About Me
Paul Teutul Sr.His bike shop may be only 6 years old, but Paul Teutul Sr's love of riding and fabricating custom motorcycles dates back to the 70's, inspired by such films as "Easy Rider" and Marlon Brando's quint essential "The Wild One". Since then he's worked in steel fabrication, nurturing his Orange County Ironworks into the booming commercial business it is today. But it was Orange County Ironworks' very success that allowed Paul Sr. to pursue his passion for building motorcycles in his downtime, and in 1999 he recruited his son Paul Jr. to become the chief fabricator and designer for the new enterprise: Orange County Choppers. OCC jumped on the scene at Daytona Biketoberfest 1999 with "True Blue" a classic chopper built in Paul Sr.'s basement.Today Paul's three sons all work in either his steel business or bike shop. Danny, 28, is the general manager of Orange County Ironworks. Paul Jr., 31, is the chief fabricator at Orange County Choppers. Michael, 26, answers phones and orders parts at OCC. Daughter Kristin, 23, attends nursing school in Rochester, N.Y.Paul Teutul Jr. Paul Teutul Jr.-a.k.a. Junior or Paulie - was born with sheet metal in his blood. From the age of 12 on, he spent his summers at his father's steel business learning all the skills of fabrication that he would later use building motorcycles. While in high school, junior also took part in the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program, which allowed him to further hone his craft. Soon after graduating Paul Jr. went to work for his father's Orange County Ironworks, becoming head of its railing shop. But as his father began to spend more time building motorcycles for pleasure, he approached his son to assist. It was then that Paul Sr. recognized his son's design and fabrication talent, and with his blessing, junior left the rail shop to help establish Orange County Choppers as a business in 1999.That year, the father-and-son team debuted their bikes in Daytona to massive interest, and they never looked back. With Paul Jr, as the chief designer and fabricator, and with Paul Sr. lending his considerable business acumen, OCC is unstoppable.Mikey Like his brother, Mikey went to work for Orange County Ironworks at age 12, working on and off until he graduated from high school. From there he went on to community college, but after a series of zeroes he realized it wasn't quite his scene. It was back to Dad's company. Mikey toiled at Ironworks until he turned 20 and moved to Tempe, Arizona, where he had six different jobs in five months:Bouncer at a bar, which didn't work out because it interfered with his night life. Busboy, which didn't work out because he was "treated like crap". Telemarketer selling cell phones and cell-phone services, which didn't work out because he hates being bothered at home by telemarketers. Valet parking attendant, which didn't work out because they made him run... and shave. Movie-theater guy, which was enjoyable because he didn't really do anything but see free movies. But overall, Arizona wasn't quite Mikey's pace either, so New York beckoned once his money ran out...Back at home Mikey did carpentry with a friend for a year before again returning to Orange County Ironworks and working with his brother Daniel. Then, after two years of a job that was "unrewarding, cold and cruel," he went to a tavern one January night and met the man who would advocate his hiring at Orange County Choppers: Rusty, a.k.a. Russell Muth, producer of American Chopper.Mikey was soon on board at OCC, answering phones, picking up parts, popping bubble wrap and taking out the trash. But within two weeks of his new job he was already on the road attending bike shows with his brother and father, and his stand-in was already out performing him. So while he has two people working under him now, he's not quite sure what his job is anymore. But does that really matter?
