Road To Revenge—Motorcycle Build-Off

So we have yet another motorcycle build off with Senior trying to show he is better than his son, Junior.  The Teutuls.  American Chopper that later became named other titles for television as Dad later fired his son, and then pretended Junior just didn’t come to work one day.

Then Dad sued his son and pretended that he did not.  And it all played out on television for the last decade on he Discovery Channel.

And last year they had the build-off to see who could build the better bike in the midst of Senior vs Junior which was actually the name of the show for a while.

I used to like the show, I even liked some of their bikes, but it was about the relationships in the family.  It was that strange.  In fact it was so strange who do you add to the bike build off to jazz it up boys & girls?  Jesse James you say?  Really?  The Bad Boy of bike building.  Well, maybe he once was.  He started TV bike building.  And then he did all of his Hollywood things.

Last year, as you know, Junior won.  Jesse was second and Senior???  He came in about #98 in a  man competition.  Everyone else got like 250,000 votes.  Senior got one vote.  He built a tank.  Not a car, not a bike, a tank on a track.  It was an interesting  vehicle.  It was not a motorcycle and he should have been disqualified.

This year who wins?  Jesse still talks shit.  Senior still talks about what a dick his son is.  Junior is still pretty quiet but he gets involved in some of the arguments this time.  And who do you add to Jazz it up?  Gas Monkey Garage.  They have talked on the show that they build bikes and they worked on one once.  They are pretty funny.

Jesse James blows off the bike building deadline.  They give him an extra two weeks.  Senior enjoyed the extra two weeks and put in the full 14 days on his bike.  Junior didn’t seem surprised.  Gas Monkey went crazy and wanted Jesse disqualified.

Then Jesse blew off the two-week extension and four weeks AFTER the extension was over….Jesse’s bike still was not finished.  Did not run.  Or something.  So the question in Vegas was “Is Jesse here”  “Is JJ’s bike here?”  “Does it run?”

Yes, he was here in the gambling haven.  Yes his bike was here.  Yes, his bike runs.  The question??  Should Jesse be disqualified?  They decide to let the other builders determine Jesse James’ fate.  Of course, for the sake of TV they all agree to let him compete.  It has always been the way builders in the real Biker-Build-Off series came down with folks who were late.  The bike is the important thing and the bike didn’t do anything wrong so let the competition continue.

Who won?  Junior of course.  Second, Gas Monkey Garage.  Third, Jesse.  98th, Senior.  The same one guy from last year also voted for Senior this year.

Next year?  Well. American Chopper, the Senior vs Junior show this season, will not be back next year.  On the Discovery Channel.

Will Jesse’s show still be on TV?  Probably not. And Gas Monkey?  Probably will.

Another build off between this peeps?  I hope not.

Congratulations Junior, nice bike.  And Gas Monkey, my choice this year.  I’m ok with Junior winning but I liked the Dallas bike better.

Motorcycle Build-Off: Orange County Choppers vs Paul Junior Designs vs Jesse James West Coast Choppers

Television gives us a new motorcycle build-off to end 2011:

Who?      Orange County Choppers (OCC) with Paul Teutul Senior, Paul Junior Designs (PJD) with Paul Teutul Junior and West Coast Choppers with Jesse James.

When?    Monday and Tuesday, December 5th & 6th  9 pm both nights

Where?   Discovery Channel

December 5th the three will build their individual bikes and you can vote for your favorite.

December 6th will be a live show in Las Vegas and the winning bike will be revealed.

This event is on the Discovery Channel and the American Chopper series,  which didn’t invent motorcycle shows but certainly helped make them famous and set off the biker build-off events and shows of various stripes with the help of the King and the Mayor, Jesse James who did invent bike building television.

The Teutul’s got locked into building theme bikes, some really good-looking theme bikes for like the last twelve years.  But the show became all about Senior getting red in the face screaming at Junior.  That’s all the show really was until Senior fired Junior.  He seems to forget that he fired his own son (again) and says that Paul junior “left” or “got laid off”  or “forgot to come back to work”, but he fired Junior.

And after a year during which Paul Senior and OCC prevented Junior from being able to build a motorcycle, the Discovery Channel eventually promoted a Sr vs Jr build-off which Junior won handily and the Discovery Channel pretty much ignored.  Seems they had all their chips riding on Senior.

So now we have a three-way build-off.  Sounds interesting because PJD then builds some nice bikes and we have Jesse James….a real bike builder, in the mix.

I’m not sure what OCC is building.  They seem to spend most of their time on the show bad-mouthing Junior.  How long can you do that and what does it have to do with building quality bikes?

Jesse will bad-mouth them both, but he really is a bad boy.  Junior isn’t but doesn’t try to be.  Senior tries to be but it doesn’t fit.

My guess??  It will be PJD vs Jesse with OCC there for some color and trouble-making.

The winner?  Could go either way, but I think PJD could sneak a win here as the underdoggie.

We will be back here for the December 5th show and the December 6th unveiling in my 2nd home, Las Vegas.

I wish they would let the History Channel’s Danny ‘Count’ Koker join in on this building frenzy/fun.  That would make for a show.

Jesse James and West Coast Choppers

When it comes to bikes how can you not be a Jesse James fan?  For fabrication skills alone both Tuetuls should be scared cuz JJ will not take a back seat.  He planned from the start to fabricate every single piece of metal and frame by himself.  And that means manual machines.  No pretty-boy machinery in this shop.

Check out his photos from the build HERE   Nice bike.  I sure miss the old Monster Garage days.

A Frisco machine in all its’ glory.  Do you know the Frisco bikes?  Check out this article.  It explains how geography often determines a bike building style.  Car building too but thi is about bikes.

And definitely view the interview with Trevelen.  Besides being a bike-building genius the man know and lives his history.  Right on bbrother T.

And so it is that the old Frisco bikes became the West Coast choppers style all the way.

Paul Teutul Jr and PJD

Paulie was always much more skilled than Senior gave him credit for on the show.  I guess partly because it was a storyline in the show or partly because of Sr’s screwed up behavior.  But he learned to design and build some nice machines.  And even better ones at PJD as early as it still is.

Check his photos from the build HERE

Paul Sr and OCC

Nice show, getting old after a decade even with the split.  Lots of talented peeps here though but the “theme” focus limits their growth.  Must be hard to work at OCC.  Where else can you get the opportunity to build a lot of bikes, get on TV, make tons of money and get a rep of your own.  And it tastes so good you can’t leave even though you hate to go to work each day?

Check the OCC Build pics HERE

December 5th:

Jesse James is bringing out the big guns for tonights show

Have you been watching this all fucking day long American Chopper marathon?

I have been in and out all day, but each time I make it in the TV room the Teutul’s are still on.  That’s what more than a decade of TV shows will do.  plus how it would screw with your head.

I will watch tonight and tomorrow though, because I want to see the bikes…

Two nice bikes and one…whata-ya-call-it.  I like the OCC wuteva but it’s not a motorcycle.

So it’s between PJD and JJ.

JJ may be even a little crazier now but there were some funny ass moments.

I follow Jesse on Twitter but somehow I missed the video parody on Jr.  Too funny.

I like PJDs bike a lot.  The look is amazing  and there is only one thing I don’t care much for—the wood in the wheels.  I get it and it fits the theme.  To me it almost looks more like an old wood boat but that’s just me.

Jesse’s bike is sweet.  I would love to ride it.  And that red is amazingly deep.

Vote HERE

December 7th:

In case you missed it…

the winning bike was by Paul Jr Designs (PJD).  I didn’t watch the entire show last night had some other stuff going on but I did pick the winner after seeing all three machines.  check the link above.
All three were good builds but all were so different from design perspective all the way to technical build that it is almost ahmeful to pick one over the other.
I have to hand it to the OCC crew for coming up with something like their Track machine.  Amazing, didn’t think they had this in them.
And it is great to see the Mayor Jesse James building motorcycles again.  This is where he belongs and he built one sweet machine.  Plus he has grown up enough he admitted his ego got in the way a bit.  If he had realized this a bit earlier he might have won.
And nice job Paul Jr and the crew for another Discovery Channel Build-off win.
Now maybe we can stop these contrived Sr vs Jr bullshit buildoffs.  If Sr can’t admit what his son can do (win?) then take him off television.  His shit got old 4 years ago.
Good job to the metal boys and engine tuners on each team!!!

Here is an article from Inside TV.  Big TV ratings for the show especially last night (Part 2) so we can probably expect more of these contrivances.  It’s the 2nd highest rated episode EVER in the 10+ year history of the show.  So…

The article has some good full-size photos for you.

Who Is My Mayor? He Is Mr. Mayor, Jesse James

This town has a new goddamn Mayor.

Meet Mr. Mayor Jesse James

Trevelen Rabanal, Artist & Bike Builder

If you are a fan of the Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-off series you have seen Trevelen Rabanal in his shoot out with Scott Long or vs Cox and Keino or vs Jesse James.

Trevelen came across as a bit of a hard case with a wicked sense of humor.

Trevelen is an artist and builds some sweet ass bikes.  His biggest influence was his dad, Benji “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Rabanal. who raced flat-track bikes, boxed and surfed competitively in the 50s & 60s.  A lot of folks used (and still use) The Flyin’ Hawaiian nickname.

Twitter him @OGTREVELEN

Here is an interview with Trevelen in his Los Angeles shop, his “laboratory”.

He lost this arm wrestling vs Jesse James.  Good stuff…

In his 2010 interview in Street Chopper Magazine, Trevelen identifies his 70s influences and his love of the Sugar Bear front end.

His Super Company Customs built and modified some wicked Japanese cars and the bikes.  With the decline of the Fast and Furious car craze, Trevelen concentrated on bikes and his appearances on the Biker Build-off series thrust him and his Super Co into the custom bike spotlight.

Super Company Customs website is here.  Nice site.

This is part 3 of Trevelen’s interview about the “Industry”.  Check it out then you can watch the rest of this series on youTube.  I really don’t watch Sons Of Anarchy.  Seems kinda fakeish to me, but I think he broke down and appeared on the show.