When it comes to the “cool factor,” there is nothing like a piece of art on two wheels.
Just ask Paul Teutul Jr., one of America’s best-known masters of motorcycle design. A star of the hit reality TV series, “American Chopper,” he is the chief designer and fabricator of some of the world’s most famous rides.
Paul Jr. and his father formed Orange County Choppers in 1999, a motorcycle manufacturer and lifestyle brand company based in the town of Newburgh, New York. He and his bike-building family became famous when “American Chopper” debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel. The company also was featured on “Orange County Choppers” on the CMT network in 2013.
Today, at his new company, Paul Jr. Designs, Paul Jr. “pushes the limits on creativity beyond just motorcycles.” The business, founded in 2009, is thriving, producing custom bikes, including Azeroth Choppers for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and the White Cap SKILSAW Bike. Most recently, Paul Jr. built a bike for the 2016 blockbuster Michael Bay film, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2,” and is preparing to write a book that toys with the title, Given the Opportunity.
“An opportunity can be what we’re getting ready to do on October 1, presenting something to someone, planting a seed in their mind that maybe this is a direction that may work for them, that may be good for them,” he explains, of his upcoming appearance at the Manufacturer & Business Association’s Manufacturing Day celebration in Erie. “Initially,
for me, it was just being crafty with my hands, putting things together, then working for my father in the steel business and being trained by other people who had a skill.”
Read more in the October 2015 Business Magazine.
