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American Chopper

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Hold onto your butts, because the Teutuls are about to have a television show again, as the Discovery Channel is rebooting the incredibly popular American Chopper TV show.

In it, Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. will once again stir the pot of their family feud, as they face off against each other as they build custom motorcycles and vie for title of “Biggest Man-Child in the History Humankind” on cable television.

The news is of course a double-edged sword for the motorcycle industry, as American Chopper’s popularity was responsible for bringing motorcycling outside of our niche media focus, and putting it into the mainstream public consciousness.

Conversely though, the reality TV show feeds off some of the worst personalities that have ever been created, which doesn’t exactly put motorcycling’s best foot forward in the eye of the public, and only furthers the counter-culture perspective the general population has of motorcycles.

Fresh off the moto-press newswires, we get word that Hudson Valley Merchandising LLC, the merchandising arm of Orange County Choppers, has sought protection in bankruptcy court under Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Listed as having $1.12 million in assets and $1.44 million in debts, Hudson Valley Merchandising LLC will be given a trustee by the court, who will then likely dismantle the company and its assets in order to make the company’s creditors as whole as possible.

After 10 years and 233 episodes on the air, American Chopper is finally getting dragged out behind the shed, and put out of its misery on December 11th, 2012. It has been a long road with the Teutul family, as for the past decade we have watched the Oedipal struggle between Paul Jr. and Paul Sr., with man-child Mikey trapped in the middle, serving as the only adult in the group.

Things started out well enough, with the folks at Orange County Choppers making some interesting customs, and exposing a mainstream TV audience to the world of motorcycles…albeit in the same lowest-common denominator way that is typically found on WWF’s Monday Night RAW.

Like all good Hollywood dreams, the money started to trickle in for “theme” bikes on the show. Turning what should have been an exposé of mechanical craftsmanship into a marketing/PR circle-jerk with the Teutul family’s severe anger-management issues as the sideshow distraction.

Somewhere within the plot lines of Paul Sr.’s bicep size, and his battle with son on who can more perfectly fit the description of narcissism in the DSM-IV, bikes were made…but really we just showed up to see how many chairs could be thrown across the room in a single episode, or how often Paul Jr. could act like a spoiled brat.

In a case being prosecuted in Florida, a former dentist has plead guilty to supplying a number for high-profile athletes and celebrities with various steroid and performance-enhancing drugs. Among the names being pulled out of his business records is Paul Teutul Sr. of Orange County Choppers and the popular television show American Chopper.

According to the seized documents, Paul Sr. received dozens of prescriptions for steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). The scripts for these drugs were written by the plaintiff in the case, Dr. James M. D’Amico, along with three other Florida physicians, culminating in over a four years of use.

This news of course comes as virtually no surprise to anyone who has ever watched the show American Chopper.

UPDATE: Add a 1943 BSA M20 to the list of bike’s available from Paul Teutul Sr.’s personal collection.

Paul Teutul Sr. cannot seem to stay out of the news lately. First the senior Teutul sued his son for ownership of Orange County Choppers, invoking a minority buyout clause that would pay Paul Jr. the market value of the business, which was allegedly valued at nothing, thus robbing Paul Jr. of his shares.

Then just recently at the end of the last week we learned that GE Capital and OCC were in disagreement over the terms of OCC’s loan from the credit company. Displeased by having to pay full-price on a devalued building, Paul Sr. has stopped paying back his loans to GE Capital, which have resulted in the financing firm filing for foreclosure on the custom chopper crew.

Allegedly Paul Sr. has the money, but wanted to sway GE into renegotiating the loan. While we were skeptical of this claim, it’s interesting to note that Paul Sr. has since quietly put two motorcycles from his personal collection up on eBay (a Ariel T-5 & BSA B33).

Using the account of OCC Head Assembly and Technician Supervisor Nicholas Hansford to list the bikes, it looks like at least two more motorcycles (maybe an A&R reader can help us identify them) are set to go up for sale. While Hansford has a video of the BSA B33 sitting in his YouTube channel, two other unlisted bikes (another BSA and a Norton) are included in the channel with video titles labeled “bikes for sale.”

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and it all sorta makes you wonder what’s really going on in Orange County, New York. More info on the auctions after the jump.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, only have basic cable, and don’t frequent moustache competitions, you’ve likely heard of Orange County Choppers, American Chopper, and the Teutul family. Originally started by father (Paul Sr.) and son (Paul Jr.), the small theme bike builders of Orange County Choppers came to fame when The Discovery Channel (later moved to The Learning Channel) picked them up for its hit show American Chopper.

Usually centering around a bike with spider theme, and the generally dysfunctional relationship between Paul Sr. and his sons, the show almost hit the skids when Paul Jr. left the company to start his own venture Paul Jr. Designs.

As the father and son battle out in court over a stock buyout between the two Teutuls (Paul Sr. has a 80% share, Paul Jr. 20%, and there’s some interesting buyout clauses in their ownership agreement), Discovery pitched a new concept for the show, calling it American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior, which follows the two motorcycle shops as they struggle to build bikes in the moments when they aren’t trying to destroy each other. Throwing chairs while discussing business issues is just good family fun and a totally appropriate way to communicate with another person, right?

Whether you take Junior’s side or Senior’s, or even follow the melodrama as it still airs on television (or TMZ), there’s a very real possibility that Orange County Choppers could go into foreclosure, as GE Capital has reportedly not received a payment from Paul Sr. in sometime.

That’s right your favorite motorcycle show to hate, American Chopper, is back on TLC for another season, this time pitting father against son. American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior centers around both Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. building motorcycles in a sort of head-to-head competition. The father-son duo hasn’t spoken in over a year, which has created a great deal of drama in what was hailed as the last season of the original show. It looks like that drama is set to return to a television near you.

UPDATE: American Chopper is back as American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior. The new show sees both Teutuls going head-to-head in bike build offs at their respective workshops.

The Learning Channel (TLC) has finally given the television series American Chopper the boot, releasing information that show’s season finale will debut this Thursday at 9pm (8pm Central). We can only conclude that the show’s demise comes as a result of the ongoing rift between Paul Teutul Sr. and his sons, in particular his former partner Paul Teutul Jr. The two Paul’s are locked in a legal struggle regarding ownership of the American Chopper business, which has bled onto the television screen.

UPDATE 2: American Chopper is back as American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.

UPDATE: TLC has cancelled American Chopper.

Even with Paul Jr. and Mikey off of the show American Chopper, Paul Teutul Sr. has found a way to fight with his children, and further estrange himself from his family. Paul Sr. has filed a dispute with the Supreme Court of New York state (the State’s lowest court), which alleges that the elder Teutul has the right to purchase his son’s stock in Orange County Choppers Holdings, Inc., the company behind OCC.