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Picture of Week
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American Chopper Comes to the End of the Road
American Chopper is riding off into the sunset for good.
The TLC reality series is
closing shop after six seasons, with the series
finale airing Thursday, Feb. 11 at 9/8c.
Chopper premiered in 2003 on the Discovery Channel before moving to TLC in 2008. The series followed founder Paul Teutul, Sr., and his son, Paul Jr. (better known as Paulie or Junior) and the drama behind the scenes at their custom motorcycle shop, Orange County Choppers. "The Teutuls will always be a part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run," TLC said in a statement.
Paul Teutul, Sr., said he anticipated "another two or three years" of the show in an October interview with the New York Daily News. However, Paul Jr., left the company — and the series — briefly earlier this season and was then sued by his father over company stock in December, according to TMZ.
Will you miss American Chopper?
Harley-Davidson to Donate Motorcycles for Haiti Relief Efforts
Harley-Davidson announced it will donate 28 new Buell and Harley-Davidson motorcycles to assist with earthquake disaster relief and stabilization efforts in Haiti. The motorcycles are being shipped from Motor Company facilities to the Dominican Republic, where Harley-Davidson dealership organization MagnaMotors will facilitate direct delivery to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
"Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this devastating disaster in Haiti," said Rod Copes, Sr. Vice President of International Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Harley-Davidson. "As the relief and stabilization efforts continue, motorcycles can often offer a higher degree of maneuverability and access than other types of vehicles."
The motorcycles will remain in Haiti as a permanent donation to the government.
Yamaha to solicit voluntary retirement
of 800 employees
Yamaha Motor Co is planning to solicit voluntary retirement from around 800 regular employees in August to cut personnel costs as its motorcycle sales have substantially declined in industrial countries. The number represents nearly 7 percent of the motorcycle maker’s 11,990 employees as of Jan 1. It is the first time for Yamaha to solicit voluntary retirement since 1983.
In the face of fast drops in motorcycle sales in Japan and Western nations since the 2008 financial crisis, Yamaha has so far restricted its recruitment of new graduates and reduced wages. As no sign of recovery in motorcycle sales in the nations is seen, Yamaha now plans to encourage employees to retire voluntarily in a bid to cut fixed costs. Yamaha also said provisions for the voluntary retirement and other measures have led the company to widen its group net loss estimate for 2009 from an earlier-projected 182 billion yen to 216.2 billion yen.
