Did you ever watch Orange County Choppers?
It's OK, it's a safe space here. I did, too. Definitely not every episode, and I also totally gave up after a while because the shouting and the manufactured reality show drama just gave me a headache.
But it was legit hard to avoid in the early 2000s. Especially if you were even the slightest bit interested in bike and/or automotive/DIY culture. If I recall correctly, it was even on in waiting rooms at various businesses sometimes, because it was a genuine cultural phenomenon here in the States.
It's 2024 now, though. Not 2000. A lot has changed between then and now. For a start, YouTube didn't exist, with its power to at least somewhat democratize the ability for random people to start making videos and find a following, all the while not being gatekept by whatever channels your basic cable provider was carrying.
Sure, there's the almighty algorithm to contend with on YouTube. But there's also at least some sense that you can subscribe to individual YT channels that make videos you truly want to see, a la carte, instead of ponying up extra just to get the cable package that has the Velocity Channel (and a bunch of stuff you don't want to see along with the couple of things you do).
You might call that 'dialing it in.' And yes, I'm referencing the video I've embedded here for you to watch.
Anyway, if you thought that Paul Senior was just the stuff of memes in the 2020s, think again. He's back, and he's now on YouTube. In fact, he's got an entire 32.2 thousand followers at the time of writing, and slightly under 150,000 views on this video where he calls out popular moto YouTube channel Bikes and Beards because they *checks notes* found specific problems with the Miss Geico Bike that the B&B boys bought.
Sir. If you had a dime (just a dime, not even a dollar) for every time someone on the Internet criticized an OCC bike, you'd be even richer than you are now. I mean, known gearhead Jay Leno has criticized OCC build quality in the past, and he's far from the only one.
But maybe he knows it. And maybe that's why he called out Bikes and Beards, which has 2.23M subscribers on YouTube at the time of writing. Heck, the video I've embedded above, where Sean responds to Paul Sr's not-very-well-thought-out call-out video, already has 5-ish times the views of the Paul Sr. callout video. If anything, B&B is bringing attention to Paul Sr. in this, the year of our YouTube Algorithm 2024, that he otherwise wouldn't have.
You see the problem here, if you're Paul Sr. Not enough people are witnessing him. And that's the tone of his callout, too.
Hilariously, his video calling out Bikes and Beards is called "Exposing the Lies." And as one commenter on his video points out, not a single lie was, in fact, exposed.
Instead, it just seems like he's mad that some YouTube guy who has never claimed to be a bike builder found fault with two of his bikes. He's so mad, he can't even hear it when Sean repeatedly says in his video that this bike is, and I quote, "so cool!" Not even sarcastically; Sean says it with what sounds an awful lot like genuine enthusiasm!
The thing is, forming a good argument relies on listening carefully to the person you're arguing against, so you can form a cogent rebuttal. That's, you know, if you want to actually have a heated discussion, not just see who can shout the loudest. Though it's easy enough to understand that in 2024, ad hominem attacks are much more popular.
After all, they do two things. One, they get attention. And two, they deflect from any actual issues. I can almost guarantee you that nothing of substance will be discussed after you get diverted by an ad hominem attack. Why? Because you and your posse will be far too busy practically pretzeling yourselves to prove that no, you do not smell funny, and that you in fact showered 15 minutes ago.
Meanwhile, the bike in the corner still looks cool, but doesn't run. And no one's fixing it, because you're too busy arguing over who smells the funniest. Yay!
Anyway, all the dudes involved in this YouTube video callout drama are maybe planning some kind of competition? Old school entertainer vs. new school entertainer, maybe? The exact terms are unclear, but I'm sure we're hear about it in the coming weeks and months.
