You remember the yelling. That deep, gravelly roar of Paul Teutul Sr. echoing through a shop filled with half-finished chrome and sparks. If you owned a TV between 2003 and 2010, the OC Choppers TV show—officially titled American Chopper—wasn't just a show about bikes. It was a weekly soap opera for guys who liked welding.
Honestly, it’s wild to look back at how a show about a niche motorcycle shop in Newburgh, New York, became a global phenomenon. But the "chopper craze" eventually hit a wall. Hard.
The Blowup That Changed Everything
Most fans point to 2008 as the year the wheels officially came off. We all saw the episode. Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. had a screaming match that resulted in a door being kicked in and Junior getting fired on the spot.
People thought it was a stunt for ratings. It wasn't.
That moment triggered a decade of legal warfare. Paul Sr. actually sued his own son to force him to sell his 20% stake in the company for $0. Yeah, zero dollars. He argued that since Junior was fired, he had the right to buy him out at a "fair market value" which he claimed was nothing.
The courts didn't agree. In 2010, a New York appeals court ruled in favor of Paul Jr., basically telling Senior he couldn't just seize the shares. This mess birthed the spin-off American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior, which was basically the two of them building bikes in separate shops across town while refusing to speak.
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Where is Orange County Choppers Now?
If you go looking for the massive 92,000-square-foot headquarters in Newburgh today, you won’t find many motorcycles. That $12 million "world headquarters" was surrendered to lenders back in 2011 to avoid foreclosure. It eventually became a self-storage facility.
Kinda sad, right? But Paul Sr. didn't quit.
He eventually packed up and moved the whole operation to Florida. As of 2026, the brand lives on as the OCC Road House & Museum in Clearwater. It’s more of a "lifestyle destination" now—think live music, a restaurant, and a museum showing off the old bikes like the Fire Bike and the Liberty Bike. Paul Sr. is still there, often leading rides across the Sunshine Skyway bridge.
The Crew: Where did they go?
- Paul Jr.: He’s doing just fine. His shop, Paul Jr. Designs, is still a heavy hitter. He’s built bikes for massive brands like Blizzard Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
- Mikey Teutul: The guy who provided the laughs. He struggled with addiction for a while but checked into rehab and found a passion for art and podcasting. He’s the bridge between the father and brother who still have a "complicated" relationship.
- Rick Petko: The guy everyone actually respected for his talent. He left the drama behind and now works at Pocono Mountain Harley-Davidson, plus he runs his own forge making high-end custom knives.
- Vinnie DiMartino: He left early to start V-Force Customs. Today, he’s still in the automotive game with DiMartino Industries.
Why the Show Still Matters
The OC Choppers TV show basically pioneered the "family conflict" reality TV format. Before the Kardashians or the Osbournes really took over, the Teutuls were showing the world what it looked like when a family business implodes under the pressure of fame.
The bikes were incredible, sure. The Black Widow bike and the Comanche are legendary. But people tuned in for the dysfunction. We saw ourselves in the arguments. Who hasn't wanted to throw a chair at their boss—especially if that boss is their dad?
The 2026 Reality
Today, the "chopper" style isn't the king of the road like it was in 2004. The market shifted toward adventure bikes and cafe racers. However, the nostalgia for the Discovery Channel era is huge.
Paul Sr. still hosts the OCC Invitational Bike Show in Florida, which just had its 4th annual event in May 2025 and is prepping for 2026. The brand survives not as a massive manufacturing plant, but as a piece of Americana.
If you're looking to dive back into the world of OCC, here is how you can actually engage with the legacy today without just watching reruns:
- Visit the Road House: If you’re in the Tampa/Clearwater area, the museum is actually worth a stop. It's the only place to see the iconic "theme bikes" in person.
- Follow the Cast: Most of the original crew, including Rick Petko and Vinnie, are very active on Instagram and YouTube showing off their current metalwork.
- Check the Podcasts: Mikey Teutul and Paul Jr. both have had stints in the podcasting world where they've spilled way more tea than the Discovery Channel ever allowed.
The era of the "television bike builder" might be over, but the impact the Teutuls had on custom culture is permanent. They made welding cool. They made custom paint jobs a household conversation. And they showed us exactly how not to run a business with your family.