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Orange County Choppers

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We honestly thought the whole American Chopper / Paul Sr. vs. Paul Jr / Orange County Choppers thing had finally run its course. OCC Merchandising filed for bankruptcy protection, American Chopper was unable to find a new cast to work with Paul Sr., and Paul Jr was off in his own shop of obscurity. In other words, order had been restored to the universe. Not. So. Fast.

It seems the folks at Blizzard Entertainment want a piece of the OCC action, and it’s coming to us in a new direct-to-web video series: Azeroth Choppers. The premise is pretty simple: two design teams will build two bikes that fit the “Alliance vs. Horde’ motif in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

WoW gamers will then later get to vote on which bike gets digitized and made available for play. And, Paul Teutul Jr. is charge of the whole build process. We could not make this up if we tried.

I will keep this post short. Recently we posted that the reported demise (and ensuing celebration) of American Chopper was a bit premature. It appears that our favorite juicing bike builder, Paul Teutul Sr., wasn’t quite done with the limelight, despite sending Orange County Choppers merchandising into bankruptcy, alienating two of his sons, and generally making motorcyclists look like a bunch of neanderthal’s with tribal tattoos, leather pants, and sleeveless shirts (we call it the Chopper Trifecta).

No, it seems someone told Paul Sr.that  he should give the small screen another shot, and the Country Music Television (CMT) wanted to oblige — for reasons still not fully understood by this author. The catch though was that Paul Sr. needed a compatriot — someone to focus his mercurial temper upon, and you know…to do the actual building of the bikes. With over a month now lost in that pursuit, OCC has yet to find someone desperate enough for TV stardom to fill the spot. Huzzah!

After a very public father/son break-up between Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., a steroid-ring scandal involving Paul Sr., and finally a bankruptcy proceeding, it appears that Orange County Choppers is the impossible to kill multi-headed hydra of doom that we all knew it was, as the custom chopper shop is once again headed to the small screen and recruiting some talent, on and off the show.

Looking for “someone who will work alongside Paul Senior, running the shop and helping build some of the best custom motorcycles in the world,” OCC says it will be back on television with a new show later this month (last we heard, the show was still looking for a creative director too). Please for the love of god, will someone give this man the attention he craves so dearly??! Or, just shoot us in the face.

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.

NBC has announced its cast for the next installment of Celebrity Apprentice, the game show where b-list celebrities supplicate themselves to the marrow-sucking Donald Trump (it’s actually great television if you’ve never caught an episode). Joining a cast comprised of Adam Carolla, Arsenio Hall, Clay Aiken, Tia Carrere, and others, Celebrity Apprentice will also see Orange County Choppers’ Paul Teutul Sr. take on the challenges of Mr. Trump.

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 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.

Orange County Choppers is at it again with another sponsored show bike. Getting the Teutul treatment this time is Siemens, who commissioned OCC to build an electric chopper, appropriately named the “Siemens Smart Chopper”. Let’s just sidestep the whole issue of why electric cruisers are a horrible idea, and get straight to the part where we tell you about the bike.

Underneath the streamlined bodywork, there is a 27hp Advanced DC motor, which should be good for a 60 mile range and 100mph top speeds. Charging time will be about 5hrs, or 7 mechanical bull rides, or about 1 college football game while wearing an inflatable helmet.