News

Paul Teutul: living the American dream. Thursday, May 29 2008

Paul Teutul, Sr embodies the American dream. His is a true "rags to riches" story, rising from a poor kid in Yonkers, NY, to international recognition and admiration. Born in Yonkers, NY on May 1, 1949, Paul, Sr. spent his early childhood there. When he was 12, the family moved to Rockland county, about an hour from New York City.

He was a scrawny kid, and got beat up a lot at first. He quickly grew tired of that and began to work out. Though he soon became muscular and strong, he didn't enjoy sports and instead devoted himself to mechanical pursuits. His grades were never good, and he was often branded a "loser" by school authorities, but he was good with his hands, skilled in shop, and mastered welding early on.

In 1972, after a short stint in the merchant marines, Paul married Paula Leonardo, a girl he'd known since high school. It was about this time that he rode his first motorcycle. From the moment he sat in that seat, he was hooked on bikes. He bought his first bike, a 1971 Triumph, the same year.

Ready to settle down, he relied on his welding skills to earn a living. He quickly found that, while he was a skilled welder and metal worker, he hated taking orders. Since he didn't mind taking risks, he decided to strike out on his own. At first he took odd welding jobs, but soon found a partner, Fred Gerini, with whom he founded P&F Ironworks. At a business associates suggestion, they located their shop in Orange County, NY.

His new business partner was a motorcycle fanatic and from him Paul learned how to build and rebuild a bike from the ground up. Fred taught Paul how to customize and taught him that a good bike has to have "a look and a flow. Anything that disrupts the flow, once it breaks the line of the bike, it's gotta go." In late 1974, the same year his first son, Paulie/Paul Teutul, Jr was born, Paul, Sr. bought his first Harley, which he customized and tweaked till it wasn't just a bike off the showroom floor, it was something more personal. This first bike become what he called "The Sunshine Bike."

In the late 70s, Paul Sr. formed a new steel working company, Paul's Welding. Senior's grandfather and father had both work-a-holics and Senior followed suit. Sadly, he also took up his mother's alcoholism. Paul worked 60-80 hour weeks and stayed drunk or high much of the time. Though he eventually got sober and has stayed that way, his marriage eventually failed and in 1995 Sr found himself single at age 46. With lots of free time on his hands, he began to build custom bikes in his basement. His son Paul, Jr. was already helping out at their steel works and was an accomplished welder and mechanic, in part because he'd been helping his dad customize bikes all his life. Building bikes together was a way for father and son to connect. Senior had been absent for much of Junior's first 12 years--because of both work and drinking--and he had a strong desire to make it up to his son and gain back some of that lost time.

The father and son team worked well together. There was tension, but it was creative tension and the two began experimenting with different custom designs and began to dream of having their own custom chopper business. Their early "basement bike" designs were well received, but it was Paul Jr's custom "Spiderman" bike that really got the public's attention. From there it was clear that building high profile, custom bikes was one way to gain attention in the market place. People admired those bikes, then ordered bikes they could afford.

But the real growth in their business began after "American Chopper" was aired on the Discovery channel. The original premise was to focus on the production process. How a bike was planned, how it took shape, how it was finished, But as the filming progressed, it became clear to the producers that the real show was the father and son teamwork: the way they both cooperated and fought to create something together.

The rest is history. With the show came fame, admiration, and success for Paul Senior and for the rest of his family. Not one to rest on prior successes, Senior still has ambitious plans to expand the company internationally. It's the same attitude that has brought him from high school "loser" to international fame and respect.