Is that show still on TV?

Hard to believe.........

ONLY IN AMERICA !!!!

 

... goldwing, v-rod ect..

all of the great "builder" are smart enough to surround themselfs with talent.
roushe, saleen, foose, coddington, arlon nese. list goes on.

i think what some are looking for is a skill set test, if that is the case, as talented as JJ is, I think the guy that makes tanks for Jr. can smoke JJ.
while it is great to have a jack of all trades, bringing committed , talented professional to arrive at a stunning end project is what most highend shops are about. a professional frame guy would have said, this is going to be tall and hard to see around and uncomfortable to ride , let me make a few changes, you will have the same look and a better handling bike.

most custome home "builder", car "builder" and bike "builder" all rely on vendors. I am sure JJ can run a haas milling station but give me a guy that does it 40 hours a week, all year long and i will show you a smoking end product that has a lower hour wage.

 

Obviously the motors weren't fabricated Thad. And I couldn't say if he laced his wheels or not, but you can't show an entire ground up 2 month build in 2 hrs...and he has several times on build offs laced his own, in fact I can only recall seeing him and Indian Larry lace their own. So who knows. But surely you can see the difference between the two; a guy who fabricated his own ss frame, fork, risers, tank, fender, exhaust, etc. and at the end had a crew help put it all together, vs a guy who had his crew design the bike and then send specs out to shops to have it fabricated outside of his own shop and then let his crew assemble it and then let himself be called the "best bike builder".....COME ON!!!!! Besides, wasn't this whole thing called American Chopper just like his own show? And didn't JR even say he wasn't going to do it (due to customer obligation) and then Discovery negotiated with him? Hmmmm... And I loved at the end how the emphasis was mostly on the Tuettles relationship and not the build off...they took center stage for much of the show, and JJ had minimal time. I'm not saying JJ isn't full of himself either, but seriously, he was the only "builder" there. And if you are going to judge talent on building and fabricating, and not "cake decorating" (hehehe, so true) then I think there was clearly one winner, and it wasn't JR. Again, total popularity contest....

 

I agree with alot of what you said, but the competition as I understood it was to see who the best bike builder was, not to see what the best bike that could be built was...I know that sounds dumb, but I don't know how else to word it. You could gather the best frame builder, motor guy, sheet metal guy, wheel guy, etc. for every aspect of a bike, and have that team put together the best bike. But that wouldn't be the same as this comp. was, to see which of the three was the best individual bike builder.

I'd love to see the contest redone next year, but this time, not teams. Give them 3 months instead of 2 to do a ground up build, but the stipulation is no teams. Jesse works solo, and JR works solo. They can send out parts for paint and have wheels made, but they build their own frame, forks, tank, fender, handlebars, etc. I would bet it all on Jesse. I don't think JR could figure half of it out on his own. To JR's defense, he does always say it's him and his team, but then by his own admission, HE is not the best bike builder....

 

Yep both get made fun of when they pull into the local biker bars around here...

I don't like unnecessary parts on my bike...


Another note is that Jesse's bike was built in his personal shop in his back yard...

 

The build off was between OCC, PJD and JJ and his Speed Shop crew. It wasn't between Sr, Jr and Jesse. I don't see the problem with using your crew if this build off was between companies. Like Ryan, if the do it next year, I would like it to be a solo contest were only they can build the bikes themselves.

 

This is the way I see it, I've seen many shows in which jr has made plenty of handle bars. I've seen him do some work on gas tanks but it usually just to measure and maybe put a tac weld on it, but rick is the one making his tanks at the time. I've NEVER seen JR make a frame or even pound out his own fenders and tank, let alone fabricate his OWN front end. JJ did all that and then some.. I don't think Jr is capable of doing all that. Designer of the year, SURE but builder not really. All I have ever really seen him do is step in and bolt some stuff on and put the tank and fender on his bikes. He has a great deal of talent by far.

James

 

Per the Merrium Webster Dictionary.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/builder

Per this definition, the builder doesn't necessarily mean the person has to fabricate, or handcraft or assemble every part of the item (bike) in question all by themselves.
To become the "best builder" the winner merely had to create a finished product that appealed to more voter/ viewers then his competitors finished product.
In theory and per the definition, the "best builder" doesn't really even have to know how to turn a wrench.

 

Absolutely agree James. He is a great designer and seems like he can run a business with success. But builder, nah. I agree too harleydude78, that it was more between PJD, OCC and JJ and Speed Shop Crew, but of the three, JJ did the most solo building and fabricating.

 

Well he must be butt hurt about the loss.

Jesse James wrecks his Ford GT

 

Anyone remember that series, Biker Buildoff they used to run on Discovery. That was a good show, small shops building their bikes then riding them to the show.

OCC is a joke, Sr. doesn't build anymore, it's all computerized homogeny. I liked Jr's bike up to the point that he polished the aluminum and stuck those huge wheels on it. I would've left the aluminum unpolished and made it look like a used Mustang. Jesse seems like a jerk but props for building most of his own parts. On the show, he said he would build and tack the pieces while the shop finished the welds and helped him assemble.

 

I was jsut about to ask if anyone remembered that show. I thought that show was much better than American Chopper.

A good friend of mine use to work in a custom motorcycle (chopper) shop that was on one of the shows. He told me that one of the people wanted him to throw a wrench acrossed the shop and yell about something, pretending that he was mad. He told them no, that's not how we work in this shop. The show crew wasn't too happy about that. He also told me that the producer (or whoever it was) had the owner of the shop come out and weld a few pieces to show him actually building the bike. He did it, but he wasn't normally in the shop actually building the bikes. So the shows are somewhat scripted.

At the end of the OCC, Jr, JJ show, after they named Jr as the winner, it looked like JJ went over and was talking to Sr. That made it look like the whole thing was scripted and that JJ was just brought in to try and stir things up.

 

And they call it "Reality" TV
Those shows should be called "Drama" TV
Nothing but a bunch tattooed drama queens !!

 

There used to be a show on SPEED, I can't remeber the name, but a random average joe builder would get picked to go to this guys shop and if he built his own bike from the ground up in 30 days and got it to start he could keep the bike. The builder would have to lace his own wheels, do his own tank, etc. It was an awesome show.

EDIT: It was called "Build or Bust" and it was at Russell Mitchells shop most of the time if I recall

http://www.exilecycles.com

 

azmidget that is a sick looking bike!!