http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/08/end-of-the-road-american-chopper-canceled-fat-lady-sings/ (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/08/end-of-the-road-american-chopper-canceled-fat-lady-sings/)
It is not over until the fat lady sings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIVfbylUU-M#noexternalembed-normal)
Can't say I'm shocked at all. Actually a bit more surprised it lasted this long.
Hell For Leathers take:
"The good name of American motorcycling will no longer be sullied by the Teutels' homoerotic father/son catfighting and novelty t-shirt promotion, TLC has cancelled American Chopper. Orange County Choppers and its shaved apes have been plaguing television screens since 2003, but lately the financial success the show inexplicably brought its protagonists has led to a bitter feud with Paul Teutul Sr suing Paul Teutul Jr for control of the company. It's believed that this lawsuit led to the show's cancellation. Hallelujah."
What has become of the Ducati dealership itself? It's been pretty deafeningly quiet in regard to promotion of the Ducati aspect via big mouth himself...
I thought that the deal fell through. Something about it being only "conditional".
Rest in pieces [popcorn]
All this really means is that there will be no more show. I would venture to say that the OCC dealership along with their relationship with DNA will stand for now.
Quote from: scduc on February 09, 2010, 03:29:21 PM
All this really means is that there will be no more show. I would venture to say that the OCC dealership along with their relationship with DNA will stand for now.
No mention of Ducati's being in their showroom on the web site.
I watched the first few season's a s a sort of novelty, but it jumped the shark a long time ago. The last bike they made that I liked was the all copper one.
sheesh.
took 'em long enough.
i like the show even though i hate the bikes they build. they are cool and innovative, but bikes that are too difficult/uncomfortable to ride don't make sense to me. i'd sooner ride a scooter with mikey.
I stopped into the showroom last month when i was driving back from skiing at Stowe. There were no Ducati's in the showroom apart from the Spiderman Monster, which seemed to not get much praise on this forum, though I thought their seat cowl was interesting.
That show started my interest in motorcycles back in '03. Obviously part of what made the show entertaining was the family aspect, even though it was dysfunctional. It's no fun to see a feuding family.
Choppers in general aren't my style, nor would I ride a bike that had a corporate theme to it, but that show did spark my interest in riding. I'm fairly bummed, but maybe not so much because it's cancelled, but because it was a fun show that just went south hard.
I bet it will take another year for the shop/dealership to close down.
Quote from: Frosty_spl on February 09, 2010, 07:30:18 PM
I bet it will take another year for the shop/dealership to close down.
doubtful, they are still a premiere chopper builder regardless if they have a tv show or not. senior also owns the manufacturing company that allowed them to even start the chopper business. they'll be fine
I had no idea the show was still on the air.
Quote from: scduc on February 09, 2010, 03:29:21 PM
All this really means is that there will be no more show. I would venture to say that the OCC dealership along with their relationship with DNA will stand for now.
Their Ducati dealership is history.
Quote from: jim_0068 on February 09, 2010, 08:03:34 PM
doubtful, they are still a premiere chopper builder regardless if they have a tv show or not.
Perhaps, but the stupid-expensive-overly-ornamental-chopper market saturated quite some time ago....
I stopped watching the show for a while but I'll tell you what, since Jr left Rick has been making some really sick bikes. I've seen 3 or 4 this season that I liked a lot.
Quote from: metallimonster on February 10, 2010, 03:43:43 AM
I stopped watching the show for a while but I'll tell you what, since Jr left Rick has been making some really sick bikes. I've seen 3 or 4 this season that I liked a lot.
That's because Rick has what Jr never will have...
talent.
I liked some of the more traditional choppers they did... I thought Senior turned out some pretty cool "old-school" bikes, especially when he was working with the old Panheads... fork boots, tall sissy bars, etc... All that super-stretched, 10-ft long corporate-logo stuff didn't do much for me.
My big issue was the marketing saturation... everywhere I turn, someone has an OCC shirt/hat/wallet chain/full-window sticker/backpack/lunchbox - knowing damn well they don't have an OCC chopper withing 30 miles of their garage (apply this rant to West Coast Choppers as well while I'm at it). No one would walk out of their house in a flame-graphic "Discovery Channel" hoodie for fear of being tabbed a huge nerd, but slap an Iron Cross or OCC logo on it and suddenly you're not a science geek or a poseur - you're an instant bad ass!
Lame.
On the plus side, when Billy Badass is being loud at the bar and showing off for all his friends, you can cool him off by pointing to his shirt and saying, "Hey, awesome, Discovery Channel! Dude, did you catch teh new MythBusters last night?"
What's wrong with Mythbusters? ???
;)
Quote from: ducpainter on February 10, 2010, 03:55:46 AM
That's because Rick has what Jr never will have...
talent.
Indeed! I find it laughable that now Jr is now promoting himself as a designer of all things.
Quote from: EvilSteve on February 10, 2010, 05:07:39 AM
What's wrong with Mythbusters? ???
;)
Mythbusters .. best show ever [clap] [popcorn]
I'm sure with the money that was made (and hopefully salted some of it away for "rainy days"), he has a lot of tax writeoffs he can take upcoming for business projects to find something new to do. I've dealt with some of the Discovery folks and you really have to sell your soul to the devil to do what they want at times. Enough so that I couldn't do it for the money offered. Remember that there are a lot of producers, directors, writers, "idea people", managers, publicity people, corporate suits, legal, media, money -- and it produces "drama". The tv folks are good at using this to their advantage to push "ratings". Inevitably when ratings get low -- they roll their equipment into the truck and run away to the next production set. What gets left behind is usually of no concern...
I know a few folks who have had long running series on Discovery -- nothing is new in the statement above about the mentality of folks they had to deal with in the tv industry. Once the cameras are gone and no longer making money for them, you are history...
I wonder if they bought all that fancy machinery so that they could transition into custom manufacturing after the chopper thing is played out (which seems to be imminent).
Quote from: EvilSteve on February 10, 2010, 05:07:39 AM
What's wrong with Mythbusters? ???
;)
Quote from: dbran1949 on February 10, 2010, 07:05:13 AM
Mythbusters .. best show ever [clap] [popcorn]
Yes, at least MythBusters does some tangible stuff, albeit sometimes they're too geeky for their own good. If there's ever a show to make fun of, it's Ghost Lab.
The "Dead Celebrities" episode of South Park does a good job mocking those ghost hunting shows.
Quote from: Frosty_spl on February 09, 2010, 07:30:18 PM
I bet it will take another year for the shop/dealership to close down.
I would have to agree. I recall hearing Sr. say he was about to lose the company last year when Jr. left. Now without TV what Company is going to pay top $$$ to not have their product advertised on TV. Good luck. I only hope to see Vinnie and Cody with a show of their own soon.
Funny you should mention that!
Vin and Cody co star with me in our new show... Throttle Junkies
www.throttlejunkiestv.com (//http://)
not into plugging without buying adspace, so there you go
Will
Quote from: ducpainter on February 10, 2010, 03:55:46 AM
That's because Rick has what Jr never will have...
talent.
I've ben watching and whether or not you like their style that boy has some metal skills. I see Ducs in the background shots frequently. A Hailwood here, a Hyper there, the nose of a 1098 in the back. I think the Ducs are still around.
I've been wondering for awhile how long the shop will last. That is a huge building, the investment has to be beyond what most of us will ever be able to pull. On top of that it looks like they did right at the worst possible moment, right before the economy tanked. I've thought more than once that the TLC royalties are probably all that's keeping that building a float.
lol at TLC royalties...
Merchandising has kept that place going, and it is HUGE... 100k sq/ft and a full underground. Id BET its vacant in 2 yrs tops
Quote from: RetroSBK on February 10, 2010, 11:46:09 AM
lol at TLC royalties...
Merchandising has kept that place going, and it is HUGE... 100k sq/ft and a full underground. Id BET its vacant in 2 yrs tops
I know next to nothing about all that crap. All I meant was that I assumed money related to the show was coming in from somewhere. If it's cash from merchandising then I'll just consider the show advertising... who'd wear one of their shirts though? [puke]
Quote from: jim_0068 on February 09, 2010, 08:03:34 PM
doubtful, they are still a premiere chopper builder regardless if they have a tv show or not. senior also owns the manufacturing company that allowed them to even start the chopper business. they'll be fine
incorrect. Sr sold the business to one of his sons who wont even talk to him, none do. Sr is a piece of crap IMO and every chance he gets to blast his kids he does. Granted no one is a saint there but come on, he's their father for crying out loud.
Rick can build some serious metal and Jr was the craftsman with ideas regardless of what people think of him. It will all begin to crumble I'm afraid. Too bad for the worker bees who will suffer the most.
Quote from: Scottish on February 10, 2010, 10:25:53 AM
I've been wondering for awhile how long the shop will last. That is a huge building, the investment has to be beyond what most of us will ever be able to pull. On top of that it looks like they did right at the worst possible moment, right before the economy tanked.
+1
I was a sporadic viewer of the show at best, but it went from a bunch of guys building bikes in a crowded, shithole building to a bunch of guys building bikes in a huge new building with "corporate headquarters" and massive houses in a pretty short time.
I think I would have found a way to keep doing it in the same shithole building and operated a satellite facility (equally shithole, preferably rented) when things ramped up. At best I would have renovated the property I did have.
And squirreled away cash the entire time while the gettin' was good, knowing full well it would taper off eventually when the rich boys moved on to other pricey toys.
Quote from: NoisyDante on February 09, 2010, 06:00:14 PM
I stopped into the showroom last month when i was driving back from skiing at Stowe. There were no Ducati's in the showroom apart from the Spiderman Monster, which seemed to not get much praise on this forum, though I thought their seat cowl was interesting.
That show started my interest in motorcycles back in '03. Obviously part of what made the show entertaining was the family aspect, even though it was dysfunctional. It's no fun to see a feuding family.
Choppers in general aren't my style, nor would I ride a bike that had a corporate theme to it, but that show did spark my interest in riding. I'm fairly bummed, but maybe not so much because it's cancelled, but because it was a fun show that just went south hard.
Im at Stowe right now. I did like the first few shows, then they added the drama to it.
Quote from: Speedbag on February 11, 2010, 02:42:18 AM
And squirreled away cash the entire time while the gettin' was good, knowing full well it would taper off eventually when the rich boys moved on to other pricey toys.
Ha - did you see the house, and the garage, and the frickin Llamas? [cheeky]
I wouldn't doubt the whole thing was scripted or at least the script took advantage of any real trouble that existed. I look for at LEAST one spin off. I watched the first year of the show but after that it just got old; same old same old, show after show. I've never been a fan of the stretched custom anyway but even the bikes became pretty repetitive IMO. BTW, I don't consider what they did a "chopper"; they built stretched customs.
Quote from: dbran1949 on February 11, 2010, 01:21:48 PM
Ha - did you see the house, and the garage, and the frickin Llamas? [cheeky]
LLamas? Did they move in with Napoleon Dynamite?
How much did their 8 month Ducati venture cost them? Couldn't of been cheap.
I couldn't believe Jr. and his pet toys segment. I was amazed that the pet store marketing gal could look at that crap with a straight face and say, "That is sooooo good. We're moving on it. I'm excited." Every time Jr. pulled out another idea drawing I just laughed harder. I'm thinking, "Don't quit your day job, dude!" [roll] Seriously, if one of us walked into that store with that crap (and no television cameras), they'd have thrown us out on our ear.
paul designs LOLOLOLOL [thumbsup] [clap]
I am embarrassed to say, but the company I work for paid for a OCC chopper episode just a few months ago - I won't say which one.
The bike had some cool control and electrical stuff, and most of it was designed by our engineers. It wasn't a typical OCC unrideable POS, but talk about a day late and a dollar short for my Co.
mitt
Quote from: mitt on February 12, 2010, 05:05:09 PM
I am embarrassed to say, but the company I work for paid for a OCC chopper episode just a few months ago - I won't say which one.
The bike had some cool control and electrical stuff, and most of it was designed by our engineers. It wasn't a typical OCC unrideable POS, but talk about a day late and a dollar short for my Co.
mitt
kobalt? ;D
can I play?
Schneider Electric?
I might have guessed solidworks or siemens until you used french.
I don't know. :P
HP or Intel
Schneider Electric. Totally busted. Unfortunately, the company I work for bought an OCC chopper, too. :-\
Quote from: NoisyDante on February 12, 2010, 06:06:20 PM
Schneider Electric?
Oui
I will say, the internal video that our PR people made for us to watch, was pretty funny. It had some candid Paul Sr. moments.
For example, he was talking about Schneider, and how big it was, but no-one had ever heard of it - why is that he asked.
That is a good question for a 20 Billion in sales company.
mitt
that is actually a really good question. i guess that's why they needed some OCC help. regardless what you think of the show it is a great marketing tool for companies.
candid Sr moments? do tell.
Quote from: justinrhenry on February 12, 2010, 04:03:55 PM
paul designs LOLOLOLOL [thumbsup] [clap]
I checked out the website. After 10 minutes of looking around, I still couldn't figure out what he is designing... [bang]
I wish Jr would design bikes again. I think he did a great job although those bikes are NON RIDEABLE which SUCKS for those prices. Granted Vinny and Rick are the talented metal work guys but design has gone to shit since Jr's departure.
Quote from: Goat_Herder on February 13, 2010, 09:19:58 AM
I checked out the website. After 10 minutes of looking around, I still couldn't figure out what he is designing... [bang]
Looked like a bunch of generic clothes that he added his logo to, and a coleman grill!?!?
Mikey's art is the best thing on the site though. [cheeky]
Quote from: DarkStaR on February 13, 2010, 03:46:10 PM
Mikey's art is the best thing on the site though. [cheeky]
Best painter was an early guy named Grub or Nub? I saw one OCC bike he painted / striped / airbrushed -- it was nice. If anyone noticed, a lot of the paint guys seemed to disappear. Too bad they didn't let Mikey paint a bike!
Best bike: the little blue Triumph 'bobber they built this year. Hopefully Mikey kept it as he got the he** out of dodge...
Best employee: Vinnie -- he worked and had a good attitude about most everything (until the end). All great shops have guys like these behind the scenes that do the grunt of the hard work. Hopefully he succeeds in his new business and TV media publicity. (HD motorcycle market is pretty "soft" right now)
Big question: Imagines of Mikey, JR, etc -- are they owned by them or are they owned by their father (OCC/Inc)? I watched a few minutes of the final episode and some stupid BBQ/OCC joint was opened via Sr and all three of their mugs were painted / splattered all over the building. My only thought was -- axe your sons but you continue to milk your kids images to generate yourself money -- great deal eh?
Quote from: justinrhenry on February 13, 2010, 05:00:58 AM
regardless what you think of the show it is a great marketing tool for companies.
Dirty Jobs, not so much.
Quote from: mitt on February 12, 2010, 05:05:09 PM
I am embarrassed to say, but the company I work for paid for a OCC chopper ... won't say which one.
mitt
Our company division also sprung for one. It turned out extremely lame. [puke]
Quote from: MotoCreations on February 13, 2010, 04:42:38 PM
Best painter was an early guy named Grub or Nub? I saw one OCC bike he painted / striped / airbrushed -- it was nice. If anyone noticed, a lot of the paint guys seemed to disappear. Too bad they didn't let Mikey paint a bike!
Best bike: the little blue Triumph 'bobber they built this year. Hopefully Mikey kept it as he got the he** out of dodge...
Best employee: Vinnie -- he worked and had a good attitude about most everything (until the end). All great shops have guys like these behind the scenes that do the grunt of the hard work. Hopefully he succeeds in his new business and TV media publicity. (HD motorcycle market is pretty "soft" right now)
Big question: Imagines of Mikey, JR, etc -- are they owned by them or are they owned by their father (OCC/Inc)? I watched a few minutes of the final episode and some stupid BBQ/OCC joint was opened via Sr and all three of their mugs were painted / splattered all over the building. My only thought was -- axe your sons but you continue to milk your kids images to generate yourself money -- great deal eh?
http://www.nubgrafix.com/ (http://www.nubgrafix.com/)
nice work.
I enjoyed watching the show although sometimes it was clown slapstick ,, but they never made a bike that I thought was beautiful ...I like chops and customs ... i used to build myself HDs,yamahas,triumphs BSA choppers and lowriders.OCC only made tasteless ugly bikes ..but good luck to them if thats what they can sell.
When I was at MMI in Phoenix the Snap On reps brought the OCC Snap On bike to campus. Very sad. It was one of the few OCC bikes I was interested in seeing.
It looked like someone had been beating on the billet primary belt drive guard with a ball peen. It was all buggered up. The bike had those flashy neon lightening bolts spliced inline in the middle of the plug wires, but one of the plug wires had separated from it. The fill spout of the gas tank had some kind of crud all over it. And something else was broken, a mirror I think.
I asked the Snap On rep to start it up, but he refused. He tried to make it sound like he shouldn't start it, but I was convinced he couldn't start it because it would not start.
I love Snap On tools, but it was sad that they would let a beat up bucket of bolts represent them like that without fixing the problems. I mean, they're a TOOL COMPANY fer cryin out loud.
could it be that all the old painters/vendors left because of Sr and his attitude?
Ugly bikes this, no talent that. Blah blah blah.
Someday, I'd love to get rich selling, godawful, ugly, unrideable bikes. If they can make it work for them, more power to 'em.
I guess it's ok to poke at OCC, but one bad thing mentioned about Rever Corse gets everyone up in arms. [roll]
Quote from: kopfjäger on February 13, 2010, 08:31:16 PM
I guess it's ok to poke at OCC, but one bad thing mentioned about Rever Corse gets everyone up in arms. [roll]
That's right...
Sr didn't do anything for us. ;)
Quote from: MrIncredible on February 13, 2010, 08:19:38 PM
Ugly bikes this, no talent that. Blah blah blah.
Someday, I'd love to get rich selling, godawful, ugly, unrideable bikes. If they can make it work for them, more power to 'em.
I am happy for Paul snr and his tribe ... its the customers that buy that junk i worry about!
there is a buyer for just about every product. my reason for poking at OCC is because Sr is a complete ass and has no family left. family is all you have!
although, I have noticed this board is tough on everyone and everything. not that I'm complaining because it makes for good entertainment. [evil]
When I lived in Pennsyltukey they brought their bikes to bike week in Gettysburg. I was very disappointed. The bikes design was cool but little things like using steel braided lines and then ending the line with a hose clamp was cheesy. I would have thought for the price of their bikes..... AN fittings if not AN look-a-like covers [roll]
And your right the Dad is a total douche. Talk about abusive behaviors ???
Bill
he cuts his kids down every show and uses their picture for that restaurant in KC. what a disgrace.