Reminiscing with Rachael and talks of the future

Speaker 1: All right, So we're kicking it off with the Paul Junior Podcast and.

Speaker 2: Just me and my lovely wife Rachel.

Speaker 1: We've been putting some clips out on social in this sort of format lately, and it seems like people are really responding in a positive way.

Speaker 2: So we just put it out.

Speaker 1: There for people to ask questions that they have, and we figured we just have some conversations. We realized that

the audience, you know, after all these years of American Chopper, that the audience really they want to hear more about the show. And there's so much to talk about, honestly,

that we haven't talked about. It's almost a little overwhelming

because when you think about how many episodes and for how many years we were on television, one hundred and seventy nine episodes.

Speaker 2: One hours hours. Yeah, and I don't.

Speaker 1: Think that's not even counting specials.

Speaker 3: I'm going to say special build offs and everything.

Speaker 1: In preparation for this today though, I got up this more and I thought, let me watch episode one because I never watched these episodes, right, I mean I never right, we don't watch the show.

Speaker 3: I mean we used to watch them when they would first come out, just to make sure that our client was like portrayed correctly, like that would be it, right?

Speaker 2: We didn't. We just that's it.

Speaker 1: So most of the show we watched the night of the show, and then never again.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So I got up this morning, I said, well, maybe we could do some conversations me and you about like the first episode, because that was such a long time ago, right, But I couldn't find it. I could find every season

starting with The Black Widow, but I couldn't find the jet Bike and I couldn't find the Cody Project, which preceded the first episode of the series, The Black Widow.

Speaker 3: Okay, so what that would be considered? What then the pilot?

Speaker 2: It's the pilot, it's the original pilot.

Speaker 1: Yeah, two pilots, I think, Well, I don't know if it's two pilots.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what. I don't really know what

they call it.

Speaker 1: But so I just watched the first half of The Black Widow because The Black Widow's two parts, right, and like the fab and all the that stuff and then the assembly and the unveils the second part. And I

have to tell you, I smile the entire time when I'm watching the show. I mean, it's like I can't

believe what I'm watching. It's the weirdest thing. I feel

like this morning I became a fan of American Chopper.

I know that sounds weird, right, but like, I'm watching someone else on that screen, because it was twenty five years ago, maybe not quite but a little over twenty years ago, and I was such a different person back then.

I mean I thought different, I looked different, I talked different, my father we.

Speaker 2: Were all younger, you know.

Speaker 1: And then so I just watched that first episode and I was just kind of blown away by it. I

really felt like, Wow, I kind of really see what everyone loves about it. I know that sounds weird, but

I feel like maybe it's taken me over twenty years.

Speaker 2: To kind of step back and have that perspective that intermation it.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I appreciate for something that was really ultimately groundbreaking.

And then just seeing my father, you know, big and just him and our dynamic at the time, which really hasn't been since the early days of the show, right yeah, because we parted ways and O eight, so we had all those couple first seasons, right, maybe five seasons where we had that dynamic, and eventually we parted ways, and it was a little sad because man, I kind of missed that dynamic because even though we argued, then the next day we'd come to work and it would be

like nothing ever happened.

Speaker 3: Yeah, And we actually early on like that.

Speaker 1: Early on like that, it was like that, and you know, we had fun and you know, we're leaving the shop and we both back out of the shop going crazy, you know, squealing tires, and then I smash into him.

Then we hook up to the bumper, then I rip his bumper off, and we're like it's stuff like that that we did all the time. And it made me

really miss that time period that was probably twenty twenty almost twenty two years ago. So I look at that

and I'm like, oh my gosh, where did time go?

And look at all these baby faces. And Vin's doing

an interview. It's me and Vin most of the show.

He's doing an interview and he's like, I've been working here for three months now.

Speaker 3: Oh my god.

Speaker 1: So he had just started to work for us, and our dynamic was great. Mikey wasn't even in the first

Black Widow episode, So Mikey hadn't even come into the fold yet you know. Anyways, I just thought, what a phenomenal,

what a phenomenal thing to watch us. And here I am,

I'm creating the Black Widow and I'm watching all the steps and it's really interesting because I just look at that bike all the time and know what I did.

Speaker 2: But when you go back and look at it.

Speaker 3: Like watching your thought process in real time.

Speaker 2: In real time, yeah, and I'm like, wow, it looks pretty yet man.

Speaker 1: Yeah, all the fabrication and you know, the banter that everyone loves so much, I mean, the dynamic, the back and forth. And then my father's got to get a

tooth root canal, so he's got to go to the dentist and that's like half the show is just him complaining about having.

Speaker 2: To go to the dentist.

Speaker 3: You know, I need to watch it.

Speaker 2: Oh, you have to watch it.

Speaker 1: I feel like you probably, honestly, you are probably not familiar with most of the episodes, especially those probably those first three seasons. Yeah, are really like kind of raw

and original. And I was twenty six, yeah, I was

half my age now, you know, twenty six, twenty seven. Yeah,

but it was just it's just so amazing. That's one episode.

There's another one hundred and seventy nine.

Speaker 3: It'd be really funny to have Hudson watch that.

Speaker 1: I know, I think he would like that first one, especially since we're building that bike and it's there. Weren't

as many characters at the time we had, like me, it was like me Vin my father in that episode, you know, we had we had all the bunch of other guys mechanics and stuff like that that everyone's familiar with, but like the core was really focused on us, And I think he would probably like it because, you know, he likes that process stuff. We're building something, you know,

so early on during the show, well, the very first episode we had thought was a failure. We had filmed it.

We took like six weeks to do an episode. It

got edited. The producer on the ground edited out all

the fights and it almost didn't even make the show, right.

Speaker 2: I mean, it almost didn't.

Speaker 3: Even completely different show.

Speaker 2: It would have been a completely different show.

Speaker 1: And then the main producer, Craig Pligian, saw it freaked out.

Speaker 2: They put all the fights.

Speaker 3: Back in right, which is unheard of, really.

Speaker 1: Unheard of, but I think that's what Craig saw. Well,

I don't know what Craig saw because he just saw a picture of us on a website. It was a

picture of a picture on a website, so he had some intuition. I feel like there was some divine intervention,

let's be honest, because it was Our show is so groundbreaking and no one had ever seen anything quite like that before on television. So yeah, right out of the gate,

you know, when we saw those fights that first night.

We came in the next day and we were like, we were kind of devastated, me and my father, We really were. We felt like that we had worked for

a couple of years to be taken seriously in an industry that's very high rev testosterone egos, and we were doing okay in that space. We were newcomers, and then

we are our big opportunity for television and the show airs and.

Speaker 3: We're fighting and you feel like you blew it.

Speaker 2: We felt like we blew it in the worst possible way.

Speaker 1: I remember we went to the back of the shop where there was an open trailer where we used to keep stuff, and we just sat on it and we literally sat there like.

Speaker 2: This, like like.

Speaker 1: Like head and hands. Yeah, and we thought that was it,

that we're ruined. All this work was for not thing,

And by like four o'clock that day, all these emails started rolling in and it was crazy how positive people were.

And then by five o'clock the ratings came in. We

had the highest ratings of the night. So then we

were like, maybe this isn't so bad. And that's really

when things took off, you know.

Speaker 3: So you guys were filming the show, the ratings came in, everything did well that first night. When did you realize

that it was a success, you know?

Speaker 1: I feel like probably that after the first episode, even though the morning after it aired, we were disappointed because we felt like we looked stupid. Frankly, although we thought

it was good, we were like, on TV that was a good thing.

Speaker 3: But yeah, but you want to be taken seriously.

Speaker 1: We didn't feel like we looked serious enough, you know, because and think about it, like again, I've said this a million times.

Speaker 2: I was expecting Bob Vila, right, you know, and Polish.

Speaker 1: Look how nice are is without any of the fights back and forth? You're an idiot that type of stuff.

So really it wasn't even until so that first episode, Eric and they we got a really a lot of good feedback.

Speaker 2: Discovery loved it. The ratings.

Speaker 1: They just let everybody loves numbers, right, So the numbers were there, and that night was like a testosterone night.

There were some biker build offs, which were very popular back then. I think there was something else on that night,

and our show did the best.

Speaker 2: It was like a motor yeah whatever. They were starting something.

Speaker 1: And so obviously the next day we got the call and you know, conversation started. Everyone was pretty excited and

we just kept filming. And so, man, I'll tell you

it's funny because we were negotiating our terms with Discovery for a series.

Speaker 3: Oh so you didn't have a contract, but.

Speaker 1: No, we didn't have a contract with Discovery, right, And but the content was coming and they knew they kind of they knew they had a tiger by.

Speaker 3: Its to you up.

Speaker 2: They had a lock of sup to that.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and we knew we were kind of hot. And

by like maybe the sixth episode, we still didn't have a contract.

Speaker 2: So panic was setting in. I think they were. And

you got to remember Discovery really wasn't dealing with talent at the time, so.

Speaker 3: Well, there was nothing set before you to.

Speaker 2: Follow, right.

Speaker 1: They were mostly animals and things of that nature. Basically,

they had Steve Irwin at the time. He was their

big talent and that was where that's where it rested.

So we came in and they didn't really know what to do with us from that perspective, and we were difficult.

We were very difficult at the time. We were like

straight out of the steel business, didn't care and that translated, you know, we had that kind of New York attitude. Yeah,

and so I think we were six episodes in, did not have a contract, and they, you know, they tried to position it as most networks and production companies do.

They wanted a piece of our business. We're like, no,

we've been doing this for years. You're not getting any

of it. And we knew, like every every time we

sat down to negotiate and we didn't get anywhere, we knew that they wanted it more and more, and it became very apparent that they.

Speaker 3: Were wanting to do stop filming.

Speaker 2: They never stopped filming.

Speaker 1: So we're like, well, you know, we were in the driver's seat, good time. And so ultimately they gave up

and they just said okay, fine, American Choppers the brand anyways, not Orange County Choppers because the name of the show's American.

Speaker 3: Chopper, right, Well that's what they assumed.

Speaker 1: That's what they assumed. But we had already been wearing

the gear. You know, well this is my this is

my bobblehead from pj D. But you know, we were

already wearing the OCC logo and we were re yoursing it.

So when the show started to really take off, what really what really sold was the authenticity. It was my

red hat, the shirts, my father's cut off sleeves, and it was our logo. Everybody wanted Orange County Choppers everything,

and American Chopper was a brand, but it was like a sub brand. They didn't know that because there was

no precedent for it. Usually the name of the show

has all the strength, yes, but in this case it wasn't.

So so ultimately we kept our brand so Discovery didn't get anything of ours. And then in the long run,

from a licensing standpoint, and this is crazy, they had to bring us in and give us a piece of American Chopper so that we would support that brand to keep that going. So we got this. Never we ruined

it for everybody, not by design, but it just worked out that way. Like everyone who came after us. No,

they locked everyone up and probably what is would be considered a normal contract, right, we got one hundred everything occ and like half of American Chopper, which was pretty serious and we supported it, you know, pretty unique, Yeah.

Speaker 3: In the early days. So I feel like your father

was really well known for his facial hair and so were you, yes, right, yeah, and that has obviously like evolved over the years, but I feel like that's how you're like very recognizable.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1: You know, certainly my father's fum untrue or whatever handlebar mustache was the big It was very Hulk Holgan esque, right, people, really big character, big arms, big personality.

Speaker 2: And you know, it's funny my.

Speaker 1: Father, I have to say this just because we're having this conversation about mustaches, and it's reminded me he was such a dominant, prolific character in the TV world.

Speaker 2: And when I watched those episodes, as much.

Speaker 1: As I realized the appreciation people have for me and my role in it, and I think it was critical because you needed to have the dynamic for the success.

But when I look at my father's character and what he brought to the table, it was invaluable.

Speaker 3: He's such a huge personality.

Speaker 1: Such a huge personality, and I think he's kind of unappreciated in the world of television and really what he's done for reality TV, because think about it, we pre exist all reality television as we know it today. We

were the pioneers in that. Now do we set out

to be that? No, we did not set out to

be that. We just became that, right, And it went

on for a very long time, And to be honest with you, it was really driven heavily by my father's personality and his persona and his attitude and his mannerisms and the things he said. And I feel like, you know,

when I watched the show, it's much appreciated.

Speaker 2: I'm like, man, this guy. You know.

Speaker 3: I feel like the dynamic too, between personalities, like your father is such a big personality and very big and loud, and then you come in like as the creative and then Mikey just comical relief, kind of always like breaking it up, you know, tension, especially between the two of you.

It's just such an interesting dynamic.

Speaker 2: It is.

Speaker 1: And you know, it was a dynamic that not only the fans loved, but it actually made the show work on the ground from a logistics standpoint, because me and my father would be going out and Michael would come in and he would because he's like the middle child ish, he had that comic relief which would it would start to like, you know, he had a way of like defusing situations. He was very good at that, and it

translated not only to the audience at home, but it translated to make things possible on the ground. So here

you have another character from the show. And when you

talk about like character and dynamic in a show, what a special balance of people and even all the ancillary characters after me, Mikey and my father were critical and we had so much characters on the show, and all of which people cared about in some capacity or another, and some more than others. You don't ever see that

anymore in television. I mean there's some shows out there

where you get some characters, but not in the dynamic situation we were in. You know, you have shows where

people are like, you know, they're in Alaska and then they're in the South Dakota, and you know they're are but never in one shop, all in one space, you know, coexisting and creating really phenomenal television. And the best part

is just being themselves.

Speaker 3: We were just us organically too, even like Vin.

Speaker 2: Totally organic.

Speaker 1: Yeah, people love that. We didn't know what we were doing.

Nobody was trying to be an actor. Everybody just showed

up and interacted and the world developed a massive appetite for it. Matter of fact, when the show hit, it

seemed like we struck a chord that no one knew needed to be struck, and it really created something spectacular and special. And you know, I don't think the show,

because it was so far ahead of its time, I don't think the show has ever gotten the credit it deserves, or the characters for that matter, And I don't care for me for that sake.

Speaker 3: But looking back at it now, you can see it, oh the big time.

Speaker 1: And you know, when I bring up my father like that, I think like I'm looking at him, I'm watching him this morning, and I'm thinking like, at the time, I couldn't appreciate him because we were we had this dynamic, I had, we had issues with each other like every you know, father son does, so I wasn't able to really see it in that capacity. But now, like I said,

I'm watching that show that's a different person.

Speaker 2: Those people are all we're different people.

Speaker 1: So including myself, I'm watching a different show, you know what I mean. I'm watching a show that, yes, I

was a part of, but it's not me anymore, right, and so I'm able to sit back and appreciate it, maybe the way the audience has appreciated it from the beginning.

Speaker 3: What about your little language. I feel like you had

this Oh yeah, words and all sorts of terms for everything that you guys had, like your own little we.

Speaker 2: Do burbiage, especially me and Vin.

Speaker 3: Oh forget it.

Speaker 1: Me and Vin would just make up words and then they would just be become the words that we use to like reference each other. And you know the fun

part about me and Vin is he started with us real early on. We traveled a lot together. So me

and him would we had the big bus and we'd have this, you know, giant trailer full of bikes, and we'd be going all over the country to all the major bike shows and it'd be me and him up front.

Speaker 2: Everyone else'd be chilling in the back.

Speaker 1: He'd mostly be driving, and we would just be cranking down the highway through.

Speaker 2: The whole night, listen to music.

Speaker 1: Having conversations, and so we just had like a nice closeness.

Speaker 2: You know. He was so well rounded.

Speaker 1: And I by that time was very mechanically inclined and hyper creative. So his mechanical ability and my creativity and combination,

I mean that won for years and years and years.

And then as time went by, we started to inch technology, which just made us better and better.

Speaker 2: We had a five access water jet.

Speaker 3: You know, I feel like Vin was really good with technology also, like machining and everything like that, so he really incorporated that into what you guys were doing.

Speaker 1: He was he wasn't just like some backyard mechanic. He

had an aptitude for learning technology as well, which made him super well rounded. Then when he came to us,

he became a fabricator, just picks up stuff easy and man, me and him were I'll tell you, me and him were very formidable, just just me and him. Then you

bring Rick into the fold, and you get your sheet metal guy, you know, Cody, who could pretty much do anything even at a young even at a young age, and he was very motivated, and so we just had a crack team. There was like nothing we couldn't do

if we all kind of put our minds to it.

Speaker 3: How long before the show did you know Vin? You

guys went to school together?

Speaker 1: Yeah, me and Vin. I knew Vin from when I

was real young. His father, mister D Martino John, mister D.

Speaker 2: Mister D. God rest his soul. What a great guy,

What a great guy.

Speaker 1: Yeah, his father early on had a snowmobile shop in Montgomery.

And growing up, my father always had snowmobiles. And I

remember because I rode a snowmobile. Actually before I even

rode a bicycle, before I was able to ride a bicycle, I was riding a snowmobile.

Speaker 2: How old I was pretty young? Yeah, I was pretty young.

Speaker 1: And so we used to bring the sleds to mister D and he would he had a sled shop, right, and so I kind of like think, that's the first time I ever met Vin. We had to be little kids,

like little little like elementary school age, and then through the years we just became friends. And you know, in

like our high school years, Venu used to have like the fastest camaro in the area and we would go around and race people, go to Middletown and like drag race light to light. We had so much fun back then,

you know, it was like the early I remember because we would listen to K one O four, which was our local radio station, and I remember listening.

Speaker 2: To Vanilla Ice. You know, that was like it was

like it was on like the top forty for like ever that same.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and so that could date whenever, and we would just cruise around.

Speaker 2: That's what you did.

Speaker 1: You just drove around. We'd go to Middletown and we

had a lot of fun. We had quads, he had,

he had a quad, he had motorcycle squads. We'd run

back and forth behind the school, and so we just had a tremendous amount of fun. He was always working

on stuff then because he grew up he was, Yeah, he was always helping his father. So and his father

was very mechanical as well, so like he learned a lot from his dad.

Speaker 2: His brothers are great.

Speaker 1: Mechanic you know, it's very the whole families like that.

But yeah, we had a tremendous amount of fun. And me,

as a matter of fact, he was really good friends with Jack Moscow, Okay, and so me, Jack and Vin used to hang out all the time, going way back, and so you know, through the years, we just had a good friendship, and then when the show took off, we realized we were going to need more help, and that's when that's when I called Vin. He was working

for a friend of ours, and at the time, I don't think he was I think he was being underutilized, and I don't think he was terribly happy, and I think he was ready for like a new challenge. And

certainly what we were doing was exciting and real perfect for a well rounded guy like Vinnie. And I was like, hey,

you want to come on board? And he did any

huge asset right out of the gate. Mean, he really was.

He really was a great asset, and he picked up fabrication and all that type of stuff really fast because he was so mechanical already, you know, he was so mechanically inclined.

Speaker 2: And that was it.

Speaker 1: And the best part about it is we were friends for so many years before that.

Speaker 2: We were hanging out for years just on a social side.

Speaker 3: Yeah, so you already had your banter down and all of that.

Speaker 1: We already had our banter down, and it just increased from there. I mean, we would call each other all

kinds of weird names on the show, and I think I we would call I would call him Pinchy or pincher, and he would call me pinch and just just because one time we were talking about how his brother used to pinch off cigarettes.

Speaker 2: He'd like go out and smoke and pinch it off, and then that just became a thing, and then we became pincher. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Just all kinds of weird nicknames. And we had so

much fun. We really had. I think me and him

probably had the most fun together on the show because we just got along from so many years prior, and then when it came down to it, we're very similar in personalities.

Speaker 2: We're pretty mellow. I'm hyper creative.

Speaker 1: I had all these ideas and he had a great way of executing him and he had his own ideas.

So it was a very complimentary situation and our banter.

Speaker 2: People really loved, you know, we had.

Speaker 3: I feel like that was like some of my favorites.

So later on when he came to work for you at pj D, when we would travel, I feel like that was like some of like the best times. We

had the best times, so funny.

Speaker 1: Going out eating, oh my gosh, having some drinks, cruising around on scooters, RV the RV.

Speaker 2: So much fun.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Ben's a great guy and I miss working with him.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 1: You know why because I think if we were to do something together, that dynamic that never goes anywhere even when we see each other. You know, it's like that

never changes. You cannot see someone for five years and

then you roll right back into that situation. It would

be fun, honestly to get people back together.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd love to do somewhere. Yeah.

Speaker 1: You know when we came back in seventeen and eighteen, we came back for those two seasons.

Speaker 2: I did.

Speaker 1: I called him and I asked him, but you know, he was he had already gotten established in his own business and he just wasn't something.

Speaker 2: That he was able to do. He just couldn't do it.

He didn't have enough manpower at the time.

Speaker 1: And you know, his business really depended on him and he was doing really good. So he wasn't able to

come on board for those those two seas. But man,

I would love to do something with them, not just not just get together, but maybe maybe build something.

Speaker 3: You know, who are some of the I won't do your favorite but highlights celebrities that you've met throughout the years.

Speaker 1: Well, you know, America Chopper really give us an opportunity to meet a lot of celebrities, you know, not just ones that came on the show that we built bikes for, but gosh, man, we did so much stuff in California through the years.

Speaker 2: You know.

Speaker 1: Yeah, we were stationed in Montgomery, and I think that was very helpful for keeping us all together and grounded.

But we would go to California all the time and you know, go into places and see all celebrities and meet people and do awards things where we gave awards away.

It was we was pretty back in. I'd say the

first five years of the show was pretty pretty intense, like.

Speaker 2: That bike rides. But I think as far as the

show goes.

Speaker 1: Well, A real fun one for me was meeting Russell Crowe when we went to Australia. We did a special

we built a bike for Australia YEP for the Tourism Board, and while we were there we hung out with Russell Crowe, which was pretty.

Speaker 2: Cool meeting him hanging out. We went and checked out.

Speaker 1: He owned a rugby team, the rabbit Os, which we ended up building I think two bikes for that, and we really hit it off with him. We went on

this bike ride up in Coff's Harbor, which he where he lives.

Speaker 2: His parents live up there.

Speaker 1: He's got a ranch, beautiful ride just out kind of very mountainous terrain, just absolutely gorgeous Australia spectacular and it was great.

Speaker 2: End of the day. Went back to his ranch.

Speaker 1: And then we were walking through and he had like an outbuilding in there, and even his grounds he has all props from all these movies, crazy crazy stuff. And

then we go into this one building, man, and there's all these props and it's just a really cool like.

Speaker 2: Man cave, you know. And I remember we went in

there and I was.

Speaker 1: Looking around and I noticed something over in the corner and I was like, man, I was like, wait a minute, what And it was the It was a gladiator helmet.

He had the gladiator helmet from the movie.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 2: And I was like, dude, tell me, that's the helmet from the movie.

Speaker 1: And he's like, yeah, I took it with me and apparently he loves to keep all that stuff and he.

Speaker 2: Said put it on. And sure enough, man, I put

that thing on.

Speaker 1: Because Gladiator to me is like it's I think it's one of the best movies ever. Yeah, and I just, man,

it was so good. When I put that thing on,

I was like, who gets to put the gladiator helmet on?

Speaker 2: Nobody does, right, nobody's putting that thing on.

Speaker 1: And it was a really great experience. And we ended

up staying at his house, which was which was really fun, and then we went out to a bar that night with him, was we had. We had a really good

time with Russell. And then later on we built the

two bikes and we did a whole unveil and so, uh yeah, Russell Crowe was he was a great guy to hang out with. Very uh for an Australian. He's

kind of like a New Yorker to me, you know, And that's why I see Australians. They're kind of like,

you know, back then, we we have like a little edge to us because we were iron workers from upstate New York, kind of unassuming and and I feel like Australians kind of have that rough and tumbled way about him.

And so we just we just hit it off great with him. So that was that was one of the

funner experiences we had. And uh, yeah, I feel like

I don't know, man, I feel like, uh, I feel like that and Brave Heart are like my two favorite movies, you know, like Gladiator and Brave Heart. Yeah, probably for

the same reasons, you know. But yeah, Russell Crowe, great guy.

He was just here. We just saw him in New

Jersey with Asberry. He said, was a garden.

Speaker 3: It was, oh, what's the name of the place.

Speaker 2: Oh, stone Pony. Yeah, but his tours called something outdoor

garden party.

Speaker 1: Outdoor garden party. So we just went and saw him.

That was great, he sang. Yeah, guys. Talented man, really

talented guys he was. He was one of the for

me as like a young person. Uh, definitely like to

me top you know, top like five or six actors in my mind, you know, yeah, for my generation.

Speaker 2: I guess you would say, you know, what are some of your favorite celebrity encounters.

Speaker 3: I would have to say my favorite one was probably when Julian Lennon came down to the shop. Yeah, yeah,

to see that little mini bike. I thought that was

really neat.

Speaker 1: Yeah, Julian's a great guy. That was That was a

really unique situation. Huh yeah, yeah, I remember.

Speaker 2: So.

Speaker 1: For for background on that WE radio station, we were listening to some ExM radio stations.

Speaker 3: Wrote something about John Lennon's motorcycles coming up for auction, right those, and we're like, man, we should really keep an eye on that thing, you know, like it was like going to be months later, right, and then what my dad called? Didn't you call and mentioned someone like, Hey,

there's this auction coming up. We're like, oh, yeah, we

heard about that.

Speaker 2: Yeah. I feel like we forgot.

Speaker 3: We did forget.

Speaker 1: And then your father heard about it and it was like a day away. Yes, So I called the auction company, registered,

registered everything me and you came up with a number we agreed upon.

Speaker 3: We agreed on our ceiling, like, yeah, we didet like this is like as high as we're willing to go.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and man, we bid on it. And I remember

I was on the phone.

Speaker 3: You were at home, right, Hudson was a baby.

Speaker 2: Hudson was a baby. I was on the phone bidding because.

Speaker 3: I was trying to like listen to the auction because I couldn't be at the shop because I was with Hudson. Yeah,

to figure out you know where you were at with that.

Speaker 1: Yeah, And I remember the bidding was going pretty pretty heavily, and people were.

Speaker 3: Bidding from all over the world too, So that was the thing. Bidding from America. People were bidding from overseas

all over.

Speaker 1: The mind, yes, China, Japan, Australia, people were bidding on that bike. So this was for context. This was the

only motorcycle that John Lennon ever owned, Yes, and so being that we're so motorcycle centric and collect stuff, right, thought well, this would be a good one to own, and I think it is.

Speaker 2: We still own the bike. Yeah, but when.

Speaker 1: We got it in the crate, we thought it would be nice to have Julian come out.

Speaker 2: Well.

Speaker 3: I think a little fun fact is that obviously we ended up winning it, but we want it for the exact amount, that's right, the exact dollar amount that we said we would not go over. So this was your

last bid and no one bid above.

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 3: We want it for the exact amount, and we broke.

Speaker 1: We broke some sort of crazy record for that bike, in particular for that style. It's like, yeah, it's a

hand of monkey bike. It's not a big deal bike

except for the fact that it was John Lennon's, right, you know, which is kind of a big deal.

Speaker 2: I think.

Speaker 3: Yeah. And then yeah, they crazy did it up.

Speaker 2: Shipped it over and it sat in the crate.

Speaker 3: We received it, and you wouldn't open it, refused to open it.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't open I called my friend Timothy White, who's good friends with Julian Lennon. And then then Timothy,

I knew he's called me back.

Speaker 2: I told him what I had. I said, look, this

is what I think I had.

Speaker 1: And I felt a little awkward because I know Julian through the years has really tried to buy a lot of stuff back that meant something to him from his father, even I think letters his father wrote him which ended up out in circulation, and he tried to get back.

Speaker 3: And there was also like a famous picture of Julian on the back of the bike.

Speaker 1: Yes, that's right, and that's the picture we saw, and he was five years old. Julian was five years old

at the time. So we thought it would be nice

to invite him out to the shop before we even took it out of the crate.

Speaker 2: Knowing what we knew about it.

Speaker 1: And uh, and sure enough, through my friend Timothy White, he hooked it up. Julian was having a gallery.

Speaker 3: At the like in New York, New York City.

Speaker 1: Photography, Yeah, photography, And so meanwhile he was up. He

came down to the shop and sure enough, man, we pulled that crate out, pulled all the screws out of it, through the top off, put the sides down, rolled that thing out, and he was the first one to go in there. He grabbed those handlebars, wheeled that thing out,

sat right there, right on it, and it was you could see it meant a lot to him, you know, yeah, because the bike was something they did together. It wasn't

something that John Lennon had. It was something that they

did together as a father and son. And I thought

that was real special because you know, I thought, well, man, you know, as far as father son teams go, it's a pretty famous father son team. And I knew what

me and my father did for all these years, so I feel like I related to Julian in a lot of ways.

Speaker 2: Well.

Speaker 3: He also said that they would ride it from a state to a state because they had neighboring estates.

Speaker 2: Right, that's right.

Speaker 1: Yeah, He said that they would ride that bike from their house to George's house and Ringo's house all the time.

And he said, that's the bike that made me fall in love motorcycles, which I thought was an amazing statement. Yeah,

and it was just a great It was a great day, what a great person. But Julian just immediately we felt

like I felt like he was like my brother.

Speaker 2: I don't know how to explain it.

Speaker 3: He is like a sweetheart.

Speaker 2: He's a sweet spirited man.

Speaker 1: And you know, because he's John Lennon's son, he really looks like his dad. So I was like, it was

an interesting thing because I've always been a Beatles fan and it was probably as you know, as close as you'd ever get to John Lennon. I'm sure they gets

tiring for him, you know, because come on, you know, you got to do your own thing. But it's just

it's just what it was, and what a great day.

And my mother got to come down and meet Julian and very excited.

Speaker 2: We had some great pictures and I rode the bike.

Speaker 3: So went into my office and I'm like, I know, I have like the folder wherever because it was months that we had it, and I found the keys and it started right.

Speaker 2: Up, fired right up.

Speaker 1: Julian drove it around the shop, which really made it even more of a special experience. And I really appreciate

that he spent the time and came down and you know, the one thing I know about him is Julian was very close with his mother, and so that was a conversation that we had and it's you know, it's just I really appreciate that that time we spent together.

Speaker 2: Really really great.

Speaker 1: So that's a great I think that's a really good As far as well known people or celebrities, I.

Speaker 2: Think he's definitely lays out.

Speaker 1: He stands out just from a from just a good hearted, good guy person standpoint for sure.

Speaker 3: So I feel like when people come in here, they're always asking about the bikes, and we have a handful of them in here, but not all of them, and a lot of people are always asking about the Anti Venom bike, which I think is interesting just because that was the first bike that you did when you started your own company.

Speaker 1: Yep, really yeah, yes, So, like the web series really started with the Spider Man bike and then the Black Widow, which everyone really knows from the first episode of the series, and then from there I did what they call a Junior dream Bike, which is this black and green like crazy looking bike, and then I left it alone for years a whole Web theme. And then when me and

my father parted ways. We had that one year noncompete

and then you know when we started the when we.

Speaker 2: Were able to build bikes.

Speaker 1: That was the first bike I thought to build was another web theme because it had been so many years since I really did that.

Speaker 2: And that's if you.

Speaker 3: Remember at the time, you didn't have the Black Widow back. No,

I didn't, So you were building your.

Speaker 2: Own web bike. You're right. I didn't even think about that.

You're right.

Speaker 1: I had not gotten that bike back from my father because we were in a lawsuit and it was not settled, and it wasn't until it got settled that was.

Speaker 2: Able to get the Black Widow back. So you're right.

I was trying to maybe recreate some I don't.

Speaker 3: Know, it was like the counterpart, yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know we it was what nine it was, Yeah, And the economy was bad and people weren't spending money on marketing because that's really what we're selling. And so

we opened up a shop, filled it full of equipment and didn't have any clients.

Speaker 3: Well that was the thing. We're like, okay, now we

need a client, right, didn't have one, So what.

Speaker 2: We've got to start building?

Speaker 1: We got to start building a bike so I decided to build that Anti Venom and then like pretty much and pretty much we started building that.

Speaker 3: And then you got a client, so you're building two bikes.

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 1: Geico came along and that was so great because you know, as much as I love to build motorcycles, it's not really a hobby.

Speaker 2: You know, we need we need those, we need the clients.

Speaker 1: So uh and then that was it, man, you know, that was so I really the Anti Venom was the first bike. I think I'm going to bring that here

should Yeah, I think I'm gonna bring it down. He

I think I'm gonna switch some bikes out because he's been here for a little while.

Speaker 3: Now, you know, in New York, how many more bikes do we have there?

Speaker 1: So New York we probably have another maybe maybe eight bikes, eight bikes. I probably got a total of maybe like

fifteen bikes something like that, right, But really from the show, only a couple in New York I have most of my I don't have a lot of bikes from the show.

Speaker 2: Now, I have the Ninja Turtles bikes.

Speaker 1: That I did for the Ninja Turtles movie for Michael Bay and that was really cool. And then I have

the Qubics bike, which was an episode which was like that company was defunct. They were a cloud based company.

They were just I think they missed the curve.

Speaker 3: The Jets bike, so I'm confused with the jet bike.

Speaker 1: That's right. I have the New York Jets bike, which

I got with the Yankees bike, which I still have to.

Speaker 2: Kind of restore, which would probab to be a fun project.

Speaker 1: It would it would be a fun project to restore that just because it got beat up, just like the Yankees bike.

Speaker 2: Most people don't know that.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and then just a handful of other ones from the past, mostly you know. Yeah, So I mean I

got a handful of So I got the car from the show, the Camaro, the Camaro yep that we built.

Speaker 2: On an episode. I wish I had more stuff from

the show.

Speaker 1: I'd like to have it all back, I know, because I feel like the older I get, the more I think about legacy, and you know, the more I can have of my stuff, better it would be. But you know,

at the same time, it's really good that some of these things are you know, like the nine eleven Memorial bikes.

At the nine eleven Memorial, we got a bike at the We did the bike for the Statue of Liberty that's at the Statue of Liberty, which.

Speaker 2: Is kind of cool. Yep.

Speaker 1: We got the bike in the Microsoft Museum, and we just we got some cool bikes. I think the Blizzard

Entertainment ones that we did for World of Warcraft are out there.

Speaker 2: Those are really serious killer.

Speaker 3: So I feel like a very common question that we always get, especially when people come in, is about television, like is there any future for that? Again?

Speaker 2: Yeah?

Speaker 1: You know, I so, I guess we could talk about it a little bit more now. I mean, we're in

a development deal with a production company. We have filmed

our sizzle for What's next. Yep, it looks pretty good.

We got a name, which we will not divege reveal at this time, and I think it's a great concept.

I think it will have some flavor of American Chopper, because how can it not. It's we're in it. But

I think it would be like the kind of two point zero version. Maybe maybe not to recreate that, because

American Chopper is its own thing, right.

Speaker 3: I think it's more of like where you are at now right.

Speaker 1: Which I think people really appreciate where we're at right now, I think a lot of our audience has grown up with us, has gone through those years of you know, high school, college, marriage, kids, family, Yeah, and they've they're.

Speaker 2: Kind of been in lockstep with us for all these years.

Speaker 1: And I think people would be really interested in seeing a little bit more of kind of like what we're doing now, you know, in a kind of a television content way more on a daily well.

Speaker 3: I think also because I feel like over the years, you've kind of diversified with how you do marketing, right, So it's always the bikes, they're always like kind of like the staple, but there's other elements that you've brought into you know, into the.

Speaker 2: Fold, yep. And I think we could showcase a lot

of that.

Speaker 1: I think people would be really interested in seeing our dynamic more. I think we are a creative powerhouse together,

and I think we can tackle some projects that people would not even realize that we're capable of.

Speaker 2: And then we could bring our handsome son into the full in the family trade.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, And and I just think it would be really good.

Speaker 2: It would be like it would basically be like the New Tunnels.

Speaker 1: That's the way I would That's the way I would position it doing a lot of the things people like, but also a lot of new things and a lot maybe a lot more more dynamic, right, a little bit, but not so just motorcycles, but like a mix of things, you know, just.

Speaker 2: Some personal stuff.

Speaker 1: Follow us along on our journey of life, which has been an interesting one, especially.

Speaker 2: Since our location change. Yeah, especially since our location change.

Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of things that we haven't experienced here yet, especially you know, we still have a lot going on in New York.

Speaker 3: I feel like we're right in like the thick of it, like the transition, you know, you know, physically, like to a new location, looking for a new shop, looking to build it out, looking to really transfer everything over to this area.

Speaker 2: Yeah, especially a shop.

Speaker 1: So I think I think we can bring people on a journey with us that apparently they're interested in because you know, the social media what we're doing right here, people are keeping us, you know, having these conversations because the interest is so high. So I really do believe

that television is going to happen sooner than later for us.

Speaker 2: But in the meantime, we're just going to keep doing this.

Speaker 3: Does Pineapple belong on pizza question? Everyone wants to know.

Speaker 1: I say yes, I like a little pineapple and ham little Hawaiian hud.

Speaker 3: Someone say yes too, he loves pineapple pizza.

Speaker 2: He does.

Speaker 3: Why is it so wrong?

Speaker 1: I just think people can't get the sweet and savory down, you know. Sometimes they just struggle with that, which I understand.

I feel like when I was younger, like much younger, I couldn't. I thought it was weird to have anything

sweet on anything that was supposed to be savory. So

I think that's the conundrum. But I think as you

get older, you should like pineapple and pizza.

Speaker 3: You should at least try it.

Speaker 2: You should at least try it.

Speaker 1: I mean, for me, like really good plain pizzas nice, you know, just like a good slice.

Speaker 3: Like kitchen sink, throw it all on there, you do.

Speaker 2: Yeah me, I like plain.

Speaker 1: I like sausage. I like some mushrooms. Sometimes I like

piping hot pizza.

Speaker 3: You like pizza hot in like the weirdest way I've ever seen, like food. Do you like to burn your mouth?

Speaker 1: I don't like to burn my mouth, but I choose to burn my mouth every single time, every single time.

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, I like it.

Speaker 1: Like That's why I like to pick up the pizza because I have a slice in the car yep, or maybe two on a way home.

Speaker 2: That's right, those are my two slices pretty much.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 1: But yeah, you know it's in all the different places like around here, all make pizza different.

Speaker 3: We have not even hit half of them.

Speaker 2: We should go on like some sort of pizza pizza pilgrimage.

Speaker 3: Paul's pizza pilgrimage.

Speaker 2: I like it. We're foodies, right.

Speaker 3: Well, it's just our anniversary.

Speaker 1: It was our anniversary fourteen years August twentieth, and we got married down here. Yeah, twenty ten, so easy for

me to remember.

Speaker 3: I know, it's such a round number.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and we ate at our favorite place on the island.

I'm not ashamed to say it.

Speaker 3: I'm not afraid to say it at all. It's my favorite.

Speaker 2: Yeah, the Gables, Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: And I got to tell you so, we had a house in Napa for what nine years, and that Gables is so good man, it's me.

Speaker 2: It's so good.

Speaker 1: I mean, it's a different thing, it's a different animal, it's a whole, it's an it's so elevated.

Speaker 2: The experience there, it is.

Speaker 3: It's an experience. That's what it is, it.

Speaker 2: Really is, man.

Speaker 1: I mean I had this bone infil a, remember that thing. Yeah,

this bone infil a was that tall that like has like this little like had this thin bone down one side and it was cooked. It was cooked to such perfection.

It was fantastic. Had spiced carrots on top. I mean,

I don't even know what that is.

Speaker 3: Oh, your crab cakes had spice cat.

Speaker 1: You're right, the crab cakes spicy carrots. I am, well,

in my mind, it's just one.

Speaker 3: Every time we go there, we're like, whoever thinks of the combinations of what is on the plate.

Speaker 2: It was very creative.

Speaker 3: If you go there, you should try everything on the plate because it's there for a reason.

Speaker 2: You're right.

Speaker 1: And I think for most people they would steer clear because they would think a certain thing. Yeah, but they're

I mean, their taste buds aren't even ready for that place, believe.

Speaker 2: It or not.

Speaker 1: I mean I found out I was a type two diabetic right after the first building off the build off one, yes, because I remember we were practicing, we were doing these going out on stage, high stress, high stress, and I remember feeling like coming out of the elevator and feeling like I wasn't really eating because I was nervous.

Speaker 3: And it was live like not like live like prerecorded, like live like if you fall, you fall and.

Speaker 1: Write like real live television, not like when you go on Leno or let any of these talk.

Speaker 2: Shows right live with a paw with a delay. Yeah.

Speaker 1: No, this was direct to television live and uh yeah.

I remember feeling like woozy coming out of the elevator and I was like, man, what's going on with me?

I just felt really weird. I'm like, you know, I

know I feel the pressure because it was so stressful, but I'm like, normally I don't feel like this.

Speaker 2: And I remember I ate a banana.

Speaker 3: We were in the green room.

Speaker 2: We're in a green room, remember, and you were like, here, eat something.

Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't look so good. You look like you

were just out of sorts. Yeah, grabbed it from the

room next door.

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 1: And it was shortly after that where I was peeing all the time.

Speaker 3: Oh, you're drinking juice. Oh.

Speaker 1: I was drinking like oh the V eighth which was like by the gallon.

Speaker 3: Which was like completely.

Speaker 1: I can't see drinking this stuff high sugar yep. And

then uh man, I just felt like, I don't know, I was drinking a lot, really thirsty, and I went to the urologist of all people, because I was thinking I must be my bladder.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and there and they.

Speaker 3: Checked like your sugars through the roof.

Speaker 2: Yeah. They're like, did you eat like a lot of

sugar recently? I'm like, well not really.

Speaker 1: They're like, oh, you need to go to an endo chronologist.

And this was I mean, I was not overweight. I

was not over you were clues.

Speaker 3: I feel like, do you remember the whole three Twins ice cream?

Speaker 1: I do?

Speaker 2: I remember that? Yeah?

Speaker 1: Three Twins ice cream. I turned into an absolute like

I ate a pint of what of this ice cream called three Twins?

Speaker 2: In that fantastic? And I remember I ate a whole

pint and I fell asleep and I'm like, I don't know what. She turned the TV on or off or something,

and I woke up up in a rage. I was

like out of my mind.

Speaker 3: I was like, what is wrong with you?

Speaker 1: It's like what And that's when we started to see like the cracks of maybe there was something wrong.

Speaker 2: Sugar sugar problem. It's not your friend, no, not at all, And.

Speaker 1: It's just weird because I don't know it must it wasn't.

I wasn't overweight. I didn't eat that much sugar on

it overall.

Speaker 3: No, you were definitely like predispositioned because.

Speaker 1: Well whatever, I ended up with type two diabetes and this was going back now twenty four years.

Speaker 2: Am I wrong?

Speaker 3: You're way off?

Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, fourteen years possibly, yeah, twenty ten, yeah, eleven, eleven, thirteen years, yeah, whatever. I've had it for a long time,

and I feel like it's been a challenge. I don't

eat a lot of sugar, and I do feel like sometimes I don't eat quite the way I should.

Speaker 2: I will say eat you exercise, nickleball.

Speaker 1: Has really helped my blood sugar a lot because I exercise every day. So even if I'm that, even if

I'm not perfect with my die, the amount of exercise that I put out there has really helped me.

Speaker 2: And you could see everyone says, oh, you know, I'm lean.

I'm lean.

Speaker 1: I'm like maybe one ninety eight, And honestly, I feel better at this weight than I did when I was much heavier. You know, back in the American chopper day,

especially early.

Speaker 3: Ye were very young too, so you were a very round face and.

Speaker 2: I was young, and I was able to carry a lot of weight.

Speaker 1: You know, I was able to carry I was like probably two twenty five, two thirty most of those years.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was.

Speaker 1: Stocky, and you know, people see me now and I look completely different. But you know, type two diabetes is

some you really got to pay attention to and manage, and you know, go to your doctor and and all that kind of stuff. But I will say, honestly, like

a healthy lifestyle goes a long way. You can cheat

a little bit if you're exercising, right, you know, but I try and eat healthy. It's been good. Yeah, you

know I'd rather not have it.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I know I would eat a lot more ice.

Speaker 1: Cream, yes, I know, But it is what it is, and I think in some ways it's probably made me healthier, if that makes any sense, because I don't think I would probably govern my eating habits. And to be honest

with you, most of my friends are not think I'm just saying at fifty years old, most people aren't saying, wow, I'm too skinny.

Speaker 2: Most people are. You know, right, you don't have even.

Speaker 3: More overweight eating whatever you want.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I just don't. It's you know, a little bit

more controlled. It makes you have Some people don't.

Speaker 1: Some people get type two diabetes and they don't change their eating habits, and that's really bad because you get overweight and you eat too much crap, and then you have problems with circulation. Feet, there's a lot of issues

with your eyes. I got to go get checked. I

got to get my feet checked every six months, my eyes checked, you know. I got to go through all

that stuff, physicals, everything, my A one C. Just to

make sure that I'm not dying. When we were on

the show Man, we ate everything and anything.

Speaker 2: But I was young too. I mean I would need

to drink non stop coffee.

Speaker 1: Non stop coffee, and we just eat like animals, steaks every chance we got. There was no holding back. I

remember people saying, oh, you shouldn't put.

Speaker 2: Salt on that. It didn't matter to me at all.

I was like, I'm gonna worry about that later. Now

I'm worried about it. Yeah, that's just how it goes.

Speaker 1: Though. We had fun in our younger years and we

ate good, you know, especially like when we would travel.

Speaker 2: Yeah, we would, we would eat it well. Quite often.

Speaker 1: We would eat a lot of junk because we're on the road and you hit Wendy's or McDonald's just because that's the only food you're getting. But when we got

established in certain locations, we would go to good restaurants and we would eat really well, you know, especially when we traveled around the world.

Speaker 2: It's we hadd some of the better places.

Speaker 1: And in Napa when we when we had a house there, changed my whole life.

Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, the.

Speaker 2: Best food the planet.

Speaker 3: It really is.

Speaker 2: And that's why the Gables is so good, because it reminds me of that type of food. It's different.

Speaker 1: Yeah, well, listen, I think we're gonna wrap it up.

But this has been fun reminiscing and having these conversations, and I think we got to bring some guests on.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree.

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