I find trying to follow the development of Paul Jr. Designs a little difficult. We have seen the opening episodes of the "Senior vs. Junior" series, and we have seen bits and pieces on HD Theatre network in a show that mixes Sr. vs. Jr. with other bits and pieces. It seems that the bikes Sr. & Co. (OCC) are building are rapidly assembled from stock parts, and the only genius in their design is the artistry of the paint shops. I thought the "fatigue-wrapped gas tank" was a beautiful piece. Paul Sr. will talk to anyone, anywhere, it seems, to badmouth his son, Paul Jr. And the fact that his name is on their paychecks would be the likely reason for the nodding silence of the employees who remain with him, listening to all this tripe. If it weren't for Rick the fabricator, there would be virtually nothing of interest at all at OCC, and the ESAB bike was hardly up to the standards established in recent years with Paul Jr. leading the design work. (It is interesting, too, that Paul Jr. has created a working relationship with Lincoln Electric, #1 welding equipment company in the world, while Paul Sr. is bragging about his new relationship with ESAB, which may be #3 behind Lincoln and Miller) It will be interesting to see if Paul Jr. can round up buyers for a string of custom bikes to establish his company's identity. He seems gifted with wonderful design skills, but I wonder if he hasn't spent a little too much time trying to match the equipment list of OCC's shops, and not enough time actually building a single bike to showcase what hard work and thoughtful design can do. I hope for the following: 1. Sr. has the company appraised as of October 1, 2009, and then buys Paul Jr.'s shares at the fair market value; 2. Mike completes a full course of rehab and finds his place in the world as an adult, perhaps even working (real work) for brother Paul Jr.; 3. Paul Jr. & Co. resist the temptation to engage in destructive fun & games like the ones that so often peppered previous episodes of AC; 4. Paul Sr. gets some real help from a highly skilled family systems therapist. 5. Paul Jr. Designs will price the shirts on their website with more realistic (about 1/3) prices!
Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 08:49AM
Reader Comments (1)
I find trying to follow the development of Paul Jr. Designs a little difficult. We have seen the opening episodes of the "Senior vs. Junior" series, and we have seen bits and pieces on HD Theatre network in a show that mixes Sr. vs. Jr. with other bits and pieces.
It seems that the bikes Sr. & Co. (OCC) are building are rapidly assembled from stock parts, and the only genius in their design is the artistry of the paint shops. I thought the "fatigue-wrapped gas tank" was a beautiful piece. Paul Sr. will talk to anyone, anywhere, it seems, to badmouth his son, Paul Jr. And the fact that his name is on their paychecks would be the likely reason for the nodding silence of the employees who remain with him, listening to all this tripe. If it weren't for Rick the fabricator, there would be virtually nothing of interest at all at OCC, and the ESAB bike was hardly up to the standards established in recent years with Paul Jr. leading the design work. (It is interesting, too, that Paul Jr. has created a working relationship with Lincoln Electric, #1 welding equipment company in the world, while Paul Sr. is bragging about his new relationship with ESAB, which may be #3 behind Lincoln and Miller)
It will be interesting to see if Paul Jr. can round up buyers for a string of custom bikes to establish his company's identity. He seems gifted with wonderful design skills, but I wonder if he hasn't spent a little too much time trying to match the equipment list of OCC's shops, and not enough time actually building a single bike to showcase what hard work and thoughtful design can do.
I hope for the following: 1. Sr. has the company appraised as of October 1, 2009, and then buys Paul Jr.'s shares at the fair market value; 2. Mike completes a full course of rehab and finds his place in the world as an adult, perhaps even working (real work) for brother Paul Jr.; 3. Paul Jr. & Co. resist the temptation to engage in destructive fun & games like the ones that so often peppered previous episodes of AC; 4. Paul Sr. gets some real help from a highly skilled family systems therapist. 5. Paul Jr. Designs will price the shirts on their website with more realistic (about 1/3) prices!