I have watched a few episodes of this “reality TV” series so far…and I can’t help wondering about the sanity of this crew! First of all,despite having made dozens of these choppers, they seem to start from scratch every time! No drawings, blueprints, or records…they just doit all over again and again …and again. Plus, the head of the clan seems to spend more time swearing at his sons than he does working…would YOU RIDE a motorcycle assembledby this crew? I’d be afraid that a wheel would fall off. The other things I’ve noticed…they do spot welding whild holding the pieces in their BARE HANDS!..I wonder what this guy is paying for workmen;'s compensation insurance? And, for those of you who like these things…are chopped motorcycles comfortable to ride? Who makes the engines and transmissions for these bikes?
Next episode: Pappy gets mad at sonny (for screwing up the design of the handle bars…Pappy brains junior, jgets arrested for A&B!! :eek:
I just want to mention that I thought the AOL commercials in which the Orange County crew send up their TV personas were hilarious, but I have the feeling I’m in a distinct minority on this.
Otherwise, nothing much to say except a) that show is a textbook example of why I mostly prefer the company of women, and b) if I was a member of that family I’d likely have either committed suicide by age 14, or I’d be living somewhere very far away indeed.
Most of the bikes on the show are unique theme bikes so I don’t think they’d have plans already drawn up. I think someone does concept drawings but they don’t generally show it on television. So far as the arguing goes, just remember that the show is edited and they just might argue as much as we think.
Marc
I don’t ride motorcycles, but I have watched this show several times. My “bike” knowledge comes from folks here at work, several of whom ride.
The bikes built by OCC are custom bikes – they sell for upwards of $100,000 each. The only thing standard on most of them is the frame – usually the engines and transmission are specially built by another vendor.
These bikes aren’t built to be ridden on a regular basis. Ape-hanger handlebars (which seem to be a fairly common design), from what I’m told, are extremely uncomfortable after a relatively short period of time. Extended struts on the front wheel adversely affect maneuverability and frame strength.
Having said that, OCC is a recognized leader in custom-bike design and manufacturing. I’ve seen a documentary on another custom-bike builder (West Coast Choppers, I think), and their building processes seem to be the same – in other words, apparently everybody holds metal while they’re spot-welding it in this industry.
Regarding the workshop itself, I would not function well at all in that environment – I prefer to avoid conflict and/or work through it, not engage in it at the drop of a hat.
I liked them too. Of course, you had to be familiar with the show to appreciate the AOL ads and how they were a parody of the show.
I’m a big fan of the show; I think it’s very well done. Is it for real? Who knows? The dad is SO over-the-top, I often wonder if a lot of it is put on. If he’s really like that, you’ve gotta wonder what it must have been like growing up in that family.:eek:
The strangest thing to me about the show is how they always seem to have these deadlines to finish the bikes, and always seem to be running out of time. If that were really happening so much, don’t you think they would start changing their time estimates? Reminds me of “Junkyard Wars”, and how one team invariably would end up with a ridiculously short amount of time left to finish something that couldn’t possibly be done in that amount of time, yet nobody ever had to forfeit due to not finishing the project. Makes me suspect a little fakeness going on.
I think they are for real. I worked for a father and son that actually reminded me of these two. Here is another thread that discusses this topic.
I think the show’s for real enough, but as far as Big Paul being so over-the-top, well,
Big Paul is a businessman and Paulie is an Artiste. Obviously, there is going to be lots of conflict as Paulie pursues his Artistic Visions. But Big Paul is always pleased with the results.
Also, there probably isn’t as much friction as what is portrayed on the show- remember they’re distilling very often a few weeks into a one hour program, so somebody is deciding what stays and what gets cut. Conflict make drama, drama make good TV, cut warm fuzzies, leave drama in or Og smash.
Anyhoo, those bikes are cool. I live for the days when I get to work as a massage therapist and will be able to afford cable again so I can watch the Discover Channel’s Monday night lineup- unless they’ve moved it again.
I don’t think the bikes are THAT unsafe. They don’t make the frames themselves and all the important parts are bolted to the frame, not welded.
Plus the chopper shop is a side business to Orange County Ironworks, which Big Paul has run for 30 years or so. They have a serious metal fab background.
Does the fact that the bikes are custom made really make them worth $100-150,000?
It’s a reasonable price for the bike – plus hours of Discovery Channel mentions of your company name.
I’ve wondered what “Business” he’s always screaming about having to take care of. Oh, and I think I’d start adding a week or two to their estimates as well, although they usually seem to be making one for a show or something that’s coming up. Guess they just need to start sooner.
According to my partner, the raucous family dynamic in the OCC shop is real and not particularly “punched-up” for TV. He’s never been to their shop, but remembers the exact behaviors from his older brother and father in their machine shop in Connecticut 25 years ago.
Doors slammed?
Heavy things thrown?
Sharp things thrown?
Yelling?
No eye protection?
Yes to all. Amazingly, they survived.
Most of this is from conversations with my brother-in-law (who met the OCC guys at Bike Week last year in Daytona) or the Discovery OCC board (Paul Jr posts there occasionally as do other people who know the family):
- Orange County Ironworks was Paul, Sr’s main business and has made him a multi-millionaire. He started OCC as a sort of hobby because he loves choppers.
- OCC has an entire shop dedicated to “standard” choppers and they are pretty reasonably priced. You will often see other people pulled in for an episode or two (like the guy who did the rear fender on the POW-MIA bike) from this other shop.
- What they air on the show are strictly the hyper-expensive bikes. Not just custom, but “theme”. These bikes are typically made of a pre-fab frame, engine, and forks, but most of the rest is either originally fab or severely modified.
Some of this can also be confirmed on the OCC website (Mikey’s bio is funny as hell).