Comments on: Should A Motorcycle Always Look Like A Motorcycle?

By: Eric G.

Eric G. — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:36:11 +0000

…not to be misunderstood…OCC deserves alot of recognition for what they have done for us all. Would I buy one of their overpriced show-pieces…no. I buy a bike built to ride…not one to trailer and show off for a bunch of “Ohhs and Ahhs!.” However, they do build the trophies for the vane that are more concerned with showing off than actaully taking to the highways and riding something unique. That in turn brings out more numbers of the vane and the “real” bikers and everything in between. And more power to them for it. Thank you OCC and thanks to all that are willing to ride with me…on the road!

By: Eric G.

Eric G. — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:23:38 +0000

OCC has been instrumental in opening the custom-bike world to the masses, however, here’s an analogy to consider.
It can be said that “Days of Thunder” raised the interest in NASCAR. Tom Cruise actually did a little driving while making the movie and occasionally appears at a track to this day but it doesn’t mean Tom Cruise is an accomplished racer. To this day the real racers pay a small homage to the movie in gratitude for what it did for their sport.
Maybe OCC is the custom bike world’s Tom Cruise…entertaining…but…
They can fabricate some radical metal…but there is a huge difference between bike building and metal fab.
Just an opinion…
…and the Stealth bike is quite an eye catcher…but I wonder how reliable it runs and how it handles. But then again…its not meant to ride…is it!

By: Jeff Nicklus

Jeff Nicklus — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:16:09 +0000

Let me throw this in the mix for thought ….. I agree with Kenny and Woody … some of the bikes we all built during that time period were “over the top” in styling and function, however, with that said I also believe that where we all seem to get crossways with OCC is simply that what we did (and do today) we did for ourselves and the love of the motorcycle …. what OCC does is for the love of MONEY. It has nothing to do with the motorcycle or the love thereof. Just my opinion ….. for what that is worth.

Over and Out,

Jeff

By: James

James — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:57:04 +0000

“Should a Plane always look like a Plane?” If designers would of never challenged the Wright bros we’d of never seen the likes of a B-2.

By: Woody

Woody — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:45:13 +0000

wonder if some current folks ever saw the ’70s 80′s stuff from Sugarbear, Denver’s, Low Rider Tommy, etc. etc.

By: Kenny Price

Kenny Price — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:59:12 +0000

i really dont know what is going on here but people were making custom bikes much more wild than that in the early 70′s. you had to be there to understand.

By: DONNY

DONNY — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:44:14 +0000

I THINK WHEN YOU ADD A COCKPIT AND SHIT LIKE THAT TO A BIKE IT’S OVER. THEY SHOULD BUILD A MOTORCYCLE THEME BIKE. FUCKIN ASSHOLES!! THEY COULDN’T EVEN ADJUST VALVES I BET.

By: Mazz

Mazz — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:09:44 +0000

Don’t mean to get biblical on you all but, let he without sin cast the first stone. I suppose not one of you that is slamming this bike or the Teutels or Jesse James, have ever built anything or worked on something against your personal preference for money. Business is business, and although Paul Sr. and Jesse may seem miles apart they are both very smart businessmen. They have both brought their share of attention to this industry. You can love or hate them, go ahead, that’s your right, but they seem to have a passion and love for this industry that would be in line with any of you. Find the common ground, that common ground is the custom motorcycle industry, let just hope it survives this “recession” and comes out even better on the other end.

I work with high school kids building custom motorcycles, I do my part for the industry because of my passion for the motorcycle. Not everyone likes our bikes, but they can look past that and see what the kids have done and what these kids will mean to the future of this industry. It’s easy to hate, it’s tough to see what they bring to the table. Yeah they got rich, gees, I don’t know about you guys but I wish money was something I didn’t have to worry about.

Am I a “fan” of OCC or Jesse James, like all builders they have stuff I love, stuff they have inspired us on and they have stuff that just ain’t my thang.

Should a motorcycle always look like a motorcycle? I will answer that with a question, What does a motorcycle look like? I know our recent build looks nothing like Daimler’s first bike, so if Daimler invented the motorcycle, I guess they should all be made out of wood and have training wheels.

later,

Mazz.

By: Scharf

Scharf — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:35:44 +0000

That’s just but ugly!

By: Conrad

Conrad — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:15:48 +0000

Thug,

While OCC is building unique items youa re still typing in CAPS, being jealous and also building bikes that look identical to the late 90′s and early 2000′s Titans. Quit bitching.

Bigalyts,

You dont know Jesse at all and nor will you ever. So back off talking shit about people you dont even know. Jealousy is a very powerful drug and rumors are as well. Jesse isnt like what you think or hear.

By: Woody

Woody — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:43:56 +0000

I guess as “art” the bike was a success, as a bike not so much. ‘course a lot of that opinion might be based on WHO built the bike, not the bike itself.
To be fair, how would we react to Ness’ original ’57 Bel Aire bike, if it had come out yesterday and the OCC circus had built it instead of Arlen?. I think it’s one of the coolest rides ever done, and launched the whole “outside the box” styling genre of custom “cartoon bikes” just like some of Barris and Roth’s TV and other cars. I.E. the Batmobile and Munstermobile were cool for what they were, but should Motor Trend or Consumer reports rip ‘em a new one for poor handling or other function flaws?

By: Fluke

Fluke — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:03:21 +0000

“Should a motorcycle always look like a motorcycle?”

Whatever floats your boat, but if all bikes were stamped from a cookie cutter there would not bike a custom bike industry at all.

Personally the lines of this bike are about as ugly as it can get, What gives with the tank/body pointing upwards like that? Both the fenders are appalling looking and solid wheels with a bunch of bolt on decoration pieces makes the engineer in me cringe. I hate overly stretched rigids anyway, which pretty much means i hate all OCC’s Fisher Price theme bikes.

I am a fan of OCC, OK, not the bikes, but of the business plan. T shirts and merchandising have made the Teuteuls a lot of money, when if they had stuck to just bike building they would have been one of the many mostly forgettable shops who jumped on the custom bike bandwagon. If you don’t have real talent you need an alternative way of making your name known enough to charge premium prices your stuff. They found it by planning ahead and using media to their advantage, wheras Jesse seems to have happened upon it by circumstance.

As for the TV show, jeez, even through the TV screen you can feel the negative vibes of a half empty “world headquarters” with absolutely no bikes to build and nothing else happening either.

Fluke

By: David

David — Sun, 17 May 2009 04:34:56 +0000

Nicker,

You are right I just had a “Momentary Lapse of Reason” according to an old Pink Floyd song.
Who could possibly “admire” this thing. Let’s just hide it behind the B-2 and maybe it will meltdown on takeoff.

David

By: Nicker

Nicker — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:47:36 +0000

Dave,

RE:
“… keep it in the hangar and admire it…”

Well, exactly what is it about this design that you “admire”….???

If anything, it gives me the impression of a “Monster Truck.”

But then, that’s just how i see it.
-nicker-

By: Nicker

Nicker — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:38:13 +0000

Back to the question at hand:

RE:
“…should a MC always look like an MC…”

Your free to build anything your heart desires.

On the other hand, you can’t make anyone take any interested in-em.

My perspective….If it doesn’t look like it “should be” a MC, then i couldn’t care less about it.

-nicker-

By: bigalyts

bigalyts — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:28:21 +0000

jESSE IS A JERKOFF, BUT HE SURE PICKED A MOVIE STARR FOR A WIFE! HE IS IN LOVE WITH HIMSELF. DO YOU THINK ONE OF US COULD TAKE A SHOT AT SANDRA , WHILE HI IS OUT THERE LUVIN’ HIMSELF???????????

By: thug custom cycles

thug custom cycles — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:21:36 +0000

I JUST BOUGHT THAT BIKE ON EBAY!!!!!!!!! THEN I BURNED IT TO THE GROUND…..LOL….THATS FUNNY…..LMAF

By: David

David — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:27:51 +0000

You guy’s dont even get it. This bike was built with TAXPAYER money.Nothrup Gruman build the b-2 for the govt they paid for it with the taxpayers money so now this bike belongs to the taxpayers.I really hate to see any of you out riding this thing on the public roads so maybe we can just keep it in the hangar and admire it.
David

By: Jeff Nicklus

Jeff Nicklus — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:53:48 +0000

Jim C.,

One must remember that Jesse was in the industry before TV, the Teutuls are here because of TV …. a big differance my friend!

Over & Out,

Jeff

By: Jim C

Jim C — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:10:10 +0000

It was built for a company who wanted to incorporate what they build into the bike. It looks like they accomplished that. It takes imagination and creativity to do what OCC does. As far as their other bikes,I have had the PLEASURE of riding a couple of their production bikes and I must say that they are well designed and because of that handle very well and ride very well. I think their prices are still a bit high compared to other production bikes but I can not fault them on the quality of the parts that are used for the most part on their bikes. A lot of smaller bike companies out there are using a lot of Taiwan parts on their bike all the while bashing OCC. Looks to me while they are bashing they should be looking in the mirror and questioning their real reasons for bashing OCC.
Love them,like them or hate them,OCC has brought a lot of attention to the motorcycle industry. As has Jesse,Arlen and others including Cyril. One other thing,have you ever been around Jesse? He is worse than Paul Sr in a lot of ways when it comes to taking care of his fans. He basically just told the working class guy,who was buying his parts to build a bike like him, to F#$k off when he closed down his parts line and he has told multitudes of kids to go away and quit bugging him for an autograph. It is funny you never hear anyone say anything bad about Jesse even though in reality he is a LOT worse than any of the Teutuls. “More bike and less bulls$#t” -have you ever priced one of his bikes? LOL talk about over priced!

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:02:48 +0000

The irony is, Paul Sr. is sitting in his huge warehouse garage admiring his collection of motorcycles and muscle cars, all bought with money he made by selling this “crap” as most people seem to call it. Lots of people must like OCC’s stuff if he can get that rich off it! Oh yea, they probably sold a lot of OCC Cologne too, so that probably helped he he.

By: bigalyts

bigalyts — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:48:01 +0000

YOU GOT TO GIVE THOSE BOYS CREDIT, THEY ARE UNIQUE. I remember walking down one of the Streets in Daytona Bch a number of years ago and running across one of their First Creations. It was the Spiderman Bike. It was really “UNIQUE” as well. It was so long ago that they were not displaying their Bike or Bikes anywhere, but on this side street. I saw Jessie James later in the Day selling T-Shirts under his Tent on Main St. I asked him “Hey Jessie whada you think of that Spiderman Bike? He Ressponded with a Classic remark” Its allright I guess but, I Like More Bike and Less Bullshit” ! Here it is 8 or 9 years later and that line of Jessie still WORKS !

By: thug custom cycles

thug custom cycles — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:41:01 +0000

WHO THE HELL WOULD WANNA BE SEEN ON THAT CRAP!! I’M SORRY GUYS BUT IF YOU RODE A BIKE LIKE THAT IN FLORIDA OR OUR BIKE NITE PEOPLE AND GONNA LAUGH THEIR ASSES OFF !!! I MEAN REALLY….. JUST STOP IT!!!! BUILD A REAL BIKE THAT SOMEONE WILL RIDE…. STICK TO THE T SHIRT BUSINESS, PUT IT IN THE PAINT JOB!! DONT MAKE THE BIKE THE PAINT JOB…I HATE THEME BIKES!!!! SO OVER IT….GOSH…WE NEED A REAL SHOW OF REAL SHOP LIFE….RIDE HARD OR GO HOME……..

By: Knucklehead

Knucklehead — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:20:40 +0000

I’m with Robin on this one. I also have to agree with Rogue. Sr. did that just as my grandson was to get an autograph except he talked like that as he had had enough and was not signing anymore. The grandson had to hear Sr’s mouth and NOT get what the little fella waited for for an hour to get.

By: Rogue

Rogue — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:28:12 +0000

It should be well known by now that I have nothing good to say about OCC.
I do Not care for the motorcycles they assemble But to each his own.
I think Paul Senior is a ass and I have had words with him on more than one ocassion because of how he talked to someone especially young people waiting to pay for a autograph on some over priced piece of crap he was selling.
Hopefully some day we will stop hearing about OCC, not that I see that coming anytime soon because the antics of motorcycling’s disfunctional family will be humerous to many as well as the things they call motorcycles.
ROGUE