It is not at all hard for me to believe his bikes could hit 140mph.
I just watched some show where a woman got a 125cc bike up to 135 or so out on the dry lakes. He's got 10x the engine, so it is not hard to believe. Some Ducati monsters can hit those speeds and they don't have good aerodynamics either, hell haven't bikes been doing 140mph for a long, long time?
Unfortunately CBS seems to only allow you to watch the first minute and a half but the reporters questions were so direct his attitude seemed pretty natural even defensive. Whatever is the case, she obviously doesn't "get" motorcycles, and Jesse knew that and was taking advantage of her. He is obviously a motorcyclist when he says his bikes are meant to be ridden and it's silly to put them in a museum even when he knows he is catering to people who show off more than ride.
I am not exactly going to go buy one but if you ask me what is cooler, one of his choppers, or a Harley, I would have to say his is indeed "cooler". If you said I could have either one for free I'd take his too. In that sense he is a success.