Orange County Choppers may still be in business, but their show, “American Chopper,” is over. Do you remember when American Chopper started? I do. I always thought the drama was a little on the ridiculous side, but I was really into watching the bikes come together. After about half a season, my dad and I were on the phone and talking about the show. He mentioned that “those guys didn’t even build bikes, they just assembled them.” Which was very true. Everything was done outside of their facility from paint, to CNC work, to engine assembly, framework, and even front ends and wheels… Now, there was always a fabrication element, but they never actually made a tank or fender.
Regardless, I was hooked and I dug the show. My wife and I had ridden to Sturgis from Houston for our Honeymoon and we got to meet the guys. At that time, the lines were still not too long and the merchandise sales were not too great. We had a much better time hanging out with Mikey and Cody (Mikey was not yet a real “character” on the show… in fact when we asked if my wife could have a picture with him he said, “Why?? I guess so, but you have to come back here.” [Behind the table where they were selling shirts but not signing anything, as they were not “stars”]).
The years went on, the show got sillier, the drama more intense, the destruction of property more childish, but the actual bike building increased. The crew hired some folks to actually make bike parts and design their own proprietary pieces. Mikey became a clown to fill time in the show and Sr. and Jr. continued to really not make anything themselves. Not that they couldn’t, mind you… I am sure they could and still can; however the talent happened behind the scenes a bit.
About three years ago, I just lost interest. Too much gratuitous yelling, smashing of perfectly good doors and windows, and a bunch of footage of them doing things unrelated to building bikes or even the bike business in general. I believe I was one who held out pretty long too. I remember folks giving it a chance, watching it a few times, and then just changing the channel.
But, it had a fairly successful run. Orange County Choppers has their own roller coaster, which I wrote about, they now have a line of production bikes; they still make a ton of cash off of OCC products and gear. Key characters have come and gone, getting training and/or exposure and then heading out to work on their own. And, finally, Jr. left the biz to do some other design work and Sr. started a lawsuit against him. Quite a ride indeed.
The TLC reality series is closing shop after six seasons, with the series finale airing Thursday, Feb. 11 at 9/8c.
