TLC finally pulls the plug on American Choppers

[XDCX]

I thought it was interesting that TLC has finally pulled the plug on the American Choppers TV show - the last show aired this week.

I'll admit I've watched the show for years and really used to enjoy it when the majority of the TV time was focused on building bikes. I remember attending a NADA convention where NAPA had their OCC Chopper on display. It was one of the first "Corporate" bikes made on the show and the workmanship was awesome.

I think the OCC topic is relevant to the forum because so many dealerships are run with family members. In the case of OCC the father no longer talks to his sons and there's a lawsuit between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. concerning the valuation of the company. How many dealerships have experienced that same family/generational friction?

It will be interesting to see what happens to OCC as a business. For their sake, I hope that big new building was paid for because I doubt the business generates enough revenue right now to cover the rent.

[Ralph]

I'm a 3rd generation dealer principal now, and my son, (poor guy) is 4th. (Oh dear, I feel a stream of consciousness coming on.)

I know that many family stores handle succession in different ways. There are some that I know of where Pops maintains total ownership of the business far too long, when he has family running the business and he lives in Florida or or a tropical island somewhere. I can't get into their minds, but I assume one reason would be a "control thing." If and when Pops gets too old, and in poor health, there's no time left for gifting the stock properly over time, and the IRS looms large in thew scene.

Then there's Pops who has three kids in the business and thinks it'd be great to gift or transfer ownership to them all. That'd be "fair" and they can all share in the business he's built. This is a recipe for disaster in many cases. I can only imagine how the three, and their three "significant others" through the years. The pillow talk may go this way, "You know, your brother is an idiot. I think he's taking more secret bonuses..." or "He's an idiot you know...he doesn't know what he's doing you know." A great example of this is Legal Seafoods, a company torn apart because the siblings couldn't get along. I know in my situation, I've worked with my siblings for 20+ years and if they had ownership, we'd have been in court 19 years ago. LOL

My father believed in "primogeniture" and saw this trap years ago. He began gifting stock to me many years ago and several years ago gifted the last of it to both me and my son. That got it out of his estate in time so that if something happened to him, it wouldn't be tied up in estate taxes. I think you have to look far ahead to do it all properly...well I think he did it properly anyway. Maybe that's just an ego-centric view, but it's worked well for us.

Seems OCC was a bit different. Jr and Sr seemed to act more like siblings than Father son with respect to ownership and management. Hilarious TV for sure, but a shame if you were in that family sitting around the Thanksgiving table. I didn't follow it closely, only a few shows here and there, seems Mikey didn't get ownership and often felt kinda left out. Jr and Sr couldn't get along and there must have been co-ownership of some sort...sad that the family ripped apart over it. I bet the TV stress didn't help, becoming stars and all, like Jon Kate and Eight. Those stresses go to the head and their egos get larger than life.

Ok, I'm done. Whew......

[lsx only]

we have small family owned store my father and i work with each other every day and we get along great we wouldnt have it any other way,there is not a lot of profit to worry about but he pays me fair.

[LJS]

Wow, great topic, one I have way to much experience with at my young age.

[XDCX]

Ralph - great comments.

Like you, I've watched some first generation dealers who just refused to let go and it created a lot of friction in the business. I also know a dealer who did ZERO estate planning and died unexpectedly. His heirs were forced to sell off some of his stores to pay the Estate Tax.

Not surprisingly, I've read that fewer kids tend to follow in their father's footsteps when it comes to running the family dealership. I guess the OCC drama shows some of the pitfalls.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by lsx only

we have small family owned store my father and i work with each other every day and we get along great we wouldnt have it any other way,there is not a lot of profit to worry about but he pays me fair.

That's awesome, I'm really happy for you and your dad.

It's nice to hear there are family run stores where everyone gets along - that speaks highly of both you and yoru father.

[XDCX]

LJS - Wow, that's a tough situation.

While many of the members here get tired of dealing with the insanity imposed by their OEMs, you have to deal with a whole other layer of insanity working with your family.

[SHACOS]

I was sad to see the show end up how it did, but I do have to say that it had lost much of the appeal that it had when it was just the family building bikes.

I think there is a lesson here. Don't get too corporate! I, for one, value the hard work and dedication it takes to put up with your family everyday to create and run a successful business. Now OCC is starting restaurants, going overseas in Europe and Dubai and just plain getting too big for it's britches. If you focus on the family relationship, I think any business would thrive.

[LJS]

Originally Posted by XDCX

LJS - Wow, that's a tough situation.

While many of the members here get tired of dealing with the insanity imposed by their OEMs, you have to deal with a whole other layer of insanity working with your family.

Tell me about it. My wife, God bless her, doesn't know anything about the car biz, so accordingly she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't get involved. But she does often say she thinks I was adopted. I know families that work together and get along great, and then I also know others that are like mine. If I could get out I would do it in a second without even thinking about it, and one day it may come to that, just depends on how much money I am wiling to lose to start my life over?

[LJS]

Originally Posted by SHACOS

If you focus on the family relationship, I think any business would thrive.

I agree, but all parties involved have to be reasonable and decent people, or it just won't work.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by SHACOS

I think there is a lesson here. Don't get too corporate! I, for one, value the hard work and dedication it takes to put up with your family everyday to create and run a successful business. Now OCC is starting restaurants, going overseas in Europe and Dubai and just plain getting too big for it's britches. If you focus on the family relationship, I think any business would thrive.

I meant to respond to this post when I first saw it.

I agree that both OCC and the show drifted too far away from what first made them successful. Concerning the restaurants and Dubai, I get the impression those efforts were just grasps at trying to keep the show viable as their customer base for choppers dwindled.

I remember they made a big deal when they signed-on with Ducati as a franchise but I think that went away too - at least there's no reference to Ducati bikes on their webpage...

My bet is the demand for corporate OCC bikes goes to zero. The only thing that made their bikes attractive near the end was the one-hour infomercial provided by TLC. Without the TV time I doubt there are too many companies that want to spend $100K for an ornament that just gathers dust.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by LJS

If I could get out I would do it in a second without even thinking about it, and one day it may come to that, just depends on how much money I am wiling to lose to start my life over?

I was thinking about this post the other day when I saw an ad for a KIA store where the Dealer Principal would carry the paper on the store and structure a buy-out. He was only looking for $200K down. (I'll see if I can find the ad again and post a thread in the KIA section.)

If nothing else, it would be interesting to see how your family would respond if you started looking at other deals. Maybe they need you more than you need them?

[XDCX]

I just saw a commercial for a new season of American Choppers.

OK, call me a skeptic but I'm betting the producers knew with 100% certainty that the show wasn't going away. The new pitch is a Junior -vs- Senior smack-down. I doubt I'll watch - I've mostly lost interest since they turned the show into a soap opera.

On a side note, I enjoyed re-reading an old thread when Ralph used to post while he was having his morning cup of coffee.