Since a few days the custom motorcycle industry is buzzing with the story of Paul Teutul Junior wearing front of the cameras since August 12, 2010 in his TV show “Senior vs. Junior” a Paul Junior Designs tee-shirt featuring as front graphic what appears to be the photo of a motorcycle named Bullet built by Ian Barry of Falcon Motorcycles. This tee-shirt is also modeled by Paul Junior and offered for sale online in the category “vintage tees” in Paul Junior Designs website for a price of $25.50.
I had to watch the new Teutul TV show “Senior Against Junior” to get confirmation of all this. Was it possible that Falcon Motorcycles licensed their Bullet Falcon motorcycle to Paul Jr.? Highly improbable. So, I contacted Falcon and got confirmation from Ian Barry & from his partner Amaryllis Knight that no such authorization to reproduce their motorcycle creation exists. I also contacted Paul Junior asking him to make a statement regarding the use of Bullet on his company tee-shirts. At time of publication, he still didn’t reply.
It used to be that Custom Builders showing a motorcycle on their clothing line were promoting their own creation, and it’s what all people assume. Paul Jr. being a TV personality, this “Paul Junior Designs tee-shirt” seen by millions will certainly make viewers think that the motorcycle featured on it was built by him. And of course I think it’s very, very wrong. How would you feel as a Custom Builder if you see people in the street wearing a tee shirt featuring your motorcycle creation with the name of another builder printed on it and knowing that they paid $25.50 to wear it?
I know Paul Teutul Jr. since he was a beginner in the industry way before his TV shows and celebrity. Although it is somewhat difficult to write against a friend of the industry, to stay true to being a good reporter I must not let personal feelings and relationships with all the people I know interfere with what I publish. My commitment to you is to report honest stories and to support them with factual information. Maybe Paul Jr. has an excuse, and of course if he decides to make a statement in my Blog, like I proposed to him, I will publish it as is. To be fair I must mention that the web pages where this tee-shirt was for sale were just removed from Paul Junior Designs website.http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com/2010/10/01/senior-vs-junior-vs-falcon-motorcycles/
