I watch American Chopper quite often. Not a bad show, but I sure wouldn't buy a bike from a bunch of guys that argue so much about how things should be done.

So... if you walked into a buggy shop and the owners and workers were arguing about how to build a buggy, would you buy a buggy from them? I'll bet most people would not. I think that show adds the drama on purpose because they don't have to worry about selling to the general public.

At our shop we have a morning meeting every day. And we discuss the car builds and different ideas. But we discuss them. We have never had one argument. We toss around ideas and discuss them at length until we all agree on what is the best way to make the car as perfect as we can possibly make it. There is no yelling, no temper tantrums, no childish behavior.

I'm sitting here right now listening to them argue on the TV and it drives me nuts. That is not a professional shop in my opinion.

its a father vs son thing, im sure that has ALOT to do with it. plus, drama gets more ratings......duh!

I would walk in, hear all that crap, then walk right out, their bikes are nice, but there are quite a few builders that are better than them, and I sure as hell wouldn't buy a car from Boyd Coddington either, I think he is an ass. Foose rules!!

But really, how entertaining would it be if there were no personalities on the show? I gaurantee you alot of that show is fabricated!! I'm willing to bet that they have at least 30 to 40 guys building their customer bikes. Those two clowns are just doing their thing for the show! Mike at Hellbound Steel has about 25 employees and hes turning 8 bikes a week. Im sure the Tootiloos (however you spell their name) are selling more.

Its all B.S. There is nothing real in reality TV. Its all about the ratings.

Wayne, just shut up and post topics!! Im sick and tired of you always trying to throw your two cents in! Get back to work!!!!

"A lot of the show is fabricated." No pun intended, right? I agree, though, it's just a show, we don't see the behind the scenes stuff. But based on that show, a newbie into bikes should be scared as hell that a bunch of idiots could be building his bike. I'm not saying they are not talented... they surely are very talented... but they act like a bunch of knotheads.

Absolutly

I agree completely. I hate the drama, and if it weren't for the "soap opera" builds, they would just be another shop that builds stuff. I think it's funny that Charlie from Coddington went to work with Foose. Did you all see that "Rides"??? Talk about talent. I'm sure that Coddington has some talent, but the professionalism of Foose and the quality stuff that he builds is better, hands down. Now I were going to have someone build me a car, I would choose Troy Trepanier! Talk about unique, bad-ass cars.

That's why i like TRUCKS! or 4X4 on Spike TV. No drama on that show just some sweet lookin rides and cool products.

At the Sema Show,there was a display that had the purple Bronco they built on Trucks! Nice lookin!

i cried when i learned what happened to all those project builds that used to be on Horsepower tv. They said because the factories refused to sell them back to the public with mods they had to send em to the crusher, what a waste.

I'm with you guys, My son works with me and we get along great. There is no need to argue at all in a shop of any kind, I want all my people to wake up in the morning and look forward to coming to work knowing that it is still fun to work.

What I can't stand is everything is a drama instead of showing the fabrication & how to side of it they have to make the stupid deadlines that if they don't make it the world ends.

As far as Coddington they don't really fabricate they put together new parts on a fiberglass kit, and when they do need to fab the big stuff it is sent out for somebody else to do.

I still watch both shows when I can because I love to see rods and choppers get built. I really like Overhauling and Foose, he won't compromise.

I'm with you Jim, I wish they showed more of the fabrication then the drama. I watch biker build off also, and it seems like when it first began they showed alot more fabrication, and the builders had 30 days, now it is 10 days and the show has alot more fluff.

Whenever I stumble on these shows (AC, AHR) and see them talking in front of the camera alone, I can't help but notice how they all sound the same tone in voice, same manurisms. I don't know how to explain it but I think fabrication's a good word for it. It bugs me to see people always arguing. Unless it's Mikey. That guy cracks me up. I did watch Rides with a muscle car builder by the name of Steve ( ? ) . He was building a Dodge ( Hammersomethingorother) for the SEMA show and missed the opening day. Can't think of his name but he seemed really cool.

Jeff

American Hot Rod is even worse, Boyd needs a to check his ego.

the more they argue and the more crazy stupid stuff they do the better the better the show !

I'm sure it is all bs to sell advertising and get ratings but at least it is better than american idol!

I think both Codington and his leadman are both A-holes and I don't see how they can keep any kind of quality staff with the way they treat there employees.

One guy get's fired because he didn't call in to say they would be out sick that day. What heartless F**ks...

Stop over at the book store, and pick up a copy of "$30 Film School".

(It should be on discount. )

It explains the drama needed to make the film watchable.

(Yes, you watch, even though you hate it. Just like a train wreck.)

What you are talking about is a TV show, it might be called Reality TV, but it is all entertainment. If all they did was build hot rods and never have dialog, how dry would that be. Boyd Coddington has open house at his shop the second Saturday of every month. He is always there, his wives (both past and present), the entire crews are there and you can actually talk with them all. I had the opportunity to meet Boyd and his wife as well as some of the people that work there through a long time friend of Boyd's. I can tell you this, before I got there I had the same ideas about them all. Egotistical loud mouths that I would never have touch my car. Well after meeting these people and being invited back anytime, I have to say what you see on TV is TV. It is the same as watching one of those soap operas and believing what you see. I urge anyone that can, go to an open house at Boyd's and introduce yourself. I think you will be surprised, I certainly was.

Al

My boss would do the same thing to any of his employes, It's called abandoning the job. That is grounds for termination at many companies. Unless of cousre you were in an accident or somethign that prevented you from calling in.

P.S. I love watching American Chopper. Mikey is effn funny.

Boyd just got popped for using faulty registrations to re-register his vehicles.

Actually that isn't true. Boyd has a showroom at the front of his shop that he sells cars on consignment. The cars in question were customer cars and not one belonged to Boyd. The problem was that there were more restored 32 and 34 Fords than were ever built at Ford. That is what brought DMV's from many states into examining all restoration registrations.

Al

If you ever get to meet the AC guy's face to face I bet it's differant! I hear there real cool in person!

I loved it when Boyds Painter left to go to work for Foose he couldn't stand it

OCRegister Headline on April2 = "Car builder to admit DMV fraud Boyd Coddington, of La Habra and Discovery Channel,
allegedly turned in fake hot-rod titles."

"According to court papers filed by Morgester, Coddington obtained three counterfeit Pennsylvania and New York titles for 1930s-era Ford automobiles, then presented the titles to Cherrie Fowler, a DMV-licensed verifier. Fowler then submitted the fake titles to the DMV's Placentia office, the papers say. The DMV issued legitimate California titles based on the phony out-of-state titles."

"Chris Wing, Coddingtons's attorney, will appear Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, where he is expected to plead guilty on Coddington's behalf to a single count of making a false statement to the DMV.

Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Coddington will likely be ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution and perform 160 hours of community service.

Coddington didn't return a call seeking comment."

How is this not true again?

I can't believe I just wasted 3 minutes reading this thread

All those shows suck Great ideas, boring shows!

At least Jesse hooked up thru his show!

I have built my own bike and built a crap load of others (not all Harleys) and I can say without a doubt the Orange County Choppers guys are total hacks. Some of the ways those guys assemble the bikes just make me cringe.

sorry but i'll take OCC over surviver any day!

Haven't seen the one with Coddington (well, caught the end of one episode at a hotel) since I finally realized there was nothing I liked watching on TV and shut off my dish before it came on.

But the OCC one I could never figure out how they got the fame other than their hostility towards each other makes the show interesting to people who could care less what they actually do.

And that's my big problem with the shows. They're not about bikes, or cars or anything....except drama. They're not informative shows they're dramas and that's what the networks want. The original Motorcycle Maddness one time show that brought Jesse to their attention was actually fairly imformative. But after that they've all gone downhill.

I was really into the "A plane is Born" "A Helicopter is born" and "A Car is reborn" shows that were on A&E late at night. They were both informative and entertaining - just some English guy with a few helpers and no experience learning the hard way how to do things. I do kind of miss them now that I no longer have cable or a dish

I am so sick of seeing all the o.c.c. bikes made of round bar,and flat bar that looks like a rod iron fence, The only person who is badass is justin the painter.

its somthing other than boring ass sitcom to watch, its actually funny to watch pauly try and fabricate stuff. boyds show, well its to scripted it seems, but there has to be some issues at that shop with the turnover rate of employees they have. i think the machinest will bail next

biker buildoff was some cool chit though. motorcyle mania with jessie james was pretty good too.

I caught a show awhile back and Justin had totally droped the ball on some project and when they went to talk to him the looked doped out of his mind.

I kinda agree with roscoe2, where is the fab/finish work? OCC goes out, buys all the parts and assembles it. Anything they fab that is cool gets 10 lbs of bondo before anything. If we buggy aluminum guys could do the same, lookout!!! Biker Build Off shows some talent. I wonder, who's buying all the choppers, seem dime a dozen, but then so are buggies!!

boyd looks like a dickhead,charle should have kicked his old ass.

I would have smashed in Dwayne's teeth a long time ago working there.

I don't know the name of Boyds lead guy, but If I had worked with that guy in my shops he would have had is @$$ kicked for the things he does. If he had pushed MY motor of the stands for retribution for a prank like he did with Bluebears there would have been a beating for sure.
As for bike shows Jess who? and OCC boys are cookie cutters for the most part. I love the biker build off series though, I was a fan of Billy Lane bikes long ago, watching him build was awesome.

Seems a lot of people agree the drama is added by the show to make it more interesting. Makes me wonder if the Speedtrap show will have drama or just be a buggy build?

Oh that Speedtrap show.

When are the airtimes again?