American Chopper

[Hardcoreruss]

Today was American Chopper day on Discovery channel from 8 am - 5 pm.

I had never watched it before but that must be one of the most entertaining fly on the wall shows I have ever watched. I normally hate them.

Highly recommended.

[thecoalman]

It gets a little old after a while, some of the newer ones it almost seems like there acting the arguing...

[ZAPPER]

I think that it has gone a little soft. Still not a real bad show. I would rather see more details on how and what they are doing to the bike and its components instead of the petty bullshit between the cast. I mean I would rather see five minutes of an artist grinding on the pipes or handle bars than seeing the retarded brother on a ******* moped! From what I have seen and remember most of the bikes that they build are more for show than go anyways. Build a bike in your garage that can get you out of your county without breaking down and you are pretty good, build one that will get you across the country without putting a semi-permanate hump in your back and you are damb near a god!

[rhegedus]

It gets a little old after a while, some of the newer ones it almost seems like there acting the arguing...

Bingo!

There's only so many times seeing Pauly upset at the mess is entertaining.

[Garibaldi]

I watch this show alot, its great! Unfortunately there haven't been any new ones for awhile, maybe this monday though. I agree that all the arguing is unnecessary, but as you probably already know I'm sure discovery channel has that for ratings, and not much else.

[ZAPPER]

I saw the one about David Mann. Kind of depressing. I always thought of him as the Norman Rockwel of bikers. His work as I remembered it was always about the next moment. Like a drive belt breaking or a wreck about to happen or a biker having to decide on either his gear or the hot little bimbo hitch hiker. Ain't no doubt that these guys can build some killer bikes but it almost seems that they are treading on some sacred ground when they do like the 9/11 bike or the David Mann bike. I know that they are intitled but I do think that they need to show some respect and tone it down when dealing with such sacred subjects. I do like most of what I have seen of their shows and their work but acting like idiots on camera is not winning them any points with me.

[thecoalman]

but acting like idiots on camera is not winning them any points with me.

But if they didn't act like idiots there probably would have no show in the first place.

[rhegedus]

Dunno, Norm Abrahams has carpentry all to himself without being an idiot......

[ZAPPER]

but acting like idiots on camera is not winning them any points with me.

But if they didn't act like idiots there probably would have no show in the first place.

Awh come on man. Wouldn't you watch a show that had guys as talented as they are actually grinding steel and the occaisional knuckle. Useing the water jet to cut out some killer wheels (Hell I could get mesmerized watching a machine cut a billet into just about anything) Show them botch up about half a dozen peices of pipe for the exaust. And some close up thru the welding hood shots of them TIG welding. Man there is some talent there, but alas Hollywood knows what is best for sales. Too bad! If it were more like a how to show like the Yankee Workshop I think they could be on to something.

[thecoalman]

Awh come on man. Wouldn't you watch a show that had guys as talented as they are actually grinding steel and the occaisional knuckle.

Don't need too, I can find enough people around here to watch. I watched my buddy tig weld 1/16 inch stainless to 3/8 steel. Now that's some talent.

[VCDHunter]

Awh come on man. Wouldn't you watch a show that had guys as talented as they are actually grinding steel and the occaisional knuckle.

Don't need too, I can find enough people around here to watch. I watched my buddy tig weld 1/16 inch stainless to 3/8 steel. Now that's some talent.

**** me ! I'll bet the winter nights just fly by round your way.

[thecoalman]

**** me ! I'll bet the winter nights just fly by round your way.

Den on Saturdays we got da pig races, dat's where you pick up da good lookin chicks.

[shoozleboy]

Damn eastern Pennsylvania hicks!!!

[northcat_8]

I like it. Those guys are very skilled and they create some awesome bikes.

I do agree watching Paul get mad at Paulie and Mikey gets a little old after a while. But Paul Sr. is one big MFer.

[VCDHunter]

**** me ! I'll bet the winter nights just fly by round your way.

Den on Saturdays we got da pig races, dat's where you pick up da good lookin chicks.

[thecoalman]

On a serious side though it does require a bit of skill to weld my example, stainless is a bitch to weld to begin with.... the relatively small thickness of the stainless, welding it to a different type of steel, it was a seamless weld at a 45 degree angle. Took him about 15 minutes per foot of weld.

[smearbrick1]

I used to watch this show religiously, but it seems to me that their bike designs are getting a little old. That guy that won the ultimate biker build off who hand-hammers and shapes all of his parts... That guy builds some sweet bikes.

Another thing that irritates me about these shows (American Chopper and American Hot Rod) is their rampant use of the word innovative. Do they even know what innovative means? Pauly decides that he wants a more stretched tank than a fat tank and calls that "innovative." Same thing with boyd Coddington - he painted a coupe blue and yellow and called it innovative. What the hell?

[thecoalman]

I'll agree Smearbrick, having seen and fabricated a lot of metal stuff myself I don't see what the big deal is for a lot of the stuff they do. Understandably there's a lot of work and design that goes into some of those bikes but a lot of the stuff is also pre fabricated then modified which really isn't that hard if you have the tools and experience to use them correctly. Now hand hammering and shaping a tank such as the one Jesse James makes...... that's a true custom fabrication and isn't something your average fabricator can't do without a lot of experience and talent.

[stiltman]

Today was American Chopper day on Discovery channel from 8 am - 5 pm.

I had never watched it before but that must be one of the most entertaining fly on the wall shows I have ever watched. I normally hate them.

Highly recommended.

http://guide-zone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=165

[BJ_M]

watching boyd Coddington's crew makes me realize never to buy one of those cars ... everything rushed and only really the old guy there and one or two others know what their doing most of the time ..
They also have to do a lot of patching - in fact one of their roadsters was 1/2 bondo -- was really a little shocked that they had so much, when they got a guy that can lead quite well and make new sheet metal - but no one wants to hammer out smooth - its a time/money issue again ..

[smearbrick1]

watching boyd Coddington's crew makes me realize never to buy one of those cars ... everything rushed and only really the old guy there and one or two others know what their doing most of the time ..
They also have to do a lot of patching - in fact one of their roadsters was 1/2 bondo -- was really a little shocked that they had so much, when they got a guy that can lead quite well and make new sheet metal - but no one wants to hammer out smooth - its a time/money issue again ..

Those deadlines they set for some of their cars are ridiculous. They built (pretty much from the ground up) a 65 mustang fastback in 7 weeks! If I remember, they ruined the car by painting it canary yellow. I can't imagine what they charge for a car though. I imagine it is excess of 100,000 depending on the model and the work/time involved.

[BJ_M]

they go for top $$ and he has won a lot of awards to be sure -- i just dont think we see the best work though , or they dont want to shwo some of their methods on-air

http://www.mathewscollection.com/sale/sale_street_boyd.htm

for sale $120,000

[shoozleboy]

that 67 Cobra on that site is sweet.... I've always had a soft spot for the Cobra....

[rhegedus]

On a serious side though it does require a bit of skill to weld my example, stainless is a bitch to weld to begin with.... the relatively small thickness of the stainless, welding it to a different type of steel, it was a seamless weld at a 45 degree angle. Took him about 15 minutes per foot of weld.

Spoke to my dad about this - he says it's kids stuff to weld in a workshop. But then again, he used to to TIG welding crawling in between pipes at oil refineries and then have his welds checked by X-ray for defects before that section of the plant was allowed to open (pipes were subjected to over 1000lb psi in routine use).

[thecoalman]

As is my buddie who welded my piece of stainless... He's a Union Boilermaker, same racket. He had pics he showed me when he was working at/near a nuke plant where they were so high on a smokestack you could look down into the cooling towers. The thing to note is that this weld was smooth as glass when he was done, it wasn't a hatchet job.

[BJ_M]

On a serious side though it does require a bit of skill to weld my example, stainless is a bitch to weld to begin with.... the relatively small thickness of the stainless, welding it to a different type of steel, it was a seamless weld at a 45 degree angle. Took him about 15 minutes per foot of weld.

Spoke to my dad about this - he says it's kids stuff to weld in a workshop. But then again, he used to to TIG welding crawling in between pipes at oil refineries and then have his welds checked by X-ray for defects before that section of the plant was allowed to open (pipes were subjected to over 1000lb psi in routine use).

High pressure pipe welding per ASME standards is using SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) and GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding) orbital welding processes. Our motion systems would use hydraulic lines up to 2200psi (flight simulators) .
One of the popular automated orbital welders is the CobraTig 150 Orbital Welders .. for smaller pipe anyway .. a lot of HP pipe welding now is automated, lilke the Magnatech line of products among others ..

[handyguy]

"for sale $120,000"

For a car?

Those custom motorcycles are usually $150,000. They give the price on the show sometimes. Id rather have a car than a bike though.

[thayne]

I like it, the retarded guy, Mikey, is kind of amuzing..

[ZAPPER]

My old man was a welder for over 30 years in the coke ovens at USS Gary Works. To hear his tales as told by others is incredible. Welding on pipes that still had steam on or live gas is a technical marvel today and he was doing it in the begining of modern welding. German engineers once paniced when one of their modern oven doors malfunctioned beyond repair. Nobody told my old man that it couldn't be fixed, so he looked at it, called for a peice of bar stock and repaired the door. The mill stood to loose millions if the battery burned up and the engineers choked under pressure. My old man just wanted to get home to pull weeds in the garden and wasn't about to let some pretty boy change his plans!

He outlived most of his freinds and coworkers, but I was always told by them when they were alive that my old man got the shittiest jobs because he was the only one that could do them. I have started to learn that welding in a nice shop with all of the best on hand is a lot better than welding cramed into some tight spot in an explosive atmosphere, but my old man never complained he just did what he was good at.

[rhegedus]

He outlived most of his freinds and coworkers, but I was always told by them when they were alive that my old man got the shittiest jobs because he was the only one that could do them. I have started to learn that welding in a nice shop with all of the best on hand is a lot better than welding cramed into some tight spot in an explosive atmosphere, but my old man never complained he just did what he was good at.

That's one I've heard a few times too, as well as being asked to stay behind at the end of a shift for a few clear up jobs and then coming home two days later because no one else could do it.