American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior
- Thread starter tetsuyacasshern
- Start date
themanwoaname
Sr Member
i cant stand the look of the bikes from occ. when i worked at the mexican restaurant in the affluent part of town, there were some guys that came in every sunday on bikes like that, if not from occ. covered in stereotypical extreme biker symbols like crosses and skulls, bandanas that they tied to their arms and knees, all black...and then they'd sneak into the bathroom and snort coke.
if they went to a real biker bar, they'd get their asses kicked, their little bag of coke they'd been nursing stolen, and their bikes stolen or trashed. nothing about them said "this guy is a legitimate scary biker."
thanks occ, for helping me figure out another way to tell douchebags with money!
if they went to a real biker bar, they'd get their asses kicked, their little bag of coke they'd been nursing stolen, and their bikes stolen or trashed. nothing about them said "this guy is a legitimate scary biker."
thanks occ, for helping me figure out another way to tell douchebags with money!
dfrey79
Sr Member
Yeah, I don't understand all the hate for those guys. I can understand their bikes not being welcome at a hard core biker-fest... I get that.
But why all the hate for them? I don't think they claim to be anything else but what they are. Custom bike builders. There is a market for them and they found it. Good for them. They seem to give a lot to charity, although it's hard for me to believe it's 100% genuine since it's on a reality show, but they're still doing it!
And that's probably why they don't go to a regular biker bar and hang out at affluent Mexican restaurants.
But why all the hate for them? I don't think they claim to be anything else but what they are. Custom bike builders. There is a market for them and they found it. Good for them. They seem to give a lot to charity, although it's hard for me to believe it's 100% genuine since it's on a reality show, but they're still doing it!
And that's probably why they don't go to a regular biker bar and hang out at affluent Mexican restaurants.
themanwoaname
Sr Member
"can you please donate a loud and obnoxious eye sore to our cause?"
nwjedidave
Sr Member
Last I heard - with the lawsuit, this show was cancelled. The channel didn't want to be involved
Zombie_61
Master Member
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's jealousy, but it could be resentment, envy, or mixtures of both. There are hundreds of bike and car builders out there who are just as (or more) talented than the Teutels and work just as hard to create a better product, but they don't get the praise, the acclaim, the publicity, or the financial rewards the Teutels have received because of the show; I'm sure even the Teutels realize they would in all likelihood still be a small local bike shop if it weren't for American Chopper.
I guess this would be more of a response for the biker community than you specifically, but oh well..... it's not like the Teutuls just had the show handed to them and then completely stopped working, is it? I haven't seen anything past Season 5 (I watch as it comes up on Instant Netflix since I don't have cable) but even if people don't like their bikes, when Jr. was around they at least were trying to do cool, different stuff. Has something changed in the last year or two? I mean, how is it their fault that most of their fans are non-bike people? And since when was it anything new that the crappy b******ized version of something is what becomes popular? I could understand kicking people out of a rally for having an OCC bike because the organizers decided it's not a high enough quality bike or whatever other problem like that, but to s*** on OCC specifically because of the show seems kinda stupid to me.
dropshipbob
Master Member
OCC bikes aren't daily riders? Does that mean they are made with inferior materials or shoddy welds/construction? I don't know anything about motor bikes, but how could you be in business if you build bikes that fall apart?
KevVader
Sr Member
Same here....it was actually more about the bike building process and the relationship between Sr. and Jr. was secondary....now it's just a circus....I haven't watched the show in years. Plus Discovery just seems to clone their shows once they show any success....how many bike building shows do they have now?
There was a member here who had bought one and wasn't very impressed with the delays and workmanship at the end of it IIRC...
CGClone
Sr Member
This article, which is a quick read, pretty much nails the issue on the head of why the custom bike industry doesnt care for OCC:
http://www.chopperssite.com/index.p...hoppers-ruined-the-custom-motorcycle-industry
Excerpt: "The original theme bikes done by OCC meant something. The Firebike, the Jetbike, even the Snap-On bike meant something to those people who make a living turning wrenches. Now we have the My Name is Earl bike, the Icee bike, and even the PEZ chopper, possibly the most embarrasing bike ever built. It became pretty obvious that these guys will now build anything as long as they get paid. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as anyone has a right to make as much money as they like, but it has put a serious mar on the custom motorcycle industry."
http://www.chopperssite.com/index.p...hoppers-ruined-the-custom-motorcycle-industry
Excerpt: "The original theme bikes done by OCC meant something. The Firebike, the Jetbike, even the Snap-On bike meant something to those people who make a living turning wrenches. Now we have the My Name is Earl bike, the Icee bike, and even the PEZ chopper, possibly the most embarrasing bike ever built. It became pretty obvious that these guys will now build anything as long as they get paid. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as anyone has a right to make as much money as they like, but it has put a serious mar on the custom motorcycle industry."
If you showed up at a Club rally you wouldn't be "escorted" out because of your bike, but because of who you are, or what you aren't.
But you'd never get kicked out of a bike rally for showing up on an occ bike, some of the worst, white-trash eyesores you've ever seen show up at those....and it's predominantly the Goldwings with an eagle, skulls, dragon, or a wolf howling at the moon theme.
Or these....
Occ's aren't daily drivers because of the lack of sound engineering and structural integrity.
They built one with a massive engine in it, showed to a professional racer and he declined to ride for those exact reasons.
Also, to make up for those last 3 pictures I posted....
.
But you'd never get kicked out of a bike rally for showing up on an occ bike, some of the worst, white-trash eyesores you've ever seen show up at those....and it's predominantly the Goldwings with an eagle, skulls, dragon, or a wolf howling at the moon theme.
Or these....
Occ's aren't daily drivers because of the lack of sound engineering and structural integrity.
They built one with a massive engine in it, showed to a professional racer and he declined to ride for those exact reasons.
Also, to make up for those last 3 pictures I posted....
.
Zombie_61
Master Member
I suppose I should have made this clear, but my last post was merely conjecture based upon some of the comments I've heard from various people throughout the "biker community", where opinions about bikes are as varied as opinions on just about any other subject.
On the whole, I agree with what you posted. I mean, if someone walked up to me at work one day and said, "We'll give you X amount of money if you'll let us film you doing your job every day so we can put it on television," I wouldn't turn them down either. Cleary the Teutels saw the show as an opportunity, and they've made a pretty good living from it; you can't fault them for that.
At the same time, I can understand why some people would feel there are more deserving builders out there who should have had the same opportunities offered to them.
Mercury
Sr Member
I agree with that assessment. I also think it's possible any of those bike builders could end up the same way. They start out with good intentions but when that big money and fame start rolling in, things change. I look at the Teutul's bikes as show bikes. I've been to many car shows where every part is chromed. Those aren't daily drivers either. I have watched a couple of bike build-offs when I caught them on TV and they are just as good as far as observing the build process but those bikes are more for normal use and not show even though they look amazing.
No you made it pretty clear, which was why I wanted the caveat that I wasn't really arguing with You specifically.
I, too, can definitely understand why some people would feel there are more deserving builders out there. There have been a few times where I've watched that show and thought "ya know, Paul Jr. would probably put just as much effort into designing a toaster as he does bikes" b/c he strikes me as somebody who just wants to be designing with metal and it doesn't really matter what it comes out as. It's probably why he just modifies the same stock tanks and fenders over and over again and why rather than chopping things off the bike they add more crap onto it; it's more about a good piece of art than a good bike (hence why they're not daily riders).
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