American Chopper got..... chopped!

[Mitchell Andrus]

American Chopper got chopped, tossed, canceled, ka-put.

With this guilty pleasure ripped from my life, what'll I do? Jersey Shore??? Hit me on the head - hard and soon.

The story is that Sr. is suing Jr. for over 1 million dollars in stock options. If this is true, that places the value of the company at roughly 5 million as Jr. owned 20% of the company. That's a laugh. Without the TV series and Jr. to design and the economy in the tank I don't think it'll be long before we see a for sale sign on the place. I just hope the kids land on their feet.
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[Paul Ryan]

I watched that Soap Opera for years when it was on Discovery but haven't paid much attention latley. What amazes me is that most families have their arguments but those 2 did it on television. But with what they have built TOGETHER, how can they not put there differences a side and continue on. If you ask me Jr. should have a heck of a lot more than 20%. Jr. did spend plenty of time goofing off, but what fun is life if you cant have fun. In my mind Sr. is the real bully in this story. Such is life I guess.

[Jim Mattheiss]

And Mikey will end up on a cereal box . . .

It's sort of sad because all the new reality shows are modeled on OCC. Think Cake Boss - it's just OCC for cakes - yelling, screaming, ranting and raving.

I read on the internet (so it must be true) that they were making more money selling personal appearances and T-Shirts than on actual bikes.

I do like Pawn Stars on TLC - 3 generations working in a Vegas Pawn shop. Just a little family drama but nothing compared to OCC.

Jim

[Craig D Peltier]

Vinnnie an Codys from old OCC starts on 2-14. Not sure of channel. I believe its called full throttle.
I searched american chopper two days ago an I made it to there FB page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/AmericanChopper?ref=search&sid=1401258797.3835675972..1

Alot of folks on there are ripping senior a new one. He looks like the jerk , all three of his kids dont like him or talk to him.

I think JR though had too much of an ego. Since he's been gone they have made some pretty cool bikes. One electric, diesel and a few others as well as other bikes that had never been done by anyone. It didnt even seem like there was a hiccup without his design skills.

All those companies who paid for the bikes onyl did it for the Tv publicity. Lets see how many theme bikes they get with no tv show.

I liked the show, Oh well see how Full Throttle is.Maybe Miked and Jr will go there. I dont think Jrs head could fit past the rollup door though having to be below Vinnie.

[Stephen Tashiro]

We need to think of some spin-offs that the kids can pilot. A sandal factory -American Clopper? A grain storage facility - American Hopper?

[Randal Stevenson]

We need to think of some spin-offs that the kids can pilot. A sandal factory -American Clopper? A grain storage facility - American Hopper?


A failing tv show, American Flopper!

[Joe Mioux]

I watched the show when it was on Discovery, but lost interest after the channel change.

Sr was always abusive and Jr's designs of theme bikes seemed like a recipe (got boring after awhile) , i.e. put some logos on a bike and other do-dads. I liked the build part better than the decorations.

the best parts of the show was when Sr and Mikey would goof off and have fun.

Vinny and Cody's show should be entertaining. I always like Vinny. Cody was OK as a kid-motorcycle apprentice. I am not sure how his character will play out as an adult on a show like this.

However, those two really need Mikey to be their helper. I think that would create some good entertainment as Mikey and Vinny always seemed to get along well.

[Viktor Voroncov]

I love this serial due two reasons
1) Very interesting see different technologies/machinery and etc. Here in Eastern Europe usually all equipment is BIG, DIRTY, OILY and when you see their manufacturing - you see goal :) for developing.
2) Relationships between peoples. I watch show and say "Same problems with employees, with boss-worker relationships". What he will do? Same as I did one month ago? :)

[Mitchell Andrus]

Here in Eastern Europe usually all equipment is BIG, DIRTY, OILY and when you see their manufacturing:)

Viktor, tell us where you are. You should put your town & country in your profile, it's always more interesting to know where a post is coming from especially from overseas.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

Vinnie and Cody. Check this out.

http://www.vforcecustoms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=1

It looks like the first show is on later this week on some carriers.
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[Al Willits]

Pre TV they were just another small bike shop turning out the same stuff everybody else was, they hit the mother lode when they went on TV.

More power to them, but it went to juniors head, and the old man is better off with out him.

He thought he was this great designer, ya right, he sure did well after leaving Senior.

When the show started they were so dysfunctional nobody I know that rides would by a bike from them, at least now it looks like that actually are trying to build a decent bike.

Losing the TV contract will hurt them sure, but they have name recognition now and that will help.

While Senior was the grouchy old man, I don't blame him, but with the kid gone I think they lost some of the reason people tuned in, watching a bike shop build bikes with no arguing, disagreements, fighting, etc can be pretty boring.

I'm betting by now Paul senior has enough bucks tucked away that he he'll get by, even if he doesn't get to make $60,000+ bikes anymore.

There's enough reality shows going to gag a horse, so I doubt them leaving the airwaves is a big deal, but it was nice to tune in every so often to see how the world turns in the OCC camp..

Al

[Dan Mages]

It was still on TV? :confused:

[Russ Filtz]

Vinny and Cody's show should be entertaining. I always like Vinny. Cody was OK as a kid-motorcycle apprentice. I am not sure how his character will play out as an adult on a show like this.

Cody might be OK, but when Sr sent him to mechanics school in Florida, my nephew was in the course with him. Said he was a jerkwad and thought he was better than everyone else cause he was a "star" already. :rolleyes:

[paul cottingham]

You know, with the number of times I heard Sr. say "just get it done" I would never buy anything from them. It gave the impression that quality and design were a secondary consideration. A computer never left our shop until it was finished, tested, and burned in, no matter what the time pressure. And we have a reputation for high quality, well made machines that last forever.

[Viktor Voroncov]

Mitchell, I am from Vilnius, Lithuania and now I put this information in my profile :) But I have also long experience in working in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other Eastern European countries.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Mitchell, I am from Vilnius, Lithuania and now I put this information in my profile :) But I have also long experience in working in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other Eastern European countries.

My grandmother is now 96 and remembers the Russian soldiers riding through the countryside during the revolution as we see in Dr. Zhivago. She and her sisters would hide in the woods when the other farmers rang the bells warning of their approach. Her mom and dad would hide the good chickens and hogs, good pots and pans and allowed the soldiers to steal the crappy stuff. The Gypsies followed the solders and repaired all the damage. Far from the thieves we are told they were, they were very valuable to have around at times and usually earned their keep.

I've got an hour-long interview with her telling all of this and that the first flush toilet she ever saw was on the boat used to come through Ellis Island. Gotta get that on Youtube someday.
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[Glenn Clabo]

When Vinny left...so did I. I am setting up the DVR.

[Chuck Wintle]

We need to think of some spin-offs that the kids can pilot. A sandal factory -American Clopper? A grain storage facility - American Hopper?

grain harvesting....American Cropper
Edsel factory.....American flopper
life of a janitor...American mopper
life of a woodsman....American lopper? :D

[Frank Guerin]

Just another soap opera.

I wish I had my old 57 pan head, shovel head, arial square four, indian straight four but no more rigids. I'm still hurting.

[Dave Lehnert]

Just a few weeks ago Sr. was interviewed and said they were about to bust. The reason he wrote a book and and went on tour to generate some cash.
IMHO- They are in way over their heads. New building and all that equipment.
How many corporate bikes do you think will get built now with no TV show?
Company's did it for the media exposure.

I loved that show when it was on Discovery. When it went to TLC it just lost traction. I am not too handy with a wrench but loved seeing how things were done and the tools used.
Sorry to see the show end.

[AL Ursich]

I was bummed when I saw that Repo was fake....

[Viktor Voroncov]

Hi, Mitchell,
From which country is your grandmother?

[Mitchell Andrus]

Her family had a farm in the eastern part of Poland near or over the Ukraine boarder. The exact location of the farm is lost now. My mom has been hoping for years to go over and look for the records.... Many towns are no longer in existence and the boarders moved a bit.

The farm was sold (more like confiscated) to a collective for just enough money to pay for passage to America for the family. If not for the 1917 revolution and the years long disruptions that followed, I wouldn't have been born.

Her father was quite well off. The farm was fairly large and they had many 'servants'. Of course as my Grandmother tells it, the 'servants' were merely children that the city folks couldn't afford to feed anymore. The kids were sent to the farms where they could at least... eat well. It's been called apprenticeship. It was really survival.
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[Dan Hintz]

We need to think of some spin-offs that the kids can pilot. A sandal factory -American Clopper? A grain storage facility - American Hopper?
If Burger King sponsors it, you can call it American Whopper :)

[Mitchell Andrus]

American Bopper.

Chantilly Lace.... "Hello Baaaaaaaaaaaabay"
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[Bob Glenn]

NYPD = American Copper

Hog farmer = American Slopper

:p

[Bryan Morgan]

I tried to watch this last season but it was a total chick soap opera. I used to watch it in the past and enjoyed it then. The latest season I didn't care for it at all. Dr. Phil with motorcycles... bleh :p

[Dave Lehnert]

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/american-chopper-end-of-the-road.html

Video from TLC

[Karl Card]

I am really surprised that sr could even count to 1 million.. a local guy here bought a chopper from them and said that guy was so far out in left field it was unreal.

[paul cottingham]

And yet his steel fabricating business was (and is) very successful. And I think he built it from nothing.

[Rod Sheridan]

American Chopper got chopped, tossed, canceled, ka-put.

With this guilty pleasure ripped from my life, what'll I do? Jersey Shore??? Hit me on the head - hard and soon.


.

Couldn't agree more.

I don't know what the fuss over HD TV is, I'd really like some HI TV.

(Higher Intellect).

Regards, Rod.

[Randal Stevenson]

And yet his steel fabricating business was (and is) very successful. And I think he built it from nothing.


You might want to rethink that. Go search on the Bankruptcy and lawsuit from OC Ironworks.

[Al Willits]

Have to admit, this thread is more interesting then the last few OCC shows were...:D

Al

[Mitchell Andrus]

From:


http://m.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS/706260312&template=wapart



According to the complaint filed by Bankruptcy Trustee Tom Genova, the Teutuls systematically moved the equipment, employees, accounts and other assets of the steel fabrication business O.C. Iron Works to a new company, Orange County Ironworks LLC, but the new company didn't pay fair compensation. The Teutuls then had O.C. Iron Works file for bankruptcy, leaving creditors out in the cold.

The complaint also names Orange County Ironworks LLC as a defendant.

The lawyer representing Daniel Teutul and his company, Orange County Ironworks LLC, said in an interview yesterday that the sale between the two brothers' businesses did not involve any fraud.

"The assets weren't moved. They were purchased," said Terry Devine.

But the complaint suggests the sale was executed to protect the family business from a costly judgment in a lawsuit brought by Turner Construction. Turner is one of the nation's largest builders and the construction manager for the new Yankee Stadium.

O.C. Iron Works' bankruptcy filing listed $596,520.09 in assets, but that sum consisted almost entirely of accounts receivable — money the company was owed, but hadn't been able to collect.
The company's debts, meanwhile, were roughly $667,000, not counting the $1.3 million judgment owed to Turner.

.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Couldn't agree more.

I don't know what the fuss over HD TV is, I'd really like some HI TV.

(Higher Intellect).

Regards, Rod.

HI doesn't sell sneakers or Chevys. Thank God there's still something educational to watch on TV..... for now.
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[Scott Shepherd]

Bring back Jesse James! As a machinist by trade, I cringed at many of the methods used to build OCC's stuff. Many times I thought I was going to watch someone lose a finger or get seriously hurt. Using grinders with no safety glasses, holding a piece of sheet metal with their hands while drilling it on a drill press, taking a finished part and hitting it with a ball peen hammer to make it fit, etc. All those things formed my opinion that close up their bikes probably look like they were built in a garage, not a high tech fabricating facility.

They've added a lot of technology over the years, so I know some of their stuff is much better now, but I've never been impressed by their work.

Jesse James has built a very successful business and he's a straight shooter, let's vote to get him back (for no other reason as we might see his wife :D ).

[Craig D Peltier]

Bring back Jesse James! As a machinist by trade, I cringed at many of the methods used to build OCC's stuff. Many times I thought I was going to watch someone lose a finger or get seriously hurt. Using grinders with no safety glasses, holding a piece of sheet metal with their hands while drilling it on a drill press, taking a finished part and hitting it with a ball peen hammer to make it fit, etc. All those things formed my opinion that close up their bikes probably look like they were built in a garage, not a high tech fabricating facility.

They've added a lot of technology over the years, so I know some of their stuff is much better now, but I've never been impressed by their work.

Jesse James has built a very successful business and he's a straight shooter, let's vote to get him back (for no other reason as we might see his wife :D ).

I kinow in the MC world of forums. Im going back 3 years now. The OCC bikes were crap compared to jesse james. I remember the big complaint was that there wiring was very messy and bike in general was rushed together cheap.
Jesse James bikes on the other hand were the opposite.

[John Shuk]

This family has faced it's share of demons for years. Having a successful TV show doesn't make things like that disappear.

[Joe Jensen]

I got to spend a 3 days in their shop 3 years ago, and got to spend a few hours with them "in public". The camera guys were there shooting whatever they wanted for the candid shots. Sr and the two boys were barely there, certainly not "working". From chatting with the TV camera guys, it seemed that the celebrities were there very little. Mostly out doing promotions. It was my impression that on the TV builds, they were very lightly involved. I saw lots of the build clips on our bike set up for the celebrities to step in a say their lines. I think in the 3 days I was there the three were at the shop only 2-3 hours.

Here is a pic with Jr.

[Myk Rian]

If it weren't for someone else building the frames, they would never have built their first bike. They take a frame, hack some parts onto it, and have it painted by Nubbs.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Bring back Jesse James! All those things formed my opinion that close up their bikes probably look like they were built in a garage, not a high tech fabricating facility.



I've seen the Lincoln bike close-up at the NYC Auto Show. I was disappointed in the quality of the welds, the fit of the parts, etc. I can't take anything away from Jr's ability to design... some of the early (pre-corporate) theme bikes are really sharp and nicely detailed. Fit, finish and engineering on the Lincoln bike left me flat.
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[Dave Lehnert]

If it weren't for someone else building the frames, they would never have built their first bike. They take a frame, hack some parts onto it, and have it painted by Nubbs.

By definition that is what a "chopper" is.

[Myk Rian]

By definition that is what a "chopper" is.
Maybe I should have made HACK a bold font. :)

[Dave Lehnert]

Maybe I should have made HACK a bold font. :)

Then the show would have been named American Hacker :D

[Dave Lehnert]

I got to spend a 3 days in their shop 3 years ago, and got to spend a few hours with them "in public". The camera guys were there shooting whatever they wanted for the candid shots. Sr and the two boys were barely there, certainly not "working". From chatting with the TV camera guys, it seemed that the celebrities were there very little. Mostly out doing promotions. It was my impression that on the TV builds, they were very lightly involved. I saw lots of the build clips on our bike set up for the celebrities to step in a say their lines. I think in the 3 days I was there the three were at the shop only 2-3 hours.

Here is a pic with Jr.

What bike was your build?

[Joe Jensen]

What bike was your build?

The Intel dual V-twin bike. Two regular harley engines married into a single 4 cylinder. Drove it out of my team. Back then the show had monster ratings and the show aired in over 100 countries, literally hundreds of airings. Ended up being very cheap publicity.

[Dave Lehnert]

IT'S BACK

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100407/tv_nm/us_tlc

[Craig D Peltier]

IT'S BACK

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100407/tv_nm/us_tlc

Cool! So maybe Paul Jr is back with them?

[Ray Bell]

And I guess we wont be seeing Jesse James with his wife! What an idiot.

[Rob Fisher]

I think this is the reason..

http://www.zeitgeistyreport.com/breaking-news/2010/04/15/vinnie-is-returning-to-american-chopper-joins-forces-with-paul-jr/ (http://www.zeitgeistyreport.com/breaking-news/2010/04/15/vinnie-is-returning-to-american-chopper-joins-forces-with-paul-jr/)




Cool! So maybe Paul Jr is back with them?

[Craig D Peltier]

Well after going to V Force Customs website and going to forums there. There are alot of links to whats been going on and what is. Paulie is opening a 7200 sq foot warehouse across the street from his dads. New show called American Chopper : Senior versus Junior starting in August. It is rumored that Vinnie anmd Rick will be there. Not sure of the Rick thing is true , I could see Vinnie. I dont think I saw that Cody was coming.
TLC agreed upon the competing shows and neither show has an agreement on how much airtime each one gets. Paul Jr also has Nubs the painter.
Theres a site in twitter ( I dont know how to navigate twitter) but its called " Wheres Paul Jr" an its him, one pic shows the inside of the shop.
The father son battle is still brewing in courts. Lawyers want them to sit down like gentleman and figure it out and stop spending money on this court nonsense.
Ohhh the drama..