I would like to say those guys driving the Hummers and Prowlers that live in nice houses are the owners. Vinnie was an employee. He was not part owner or a stockholder. If you owned a business, would you give your employees part ownership in it?

There are a lot of things we don't know about him quiting. Remember, there are a lot of time demands, to work by 7, done at 5, Saturdays and all those trips are a must and not a would you like to come. That all means time away from home. With a new child, it can get old. Add to that the fact that it has been clear for a long time that Jr. is never there to work as PO'd Vinnie, Mikey being a high priced goof off and Vinnie and Rick always having to save the day while the others are off doing who knows what, that grinds. I suspect with editing, we don't see how bad it is. It also is very clear that Rick and Vin are not allowed to make changes as they are always waiting for Jr. to get back to tell them what to do. Makes you wonder how many off camera "conversations" have been had. I think we all watch to see the creations, the work and the results. Jr's creativity has been turned over to the goof-nut and we all love to watch the creation of the bike evolve, without Vinnie, that too is gone. they loose Nub's paint jobs, and they are left with being just a bike builder. Vinnie, we will miss you.

Bummer. Vinnie really kept the show watchable (can only take so many tantrums by Jr & Sr)I wish Vinnie and and his family the best and if TLC or Discovery give him a show I'll watch, but I'm tired of OCC so good luck to the T's and Code, Rick Nub etc
I don't know of any blue collar worker who ever got rich building another mans dreams, so go for your dreams Vin!! RIDE ON!!

I think it sucks that Vinnie left. I love that show. Vinnie, in my opinion, did all the work on the bikes and so did Rick. If it wasn't for Vinnie those bikes would still be in the shop. I think the Jr & Sr. should do what ever it takes to get Vinnie back.

Please Just visit and Support Vinnie and Cody..

They are both good guys and I think its about time they start making the money they deserve

Visit http://www.vforcecustoms.com

Vinnie driving an older truck says nothing about what OCC paid him. It certainly doesn't mean he was badly paid. Lots of people with a high net worth drive older cars. That's one reason they are wealthy, they're not always making car payments, or worse, lease payments. I see lots of guys around here driving expensive cars/trucks that don't have two nickels to rub together. I have an aunt and uncle that have a net worth of several million yet they drive a 10+ year old pickup and an old Ford station wagon.

The pressure of working under Sr and Jr was certainly a big part of the Vinnie split. But I think the pressure of working under a cable channel's filming crew for years would drive any normal person nuts. And you never know what the video editors are going to put in a show. What's picked to show can make you look like a genius or a fool. These reality show producers thrive on the conflicts within the shows. They are no different than the news and print media that make they money telling about disasters and bad news. Good news doesn't bring in cash. So, too, with OCC and AC shows, their view is that conflicts bring the kinds of reality they want to focus on. Unfortunately, these producers probably made a bad decision here and it may help to bring about the demise of the OCC empire and TV show. We'll have to wait and see.
As for the conflicts in the Teutul family relationships, this is nothing new. I met a young man that grew up friends of this family and played football with Jr. in high school. His comments were that the craziness you see on TV has been part of this family forever - it is nothing new. But those continual conflicts get "old" real fast. And the crew probably lost the "glue" that kept the show together when it lost Vin and Cody.

"If you owned a business, would you give your employees part ownership in it?"

No ... why would I do that? I'M the one laying out the capital .. I'M the one paying all the bills .. and I'M the one taking all the risks, that's what "ownership" means.

Looks like Vinnie is doing a promo circuit!

http://www.autorama.com/casi/chicago.htm

Vinnie and Cody are doing fine!!
see for your self, Vforcecustoms.com

You know being under appreciated has always been the catalyst that propels guys like Vinnie and Cody into greatness....the Teutels carved out their piece with Sr. at the helm.
I don't think they realize just how much they will miss Vinnie...... but better yet I don't think Vinnie or Cody will miss the Teutels once they get going....Vinnie has everything Jr. doesn't in terms of a person people actually like and gravitate to.Him and Cody will be fine.

I'm another new poster who just found out Vinnie left.

Insane business decision to let him walk out of that door Jr and Sr. The revenue you'll lose over that decision could easily have been saved even if you had tripled Vinnies salary to make him stay (or whatever it would have taken to make him stay.)

I bet the T-Shirt sales alone where worth more than his salary. Do you honestly think people watch the show to see you two pantomine dames argue every week? You're stuff is what the fast-forward button was invented for. To get to Vinnie and Rick actually building the bikes.

As to the Discovery channel, if you don't pick up Vinnie and Cody and make a new reality show out of them you too will be making an insane business decision. I've had enough of the lame for-the-camera arguments, the 'hilarious' door-smashing, the car-bashing and the look-we've-got-so-much-money-we'll-just-trash-this-on-camera rubbish. I loved the show to watch people build bikes. The rest was all pointless froth. That froth is all you've got now.

So fingers crossed we'll see what I hope. Vinnie and Cody just having fun and building great bikes. None of the other stuff. Maybe they'll use Justin to do their paint to. It's just a no brainer. Make a pilot episode and see how it takes off.

How about it Discovery? There's a hungry audience already here waiting for it. An audience who are pig-sick of watching the Dumb and Dumber every week.

If I were Vinny and watched what Mikey got away with everyday - and PAID for, I would have left too. Even if I were friends with Paul Sr and Jr.

Mikey does NOTHING and gets paid fat cash. Vinny busts his butt and probably gets his fair share, but still. To see one person actually produce something and see another (fat lazy Mikey) do NOTHING and get paid probably even more cause he is daddy's boy. . . .

I do enjoy the early episodes to this day, but as of late it is getting a little long in the tooth.

I could not agree with you more cableguy, my thoughts exactly.

He's gone. Get over it...

Sr. said that everybody's replaceable after Vinnie left and didn't seem to care about his leaving. When Craig, the guy who showed Jr. how to make a frame jig left, Sr. gave him a very heart felt send off. Much more than Vinnie got. A trusted member of the American Chopper shows right after the first show. Was supposedly like family. Jr's childhood friend and he doesn't warrant the same kind of send off? In my opinion he should have had a show that was just about him and what an intricate part of OCC he was. He cared much more about the product that rolled out of the OCC doors than the owners did. Shame on them for not giving him a much better send off than he got seeing as he made the transaction between Dee's leaving and the new episodes seamless.

"transaction"?

Actually we don't know what kind of sendoff Vinnie got. They might have thrown him a big farewell party for all we know.

quote:

Originally posted by popeyeamofoman:
"transaction"?

Actually we don't know what kind of sendoff Vinnie got. They might have thrown him a big farewell party for all we know.

Exactly. However, showing what they did provides for a much more dramatic effect.

I hope Vinnie all the best.They should hire Vinnie back he was the best and will be missed.Senior needs to wake up and get him back.He is a hardworker.Mikey is lazy and needs to be fired.

I think Vinny might be happy now being his own boss why should he come back?

quote:

Actually we don't know what kind of sendoff Vinnie got. They might have thrown him a big farewell party for all we know.

His wonderful sendoff was "everybody's replaceable" in Sr.s words.

We have no idea what went on behind the scenes, only what made the cut. And Sr. is right, everybody IS replaceable.

quote:

Originally posted by billybobjonesy:

quote:

Actually we don't know what kind of sendoff Vinnie got. They might have thrown him a big farewell party for all we know.

His wonderful sendoff was "everybody's replaceable" in Sr.s words.

What we see and what happens are two different things. Take the incedent of when Junior threw the guitar through the office window and broke the glass. It was just inches from Rick's face. What we saw was Rick getting mad (which I don't blame the guy), and Junior acting like it was "no big deal". What didn't we see? Junior making an apology to Rick. How do I know this? A co-worker at OCC verified that Rick was apologised to by Junior. He made the statement over at the fanclub when the topic of the guitar incedent came up.

Vinnie was a part of the show and helped with the ratings. He should be compensated just like a supporting actor in a movie. I'm getting tired of the Teutuls, I think they lost touch with reality. I can't wait to see the next COPORATE bike they build. I hope it's the WAL MART bike!

quote:

Originally posted by ih8kat:
Vinnie was a part of the show and helped with the ratings. He should be compensated just like a supporting actor in a movie. I'm getting tired of the Teutuls, I think they lost touch with reality. I can't wait to see the next COPORATE bike they build. I hope it's the WAL MART bike!

Any compensation from the show isn't the Teutuls responsibility. Compensation for being on the show would come from the Discover networks and/or Pilgrim films. Vinnie getting paid to actually do work at OCC is OCC's responsibility. I'm sure he did get a paycheck for being an OCC employee.

quote:

Vinnie was a part of the show and helped with the ratings. He should be compensated just like a supporting actor in a movie. I'm getting tired of the Teutuls, I think they lost touch with reality. I can't wait to see the next COPORATE bike they build. I hope it's the WAL MART bike!

How is a "supporting actor" compensated in a way that Vinnie wasn't? I doubt he was working for free. LOL

If it's so painful ... why watch???