The Teutels on American Chopper are successful entrepreneurs. I respect them for recognizing an opportunity and running with it to the tune of a $40 million/yr bike and accessories business.
That being said, there are probably custom bike builders and metal fabricators in your own city who have much more skill at welding and fabricating bikes than the crew at Orange County Choppers, particularly since Vinny left to start his own shop. OCC doesn’t build their own frames (ironic in light of how OCC started as an adjunct to Paul Sr.’s wrought iron business) and the weld quality on their custom bikes is worse than sloppy. I don’t think Paul Jr. really knows how to weld, at least based on the chopper OCC made for Lincoln Mercury. I was at the reveal at the Detroit Auto Show press preview that year (you can even see me in that episode standing behind Mikey when they bring the bike onto the show floor – I’m the guy with the big red beard) and it was remarkable how poor the welds were.
I’m no fan of Jesse James’ but he’s a true master metal fabricator and can hand form complex panels on an English wheel and a power hammer. The OCC guys are parts orderers with some talent at theme bikes.
The producers were originally going to feature another chopper shop, but scheduling didn’t work out so they went with the back up. The first time Paul Sr. and Paulie got into it with each other the producers knew they had a show on their hands.
