The guys from American Chopper in better days

You can read several write-up’s I have done about American Chopper here on the Biker Law Blog, by typing “American Chopper” in the search box that is located on the upper right section of this page below the header.

This review is my take on the new American Chopper, Senior v. Junior format that is now in its second season at the present time.

After watching last night’s episode which culminated in Senior and Junior both having a build off for GM’s Cadillac CTS division, I figured now was as good as time as any to do a fresh review of the show.

First off, American Chopper is basically the only motorcycle reality show about motorcycle building left on TV these days.

In the decade of 2000-2010 there were several different shows about motorcycles, but they all slowly died out.

Now all we are left with is American Chopper, and a show which may or may not come back, “Full Throttle Saloon” which is a show about a Saloon located in the small town of Sturgis, SD, which is only open during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

I do not consider Full Throttle Saloon to be a motorcycle show, although the show does show many bikers, and bikes, it is mostly about a bar at a motorcycle event. It is a totally different type of show than American Choppers.

After all of these years, I still enjoy American Chopper, although now the show purports to showcase a fully dysfunctional family with both Senior and Junior both building custom motorcycles from week to week.

The reason I say purports, is that I think both of these guys are real smart. I think they are playing up their dysfunctional family, and their business rivalry for the cameras, while they are both laughing all the way to the bank.

They have us all convinced that they have not spoken for two years, and that it is father against son, bla bla bla.

I think they could be bs’ing all of us just to make us watch their show. I bet their ratings are much higher with the new format.

Anyway getting past the conspiracy theory, let me talk about the show.

To be frank, the show is getting old. Basically now on each episode, you have Orange County Choppers led by Paul senior building one motorcycle, while Paul Junior Design’s led by Paul junior building another motorcycle.

Orange County Choppers at least to me uses a more sophisticated method of building motorcycles than Paul Junior Designs. The design of each motorcycle is put on a computerized Cad/Cam system by their designer before fabrication. It appears to me that everything on an Orange County Chopper is custom fabricated except for the engine, transmission, frame, and wheels, although I could be mistaken.

Some people might argue that the motorcycles are not really custom if the frame, wheels, engine, and transmission are not custom made by Orange County Choppers. That is not the subject of this article.

Orange County Choppers has several apparently talented sheet metal workers who are able to custom fabricate the parts of the bike that they apparently do such as the tank, fenders, handle bars, etc.

It appears at least to me that their motorcycles all are starting to look the same. Some look better than others, and some do not look very rideable.

Paul Junior Designs is a recent startup. It appears from the show that they build motorcycles on the fly rather than use computerized design like Orange County Choppers. It appears to me that Paul Junior Designs has to bring in an outside sheet metal guy on a temporary basis for each build to make their tanks and fenders, which may or may not be a good thing. I may be mistaken, but it also appears to me that Paul Junior Designs may be using more bolt on items than Orange County Choppers, but then again there is no way to know for sure. Ultimately, I think Paul Junior Designs also does not custom make their frames, engines, transmissions, wheels, etc., but I may be mistaken.

I don’t know about you, but the motorcycles coming out of Paul Junior Designs aesthetically look good, but look totally unrideable to me. The all seem to have a very long front end from the seat to the long drooping tank, to the wheels. They almost remind me of old fashioned cars with the very long front ends. Paul’s motorcycles also seem to have a very uncomfortable lean forward onto the huge tank type of set up. It may have a certain look, but it is not set up for riding.

To be frank, I am not really a custom chopper kind of guy. I prefer tried and tested designs that are comfortable to ride, and that are safe. I am not implying that the motorcycles built by OCC or PJD are not safe, but I feel more comfortable with a large factory design with some limited customization, rather than a motorcycle built the way OCC or PJD does their motorcycles. This is just my preference.

The part of each show I enjoy the most is the actual motorcycle builds. I am not into the bashing of each other by Paul senior, Paul junior, and Mikey. It is kind of disgusting to me to having family members bashing each other on national TV. As a matter of fact, it is getting real old.

My dad has done a lot of shit to me in my life, but I still honor thy father as the bible says to do. Paul senior does appear to be a real asshole, but to be frank, so do his kids as well. I think they all need to get their heads out of their asses if you ask me.
In the end, they are all getting rich, and the entire thing could and probably is all just made for TV.

I will continue watching the show, but it is getting kind of boring if you ask me.

By California Motorcycle Accident Attorney, and Biker Lawyer, Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © June 7, 2010

The post American Chopper, Senior v. Junior, a Review first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.

If you are not familiar with this story, you can click here to read my original article.

Since I have written the article, I have been contacted by bikers and motorcyclist who reside in Canyon Lake, California about potentially initiating legal action against Canyon Lake for their practice of blatantly discriminating against residents who own motorcycles.

Canyon Lake you are now on notice that we may be coming for you in a Court of Law real soon! It might be better if you just let residents who own motorcycles ride in your city!

The President of the Canyon Lake Motorcycle Club recently informed me about more hypocrisy from the Brain Dead of Canyon Lake. It appears that they care more about banning motorcycles from their city than their own children! No shit; true story. You can read a newspaper article about it here.

Apparently speeding cagers have been putting kids who are getting on and off of school buses in and around Canyon Lake in danger. What idiot would speed by a school bus or school bus stop with children standing by? This is another issue that will not be discussed in this article.

The residents of Canyon Lake complained, so the Riverside County Sheriff assigned motorcycle officers to go after the speeders. Guess what; those brain dead residents of Canyon Lake, California complained that the cops were using MOTORCYCLES to correct the problem. Can you believe it? Here the cops go out to try to help their kids and they complain because they are using MOTORCYCLES?

The President of the Canyon Lake Motorcycle Club calls it an embarrassment. I call it lunacy.

Discrimination in all of its forms is in plain language “Ignorance.” Ignorance and Discrimination walk hand in hand.

So if one of the brain dead residents of Canyon Lake loses a child to a speeder because they complained about the cops using motorcycles to catch the speeders, than guess what; you asked for it.

How can a group of people be so dumb that they would put their prejudice against bikers and motorcyclist above their own children? The Answer is simple; PURE IGNORANCE.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. ,© 2007

The post More Hypocrisy from those Brain Dead Residents of Canyon Lake, California. first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.

Imagine buying a home in a gated city called Canyon Lake, in Riverside County. You move into your new home with your family; everything is great.

Then imagine jumping on your motorcycle to ride to work, no biggie right? Wrong!

In Canyon Lake, California, which is a gated city consisting of around 4300 single family homes; riding a motorcycle anywhere in the city has been banned by the Homeowners Association.

Yes, you heard me right; you cannot ride a motorcycle anywhere in this city. If you are caught riding a street legal and properly licensed motorcycle in this city you can face fines that start progressively up from $100.00, including possibly losing your home!

I recently read about Canyon Lake in a newspaper article here. The homeowners association will not let you ride your motorcycle to or from your home either.

Bikers must park their motorcycles outside of the city limits or trailer their bike in or out if the don’t want to be in violation of the law here.

Recently a group of bikers and their supporters attempted to change the homeowner’s association bylaws but failed. They say they will keep trying to change the rules.

I say that the homeowners association of Canyon Lake is Brain Dead! I am stating this as my own personal opinion.

This is an ominous development as far as I am concerned. Who knows, maybe the city of Riverside will outlaw riding motorcycles on city streets next.

Some people may say that since the majority of homeowners voted to ban motorcycles, that it is ok because it is democracy in action. Wrong; our Country and system of justice is set up to protect the rights of the few when the actions of the majority usurp the minorities constitutional rights.

Back in the 1960’s there were laws that allowed persons or establishments to discriminate against minorities just because of the color of their skin. The Court system, and eventually the Congress enacted laws to prohibit this type of discrimination.

In the case of Canyon Lake, I recommend that the bikers there get a good lawyer and take appropriate legal action against the city and its discriminatory practices against bikers.

It seems to me that the State of California and the vehicle code take precedence over the Brain Dead majority of Canyon Lake. It seems to me that so long as the State allows Motorcycles to legally ride on City Streets, that State law would take priority over Canyon Lake Law. I know that Canyon Lake will argue that they are a private city, bla bla bla. However, they are a quasi city for purposes of the law.

I sure would like to see how a lawsuit would pan out against Canyon Lake and their ban on motorcycles.

One thing is sure, I will never go there, I will never spend my money there, and I do not recommend that other bikers do so either. I feel sorry for the poor SOB’s that bought homes there. They cannot even ride their motorcycles home.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

The post Brain Dead in Canyon Lake, California; Who would want to live there? first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.