I don’t really hate OCC, do I?

[waizen]

Well, it was fun for a while.

I really did love watching OCC for a while and I can see their role in the whole custom craze. I got caught up in it myself for a while (in my dreams, anyway).

Then, something happened.

I think it was when I noticed the OCC show go through its phases of fame. First, it was cool to see the show in the beginning, not because the bikes looked great or anything (Really, fighter jet cockpit windows on a gas tank? You are kidding me, right?), but because of the family dynamics between Senior and Junior. Back then, I really did root for the characters, probably because of the whole underdog thing. They were a relatively small company, common-folk trying really hard to make it. I could identify with that.

Then, fame started to change the show. The bikes got only a little marginally better looking, but really, compared to what you regularly see in the mags or even just on Biker Build-Off, the OCC bikes are...well...

We all know they got successful, not because of the quality of the products, but because of the exposure they got as a result of the show. That's a no-brainer.

They had won the lottery. Really, any bozo with a small shop could have made it big with a television show.

Okay, so they made it big. I’m not begrudging the fact that they made it big.. really, I’m not. I’m happy they did. Yes, I wish it had been me, but still glad they made it. The common man underdog having made good; I could still identify with that.

What really bugs me is what I saw happen to the show itself. The premise of the show changed big time.

I mean, am I the only one in the world that suspects that the yelling, furniture throwing, etc. that was, in the beginning, very much really part of their actual personality, is now just…scripted? Even Mikey, who is billed as the funny family clown, is, well…not very funny. It’s obvious that he’s trying too hard at being funny, because he feels he has to live up to his clown reputation. Am I the only one in the world whose intelligence is being insulted by all this?

Then, as the fame increased, I saw all these big companies ordering bikes. Why in the hell are these big companies all of a sudden interested in motorcycles, of all things?

Duh. They’re not.

What they’re interested in is the fact that the show provides them with five to six big-exposure national (maybe international, by now?) infomercials for their products. All for the low, low price of…what? A lower six figure price? A piddly little figure by today’s infomercial prices (I know, I used to make infomercials).

And, really, what is Bill Murray - or any of the other celebrities - doing ordering bikes from them, when they could easily purchase much better? Does Bill Murray even ride?

Yep, you guessed it…their own big-exposure cheap infomercials. Pleeeeeeze. I’m sad to say: Bill Murray has never before seemed so…commercial…to me.

Then, the show stops being about the bikes. It becomes a show about the select few special OCC employees going on vacation. Or, on tour. Really, who cares?

I’m sorry. I don’t even know what prompted me to start ranting on this show.

I really don’t.

I still watch it and I don’t wish them any bad luck or anything. The OCC company and the regulars happened to have won the lottery with this show and are living much more than the American Dream. God bless them.

Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in today. It’s cold and dreary outside and I can’t ride until Spring.

...sigh……….

Anyway, this show probably has lived out its hey-day. You can tell, just by their current strained antics, how hard they’re trying to outdo whatever they did last week. To me, it looks like they’re trying too hard now. When a show starts to do that, it’s a sure indication that they’ve lost sight of what made them famous in the first place.

Yes, you can say the same thing about all the other builder/makeover reality shows out there - and God knows there’s no more self-serving infomercial show than Over Haulin’ (Can Foose really walk on water like the show constantly reminds us of?). Don’t get me started on all the tattoo shows…at least those folks have talent…but, I digress.

Anyway, back to OCC…

Finally, I see that they’re pouring millions into growing their company and I keep wondering what will happen after the show fizzles out, which it probably already is doing. Will the quality of their product keep them afloat afterwards, without the benefit of the show providing momentum for their success? Their over-priced…semi-sort-of-okay-looking…bikes will have to stand on their own merits. But, they’re too common-looking now. Not a good thing, given how - according to a bunch of other posts in this forum - the ‘custom’ rage has already peaked.

I realize that I’m probably looking like one big weirdo right about now. Honestly, I’m not sure why I’m picking on OCC today. The trigger was probably the OCC promo I just saw. I really do wish the OCC crew well and I hope to see them keep their success. I love to see the American success dream grow in front of me the way I have seen it with the OCC crew…even if it was an artificial one because of a television show.

Ride safe.

[High_Side]

The conclusion that you seem close to reaching was reached by me in the first 2 minutes that I watched the show (and the last two by the way). It's lame a$$ and stupid. Does it really justify any consideration beyond that?

[waizen]

The conclusion that you seem close to reaching was reached by me in the first 2 minutes that I watched the show (and the last two by the way). It's lame a$$ and stupid. Does it really justify any consideration beyond that?

Nope. In the end, it's just a television show. That's it.

[jstark47]

.... and around here, it's shown on "The Learning Channel" to boot. Never figured out what I'm supposed to be learning from OCC...

[SHADOW1100T]

Well you gotta feel better after that rant , personally I give up on them sometime back, But if you change your mind you can go to wal-mart and buy one of there bi-cycles or if you want something really special I can line you up with a OCC Yo-Yo

[Wrider]

Lol Agreed... Idiots who can't build anything for crap... As for art pieces, not bad, some of them are nice Snap-On's bike for example. But beyond that? You're never going to ride it, never going to even start it up. But my instructor, who has worked on their bikes, calls them the Orange County Inbreds. Apparently he worked on one specifically that drove him up the wall... The motor and tranny were connected by a belt. A belt that was almost 1/16th of an inch off of being lined up... So wow... Just wow... lol
If I were given one, I'd ride it though, straight to the dealership to trade it in!
Wrider

[ceemes]

The BC Lotto Corp had a scratch and win ticket game where you could win an OCC chopper...............whenever I did get a ticket, I prayed like hell I would only win cash and not the "bike".

[waizen]

.... and around here, it's shown on "The Learning Channel" to boot. Never figured out what I'm supposed to be learning from OCC...

In a not-so-long-ago previous life, I used to help produce television shows (and commercials and infomercials). What I learned is that most of the television shows we watch, especially in cable, are really just long commercials. Products are hawked within them all the time. Some are just more blatant than others. And, yes, those products' companies do pay to be included in the show.

As I mentioned before, one of the most obvious of these is the Overhaulin show. Besides the fact that it's basically an infomercial for Foose, they will constantly make sure you see product names throughout the show. I wouldn't mind if it served a purpose other than to sell us product, but it's just way too in-my-face.

No doubt my rant had something to do with the fact that television once played a big part of my career. Watching all this process really bugs me.

As for TLC and the Discovery Channel...well, they found a real cash cow with these reality shows. They're not the only ones...just look at Speed TV and all the Outdoor Channels, etc.

I'm still not sure what to think about West Coast Choppers. Was pretty cool in the beginning, but Jesse James has since gone way to 'Hollywood,' for my taste. (I'll stop my ranting here)

[Mustang]

Compared to the other talent on other tv shows such as biker build-off, OCC's bikes never impressed me.

Like some other posters here, I too always felt the antics were staged or strictly done for the camera. They used the show as one big marketing vehicle for whatever they could sell imho.

But who am I, they obvisuly have the ratings to keep getting picked up.

[mysta2]

...I'm still not sure what to think about West Coast Choppers. Was pretty cool in the beginning, but Jesse James has since gone way to 'Hollywood,' for my taste. (I'll stop my ranting here)

What do you consider "the beginning"? WCC has only ever done 3 TV specials, and all three of them were good in my opinion. They did dip a bit into the Hollywood thing with Shaq's bike and Kid Rock, but even then the second one was a lot more about building a bike than anything else and the third was an attempt at laying out the whole biker lifestyle splitting the show in half between building a bike and riding it. I did have one issue with that one when they were talking about being in the desert and enjoying the solitude and all that, but you know just off camera there are all kinds of support crew, equipment and vehicles.

Monster Garage is a whole different animal that I think even Jessie James had a hard time taking seriously before long. I figure that's why they'd every once in a while get serious and do something like the old school hot rod or the bike. I even own one of the books (How to Weld Damn near Anything) and I was very resistant to that and even felt a little embarrassed buying it, but despite how fluffy and cheesy it looks... it's a really good and thorough book despite itself.

Really though, if Discovery Channel showed up at my door and told me they'd give me a bunch of money to build trikes out of semi trucks, drift cars, mid engined hot rod hummers and whatever else I could think of I'd sign up in a hurry. I have a feeling that Jessie James has said no to more offers than he has said yes to.