On May 15, 2011 I broke the news that Jesse James would return to TV in a 3-way build-off with the Teutuls, Paul Jr. and Paul Sr. This afternoon, Jesse just confirmed to me that the face-off will be “live” on 2 consecutive nights on the Discovery Channel, December 5 and 6, 2011 both shows at 9 pm eastern time.
On December 5, the 3 custom builders, Jesse, Paul Jr. and Paul Sr. in a regular show of “American Chopper” will shown building their respective bikes front of the cameras, followed by viewers vote to select their favorite. The following evening December 6, the winning bike will be revealed in a live broadcast from Las Vegas.
In 2000, the Discovery Channel made Jesse James famous with the TV series “Motorcycle Mania” Jesse left the network 5 years ago for new ventures and a new series on Spike TV. So, it’s his big return on the Discovery Channel and I know that all chopper fans are going to mark their calendars for the 2 nights of Dec. 5 & 6. (personal picture Jesse James courtesy to Cyril Huze)
Great reality show. It will oblige me to watch the Teutuls at the same time…
This would be killer if ONLY Jesse where to build his bike (of course) …. ONLY Paul Jr, where to touch is bike….. And ONLY Sr. to touch his bike….. Only three people involved….
Jesse will build his……
Jr will add a color suggestion and help bolt on a pipe……
Sr. will bitch that other have not got it done yet… but for the cameras he will install a bolt……..
All good for TV…………………. I GUESS….. LOL
Cyril. Do you already know the winner?
Patrick…I know the winner!
Go Jesse!
Yea, I’ll be watching..
lame…
jesse wins easy because he has talent and can build bikes. the teutuls couldn’t build a turd and have others do all their work.
I like Keith’s idea. Make each guy do the work. I believe only Jesse could actually build a bike, wire it, and make it run. But this is TV…….so it won’t happen.
Go Pjd !
All true moto-enthusiasts are losers in this one. Let the battle of the bad stereotypes begin!
You can’t build a bike in 1 TV show. so, it’s just a TV show where everything is pre-fabricated and pre-fitted. Good for all 3 builders but we are going to get again new bikers who want us to build a custom bike for them for tomorrow…TV BS.
Cyril,
Once again, you prove to the world that you truly are our “Insider”.
It will be entertainment for us ‘motorcycle people’ to whom this
show is aimed at.
Now that Nascar, Moto GP, WSBK, etc, are winding down for
another season, watching this in December provides that
burst of two wheeled adrenalin to get you through the
snowy season.
Sorry Teutuls, it’s not your fault. Your a victim of over exposure.
The masses want something new. A new competition or a war
for bike builder supremacy, having people go on-line in real time
to vote for the winner. Just an idea.
Shifter, your one liner was awesome man, I laughed my ass off.
Keith Stone & Kiki, truer words were never spoken! The wife and I
were actually talking about this very thing. How can one be called
a builder when you have no ‘real’ part in the whole process other
than to kick some ass, deal with the TV people and keep the bills
paid.
What a great blog we have here ladies & gentlemen!
God Bless America, and God Bless Cyril Huze.
Fantastic. What this can likely do is drive a nail in the Teutel coffin when Jesse calls their bluff. Agreed that it should be only the hands of the individuals wrenching and welding…not their crew. Who’s making the “Team Jesse” shirts?
Jesse has more talent than both them Teutuls . He dose love it , you can tell !! He is a true metal master .
A good way to exit the Teutuls from TV and to put back Jesse in the TV solo seat.
I’ll miss this one
How about if they don’t cover the teutel’s and Just cover a Builder Jesse. I guess that wouldn’t make good ratings. the fights make for ratings. It certainly isn’t the same bike that that goof Jason thinks is new but is the same rehashed thing. Sorry I was speaking the truth,and that’s not politically correct.
Calender marked! peace
Looking forward to seeing what JJ comes up with, I’ve always enjoyed his work.
Marc. Both Jesse & Cyril hate the bike biz BS. So, they collaborate. It’s called “how to help each other” Good for our news.
MAN………….WHAT ARE DOING JESSE INVOLVED WITH THOSE FAGS???????
OK,MONEY BUT,COMMON,THEY CAN CLEAN UP HIS OWN ASSES!!
Dave at the Discovery channel knows how to make money and TV characters. This is for entertainment purposes so don’t let the hype get to ya.
You have to give all 3 credit for giving the motorcycle business a boost when needed. Of course this is hype but if it gets even a few new people to build bikes it is well worth it. The Discovery channel took a chance with both and the Teutuls lasted for many years. I say good for them and thanks for getting more people into our sport. They all made mega bucks because of the TV exposure, but they better pack rat some of the money because a rainy day is comin!
Unfortunately Jesse might loose if the public votes because neither Jr or Sr have cheated on their wives/gfriends in front of the entire world. However if the voters are mostly bikers, he has a good chance.
Will be interesting to watch, as long as the rules are that THEY ALL build their bikes from scratch and don’t get help from others on their team. Jr and Jesse know how to weld and build a tank. Sr. has no chance.
Discovery Channel should run this show opposite Dancing With The Stars and see which one draws a larger audience. I think we already know the answer. “But anyway” none of the three ever built a bike that can do the Fandango. ..Z
How bout you show some real builders get down like Greg Westbury, Roger Goldammer or some of these Dudes that are winning the AMD Championships in Europe and The Asian builders. What I wanna see is the “Best get down”!
I know that Jesse James, Teutul Sr or PJD would be hard pressed to come up with something out of their comfort zone.
If you wanna see someone bolt on parts to a rigid you can get a million dudes do that for you, I think everyone would like to see artist, builders, Craftsmen push the “Custom Builder” to the next level.
Just my two cents.
So its Biker Build Off with Jesse James vs American Chopper? Even though Jesse isn’t the best I know hes 100 times better than American Chopper so I hope Jesse Wins.
I like Jesse, and I also have a lot of respect for Paul Sr. That man seen the gold ring, he grabbed and ran with it. Like it or not, even with their soapbox family feuding, the Teutul’s kept the custom bike building industry alive. The outcome of the voting for Jesse James vs the Teutuls build off may stem from popularity. “American Chopper”, “OCC”, “Paul Sr.”, “Paul Jr.”, the “Teutuls” stayed in the forefront, they continued to be a house hold name.
I’m gonna watch the shows, both the builds should be the finest the industry has seen.
Oh yes…. I don’t know if this was ever mentioned on the show, but something I noticed about Paul Jr’s trademark emblem that looks like a crown, I noticed it’s “Jr”.
That and $1.65 will get you a cup of coffee in the morning.
I’m pulling for Jesse for sure. It really is just a battle between a fabricator/artisan and to customizers. Unfortunately Jesse is a guest on their show, so it really depends on how much marketing is done on Jesse’s side, and how much exposure this show gets to his fans that don’t watch AC. I’m with the camp that it should be between the three people, not Jesse against the teams at OCC & PJD. But alas this is probably going to be a popularity vote. Those knuckle heads did a build-off for Cadillac, and my opinion Sr’s bike was a better representation of the Cadillac V series brand. Jr’s bike beat Sr’s by 100%+ in a case auction. Clearly it’s not about talent, but popularity. It’s my opinion that Jr is a manager, he manages the people that do the work. Sr fundamentally a biker at heart, but lost focus and got wrapped up in selling out. And Jesse is a biker, fabricator, innovator, a constant student, etc. If this were a balanced vote based on talent, Jesse could buy a big dog chopper kit and still win.
I will tell you one thing that no one in this Blog wants to hear. Sr. and Jr. has built or let’s say have taken part in 5 X’s more Motorcycles, Built .. Like it or not being part of that many Builds make them very , very qualified Assemblers. I have watched Jr in the last 10 or so Shows and he has a real good Talent in making the Client happy and be very creative. I am sure that the modern equipment that makes Building Bikes a Science are available for the 3 Builders. That will make the Contest fair. The Teutuls HAVE DONE MORE FOR THE MOTORCYCLE BUSINESS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS THEN ANY BODY !…………
Is this April? Surely you all are kidding.
What will Van Mikey be doing? Its pretty obvious hes the most talented Turdel… I mean gesh the guy has an art gallery for peats sake..
It’s all good for the motorcycle industry! That’s what matters now!
Attractive women tend to throw themselves at Jesse.
Paul Jr. had better keep an eye on his wife.
Just saying….
Live ?
Aren’t they filming this right now ?
Aren’t there supposed to be some good Movies at the theathers about this timeframe. We all should go ….get out and take the wife out for a good movie those two nights !
jesse will win…..that is if nascar isn’t showing reruns on speed channel but wait Direct Tv is dumping speed and a bunch of other channels including Fox news…..
SSDD; David
It’s not going to be live… it’s being filmed right now… Jesse is actually with Cole Foster and others working on the build off… so neither Jr, Sr or Jesse will build their bikes on their own… they will “assemble” and “supervise”, as all the previous biker build offs…. I think the only guy that has won multiple times and has never required anybody’s help is Matt Hotch.
Jesse must have realized he’s become more irrelevant by the day, and called every contact he had to get back on TV :)))))
Dumb Vs Dumb & Dumber – Jackasses, not an original idea between the lot of them.
Cult of personality on your TV
Yes! Jesse James ..The real thing!
Television producers will turn the whole thing into stupidity.
bet yas a grand that senior finds the bolt, gives it 2 jr, and jr hands it to jj . theres yr f…..kn build off ! go figure !
I will be watching and I hope it translates into customers walking in the door.
TV Circus.
Kick thier ass JJ!
jesse james will build a cooler bike and then he will lose.
the american viewer thinks that the bikes with the most sh*t stuck all over it (wrenches, space shuttles, gas grill knobs, etc…) is ‘custom’.
think about who you see wearing the OCC shirts…they know as much about bikes and bike building as my dog.
im sure it’ll be somewhat entertaining..but i think the outcome wont be what people that know bikes and about building bikes would want it to be.
.
Heavy Metal is right, it’s going to be a joke, especially with the clowns involved.
Still should be better than 99.9% of the garbage on TV. I’ll take just about any show about bikes I can get at this point
Why does 8 out of 10 Blogs on Cyril ‘s site dislike with great intensity the “Teutuls”. I see these Guys bringing some of the Best looking Motorcycles ever to many Corporate Clients. Their Shop and their People have Built the Bikes. The workmanship looks very impressive!
It should be a good build off you should give credit when credit is do no one can deny that jrs bikes have got a lot better on jr vs sr show!
Jesus!! Who Cares?? It will be a clown filled circus reality show & heavy on the clowns…
Bill
The builder in me is rooting for Jesse and my designer side is rooting for Paul Jr. Don’t really care about the competition part as much though.
Unfortunately, this WILL be a popularity contest and is very unlikely to be decided by who builds the best bike, nor will it be decided by which of the three are more personally hands-on in fabricating their own bike.
TV producers make programs that will appeal to the masses, as apart from wanting to make interesting content, the next main driver for TV companies is advertising. The Discovery Channel people are not fools and the ONLY reason they make series after series of American Chopper is that millions of people watch it. Those millions are mainly people that do not own, ride or even have much interest in motorcycles, so sadly, issues like Jesse being the one who is the most capable of actually building a bike will have little influence on the result. Like many bikers, I was initially drawn to American Chopper as heck, it was about what many of us love – custom motorbikes. I enjoyed the first series where the building of each bike was covered in detail over two programs. The appeal died for me when the shows became less about how the bikes are built and more about the Teutuls arguments and the relationships between the two.
Yes, many bikers don’t like the bikes the Teutils build. Some of them are gimmicky and some are terrific. Who cares? I certainly don’t because I would never want to own one. What is important is these two have probably done more between them to raise the profile of custom bikes and that has helped almost everyone in the custom bike industry. You don’t have to like them or their bikes to recognise and appreciate what they have done for custom bikes in general.
As for the voting, as much as I hate the thought, Jesse is unlikely to win. The regular viewers of American Chopper will arrive home in their cars, sit and watch the show and vote for either Sr or Jr because those two are the very reason those viewers regularly watch the show. Like many bikers, I would be much more likely to vote for the bike I like the best, how it was made, how parts were hand-crafted and how the design might be unique. Unfortunately however, the result will not be decided by people like me or the other people that read this blog.
Despite some degree of predictability about the show, I will watch it with interest to see what the three do.
Jesse , Billy Lane, Rick Fairless and the late Indian Larry , old school , hand crafted. Just saying.
Hey Bobx,
Just a thought, but didn’t Jesse sell a few million bucks worth of t-shirts to Wal Mart shoppers?
I do agree with you about 99%, but you lost on the shirt comment…LOL.
Teutels have done a HUGE amount for the industry’s wealth, regardless of the drama of their show and stupidity off screen.
Jesse has done the same, and again…same stupidity off screen.
Ultimately, you’ve got two talented builders (Jr and Jesse), but better than that, you’ve got a REAL buildoff, with builders who are already celebrities, throwing some hot sauce on the sundae and getting some attention back to a wary industry.
I will be watching, and I hope to see some kick ass builds, no outlandish crap, and just some smart sweet designs.
Sure as hell better than watching anything else on TV right now…unless they air another episode of Beavis and Butthead that night.
I think this will be great fun to watch. I enjoyed Motorcycle Mania and I still watch
American Chopper. I would prefer to watch these shows over 99% of the reality TV BS offerings out there. I live in NYC, so OCC brings some attention to the Chopper scene on the East Coast, and provide lots of biker events and rides. If I would have to choose which bike I would want to own and ride, it would be a WCC:-)
How many times can these two”motorcycle builders” keep going back to the same well!
Enough already!
If Cole Foster is in it as someone suggested, I will watch, period. That is the only reason I would, the rest, JJ and the Teutuls play act as moronic clowns to the TV too much for my taste. No one else’s cars or bikes send shivers down my spine like Cole Fosters do.
And the winner is………..;-)
If this is judged by the fans of the show, it will be PJD winning it because those type of fans don’t know a seat pan from a frying pan.
@ Fluke. I saw Cole had a pic of himself on his FB page working with JJ. The caption said “In Austin helping Jesse James on his biker build off against OCC. Looking good!” Gonna be good!
also prom video here- http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/10/28/jesse-james-american-chopper-battle/
Jesse likes swastika tattooed chicks. Senior secretely in love with Palin. Jr. living with a wanna-be designer dumb blonde. I would watch 3 females wrestling to death, but not these 3 builder clowns making a ton of money faking motorcycle building.
……. “and the winner is, by the narrowest of margins, Billy Lane” …… No, No, No, never mind that is that other Build Off Guy “…..
It will be interesting to see what the judging format is. IF Discovery will take the politics out of the equation, considering Jesse doesn’t have a weekly TV Show on Discovery like those other guys and IF Paulie and Senior will actually build their own bikes ( like that will ever happen …… remember boys “Lefty Loosey – Righty Tighty”) Jesse should win hands down. I suppose we will see!
Over & Out,
Jeff
Jesse James? Oh – you mean the friggin Neo-Nazi who bailed on his wife and kids to shack up with some tatted up gutter-slug. Yeah. I’ll be sure to Tivo that.
I’m sick of spoiled brat Jr. who lets Vinnie build his bikes for him and Sr. who can’t fabricate anything other than an iron fireplace poker on his own. I realize this is made for T.V. BS but I hope Jesse cleans their clock and Discovery gives him another show. He’s a lot more interesting than the recovering fat lazy artist & brat arguing with the meat head father.
4wheel drive van ,great comment, soooo true & very funny ha ha ha
I will Not Be Watching!
Of course the bikes are built well in advance. Bet Cyril knows what they are…
None of the 3 builders are relevant of what is today’s custom motorcycle industry. None are trend setters in anything. Fake reality show for tv retarded people. All are “has been” and are physically very unattractive. Watch National Geographic, the History Channel or read a good book. At least you will learn something.
JJ mixing with 2 bozos will look like a bozo. For more money he is damaging further his brand image. Will not watch this 3-way joke. JJ is on his way down.
Yep, but Jesse james, until now, was able to bounce back. Let’s see.
Hey Carlo, you obviously have a secret crush on Jesse. C’mon, admit it . . .
Bring it on!!
I think that’s it’s awesome for a downed industry that needs all for the help that it can get.
I’m surprised that the Tutle’s have accepted the challenge. My guess is that they will have help from their “team”………otherwise Jesse will bury them alive.
It’s impossible to build a bike in two day…….we all know that…….so there might be some pre-building done prior to the show.
I can’t wait to see it!
Excellent work Cyril!
El Loco
“Jesse James lives again!!!”
Great to see Jesse is back! Can’t wait to see Jr. And Sr. Go away and take the Wanna be artist / guitarist / comedian / janitor with them. Cheers Mickey
is there an audience? what is the address?
is there an audience? what is the address
666 bored white trash lane
sunnyvale trailer park
Hope it’s on in the UK soon after but shouldn’t it be Jesse James vs Vinnie vs Chubbsey in the computer room?
all 3 guys were part of the movement that put customers in the doors of custom motorcycle shops all over the world for years .Yea its a dying industry now ,but when it was in its prime anyone in the buisness needs to thank discovery,occ,jesse james,build or bust ,etc etc for making a big deal of the industry some of us live and breath by .
If this helps put people back on bikes and in the doors of shops in anyway good or bad i support it .
Jesse should win by default but thats just an opinion .
Too bad reality tv makes people think they know people personally and thier entire history and body of work is all of what they’ve seen in a few episodes .
Get your heads out of your asses ,everytime you shit on the industry it shits right back on you .
jess should win as he will most likely be the only one of the three that does most of the work himself. secondly he should stop weaking his frames by drilling holes in them. that is about as dumb as junior hanging doodads off his frames
R.I.P Indian Larry
Jesse must have felt insulted when they put these two clowns up against him..
A bike “builder” against two bike “decorators”.. what a trip !
For those who think Jesse did everything and had no help, I have two words: Bill Dodge.
That being said, I think Jesse is a better all around builder than either Teutul. But, let’s not forget, the build off is on OCC’s TV show. I can’t stand the thought of it, but I think a Teutul wins this one…
Its good to see Cole, Decker, Bacon and Jesse together, I am sure something inspiring will be born. Thats what I want to see. Not sure who the Teutels are employing to help out.
In the end, I would rather see this kind of reality TV programming than the Kardashians and Jersey Shore.
Winner — Jesse! Undoubtedly he flashed the “pay up sucker” palm and Discovery Channel folks had to write him a big crazy check to do this silliness…
hopefully one day he goes back to his Metal Church series of metalworking videos and making cool sh*t only for himself. (vs customers)
This will be very interesting to see how this affects the industry.
There aren’t many top flight custom builders left out there. Like they say..”only the shall strong survive”
I am hoping that this ordeal sparks another build off. I would love to see some of the surviving builders compete head to head once again. Vince Dahl of Redneck, Alfredo Carlini of Hardcore Choppers, Eddie Trotta of Thunder Cycles, Jerry Covington, Arlen Ness, Cyril Huze, Jim Nazi, Matt Hotch and a few more that I can’t remember at this moment. Maybe even bring in some guys from over seas to mix it up a bit.
I welcome anything positive to bring up the industry!
Keep us posted Cyril…..you know we count on you.
El Loco
“Jesse James lives!!!!!!”
I’ll be watching it, but once Sr. starts his complaining and throwing tantrums I’ll be turning it off and going to watch some Law and Order reruns. Anything is better than his childish complaining and tantrums.
Early prediction Jr will win. He may not have the most skill as an actual builder, but he designs pieces of art. That said, if this wasn’t being judged by the public, Jesse might actually win. I think he can build the best bikes for bikes sake and ride ability.
But the general public opinion of both jesse and sr. is pretty low, so unless jr has an epic fail and builds the worst bike of his life, I don’t think the others are gonna do it.
You know when Jesse is nervous is when he starts running his mouth. Jr. is going to run circles around Jesse James and Sr.
Monster garage showed JJ losing it with the Truck/Cycle and When he did not check the gas tank that leaked a real mechanic and project leader should of checked not blamed others and ass chewed the guys on T.V worse than Paul Sr Size 11 ranting Also when he went on a Bike cruise with Kid Rock in the Dessert And lost all praise with J James as a Real Man
Why all the fuss, who cares? It’s called entertainment… Yeah most know how reality works and most posting here appreciate fabrication in its rawest form. This is a TV show, who cares. It’s like people take this shit personally, all 3 “builders” are using the public to make a paycheck, they’re all on the same page. Watch it for the comedy, entertainment, and insight into what the public wants. If they did this all for the art, most people here would’nt even know who any of these guys are(you have to go public to really make some money, wether TV, magazines, or tabloids, as all have been a part of). Just watch it and bitch afterwards if you choose to do so…
“Best” is a matter of opinon anyways, and very few of the whiners have actually watched any of these guys physically build a bike, therefore forfitting any rights to say who does what, and how, and who is better.
Let’s just be honest here …
Paul Sr. was a drunk and a drug addict for almost 20 years … if it wasn’t for his son Paul Jr., he’d be staggering around some alley somewhere.
Let’s face it, he’s alienated not one, but 3 sons — how can you alienate an entire family and still think you’re right.?
He never even bothered to see his son Mikey during the 3 months he was in rehab — (even though he spent 2 months on and off in rehab himself) … then he ditched Paul Jr’s wedding … Paul Sr. isn’t a father, he’s just another wannabe bike builder … like the idiot Jesse James, another egomaniac that loves his muscles, not his family.
Here’s a great idea: They need to put Jesse James and Paul Sr together … Jesse James can be the whimpy crying little girl he was on his last show looking for a father he never had — and Paul Sr. can pretend he almost cares.
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Hey CRay,
Except for the handful of “motorcycle enthusiasts” out there we are bikers.. Most of us were drunks and drug users for 20 odd years.. Kinda goes with the territory. Now keep in mind I said except for the Motorcycle Enthusiasts..(don’t want to offend anyone). Take a look around.. Jesse, Paul Yaffe, Sr., Eddie Trotta, me and just about every other builder out there is public about substance history. We have all lived large and fast. There is a reason we started riding… Cause we did not fit the mold for anything else. The reason we started building is cause we could not afford to buy a brand new 1979 super glide. The hours and days in the garage in a drunken or drugged stooper just trying to keep our scoots on the road is where our skill sets came from. We have all grown up now and have adjusted our lives, but none of us can forget where it all came from. Besides that, you feel like you know these people cause you see them on tv… You don’t know shit about the inns and outs of these peoples lives so don’t pretend you do
DJ,
Please, get off the Playhouse 90 routine … I’ve lived all of your sad stories.
You don’t get a “badge of courage” for being a drunk and druggie for 20 years and ruining everyones life in and around you … that’s just a cheap excuse – not a reason.
It’s what you do for the rest of your life that’s all important….
Personally, I could “GAS” for Jesse, because he’s been handed everything on a platter for the last 12+ years and made millions, now he’s pissed it all away … he’s now involved in 15/20+ lawsuits, he has dozens of very unhappy pissed-off customers due to crappy work and materials and his fan base has turned to dust and nobody cares about JJ.
My original point was Paul Sr. .. here’s a man that his entire family helped and carried him for 20 years, but most important, he had a son that took OCC from a dirty old partime backyard welding shop to a business that is now marketed around the world …. “Wake Up Paul Sr, you’ve been handed a lottery ticket and you don’t even know it..!”
It’s not important whether you and I like their products, most of the world does … Paul Jr. has expanded the motorcycle market by leaps and bounds, and “just about” every bike builder has benefited from it (or should have) — that in itself is one amazing achievement.
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