Vinnie

Today he may fabricate OCC bikes (and enjoy it), but Vinnie's first love? Cars.

It's a bit of a surprise, since Vinnie's dad used to sell Indians and got his son riding when he was 3 (his first bike had a set of training wheels). But his dad also owned a repair shop and gas station, where Vinnie started working when he was 9. He got hooked, and by the time he was 15, Vinnie was doing high-performance work on his and all of his friends' cars.

But that was (and continues to be) all side work; Vinnie's first "real" job started when he was 16, working with his father at his golf course. Nine years later, family businesses being what they are, he decided that he'd rather stop working for his dad and be able to remain friends.

So Vinnie left the golf course to be an auto mechanic for a year and a half, then embarked on a series of different jobs: He drilled wells for eight months, drove a truck for a year, returned to the garage where he had been a mechanic, and also worked for a friend doing custom auto audio/TV installation.

Then one day his dad — long-time friends with Paul Sr. from his repair-shop — let Vinnie know that Paulie was looking for a good mechanic, someone he knew and trusted, to work with him at Orange County Choppers. And Paul Jr., his elementary-school friend starting in third grade, knew Vinnie could do anything to a car or bike (well, short of painting). Interested, Vinnie called Junior, and the rest is history; two weeks after their October 2002 conversation, Vinnie was working at OCC.

Today at OCC, Vinnie mostly does fabrication on the production bikes and fab and assembly on the theme bikes. And enjoys it — although he may be more into mechanics (motors and wiring) than welding, because the bikes are so varied, the work always stays fresh.

 

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