Jesse Gregory James is an American entrepreneur, automotive mechanic, and television personality. He is the founder of West Coast Choppers and former partner of Austin Speed Shop and current CEO of Jesse James Firearms Unlimited, both based in Austin, Texas.
Orange County Choppers (OCC) was an American motorcycle manufacturer and lifestyle brand company based in the town of Newburgh, located in Orange County, New York, OCC was founded in 1999 by Paul Teutul Sr. The company was featured on American Chopper, a reality TV show that debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel. The series moved to Discovery Channel's sister channel TLC in 2007. Following cancellation of the Discovery series, the company was also featured on Orange County Choppers on the CMT network in 2013. Orange County Choppers returned to Discovery Channel in March 2018.
A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in the US state of California in the late 1950s. A chopper employs modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance. They can be built from an original motorcycle which is modified ("chopped") or built from scratch. Some of the characteristic features of choppers are long front ends with extended forks often coupled with an increased rake angle, hardtail frames, very tall "ape hanger" or very short "drag" handlebars, lengthened or stretched frames, and larger than stock front wheel. To be considered a chopper a motorcycle frame must be cut and welded at some point. I.e. the name chopper. The "sissy bar", a set of tubes that connect the rear fender with the frame, and which are often extended several feet high, is a signature feature on many choppers.
Paul John Teutul is the founder of Orange County Choppers, a manufacturer of custom motorcycles and the focus of the reality television series American Chopper. He first appeared on the show with his sons Paul Jr. and Michael. In 2013, his new show Orange County Choppers premiered on CMT.
Paul Michael Teutul is one of the stars of the American reality television series American Chopper, also starring his father. Teutul was the chief designer and fabricator. Prior to this, he was head of the rail shop at Orange County Ironworks. He is the founder of Paul Jr. Designs, which manufactures custom motorcycles and sells branded clothing. Teutul, along with his father and younger brother Michael, became celebrities when they became the focus of a reality television series American Chopper on Discovery Channel in 2002.
Michael Joseph Teutul is an American television personality who appeared on the reality programs "Orange County Choppers" American Chopper and American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.
West Coast Choppers (WCC) is a brand that began selling screen-printed T-shirts and stickers with the company's Iron cross/Maltese cross logo while founder and "master marketer" Jesse James was finishing high school, packaging the accoutrements of the chopper lifestyle long before any actual West Coast Choppers customs had been ordered or sold. Even after the company did begin building custom choppers, 60% of revenue still came from sales of WCC-branded marketing tie-ins such as clothing, beverages and tools. Yearly sales of approximately 12–15 motorcycles at prices of around US$150,000 each actually lost money for the company, but attracted positive attention. Publicizing the names of celebrity clients, including Shaquille O'Neal, Kid Rock, Keanu Reeves, Ty Law of the Denver Broncos, wrestling star Bill Goldberg, actor Tyson Beckford, and NFL running back Jamal Anderson, was a central feature of the WCC marketing strategy. The other key to this strategy was the star power of Jesse James, presented mainly through television on the Discovery Channel in the Motorcycle Mania series and the 2002–2006 series Monster Garage.
David Mann was a California graphic artist whose paintings celebrated biker culture, and choppers. Called "the biker world's artist-in-residence," his images are ubiquitous in biker clubhouses and garages, on motorcycle gas tanks, tattoos, and on T-shirts and other memorabilia associated with biker culture. Choppers have been built based on the bikes first imagined in a David Mann painting.
Orange County Choppers bikes are motorcycles featured on the television series American Chopper built by Orange County Choppers (OCC) for a specific corporate or celebrity customer. Theme bikes are motorcycles in which the theme of the motorcycle takes priority over everything else, influencing the frame dimensions, paint scheme, and overall 'feel' of the motorcycle. The function of motorcycle usually takes a backseat to the presentation of the theme, and these motorcycles attract attention solely on the premise of the theme itself. Customer bikes are built for and generally to the specifications of a particular customer. Although the customers typically give OCC creative freedom to do what they will, some clients have a specific idea in mind and expect OCC to reproduce their mental picture literally.
Jerry Covington was an American custom motorcycle builder and owner of Covingtons Customs.
Vincent DiMartino is an American automobile mechanic and motorcycle builder, best known for his work from 2002 to 2007 at Orange County Choppers (OCC), the subject of the American TV show American Chopper. In August 2007 DiMartino left Orange County Choppers and founded V-Force Customs, a custom motorcycle shop in Rock Tavern, NY. Several months later, Cody Connelly, a friend and co-worker of DiMartino at Orange County Choppers also left to join him at V-force Customs. In 2010, DiMartino returned to the show; however instead of rejoining his former employer, OCC, he joined Paul Jr. Designs.
Cody Connelly is an American motorcycle builder, best known for his work at Orange County Choppers (OCC), the subject of the American TV show American Chopper. Cody left Orange County Choppers and joined V-Force Customs where he works with friend and former colleague of Orange County Choppers Vincent DiMartino. Cody has since made several appearances on the show American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior alongside Paul Teutul Jr. and DiMartino, helping out at Paul Jr. Designs.
Jason Pohl is a chopper designer who works at Orange County Choppers. He is most commonly known for his workplace being the subject of the American TV series American Chopper.
Paul Jr. Designs (PJD) is a lifestyle brand motorcycle customizer and clothing vendor, based in Montgomery, New York, USA. Paul Teutul Jr. founded the design firm in 2009 after waiting out a one-year non-compete clause with his former company, Orange County Choppers (OCC).
Fast N' Loud was a reality-styled Discovery Channel TV show featuring Richard Rawlings and his crew from the Dallas, Texas-based Gas Monkey Garage as they search for tired and run-down cars, and restore them for profit.
Azeroth Choppers was a weekly web series by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from April 17 to June 5, 2014. It featured Paul Teutul, Jr. and his company Paul Jr. Designs building motorcycles based on Blizzard's long-running MMORPG World of Warcraft.
Biketoberfest is an annual motorcycle rally held in the fall in Daytona Beach, Florida since 1991 or 1992. In 1992 it was known as "Daytona Fall Tour"; in 1993, it started to be called Biketoberfest, and is now known as the "little brother" of the spring Daytona Beach Bike Week event. Attendance for Biketoberfest 2013 was estimated to be c. 100,000 visitors.
