the proportion, the durability, the road feel, and whether it belongs to the machine’s original character.
Clay once wrote: “we have been through a lot. survival admiration”
It was a short line, but it captured a long stretch of OFFRAMP’s journey.
Reigniting the Fire and Moving Forward
After many years of growth and hard-earned experience, forces beyond anyone’s control brought the world to a halt in 2020. Many things were interrupted. Many plans were delayed. But OFFRAMP did not stop. We used that time to reorganize, relocate, expand our space, rebuild the shop, and rethink where the brand was headed.
At that time, Clay was in the United States, but he was still closely watching OFFRAMP. When he saw the rebuilt shop and the team pushing forward, he was proud of the Wang Brothers and everyone who refused to quit. He admired that grit — the kind that does not back down, scatter, or give up.
That is an important part of OFFRAMP’s culture. We are not a brand born in comfort. After relocations, market changes, supply problems, and the shock of a world shutdown, we understand that a real brand cannot stand on good-looking pages and marketing words alone. It needs history. It needs skill. It needs real products. And it needs a spirit strong enough to keep moving.
In recent years, as the custom market moved beyond appearance and riders began demanding more performance, Old Clay decided to return to the United States again to continue studying motorcycle performance. That included dyno tuning, equipment purchasing, and a more systematic understanding of performance upgrades.
But sadly, in 2022, after completing his motorcycle training in the United States and before returning to Beijing, Clay passed away suddenly from illness at the age of 69.
His passing was more than the loss of a friend to OFFRAMP. It felt like losing a cultural guide. For everyone who knew him, the news was hard to accept. He was the kind of person you always expected to show up again. Maybe at the garage door. Maybe in an old photo. Maybe at a coffee table after a mountain ride. Maybe in a sudden “Hi Man” that brought him right back into the room. We always thought Old Clay would still be there — with his humor, his old-school way of talking, his stubbornness, and his kindness — still arguing with us about bikes, culture, life, and all the things nobody could quite explain.
But every rider eventually leaves one stretch of road.
Still, some people do not really disappear after they leave. What Clay left behind has already become part of OFFRAMP’s everyday work.
It is in the way we understand American motorcycles.
It is in the way we judge whether a part is truly good.
It is in the patience we bring to every customer conversation.
It is in our commitment to real riding, real installation, and real fitment.
It is in our belief that motorcycle culture is not something you package. It is something you live.
He made OFFRAMP more like OFFRAMP. He also made OFFRAMP more than just a motorcycle parts brand. He helped make it a brand shaped by American motorcycle culture, refined by garage experience, and built to reach riders around the world.
Where OFFRAMP Is Headed Today
Today, OFFRAMP is bringing its products to a wider global market. We continue to develop custom and replacement parts for American motorcycles, improve model fitment, study the structural differences across model years, and turn hard-earned garage experience into more reliable products.
But to us, going global is not just about selling parts to more countries. What matters is showing the world a different kind of American motorcycle parts brand — one that does not simply imitate American style, one that does not chase low price and surface appearance, one that truly understands motorcycle culture, rider needs, real-world installation, and the riding experience. A brand grown from garages, roads, friends, and time.
That is the meaning Clay holds for OFFRAMP.
He brought us closer to the source of American motorcycle spirit. He helped us understand why this culture is so powerful. And he showed us that behind every real product, there must be real experience; behind every real culture, someone must have truly lived it.
For Old Clay, and for the Road Ahead
OFFRAMP’s history does not belong to one person alone. It belongs to everyone who has wrenched, ridden, eaten, struggled, and started over together.
But our friend, brother, and old rider Clay will always be an irreplaceable part of that history.
He came from Birmingham, Alabama, yet left part of his life in China’s motorcycle culture. He loved motorcycles, but never turned American iron into some untouchable symbol. He respected oldschool spirit, and he understood that real freedom comes from choice, the road, and trust between people.
He made OFFRAMP understand American motorcycle culture more deeply. He also helped OFFRAMP understand itself.Today, as we continue to design, manufacture, and deliver everypart, we still hope to carry that spirit forward:No empty style.
No soulless parts.
Never forget the real problems inside the garage.
Never forget what riders truly need.
Never forget the freedom, machinery, individuality, and road-born
power behind American motorcycle culture.
That is what Clay left with OFFRAMP. And it remains one of the most important cultural roots as OFFRAMP continues toward the world.
Ride free, old friend.
You will always be part of the OFFRAMP story.
