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

It's really strange because Junior seems to try to turn the attention back to the motorcycles with some of the stuff he's doing, while Senior seems to want to talk more about the drama.

From a pure bike standpoint, PJD's 3 bikes he's made so far have been better than anything OCC has made this season. OCC seems to just be doing production bikes with new paint jobs. It's funny to hear Senior talk about how Junior doesn't do any fabricating, but it seems OCC is the one relying on stock tanks and the flowjet to get them through their projects.

 

That's been the thing that Sr. can't seem to let sink in. Yes, he "founded" OCC but it became what it is because Jr. was designing truly one of a kind fabricated bikes instead of assembling components AND (from what I understand) Mikely landed them a gig doing in on national TV show. Without all three of those things, the brand OCC is nothing. Truthfully, Mikey's connections with Pilgrim (the production company that sold it to Discovery) deserve the most credit for making it what it is. OCC does far more sales in terms of merchandise that motorcycles.

 

senior has really come across as a giant dickhead while junior takes the high road. and junior's bikes will always be better than anything occ turns out, especially with all the prefab work they're using now.

 

It's amazing the 180 I've done on Junior. First couple of seasons, I was fully in Senior's corner. I thought he was a lazy, egotistical twat. He always seemed to disappear when it was time to work.

But now that he's out of that shop and in his own, he has grown on me. Maybe it's the sense of urgency he has now, knowing that it's his business and his ass is on the line. He still seems to be more hands-off than his co-workers would like, but I think that's just his style. As Senior would say, he's an idear guy, he's not a fabricator.

 

Did anyone watch Monday's show? I think Paul Sr. has serious mental issues, and he's surrounded by clowns.

The only one still at OCC that I believe has any grasp on reality is Rick (and I think in real time/since the last filming it's possible he has departed, not sure if that's true).

Jim Quinn is probably one of the smartest dudes around, but he's had too much Sr. Kool-Aid. Mike Amorati is just a douche. I think Steve and Ron are the ones pulling Sr.'s strings. Jason is an idiot. They brought Lee Stamper back in last night, and apart from being a criminal, that guy is just dumb.

If you didn't see it, OCC is suing PJD again because they built a bike for a company that OCC had done business in the past.

 

and even more merriment from OCC ...
The bank is foreclosing on that white elephant of a building they have. Stories are going viral today that they missed more than $100K in payments last year. The didn't pay in order to try to redo their terms.

as for that building, it shows what Sr.'s relationship is with his kids. His son Dan "bought" Orange County Ironworks from him and then had to put in bids to get the contract to build the new shop.

I know I'm not from a business background and folks around here are clannish, but if anyone I know had a family business, the son wouldn't have to purchase it from the father. He would just be told to run it for the family. And then if the family or friends needed that type of service, there wouldn't be any question as to who got the job.

 

Couldn't agree more Shoeless. Senior is a certifiable lunatic. I found myself getting agitated with him last night, between his constant jabs at Junior (PJD could never build a bike like this) to his lawsuit because Faro chose PJD over his crappy brand to do their bike. It's amazing that for as much as Senior says Junior is the cause of all his problems, he's the one that continues to bring the shit up. You NEVER hear Junior talk about OCC the way Senior talks about PJD.

He is a hypocritical bastard. Remember the early episodes when he was going behind Junior's back and telling people not to do business with Junior, then said on camera that it was business and it was a competition? Well, when the script is flipped and PJD grabs one of OCC's biggest vendors, Senior wants to start whining and filing lawsuits.

At one point last night, I got so frustrated with Senior's antics that I said to myself "I hope he drives that company straight into the ground." Well, I guess I sorta got my wish by the look of next week's preview.

Senior needs some serious psychiatric help. Do you think he even watches the show and realizes how big of an asshole he is? Oh, and that whole Joe situation, how the hell do you fire someone, then make them sign a no-compete contract all the while denying them unemployment. That dude is sick, and I have a feeling Shoeless nailed it on the head. I think Steve and Ron are the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes.

 

If you'll remember back to the early days, there was a guy named Keith that kind of did the Steve/Ron job. He was a dick, it seemed, but I also learned that he was a family member that bolted the business because of Sr., too.

I think Sr. has true issues with what he believes is reality.

 

Discovery has been playing back-to-back American Chopper episodes every day around noon, so I usually catch those while I'm getting ready for work. I had totally forgotten how far back Senior's insanity went. I guess early on I just focused on the bikes more.

Keith/Steve/Ron have always rubbed me the wrong way. Just typical corporate ass-kissers.

 

senior continues to prove he's good at one thing and one thing only - being an ass.

 

Here's a story on the foreclosure, even though it's two months old.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101118/BIZ/11180319

 

What pisses me off about that story is how they think they can just skip a mortgage payment to renegotiate the terms of the mortgage because they feel the property value is no longer what it was.

Hell, I wish I could do that. My property value isn't what it was when I bought it 10 years ago either. Think my bank will take kindly to me just not paying one month to strong-arm them into renegotiating the mortgage?