NEW! September 12, 2011
You might recall that earlier in the year, when news of the OCC foreclosure broke, both Senior and his lawyer claimed it was a normal business restructuring.
It is not. Foreclosure is the last step a bank will take. They go from modifying the terms of the mortgage to restructuring and through 10 possible steps until they have no recourse but to foreclose. Banks do not want to foreclose because that means the client has defaulted on a loan, has been unable to make a payment plan, or demonstrate a willingness to work on one. This is the most expensive and least profitable thing a bank can do. Banks do not like to foreclose and in this economic climate they will jump through hoops to get a client on paying basis.
Seeing as how Senior is looking to build a newer- and smaller- HQ because the bank is taking his old one, I have to wonder about how OCC is doing. I have no facts, no information, and I am sure the economy hit them very hard, but from all appearances, Senior is full of it when he says how good the business is.
Which brings us to this week’s show, called Downsizing.
PJD and OCC each have new clients. PJD got the big one, Epic Games. They gave Paulie carte blanche to go nuts on a Gears of War 3 bike for the upcoming game. They toured the headquarters and saw designs and game plans. OCC got Feather Free Zone, who wasn’t happy with PJD. They had a bad experience and weren’t happy with Paulie but they must have made Senior’s day when they badmouthed his son and what they claimed was Paulie’s lack of professionalism. But listen closely and you’ll hear that they just had their feelings hurt, they were upset they had to wait a few minutes and their “personal relationship with Vinnie” didn’t get them anywhere. (Of course, we only got one side of that story and no footage.) I admit that Paulie should have handled it better because there is no reason to not make a possible client happy, but they were complaining about Paulie being unprofessional? Saying what they did on camera was not professional either. And speaking of professional, Jason Pohl sat in and laughed like a monkey at the Paulie insults, so much so that he almost fell over in his chair. But in the end, PJD is making a Gears of War bike, and OCC is building a bike for a company most of you don’t know.
(And Best Buy got a nice plug when they set up PJD with a gaming system and the blue-shirted tech sat in on the gameplay.)
The Gears of War bike is actually a trike, covered in working gears, with a cable steering system. When Paulie starts the mock-up listen for his crack about the logo reminding him of when he fired Odie. BTW- have you noticed that since Senior rehired Odie we have not seen him? Since Senior is downsizing I bet he was the first dead weight to go.
As for the foreclosure, Senior blamed the economy, true, said they have to adjust, true, and said the bank is not willing to work with them. Bull. As I said, foreclosure is a bank’s last resort. Banks (especially after Pres. Obama mandated some finance changes) will go almost to the ends of the Earth to get a mortgage refinanced. (Have you seen all the bank failures and bailouts? They want your money.) I repeat: Foreclosure is a bank’s last resort. It costs them the most and gains them the least of all their options. Senior could easily have gotten a deal with them to keep his building with lower payments. Should we believe Senior that it is more cost-effective to build an entirely new building and move the operation? And why would a bank, in this economy, want that property? They will never sell it for what Senior must owe them. This is a depressed market. It is a net loss.
Senior either got cranky or smart, take your pick, and made Jason rework his design. Finally. And he took Jason around the shop to see what they had in stock because Jason, as we all know, knows nothing about motorcycles. He even brought in Rick (who he insincerly called “the Great Rick Petko” so Jason is either a snotty prick or he knows that the fans love Rick and hate him) to give him some pointers.
Rick was on the end of a totally uncalled for (and stupid) Senior insult about protective earwear, and as Senior walked away, Rick said “the things he says, no wonder everyone sues his ass.” Rick is the one guy Senior should not piss off. If Senior losses Rick there goes the one sane man and great worker he has. Senior later came out to talk to him about it (maybe he realized how much he needs Rick) and Senior called him, half-jokingly, sensitive. Rick told Senior that he will push it too far and he’ll walk out the door. Keep your fingers crossed. And with the suits settled, Rick is back to talking to the guys at PJD. I’m not sure I believe it, or if it was serious, but Paulie said that Rick was talking to Vinnie about going to PJD. For lunch, at least. But in the end Rick didn’t show.
And as far as Mike Ammirati, Rick pointed out that, “as usual,” he screwed up the handlebars. This was just after Senior said they’ll learn from their mistakes and get the bars right the first time. How many years has been doing this? NOW they’ll get the handlebars right?
Near the end of the show, Senior called in the whole shop to tell them about the new developments. It was made out as Senior being a benevolent father-figure. One of the office flunkies said that Senior was “a millionaire who doesn’t need the shop, but he’s doing it for you to keep your jobs. He’s 62 and he should be retiring but he isn’t” (I paraphrased but that is more or less it.) Senior promised that no one was going to lose their jobs but I say just wait. But one thing I do believe is that no matter how badly the business is doing Senior is filthy rich.
Next week, Paulie unveils the Gears of War 3 bike at Comic-Con, and we all know that the show teases are often more hype than truth, but it looks like Paulie gets serious about hiring Rick and we hear a voice over of Rick saying “I’m gonna tell senior that I’m going to quit.” Senior must realize Rick is unhappy because, for the first time, he singled out Rick at an unveil and said “he’s the best.”
We’ll see if this goes anywhere.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
PJD is gonna completely blow occ out of bussiness. Jr is just got great vision which is alot more than what I can say for muffin boy Jason tool. All the bikes, even the newer ones at occ have sucked but what can you expect when your work for a company that is being ran to the ground by an over celous Paul SR.
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I read all the comments on this site and this post is as good as place as any to address something. Some people say that this site is one-sided. Going by the comments, yes, it is. The people who post are about 25 to 1 in favor fo Paulie. That is what people feel. I don’t leave out any comments except the one out of every 100 that is nothing but profanity, so 99.999% of the comments get through no matter who they are for. I don’t think anyone has said that I leave out pro-Senior comments but I want it on record that everyone gets in.
I am not pro-Paulie. I am not a fan of his. He seems like a nice guy but I think he is lazy, I’ve said that a lot, go back to the old posts and I said it all the time. I also think he isn’t that great a builder but he is very, very creative. But I am anti-Senior. I think he is a complete jerk. Yes, he built the company. Yes, he had the sucessful ironworks. Yes, he was a builder in his day. Great. But he is an arrogant fool who yells at everyone, badmouths his kids, bullys his workers, and keeps himself surrounded by ass-kissers.
But why don’t I get on Paulie like I do Senior? What is there to get on Paulie about? Who did he insult this week? Who did he scream at? Who did he badmouth? Did he claim to have build OCC with no help from his father? Did he say his father was nothing? The bottom line is that Senior gives everyone all the material to hate him. Paulie may not be perfect but what did he do this week, or last week, or the week before, that I could get on him for?
And you can go back and find a lot of posts where I got on Mikey for his “art” and other assorted stupidity, including the way he jerked around his father when Senior reached out to him and Mikey just made demand after demand and never did meet with him. I was on Senior’s side for most of that.
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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and everyone wants their imput to count. I must say that out of all the Chopper episodes I’ve watched…and I haven’t missed any, I have never, ever seen Paul Jr. treat his father with the disrespect and arrogance that his father has shown him. None of it was deserved!!!
Mikey is caught in the middle because thats where Paul Sr. put him. Paul Jr. has told his brother on more than one occasion that he (Jr.) would never ask him (Mikey) to choose or take sides. He can do whatever he feels he needs to! They are brothers that love each other and look out for each other and want the absolute best for each other.
As a father and a brother myself, I understand the frustration’s on both sides. But you have to remember, Paul Jr. didn’t ask for this treatment or for his own father to draw that line in the sand.
I would like to see the Teutels solve their family problems so they can continue on as a Family thats not always in termoil. As for the business end of it…Lets just say that Karma is coming into play for Sr. and Jr. I don’t see Paulie as lazy…on the contrary…he’s determined to succeed and aspire way beyond what his father ever thought he would become. As for Jason…I’ve seen his type all the time…Total Ass Kisser. He’s useless!
Nevertheless, it is what it is. I would like to see the Te
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I say lets get back to the train wreck that made American Chopper. You can criticize Senior all you want but if you are honest with yourself his ranting and raving made the show what it was. Add in Junior as his foil and Mickey the court jester and you had a hit show. It’s time for Paulie to get over it. Senior gave him what he wanted “money” wise and gave him the Black Widow bike. So now Paulie acts like a little girl and thinks he was set up when he went to get the bike. Heh Paulie why don’t you go into the ladies room and put on your pink sun dress. Man up… Your father did. You and your father together made American Chopper what it was and should be again. So lets act like men and say “F U” shake hands and get back to what we all want to see happen, you and senior back together again.
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Yeah, lets get back to throwing trash cans, breaking windows, crashing cars, insulting one another, screaming matches, building bikes and trips to grandmahs house. It was the best.
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WIthout a doubt Senior and his ranting and raving made the show. But at some point around when Paulie left OCC, in the viewer’s minds he went from a jerk you like to laugh at to a jerk you can’t stand anymore. Paulie didn’t come out of that looking too good either, but Senior looked worse.
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Aside from all this crap the other comments are whining about, I just wanted to say… I really like the effort Paulie is putting into his trike this week. He knows this is a big client, and they are trying to create something unique.
OCC seems to be stagnant. Design it on the computer. Print it out. Bang it out. Done. Creativity is there, but so minimally. Jason has a good understanding of the tools, and some good ideas… but Rick is a talent that (Like Vinnie, when we was at OCC) is under-utilized. I hope he makes a break for PJD… where he and Vinnie can get the respect they rightfully deserve, alongside Paulie… who after all these years is starting to understand what responsibility actually is.
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I hope Paul Jr. buys the foreclosed OCC building.
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Later for Sr. he’s set in his ways and Jr. would be crazy to go back to OCC , for what to be disrespected and treated like a whore on the corner , “GET THAT DONE OR ELSE , IT BETTER GET DONE TODAY OR ELSE , LET IT NOT BE DONE YOU’LL SEE WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN !!! There is nothing that Jr. needs Sr. for after all he can’t even get a “GOOD JOB SON”!
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After this past weeks show, Jason Tool should think twice about Sr’s insults and laughing at Paulie. It only took one minor critique from Sr for Jason to explode and do something Jr never did (throw a bike off the lift). That Jr’s had to endure years of much harsher criticism than Jason’s ever faced, makes him look like a thin-skinned premodona.
Ironically, as Mikey warned Vinny years ago…the more you become “like family” the more you get treated like family. Jason may want to think long and hard about this as he tries to fill Jr’s shoes; he doesn’t have the skills as a designer, nor the temperament as a surrogate son.
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Chris you have to remember , he’s not a designer he’s a drawer!!! Please let’s not make this mistake again!!! (Sr. Impersonation) Jason UH! is a Much better UH! designer UH! than Paulie is UH! and he comes to work on time UH! and I never have to UH! look for Jason UH! he’s always locked in his cage UH! like Ceasar from the Planet of the Apes UH! and whenever I need my bellybutton cleaned and my toenails clipped UH! he’s always right there UH! to get the job done , unlike Paulie.
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That’s kind of insulting to compare Jason Pohl to Ceasar. For the ape I mean.
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