Here's What Vinnie DiMartino From American Chopper Is Doing Now

Way back in 2003, American Chopper began airing on Discovery Channel, centering on motorcycle customization shop Orange County Choppers and featuring Vinnie DiMartino as one of its personalities. While he was just an employee, unrelated to the father-son ownership team (Paul Teutul Sr. and Jr.) who were the focus of the show, DiMartino was featured in a number of episodes during the show's original run between 2003 and 2007. 

Over the years, the show was marred (or by some mid-2000s reality television metrics, enhanced) by the overwhelming personal drama between father and son that freely ran both on-camera and off in the form of frequent and heated screaming matches. (You have probably seen a particularly virulent meme featuring one of those arguments.) Much of what was seen on-screen parlayed itself into multiple lawsuits between Senior, his son, and other former contractors. 

As you might expect in the course of all this discord, DiMartino left the company in 2007, well before the initial cancellation of American Chopper in 2012. It appears DiMartino is perfectly content to let the public eye cast itself anywhere other than his own life, but that doesn't mean that nobody is curious as to what he's up to over a decade later. Let's check in with Vinnie DiMartino and his life post-American Chopper.

DiMartino is, in fact, doing just fine without television. When he left OCC in 2007, he did so to open his own bike modification business, V-Force Customs. Upon his departure, he (rather diplomatically) explained that OCC didn't really have much opportunity for growth or advancement, and he felt driven to open up a shop and strike out on his own regardless of whatever interpersonal drama was playing out at the company. 

Of course, said opportunities can be hard to come by in any family-run business, but that's even more true for a workplace plagued by conflict. Any boss as controlling as Paul Sr. isn't going to be interested in permitting a lot of upward mobility, and what makes for great reality television isn't always so great for a regular employee who has to show up every day, with or without cameras. 

DiMartino's days of offering up his own custom modifications, however, were short-lived. After the financial crisis of 2008, DiMartino had to accommodate for changing economic conditions. Motorcycle sales in general fell precipitously, and with them any interest in special, extra-costly modifications. So, DiMartino shifted his business model to a more reliable revenue stream in regular car maintenance, though he keeps up with bike modding as a personal hobby. 

His business is now called DiMartino Motorsports Automotive and Truck Repair — a little less flashy, but it puts food on the table for him, his wife, and his four children. If you want to keep more active tabs on him, he does run and regularly updates a YouTube channel under his name and occasionally even features Paul Jr., who is still a close friend, in videos. 

He's also known to take questions from erstwhile show fans every once in a while, but for the most part, he keeps the focus on mechanic videos and family updates. As you may also be aware, American Chopper returned to television with both Junior and Senior in 2018, and aired a second revival season in 2019; DiMartino has expressly said that he will not reappear on the show despite being invited by Paul Jr. to do so, so don't expect him to stop by for a cameo anytime soon. He's got his life, his business, and his family — and so far as he's concerned, there's little more to need or want beyond that.