man i thought i was the only one who knew !!!! you couldn;t ride that crap across town to get to the harley shop !!!!to pickup a real bike.... been riding 30 years, never met one on the road yet .....

 

Does anyone really care if they are Bikers or if they do any riding other than test riding ?
BTW I do watch the show !

 

Point taken! The Paul's were smart enough to get the business side of it.

 

I agreed with most everything you said... except this!

In my opinion it's not OCC and PJD that did "something" right, it's Pilgrim Films. Had it not been for how they chose to piece together episodes of the American Chopper soap opera, I'm thinking that people would have lost interest in it years ago.

Had they not cut out the hours of locktite, soldering, cutting oil, and took the days of assembly and condensed them into minutes, most of the masses who watch would have lost interest and changed the channel.

Speaking for myself I readily admit that I have no respect for Senior... and only minimal respect for Junior. They honestly don't build custom choppers, they build rolling art (or rolling advertisements as some have aptly noted). On the other hand, are they successful? Absolutely! Are they in the same league as Arlan Ness, Russell Mitchell, Billy Lane, Dave Perowitz, or the late Indian Larry? Absolutely not... and they'll likely never be!

On the other hand, if you ever want to read a really funny book... pick up a copy of Senior's book "The ride of a lifetime"

http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-...mm_pap_title_0

It's freaken hilarious! One would think that Senior was responsible for every bike build, made every decision, and by himself built that business from nothing to what it is today. The fact that he gave thanks to some of his employees and his sons at the beginning of the book seemed almost out of place.

 

I have watched the OCC show, forget what it's called, in hopes of seeing bikes built. Mostly family drama BS set up for viewers no doubt. The only thing I have seen that I like is their employees who cut and weld exhausts and work sheet metal. They are craftsmen, they do good work. I agree with most of what I see on the thread, but hey they are successful at doing what they love to do, me not liking bikes that look more like chandeliers in a hallway than old school choppers don't mean much. I would rather ride my 09 Superglide than most of the bikes I have seen on the show.

 

Bikers?
What is a true biker? A criminal or someone that enjoys riding bikes?
Hell everyone needs to make an income, some do it through their passion others are less fortunate but that does not make them less a biker. I laugh at the ignorance of someone having to categorize everyone. I own a machine shop and my cliental would not accept my shop if I dressed in black leather and HD shirts all the time and I like money so I do my job and ride when I can. I ride for fun and it's part of my life style. I can outride many more then can outride me. I do all the work on my bike myself, engines, transmissions, whatever it takes to make my bike mine. But most "bikers" would consider me a poser. Well kiss my work hardened ***.
OCC makes money building theme bikes. Nothing practical to ride or own in my opinion. But just about all of them have at least one design feature that is notable. Are they bikers or businessmen or both? I say both. It seems to me some only consider a Hells Angel type a real biker, someone that puts fear in you by their presence. I don't agree. To me it's loving the freedom, the wind in your face and riding 600+ miles a day when you can. If you don't like it keep grumping along I'm surely not trying to imitate you.

 

Although it's hard to spot a true biker all the time, if you have neighbors that ride, you know who they are. I'm sure I'll **** off some people on here when I say this but the "uniform" of the majority of people riding a Harley these days consists of the following: a HD, Laconia, Sturgis or Daytona t shirt (always in black), blue or black jeans, black boots, a black half helmet and either a black leather vest or a black leather jacket (usually brand new). I don't know what it's all about or why everyone needs to dress the same but it's gotten sickening. Their bikes are typically within 5 years old and still brand new with around a thousand miles on them. They are not "bikers" imo...more like enthusiasts or weekend riders. I always considered someone a "biker" who rides wherever and whenever they can. I live in a city outside of Boston and I know a few hardcore bikers. They ride in the rain, in the freezing cold and extreme heat, they ride at night, to work, to the bar, to weddings, church, funerals...you name it. It is unusual to see them off their bike and downright odd if you see them walking or driving a car. They fix their own bikes or have friends who know how but not knowing how to fix their own bike doesn't make them any less of a "biker" in my eyes. Yeah some of them wear their half helmet, blue jeans, a leather jacket and black boots (which are usually worn out and falling apart) and have regular jobs but the difference is in the heart. They live to ride and ride to live and you can see it in their weathered face, half tanned arms and in the dull paint of their experienced bike. This is just my opinion. I know there are exceptions to every rule.

 

well said
real bikers have kickstart, I must be a real biker my 1st 4 bikes had kickstart only my harley doesn't, oh wait my 1st 4 bikes were jap bikes(one I rode xcountry 1973) sorry i'm not a biker never thought I was just a person who likes to ride

 

Just another example of a television network looking for something to do to boost their ratings. It could have been any John Doe building bikes, and with enough publicity he would be where they are. Just happens they picked Paul's deal. But hey, they're making a living at it, just too well of a living I think. I was exposed to my neighbor building old school choppers out of his garage in the 70's, just like what the pages of "Easyriders" had in them at the time. I had the opportunity to later work in the cycle shop he opened for a while. I considered him a real biker and learned from him. Another real biker to me would be the one whose only means of transportation was his bike, rain or shine. I was told many a story about such a person back then who rode a Harley, and that he chose to, not that he had to. So I guess I would more consider the Tuetels to be as Jesse James called them bike "assemblers", and not really bikers.

 

Hopefully this will put an end to this silly debate.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
Look up biker or bikie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Biker may refer to:

a rider of a motorcycle, i.e., one who participates in motorcycling
a member of a motorcycle club
a member of an outlaw motorcycle club
a rider of a bicycle