jmX

I've seen every episode of both shows mentioned, and I like both of the shows a lot...interesting mix of drama with some neat insight on how stuff is built.

However, on the flipside, there's not a chance in hell I'd ever give either of those shops a dime now. W T F is going on? Boyd Coddington's shop not only seems to be filled with ******* kids, but they seemed to screw over that sweede intern. Sure, he was green, but thats because he's a ****** intern! What'd they expect? Dont give him a stick of aluminum and tell him to weld on a frame, and then act all shocked when he ***** up.

American chopper, those guys seem to just put pieces together and are run by the worlds biggest baby. Its not that hard to glue some theme **** to a frame and let the paint guy save the day every time on the project. The paint dude seems to be the one with the most talent!

Its becoming obvious that these two shops were picked NOT for their position in the marketplace, but for their drama filled shops. I know the editors bias the cuts of the show, but if either shop cared much about their rep it seems like they'd can the show or shape up. It makes for good TV, but it certainly doesnt make me want to order from them.

This pointless rant has been brought to you by the letters j m X

JurisAg02

I definately agree with you!

absolut_speed

iTrader: (1)

American Chopper is entertaining, at least for a while. I think the anticipation of Dad going nuts and leveling one of the kids keeps people watching.

American Hot Rod on the other hand, you're right, Boyd's shop scares me. 3/4 of his crew seem like rejects and/or mental midgets. It's an obvious attempt to capitalize on American Chopper's fame, but I think they've picked the wrong shop by a mile.

Zangel

iTrader: (11)

I agree that the shops are full of drama, but both produce some awesome rides. Seeing the aftermath of what Boyd's guys build is a work of art! American Chopper doesn't do alot of custom fabrication, but the bikes still look good. However, if you are looking for a custom bike, that is probably not the best place to go. As for the intern... that kid was lazy! Sure, they weren't very nice to him but he didn't do jack around that shop. He stood there the entire time with this stupid look on his face. Even when they told him to clean the cars he did a shitty job. He didn't want to work... he wanted a free ride into the US. He expected to go into that shop and just start building cars. Well, you have to work your way up! You have to show people that you really want to learn, and he didn't really do that. I don't blame him for leaving, but I don't blame the guys for giving him a hard time either. Besides... they are just tv shows. I am sure they tell them to add in more drama then its really worth. On the other hand, I know how it can get working on cars with people sometimes. It gets frustrating and things are said in the heat of the moment. That's life... but I don't think I would base their product on some tv show. Even after the show, I still purchased his wheels and I am very happy with them.

Brains

iTrader: (7)

Oh my God !!! That Swede intern sucked... I can see you've never worked in a shop before ALL guys in the shop do is mess with each other and talk all kinds of tall trash to each other all day long... ****, the Swede was lucky as hell to even get some instruction and the chance to weld on that frame, and all he got was a little ribbing anyway. When he was told to go clean the cars (exactly what an intern would end up doing a lot of) he acted even MORE lazy. Blue Bear on the show is a true shop guy -- he gets crap from above and hands it down to those below.. What do you think a car shop is, a bunch of guys singing, dancing, hanging new curtains and drapes, and hugging a lot?

Now, the drama is definitely a bit overboard. BUT watching the shows a lot of it looks scripted in. There's no way Paul Sr. can get that bent over nothing, and the same thing about the shop foreman guy on American Hotrod. If there's no conflict, the networks don't think there's a show. They've been taught for 50 years that you have to have a conflict to overcome in order to get good ratings. In essence those who won't tune in for the tech content, will watch for the drama.

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

if you were to ever see the bikes at world biker buildoff at bike week, you would know OCC is a joke. they make nice quality "mail order" bikes, but are FAR from being the best fabricator. they are entertaining as hell as they remind me of my dad and i. the fireman and black widow bike are nice bikes, but dont hold a lick next to the big boys. heck, they dont even rank in the top 100 fabricators.

Brains

iTrader: (7)

I really dig Paul Yaffe's bikes

jmX

The sweede intern wasnt lazy, he was doing everything I ever saw asked of him and was standing around waiting for more. When you dont know how to build a car, you can only do **** when people give you something to do, and they didnt want to give him things to do because he didnt know ****. He should have been on a smaller project, under somebody that actually knows how to teach. BOYD fucked up on that one IMO, and it wasn't the sweedes fault one bit. He was lazy at the end cleaning the cars because of the beat down he'd been constantly receiving, and quit the next morning. Boyd signed up for the ****, the kid flew over, and they fucked him over.

As for OCC sucking, I imagined they probably werent too well respected by the bike guys in the know because they dont really seem to do much, I just thought it was odd that a show would be so blatant in showing that they dont actually do much. I dont see how OCC can watch the show and not realize they look like morons who do nothing but glue some **** together and send it to paint.

bigMAC

YES!!!

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Those shows are entertaining. Most of the drama on American Chopper is for the camera in my opinion.

Reckless

iTrader: (9)

Overdramatized for sure. I agree about the business aspect. Sometimes they just look like they can't find their asses with both hands. I wouldn't want that impression if it were my shop. Of course, they have prolly signed away all rights to the producers and the producers spin the material for drama. Maybe it is supposed to make the shows more appealing to non-gearheads to attract a larger audience. Us true gearheads know how a shop really functions

72firebird

I don't know about you guys but it drives me nuts every time watching American Chopper when they put the bike somewhat together, send everything to be painted and chromed, and then drill holes in the freshly painted or chromed parts. I mean come on good job screweing up someones nice work they did for you. I mean I understand that the parts will need to move some when the paint is applied because it gives the metal more thickness but you know it's going to happen so you should be able to plan it out before hand. Oh yeah and I loved the NY Jets bike. All they did was grab some parts and have it painted. They even admitted they did nothing custom on it but of course the paint made it look good. If I were to choose a painter that I have seen their work I would choose that kid who does their work. He deserves the show not Paul and Paulie.

BIGBOS

I agree that the drama is for the camera too, they get carried away a lot sometimes, I enjoy both shows though...

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

It does not bother me that the bikes are straightforward, after all, wouldn't something more complicated take a long time to build? I'd rather see them make $20K bikes and not $60K bikes.

The Jay Leno bike was interesting, was it supposed to remind me of a Vincent Black Shadow? I only caught the last 5 minutes of that episode.

gator's 99TA

iTrader: (2)

remember guys, their off the shelf bikes cost 30K, where as Borget's bikes and Yaffe's bikes are 60-80K to get something decent in the beginer show stages. OCC never claims to be the best, they just ahve a wildly popular show that people can relate to. familys fight, we just for some reason enjoy to see the worst in other people.

also for those that thing OCC just "glues" these bikes together and they are a ripoff, i guess you should be doing the same thing and selling the bikes for 30K - must be damn easy huh? remember the 45 minutes of the show we see every week is over 40 hours of film edited.

SilverGhost

iTrader: (53)

anybody that has had to deal with me in my garage knows that kind of stuff is pretty realistic, lol. i now tend to work alone

never seen the american hotrod but have seen the chopper show many times, I like it, its entertaining..screw the technicalities, that's why its on TV, its entertaining, why else would it be there.

i can see the point about giving shops a bad name or whatever, but for guys like me that are gearheads but don't know much about bikes or custom fabrication its pretty cool.

-Ross-

iTrader: (2)

WERD!

Don't forget. All of your cars are "glued" together w/ "mail order" parts from the likes of MTI, Thunder, etc., etc.
Hardly anyone, in any business does "in-house" fabrication of every part of their product. It's just not practical.

I bet when Tony (Nine Ball) finishes his 69 Camaro project, you guys won't be telling him it was "glued together w/ mail order parts".

It's called "building".

Ross

BAD ASS TA WS6

iTrader: (5)

I agree, I used to be really into American Chopper. When it first came out, it was something new in a series of gearhead type shows. I never watch it anymore, it gets really old. I did see a Milwaukee Iron based show once, what happened to that?

Billy Lane has been one of my favorite builders for awhile. I'm into this old school themes, and ideas. There's a guy down the street actually who builds amazing bikes. FU Choppers, he's won several shows on the east coast.

Brains

iTrader: (7)

For the n00b, Billy Lane has got skills.. He builds what comes to mind and learns from each each mistake

DarkLordFtT

I also have lost interest in american chopper. And American Hotrod has to be killing Boyde's credability... their all idiot kids except for 3 guys.
DL