Steering this thread back on topic. What's the latest on OCC ? I've started a couple of threads asking for people who've seen OCC (Non Theme) bikes to post about it and we've had very very little feedback. I mean with 14,000 plus members world wide, that says a lot IMO. The entire OCC saga plays out like Greek Theater and the ones who will suffer in the end are the employees. Sure, people like Rick and a few others are likely to have job offers coming at them but can they accept unless Sr folds the company legally ? The non compete clause that was part of the storyline when the show ended would remain in effect whether OCC was open for business or not. So one year of at best collecting unemployment. And, if memory serves, Sr has shown in the past that he will do whatever he can to not allow a former employee collect benefits (perhaps somebody familiar with NY business rules/law can explain why he'd care) Anyway, while we don't see more than a dozen or so employees, I would expect OCC probably has (or had) a payroll of at least 100 people. That's a lot in a small market (motorcycle) area like where the OCC HQ is located. Just how many H-D dealers and Indy shops out there are there ? And in this economy how many are hiring.
It didn't have to be this way. As noted in the previous posts, Paul Yaffe has shown that you change with the marketplace. The Chopper craze has had two big surges in my lifetime. Maybe it will have a third before I'm looking at the wrong side of the grass. Who knows. What I do know is that baggers have always been popular with the market segment for them growing as the biker population ages. OCC could have gotten into building custom baggers. OCC from what we see on the show could most likely Mfg anything requiring machine tool technology,fabrication and finishing. Sr & Jr could have been businessmen and realized that whether they can work together or not they HAD a money making machine. That they failed to understand how much was at stake with their disfuctionalism is all the proof I need that they never really got it . They never quite caught onto what the wave they were riding was. I don't feel sorry for them in the least. Sr's 60ish and has a bad heart and with these steroid revelations is probably looking at a shortened lifespan. He's got enough money to last him for whatever time he's got left. Jr ? Who knows. He could build up Paul Jr Designs into a viable small business or he could fail. It all depends on how well he can see his customer base. He hasn't shown much ability to do so to date so I'd not put my money on his succeeding. I wish the employees of OCC well. Being out of work is not something I wish on anyone.
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