American Chopper

[William]

Anyone watch this show on Discovery? I have to say, it is probably the only 'realty' TV show that I do enjoy. Anyhow, looks like the lads are off to OZ for 3 shows. Could be fun!

Roaring into Oz

'American Chopper's' dysfunctional family of super-mechanics soak up the scenery around Sydney


Published on August 9, 2007



Easy Rider: Russell Crowe and the Teutuls explore Australia on choppers.


Bangkok has long had a serious love affair with motorbikes. Hundreds of thousands roam the city's streets day and night, but few, if any, are as cool as the bikes built by the Teutuls.

Tonight, fans of Paul Teutul Sr and his two sons, Paul Jr and Mikey, can tune into the latest series of Discovery Channel's global hit "American Chopper" to join these larger-than-life characters on their working vacation Down Under as they research ideas to build an Australia-themed bike.

First question: Will the new bike look like a kangaroo and move at the speed of a koala?

"I think it was a little difficult to take a whole country and put it into a bike," says Paul, aka Junior or Paulie in the show.

"But being that we had such good experiences there, they kind of all pulled together. And we came up with a really nice bike."

For those who haven't been following the show, "American Chopper" is a reality television series profiling the lives of the super-mechanics behind Orange County Choppers, creators of the world's most outrageous custom motorcycles. Among their back catalogue are the "Black Widow Spider", "Carroll Shelby" and the "Jet".

What fuels "American Chopper" and has turned it into a cult show is the garage drama. Junior has a reputation for arriving late, taking long lunch breaks, leaving unexpectedly without informing anyone and not cleaning up the shop on a regular basis.

Paul Sr, has his own personality quirks, and is not reticent when it comes to expressing his opinion of Junior's work ethic.

Mikey sometimes has a problem with authority. When annoyed, he has been known to hack up a whole chopper. The contrasting attitudes of these men and their propensity for sulking often leads to fiery but humorous verbal exchanges as they meet unusually tight deadlines to finish their custom choppers.

The three Teutuls flew from New York to Sydney in February.

On "Australia 1", which airs tonight on Discovery Channel at 7pm, the family goes walkabout in the "land down under".

As the spirit of Australia forces them out of their comfort zone in New York, the guys catch some waves with Australian surfer Jessi Miley-Dyer.

With the adrenaline pumping, the they scramble their way up to dizzying heights climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with Mikey almost succumbing to vertigo.

The Teutuls get a surprise invitation from Russell Crowe to tour his farm, where they saddle up for some backcountry bushwhacking, and receive the proposal from the actor to build that Australia-themed chopper.

"Yes, Russell Crowe looks cool riding a chopper," affirms Paul Sr.

"We had dinner with him and the next day we went up to his ranch and stayed there for the night. We played rugby with his rugby team - he was very accommodating, a really nice guy."

But when it came to the Oz-themed chopper, the host and his American guests seemed to be having problems agreeing on the design.

"He [Russell Crowe] wanted us to get rid of the British portion of the flag and just use … what was it - what's the stars, the cross and the stars? Can anybody help me down there?" says Junior, trying to recall the conversation with Crowe, who apparently told them to replace the Union Jack with the Southern Cross.

Junior looks confused.

"I don't think you know what the hell you're talking about," says Paul Sr.

"Who me?"

"Yes!"

"You ruined the conversation. That's how 'with it' you are," protests Paulie. "Because we sat down on the bench and he said exactly what he wanted, something with the cross. The Southern Cross, is that what it was?"

"That's Neil Young's song."

"That's 'Southern Man', Dad."

In the second episode, the boys manage to leave confusion behind to continue their explorations. They find themselves immersed in Aboriginal culture at Uluru, then visit SharkDive Extreme, where Paul Sr finds that he's in over his head.

"I think the best thing for me was going in that tank with the shark," says the 58-year-old of his experience, which had his adrenaline pumping higher than any fast bike ride.

"I mean, hey, there were real sharks swimming in there."

In the last episode, Paul Sr and Junior start building the Australia-themed bike without Mikey - who finds working on a sheep farm in Australia's outback is much more fun. But a case of designer's block threatens to stall the project before it can begin.

Find out more by tuning into the show tonight at 7pm.
The writer travelled to Australia as a guest of Discovery Channel and Tourism Australia.
The three episodes of "American Chopper: Australia" are being screened on Discovery Channel throughout August. For the schedule, visit www.truevisionstv.com.

Phoowadon Duangmee
The Nation

[AntRobertson]

Anyone watch this show on Discovery? I have to say, it is probably the only 'realty' TV show that I do enjoy. Anyhow, looks like the lads are off to OZ for 3 shows. Could be fun!

Excellent! Used to watch this religiously. Haven't for a while now since I discovered the 'borrowing' of torrents but I'll definitely watch this one!!

[mrsquirrel]

It reminds me of why I find a large portion of Americans hard to be around.

[AntRobertson]

It reminds me of why I find a large portion of Americans hard to be around.

Not Mikey surely!? Mikey's cool! I'd even buy/wear one of those 'Mikey for President' t-shirts. He'd be better than the encumbent in any event.

[Sir Burr]

They make more money outta the show than they ever did selling bikes.
Must admit to being a fan though.

[AntRobertson]

They make more money outta the show than they ever did selling bikes

Do they what! Funny too, you can see it as the series progresses. At the start it's based/filmed in Paul Snr's basement and then they move into progessively larger buildings and everyone starts turning up to work in SLR Mercedes and the like.

[Rigger]

Mikey's cool

Yep mikeys the only one that doesnt have his head in his ass. Couple of my mates road with them last time they were in Oz but said the show sucked and a little jap guy I think won the bike they built on the stage to give away much to the horror of a 1000 bikers. My Kiwi mate was looking at there bikes but ended up ordering a limted addition Big dog only 100 made

[kingwilly]

yeah i enjoy it !

[AntRobertson]

I basically love all of these types of shows where they build and/or restore machines (actually as far as American Chopper goes I'm not even a fan of the 'chopper' type bike - Japanese are better in my opinion - but still love it).

Discovery is pretty good for this sort of stuff, they have a few others for cars also. Caught one the other day (can't recall the name right now) that Chip Foose (famous car designer) was involved in.

[sledge]

[QUOTE="William"]Yes, Russell Crowe looks cool riding a chopper,"

A good KIWI bloke pretending to be an Ozzy.
Fuck I'm even listening to The Angles (Am I ever gona see your face again)at the moment.

[AntRobertson]

A good KIWI bloke pretending to be an Ozzy

Russell Crowe!? The Aussies can have him as far as I'm concerned.

Thieving crims can give back Phar-lap, pavalova, Sam Neil and Crowded House though.

[Sir Burr]

Russel Crowe. Good actor.
Tosser of a human being, though.
A Kiwi telling an American how he wants an Aussie flag painted, whatever next?

[Butterfly]

It's a great show, the bikes are ok, but the constant drama between the pissed off dad and the sons is quite funny

[terry57]

Mikey's cool

Yep mikeys the only one that doesnt have his head in his ass. Couple of my mates road with them last time they were in Oz but said the show sucked and a little jap guy I think won the bike they built on the stage to give away much to the horror of a 1000 bikers. My Kiwi mate was looking at there bikes but ended up ordering a limted addition Big dog only 100 made

i wonder what really happenned at that show in sydney as the tuttles wrote on there web sight that they were not responsible.?

must of been a real fuk up, but there was nothing in the papers.

got any idea.?

[sledge]

Russell Crowe!? The Aussies can have him as far as I'm concerned.

Yeh you're right, he was a real tosser last night wasn't he

[terry57]

i watched the first show last night where they climed the harbour bridge.

micky foking shit him self up there and they had to come down before the big fella started crying.

its a great show and they do great things for there community and the under privilaged in society.

just watching there show where they are building a trike for a paraplegic fella and its great stuff.

incredible talent in that family and yes i must agree that russel crow is a spoilt big headed twat.

[TizMe]

The Angles (Am I ever gona see your face again)

No way, get fukced, fukc off.

[sledge]

No way, get fukced, fukc off.

GOOD STUFF EH

[peterpan]

Its McDonalds TV for Burger king fans, makes me wanna puke.

[Spin]

Its not a bad show and even better is how they searched out the entire country to find some big fat bloke actors to portray the bike builders in true fatty american burger eating style

[watterinja]

I think they are very talented at building those bikes. They have a genuine creative flair.

I'm not sure how long many of the designs would last under road conditions before bits began to fall off them, but they look great.

Their graphic designer is a whizzkid, second to none. The flow-cut equipment is really stunning & allows them to play as much as their creativity will stretch.

I find their continual clowning a bit much at times - but, the engineering & design side is great.

[Sir Burr]

The only guy that seems to actually build bikes is Vinnie and that other bloke who's a whizz at tank fabrication. All the others mug for the camera.

[mrsquirrel]

Do they fuck have creative flair the fucking stick the bikes together and that is it. All premade shite other than a few fenders which they cut out of premade moulds

Load of toss

[terry57]

^

i bet you would'nt tell the big fella that to his face mr squirrel.

he's rip your head off and stuff you up his arse.

[hillbilly]

I watch every chance I get!

When are the episodes showing?