# Did anybody really miss "Orange County Chopper"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015 "2018-05-29T03:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/1 "2018-05-29T03:02:54Z")
Because they’re back- the thick-armed, big mustache asshole and his sons are back, still making unrideable monstrosities. Now the show is called “American Chopper”. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/2 "2018-05-29T07:11:02Z")
I thought he and his son had a falling out …? Or was that just an invention for the show? Regardless, from what I saw, they had a marked lack of creativity when it came to building motorcycles. Everything was variations on a theme: low-slung, chopper-style, with giant-tires. Then just add paint and various gew-gaws. It’s almost like they had an aversion to any other type of design. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/3 "2018-05-29T11:51:34Z")
I was something I sometimes would watch when it was on and I was channel flipping and didn’t find anything better, but not something I looked for. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/4 "2018-05-29T11:57:24Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > I thought he and his son had a falling out …? Or was that just an invention for the show? That was my first thought when I saw the commercial. I thought the show was stupid, but my husband would watch it occasionally. I doubt that he’ll watch it again, tho. He got tired of the “drama.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/5 "2018-05-29T11:58:25Z")
I tired of the original after a bit. The unrideable impracticality of the bikes got worse and worse. For one bike, Paul Sr. realized immediately on the first test ride that no one should really try to really ride this at all. If you know how to design bikes, you should know how to keep them from being death traps at the very least. Paul Sr. clearly is what is known as a “dry drunk”. Not drinking but still engaging in many the bad behaviors of a drunk. A very difficult person to deal with. Why reboot? People need fame and money. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/6 "2018-05-29T13:20:53Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Now the show is called “American Chopper”. Unless you know something I don’t, isn’t that what it was _always_ called? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/7 "2018-05-29T14:31:20Z")
As other posters have said, when it became more about the father-son screaming drama than the craft I checked out. I loved watching the builds and paint jobs (though I agree the bikes were often impractical). I like reality garage shows and enjoyed this show for quite awhile until the fakey drama became front and center. Now I get my mechanical fixes from the Velocity channel. I do watch other reality shows specifically for the drama (“Dance Moms,” “Jerseylicious”), but they never really were about enslaving children to a dance studio and doing smokey eyes and hair teasing; they were delicious and stupid girl drama from the outset. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/8 "2018-05-29T15:22:40Z")
The two men finally reconciled at the end of American Chopper Junior vs Senior. IIRC That show ran three seasons. It started with Paul jr opening his own shop. Senior confidently predicts it will fail. Jr gets some success and Senior’s respect by the end of the series. Jr’s shop is still open. Paul jr tweets regularly. Both agree they can’t ever work together again. But will try to rebuild family ties. Seemed like a nice end of the story to me. I don’t see any reason to revisit the series again. I don’t have any plans to watch a reboot. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/9 "2018-05-29T15:24:05Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Unless you know something I don’t, isn’t that what it was _always_ called? I guess it was. I thought it was “Orange County Choppers”, but apparently that’s just the name of the business. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/10 "2018-05-29T15:24:31Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I tired of the original after a bit. > > The unrideable impracticality of the bikes got worse and worse. For one bike, Paul Sr. realized immediately on the first test ride that no one should really try to really ride this at all. > > If you know how to design bikes, you should know how to keep them from being death traps at the very least. I mean, most of the bikes on the show were art bikes, meant to go in a showroom. They didn’t really sell those. > [@DCnDC](#): > > Unless you know something I don’t, isn’t that what it was _always_ called? Yeah, the show is American Choppers, the company is called Orange County Choppers. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/11 "2018-05-29T15:37:36Z")
The lack of creativity got pretty embarrassing. Let’s do a John Deere bike. The color is John Deere green. They machine the wheels with little tractors inside. The oil cap was customized with a farm theme. That was actually built. Every week, it was some company and they built the bike around their logo and product. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/12 "2018-05-29T15:38:59Z")
I did enjoy the show when it was new, 15 years ago. The builds were interesting and not something I’d seen before. But the petty arguments between Jr and Sr quickly took over the narratives and it wasn’t about building _anything_, it was about these two idiots’ mutual jealousy and resentment, and that’s just tiresome and boring. If I want to see that, I’ll just arrange a gathering of my cousins. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/13 "2018-05-29T15:58:56Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I tired of the original after a bit. > > The unrideable impracticality of the bikes got worse and worse. For one bike, Paul Sr. realized immediately on the first test ride that no one should really try to really ride this at all. > > If you know how to design bikes, you should know how to keep them from being death traps at the very least. > > Paul Sr. clearly is what is known as a “dry drunk”. Not drinking but still engaging in many the bad behaviors of a drunk. A very difficult person to deal with. > > Why reboot? People need fame and money. Paul, Sr. declared bankruptcy in February. Apparently he’s being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also reconciled with his other estranged son, Mikey. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/14 "2018-05-29T16:43:16Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > Regardless, from what I saw, they had a marked lack of creativity when it came to building motorcycles. Everything was variations on a theme: low-slung, chopper-style, with giant-tires. Then just add paint and various gew-gaws. It’s almost like they had an aversion to any other type of design. I always kinda wondered about that. All the bikes seemed to have a really wide drive belt right next to the rider’s foot; looked like an accident waiting to happen. I don’t know what other options were available, though. For all their artistic skill (such as it is), can a small shop like that make things with the kind of precise tolerances so that the mechanicals are as good as the paint jobs? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/15 "2018-05-29T16:56:10Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Paul, Sr. declared bankruptcy in February. Apparently he’s being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also reconciled with his other estranged son, Mikey. I’m surprised he didn’t go belly up long ago. That mega-expansion of OCC was just too much. It had a visitor’s center! Like the good times were going to last forever. Note that OCC built a _lot_ of custom bikes outside the TV show for serious riders. If they can built rideable bikes for all those folk, they should be able to build rideable bikes for the show. Otherwise why bother putting two wheels and a motor on it? Just weld up some metal and paint it purty. It’s art! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/16 "2018-05-29T17:33:49Z")
In the early years of _American Chopper_, it was one of my wife’s favorite shows, mostly because of the crazy interactions between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. But, as time went on, and it became clear that (a) it wasn’t just for show, that there was some serious bad blood between them, and (b) Paul Sr. was a real ass, I think that she fell out of love with it. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/17 "2018-05-30T05:41:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I tired of the original after a bit. > > Paul Sr. clearly is what is known as a “dry drunk”. Not drinking but still engaging in many the bad behaviors of a drunk. A very difficult person to deal with. Isn’t that just called being a run-of-the-mill asshole? Paul Jr. seemed like a normal-enough guy that any NON-asshole could at least have worked with for 40 hours a week. Given how much money they were making/was at stake, only a terminal asshole could’ve screwed all that up. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/18 "2018-05-30T14:12:09Z")
For about thirty minutes I got into the [AC](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QBVoKCVcAi9J49BAu1Q1NORb9RSsT0-_/view?usp=drivesdk) [meme](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kkgzM4dNVu2qdWDVsKOfy8dy79sZGAsK/view?usp=drivesdk) [business](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UickfAfS39njhM8CxrCNRvRaq2YhvkhL/view?usp=drivesdk). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anybody-really-miss-orange-county-chopper/815015/19 "2018-05-30T14:43:17Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > For about thirty minutes I got into the [AC](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QBVoKCVcAi9J49BAu1Q1NORb9RSsT0-_/view?usp=drivesdk) [meme](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kkgzM4dNVu2qdWDVsKOfy8dy79sZGAsK/view?usp=drivesdk) [business](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UickfAfS39njhM8CxrCNRvRaq2YhvkhL/view?usp=drivesdk). You should do a Downfall parody about AC coming back.