There’s no denying that the cultural impact of “American Chopper” remains huge even years since the show’s last airing. With more drama than was necessary, a years-long family feud with a huge media coverage and lots of amazing bikes, the show and its spin-offs are unforgettable for many reasons.
That being said, while the Teutuls hogged the spotlight in the show and the businesses featured in it, some remarkably talented cast members such as Vincent DiMartino are still in the memory of fans who watched “American Chopper” from the start, and learned to appreciate the entire crew.
So where is the talented Vinnie DiMartino now? What happened to the man after leaving Orange County Choppers, and did he have something to do with the feud between Paul Sr and Paul Jr? Stay with us to discover the answers to these questions!
What Is Vincent DiMartino Doing Now?
Ever since leaving Orange County Choppers and “American Chopper” altogether, Vincent DiMartino has been busy with many projects. He’s actually founded two businesses – the first called V-Force Customs which specialized in building custom bikes for sale.
Around 2012 the business was rebaptized as DiMartino Motorsports and was apparently Vincent’s only source of income for many years. However, in 2022 he started DiMartino Industries, a small company which focuses on customizing all types of autos for clients interested in giving them away through contests. That same year, Vincent also launched his own coffee brand D-Max Coffee Co., and is keeping his social media quite active with updates about the work in his garage and everyday life.
Besides his work life, Vincent is a dedicated cook and family man, and often shares the adventures he gets up to together with four kids and wife on his Facebook account. All in all, while it seems unlikely that he’ll return to TV anytime soon, Vincent is apparently doing as well as ever on his own.
Was He In “American Chopper”’s Revival?
Any good fan of “American Chopper” knows that the show hasn’t had the most stable run on TV. After the original show’s cancellation in 2010, several spin-offs and revivals have premiered, the most recent one premiered in 2018, and lasted two seasons on air.
Given the uproar caused by “American Chopper”s return to TV, many people wondered if by chance, Vincent would appear in the show, but Vincent’s answer wasn’t the one expected by the most hopeful fans.
As he admitted on a video shared on his YouTube channel, Paul Teutul Jr. actually asked him to work together again, but Vincent didn’t feel compelled to accept, for the sake of his own business: ‘For it to make sense for me to do it, it would have to be good, and I can’t just leave my shop’. He also added that filming a show took lots of time, and so would require extra help for his own shop, which overall was ‘difficult’ to do, not to say costly.
Regarding other less time-consuming projects with the “American Chopper” guys, Vincent mentioned that Pauly had also brought up the idea of doing a special episode together, yet that’s a project which hadn’t come to completion back in mid-2018 when he shared the video.
Why Did He Leave Orange County Choppers?
As seen in an “American Chopper” episode from 2007, Vincent DiMartino left his long-time job in Orange County Choppers to seek new professional opportunities. As he said in front of the cameras back then, Vincent felt stagnated and felt it was time for a change: ‘I’ve been doing this for five years, build after build, deadlines on top of deadlines and here I am, still in the same place’. He also added that leaving would be the best for his family’s sake.
Despite parting ways on good terms with everyone in the shop, Vincent’s exit wasn’t free from scandal as Paul Teutul Sr’s infamous phrase ‘everyone is replaceable’ caused a bit of an uproar back then, despite his claims of his words being edited. Nonetheless, Vincent’s relationship with everyone in the show was visibly good for the way his co-workers lamented his decision, including his good friends Cody Connelly and Paul Jr.
I definitely wanted to answer this question I get so many people asking me https://t.co/CBTMqevD2F
— Vinnie DiMartino (@VinnieDiMartino) July 4, 2018
On a YouTube video from 2018, Vincent answered some common questions regarding the topic, admitting that although his farewell scene in “American Chopper” wasn’t staged, he isn’t interested in returning to Orange County Choppers: ‘I promised myself that I would never ever do anything with them again’, Vincent affirmed.
Is He Still Friends With The Guys?
Vincent DiMartino was a fan favorite during his time in “American Chopper”, and was apparently very well-liked by his former co-workers as well. However, while life has taken all the Orange County Choppers’ former staff to different paths in life, Vincent and several of them are still pretty much in contact with each other, as he explained in a YouTube video from 2018.
Starting with Cody Connelly, he and Vincent worked together for a couple of years after the latter’s exit from the show. According to Vincent, he considers Cody a sort of younger brother and he often visits his shop, despite not working together anymore. Another former Orange County Chopper with whom Vincent remains friends is Paul Jr, despite seeing each other only rarely.
Regarding Michael Teutul, Vincent doesn’t see him much, but still holds him in high regard: ‘I love that kid, he’s such a good hearted guy, he’s authentically good’. About Rick Petko, he hasn’t been in contact with Vincent very much since moving to Pennsylvania, yet during the time they worked together at Orange County Chopper, they became really close and still have that friendship intact, according to Vincent.
All in all, the former cast of “American Chopper” might not hang out with each other as much as they did over a decade ago, yet they still remember the good times they spent together back then.
What Happened To Cody Connelly?
After Vincent DiMartino quit Orange County Choppers in 2007, it didn’t take long for fellow bike builder Cody Connelly to follow in his footsteps. After Vincent started his own business V-Force Customs, Cody joined his staff and worked there until 2012.
https://www.facebook.com/GeeseChasers/photos/a.10150694470140367/10156690814900367/
Nonetheless, while Vincent quitting Orange County Choppers caused a little bit of drama, it doesn’t compare to the big issues which followed Cody’s exit from the shop. As it happens, Cody was known for being a prodigy at custom bike building, starting in his teens as an intern for the Teutuls, and even attending American Motorcycle Institute while working half-time in the shop, as seen in many episodes of “American Chopper”.
However, not long after his exit from Orange County Choppers, Cody filed a lawsuit against the business, as he was allegedly still owed $250,000 for over 50 unpaid appearances in the “American Chopper” show. Court documents also showed Cody demanded to be paid for using his image in merchandise and to be given the Old School Chopper, which he helped design, and was given as a gift by Paul Teutul Sr on screen.
Although it’s unclear what the lawsuit resulted in, Cody is no longer in bike building and now works in an energy company in Poughkeepsie, New York State, according to Vincent.
What Happened To Vincent’s Business?
Despite having decades-long experience in bike building and auto mechanics, the road wasn’t easy for Vincent DiMartino following his exit from Orange County Choppers in 2007.
As it happens, while working for the Teutuls, Vincent had signed a non compete clause that meant he was restricted from working in any custom bike-related business for a while. Nonetheless, Vincent used his time wisely to buy the equipment necessary to start his own business, and by the time he was legally allowed to move forward, he put all the effort into making V-Force Customs a successful business.
However, the custom bike building industry isn’t an easy one to work in, and by the time Paul Teutul Jr. offered Vincent to appear in “American Chopper”s spin-off “Senior vs. Junior” in 2009, he had already started to reconsider the future of his business.
Although it’s widely assumed that Vincent and Cody Connelly worked for Paul Jr’s business itself, the truth is that their work was that of contractors for as long as the show lasted. By the time “Senior vs. Junior” came to an end, Vincent knew he was up to a change from custom work: ‘It’s not like it was a hobby and I was funding it with another business I had, it was all I had’, he said on a YouTube video. So in 2013 V-Force Customs became DiMartino Motorsports, an auto repair body shop.
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Vincent’s Beginnings
Although he rose to fame through the screen of “American Chopper”, the truth is that Vincent DiMartino had been working in the automotive world long before Orange County Choppers came around. A native of Newburgh in New York State, Vincent’s love for cars and bikes started at a very early age thanks to his father, who owned an auto repair shop and a gas station.
Vincent passed from pulling apart toys to rebuilding his first engine at nine years old. The young Vinnie steadily gained more experience and insight into mechanics, keeping a part-time job at his father’s garage until he was 15 years old. He then took another position, in a golf course business owned by his family as well, but at 24 years old, he felt that something else was waiting for him.
For the next couple of years, Vincent tried to different job fields, such as truck driving and drilling, but eventually came back to the basics by working again in an auto repair shop. From then, it wasn’t long until he joined the staff of Orange County Choppers in 2001, and started a short lived but quite successful period in custom work.
Other TV Projects
Besides appearing in “American Chopper” and its spin-off “Senior vs. Junior”, many don’t know about other entertainment projects Vincent has been in. Back in 2004, Vincent along with other staff members of Orange County Choppers briefly appeared in the documentary series “Long Way Round”, starring Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and British TV presenter Charley Boorman as both embarked in a long-distance bike trip during which they visited many places, including Mongolia, Alaska, Kazakhstan and Siberia, with their final destination in New York City.
Later in 2010, Vincent’s business was the subject of the TV show “Throttle Junkies TV”, which focused on showing the different processes of custom bike building all around the US. Besides V-Force Customs, the California-based RetroSBK and Florida-based 2Xtreem Motorsports were featured in the show.
Although “Throttle Junkies TV” was a short-lived project, the show had enough screen time to show its audience one of the most important bike building works done by V-Force Customs, the Tampa Bay Storm Chopper which was unveiled during said team’s game at St. Pete Times Forum, having been designed and built by Vincent and Cody Connelly.
While it seems unlikely that Vincent will return to TV, as his business remains his main priority, there’s no denying that he experienced some amazing and fulfilling moments on TV.
Did He Teamed Up With Pauly?
It’s been a long time since Vincent DiMartino and Paul Teutul Jr. have joined forces to create a bike, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t collaborated in other equally exciting projects.
The opportunity for that came in 2020, when through his business Paul Jr. Designs, Paul Jr launched the project The Next American Innovator, an online competition which in collaboration with Paris Honda and Yamaha, awarded the most creative and talented custom bike builders in the US: ‘My ultimate goal is to provide these incredibly talented men and women with not only an outlet, but a platform to be celebrated and get the respect they deserve’, as Paul Jr explained in a statement.
Prizes include wide online exposure to the winners, along with a red Honda Super Cub C125 and a blue Honda Monkey, both brand new.
Vincent’s role in this competition was as a judge, who along with other bike experts including Paul Jr, had the difficult task of choosing the winners. The competition wasn’t only a success, but also made evident that the friendship and mutual respect between Vincent and Paul Jr. has survived the pass of time.
That being said, there are surely more exciting projects waiting for Vincent, and whether that includes his recently launched project DiMartino Industries or another business is yet to be seen. The most important thing is that Vincent remains active, and doing what he loves.
