American Chopper -- Season six running thread (OCC on the splits)

TMZ is reporting that Paul Teutel Jr. has opened a rival bike shop in Orange County with the sole purpose being to take down his dad (TMZ's words, of course). He has reportedly hired Mikey, Vinnie, Nubs and someone else who had once worked at OCC.

You had to know this would happen sooner or later. As much as Junior talked about doing something different, you could tell that custom choppers was his passion. I guess he finally realized designing $100 grills for Coleman wasn't bringing in the money he was seeing at OCC.

Hard to really take sides on this issue, because I think both Senior and Junior are at fault. But I can't help but think Senior got a little overzealous and it's coming back to bite him in the ass.

And for what it's worth, I noticed my last post in this thread was about the Kobalt bike, which I actually got to see last weekend. It was at a nearby Lowe's store on display on a plexiglass-encased bed of an 18-wheeler.

 

Since the last two season running threads didn't get a whole lot of talk, no use creating a new thread for the newest season, so I'll put it here unless someone objects.

This new season looks to be interesting, provided Senior and Junior actually go head-to-head in a bike build at some point. Right now, it looks like Junior is in over his head and has delusions of grandeur. But he may pull it off, as long as he can convince some vendors he'll put out as good a product as OCC.

That being said, I like Vinnie coming back to work with Junior. I'd imagine Cody will show up at some point and maybe Nubs and other OCC workers from the past shows. Junior will probably be better to work for than Senior, but you gotta question how quickly they'll get bikes out of the building with Junior's work ethic.

The one thing I took away from the first episode is that Senior is coming off as the ass, and rightfully so. He's making fun of Junior opening the shop, spreading lies about Junior cutting all ties with Mikey and just being the vindictive dickhead. Don't get me wrong, Junior is an arrogant ass, but Senior doesn't help his cause a whole lot in that first episode.

It'll be interesting to see if they ever patch things up. In a dream world, Paul Jr. Designs takes off and OCC continues making great bikes and eventually they come back together, but I think that relationship is shattered and won't be able to be put back together. Best-case scenario right now is that they actually start talking again at some point.

 

I honestly can't see how any custom shop like that can survive currently. If one could, Vinnie's V Force Customs would be in full swing and he wouldn't be coming back.

Sr. must be a complete nutter. His actions back that up, and the fact that he has four kids he's alienated, there is one common link. Him.

 

I agree. You know, that conversation between Senior and Junior on the radio show was pretty telling. When Junior asked Senior what the appraiser said the company was worth and Senior said nothing, I think that gave a little insight as to how OCC is doing.

Last night's episode also got me thinking. When was the last time OCC did a bike that wasn't in return for some service. I think with times being as tough as they are, a lot of the OCC builds are just tradeoffs to keep them churning out bikes. I wonder when was the last custom chopper they made where the customer actually paid for the bike and didn't provide something in return.

 

Thing is, Junior bringing Vinnie back into the fold (dunno about Nubs and Cody ... wouldn't be the least bit surprised), it will be interesting to see how Junior and Senior emphasize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

Senior has all the equipment and seems to want to do more with bikes. I suspect Junior has much better vision, but can he can the sort of people who can do what Senior does with OCC to compensate? Vinnie is a big step in the right direction with Junior. But how much will he have to leverage to get the initial capital to acquire the shop equipment?

 

A bike from any of these custom shops start at about $30K and skyrocket from there. It's tough to say for sure because none of them actually list prices anywhere. I'm not talking theme or tribute bikes like you see on the TV show, I'm just talking about plain custom choppers.

You can get a top of the line get Harley Ultra Classic for about 5K less and Dyna, Softail or Sportster for much less. All these bikes have calculated resale value and factory warranties. Try to get a bluebook price on a custom bike. There is no such thing.

The real value to the OCC brand is in the T-shirts they sell and not the bikes. That's why the show keeps going. No TV to push the retail merch, no company.

 

That's a good point. I'd imagine only the ultra-rich (read: celebrities) will buy the OCC-themed bikes. And probably only reason they buy them is because it's something to brag about to their other celebrity friends. Back when OCC first started airing, long before they had moved to their new shop, my brother called for shits and giggles to "inquire" about buying a bike. He was told the same thing you said, they start at 30K and go up from there. And 30K was just a basic chopper with no frills. Any kind of bike with a theme, say for instance the Web bike, would get into the six-figure and up range.

I just looked at the Paul Jr. Designs website and they don't have any bikes listed, but they do have shirts, caps, etc. It looks a lot like OCC stuff, including a new Mikey Rules! and Vinnie's Back! collection.

 

If I had Matchbox 20 money and wanted a custom chopper from any of the famous names, I'd take one of Jesse James' bikes over anything OCC has ever done in a heartbeat.

West Coast Choppers are bikes that are meant to be riden. OCC bikes are to look at. That long raked front end would ride like shit and be fragile as hell. WCC bikes are less raked and beefier. They are meant to be used. Still, Jesse James is in kind of the same boat ... he fetches a huge price for the bikes, but makes lots more on T-shirts and stickers.

It kind of reminds me of a story I heard about two restaurants around here. One is a place where you go for a $40 steak, the other for a $3 burger. The fancy steak place has 25 customers a night. The burger place has its drive-thru backed out into the highway every day at lunch. The burger place makes more each week than the steak place does in a month.

 

Anybody watching the new seasons of Senior vs. Junior.

Gotta say that Senior is looking like the ass, with his constant verbal jabs at Pauly and his little silly pranks like dressing up as Pauly, sending a Paul Senior look-alike to Pauly's shop and riding by PJD blowing horns and revving engines.

For someone who doesn't want anything to do with his son, he sure spends a lot of time worrying about what he's doing at PJD. Meanwhile, Pauly's taking the high road and just putting out some pretty cool bikes so far. I'm certain that Senior's behavior will eventually be his company's downfall, but he'll blame it on Pauly, like he's blamed everything else.

 

It used to be enjoyable watching the verbal sparring and the blow-ups. I figured it was based on creative tension. Now, knowing the deep enmity involved, it's just uncomfortable. Work your family shit out when the cameras are off and just build some damn bikes.

 

Watched an episode for the first time in a long time Sunday afternoon (I think) when a marathon was on. The one I watched was where Senior sued Junior, who wouldn't allow cameras into the courtroom.

This show used to be one of my favorites. Now, unless I see this thread crop up on the front page, I don't really give it a second thought.

 

Yeah, I watch, trying to see where this train wreck will end. It's sad really. I've posted it before, Sr. has four children, and none of them will have anything to do with him. Hmmmm, I wonder where they problem is?

The show has taken a very serious turn away from what it started as. The motorcycles are an afterthought now, which is why I got started watching in the first place.