What happened to Vinnie? Is he no longer working
there or what?

Is Pincher also gone?
How about The Lurker?

And the hamburgler, I wondered if he was still working at OCC.

Short answer - Vinnie was gettin too much TV time (and too much credit) so Sr. told him if he didn't like it, leave. TLC probably paid for Vinnie's roof too. Sr. is to selfish to do such a thing.

I doubt that, the show was on Discovery, not TLC, at the time.

same company - bottom line is Sr. is too self-centered to think about anybody else. He would only agree to get up on the roof for 5 mins for the photo-op

Well, it's evident the man should be SHOT!

Seriously, would YOU want some musclebound guy who knows zip about roofing to be up on YOUR roof walking around with a hammer actually working?? LOL

Looks like Vinnie & Codie are doing well,wonder if Mickey will transition over to Vinnie's and get them back on Tv. I noticed the website did not mention OCC b yname,but Vinnie did give them alot of credit for his current sucess.

Vinnie is being gracious. Plus if Jr had not brought him to OCC, Vinnie might still be mowing grass for his dad.

I can't see Vinnie bringing Mikey into his shop. Vinnie wants to be taken seriously and doesn't need the town simp getting in the way.

Mikey is of ZERO value in the shop, why would anyone bring him in unless they felt obligated because he's a relative and can't hold any type of meaningful employment on his own? He may be Vinnies friend but like you said, Vinnie want's to be taken seriously and Mikey brings NOTHING to the table.

I agree; unless you want to be on TV and hold an audience, then he has -some- value... yes?

No.

Its a YES for me BoogityBob - would American Chopper have been a better show without Mikey? No way. He's by far the best natural communicator on the show and people have always warmed to him - especially at the unveils.

Zero value in terms of building bikes granted, but huge value in terms of positive PR and brining a human face to the OCC Brand - I don't think Snr or Jnr for that matter are natural 'people' people - Mikey more than compensates.

quote:

I agree; unless you want to be on TV and hold an audience, then he has -some- value... yes?

Absolutely not.

As a PR person, Mikey has some value. But he needs to stay out of the shop! His antics interfere with what is going on there.

HOWEVER, Mikey did not belong at the reveals! He put nothing into those bikes. Instead the crew that built the bike should be the ones attending the reveal. In other shows I have seen this is the normal way of doing things, giving credit to the team.

If other companies can take the time to bring their team along, AC should be able to do the same!

Im sure most people that went to the reveals watched the show and knew Mikey didn't help much and Rick did everything

Speaking of reveals, here's one that has me stumped. At one of the NASCAR reveals (I think it was Richmond or Martinsville) They did the normal reveal, afterward they took questions from the audience (it was indoors in the media center).

One of the questions was directed to Vinney: I know Sr and Jr, but what do you do? they say. Vinnie's answer: They fight and argue, I build bikes. (Obviously this was a few years back)

My question: If you're a fan of OCC and know Sr and Jr, how could you possibly not know Vinney!? Just wondering.

I think that was the Victory Junction Bike OCC did for the Charity that the Petty support

I just talked to Vinnie the other day..22 Sept..and hes doing just fine. Doing a bike build for a company that uses dogs to chase geese I believe and JB Graphix is painting it..(Justin does hot work and has 2 crazy dogs to help with the work, as long Buddy doesnt crap on the floor again..LOL)

quote:

Originally posted by Switch625:
I just talked to Vinnie the other day..22 Sept..and hes doing just fine. Doing a bike build for a company that uses dogs to chase geese I believe and JB Graphix is painting it..(Justin does hot work and has 2 crazy dogs to help with the work, as long Buddy doesnt crap on the floor again..LOL)

The Geese Chaser bike was finished over a month ago and has been unveiled and Nubby did the paint job, They just finished fabricating the Diamond P Bike I think in the last week and Justin is doing the paint on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Switch625:
I just talked to Vinnie the other day..22 Sept..and hes doing just fine. Doing a bike build for a company that uses dogs to chase geese I believe and JB Graphix is painting it..(Justin does hot work and has 2 crazy dogs to help with the work, as long Buddy doesnt crap on the floor again..LOL)

Does he have website or link to his work? I haven't heard anything bout Vinnie since he left OCC in the PR field about what he is doing.

quote:

Originally posted by Warren61:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Switch625:
I just talked to Vinnie the other day..22 Sept..and hes doing just fine. Doing a bike build for a company that uses dogs to chase geese I believe and JB Graphix is painting it..(Justin does hot work and has 2 crazy dogs to help with the work, as long Buddy doesnt crap on the floor again..LOL)

Never mind, duh me for not looking at the link in an earlier post before making statements.. Surprised Vinnie has Cody working for him, given how he called him useless and worthless a few times during builds.

Vinnie called everyone dumb and useless in the shop - all part of his good natured banter! But he always had a good relationship with Cody and the two clearly got on well. I wondered how Snr felt when Cody left to work with Vinnie. Snr clearly had a real soft spot for the lad so it must have been a real kick in the teeth for him when Cody did leave. I never thought Paulie warmed to Cody though - but then Jnr never really seemed genuinely close to anyone in the shop - other than Vinnie of course in the 'good old days' of OCC

Justin is painting Diamond P in full earnest has i speak , i asked him in the begining to send pic updates from start to finish, allowing everyone to see the whole process from bare frame to body work and then a complex Irodesent paint theme you can check his work out at www.DiamondPChopper.com. To me the full steps in pic formatt allow everyone to see how much detail this very skilled artist puts into his work.
Fred