Cody Connelly is an American motorcycle builder widely recognized for his appearance in the reality television series, American Chopper. After serving a long tenure at the Orange County Choppers, Cody abruptly left the show leaving his fans in dismay. What happened to Cody Connelly? Where is he now?
Career and impressive net worth
Cody Connelly’s obsession for bikes started in an early age. He was only five when he got his first bike, XR-50, and since then, he has been off and running. He grew up working in his father’s garage as a kid where he learned the craft of assembling the bikes together.
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Cody joined the Orange County Choppers (OCC) in 2001, as a college boy. He graduated from Valley Central High School in 2005 and attended American Motorcycle Institute (AMI) to pursue his career as a motorcycle builder. With the peaking success of OCC, Discovery Channel ultimately approached the shop for a reality series, American Chopper. The first season of the series aired on television in 2003.
However, Cody had already co-designed bikes like The Cody Project and Old School Chopper at the age of 16. The Cody Project was eventually sold during the Daytona Beach Bike Week in 2003, and was also televised in the 6th episode of the season one of the American Chopper.
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Despite all the experience and fame, Cody left OCC and American Chopper in 2007. He went on to join his former American Chopper’s colleague, Vincent DiMartino, at V-Force Customs in October 2007. Their ambition at V-Force Customs was to stay innovative and uplift the motorcycle industry with high quality services.
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Cody has banked an enormous net worth with a successful career in motorcycle industry and his television appearances. He has accumulated a net worth of $200,000 as of 2018.
What happened to Cody Connelly?
Cody was one of the most innovative bike builder and designer in Orange County Choppers and one of the most admired cast member in the American Chopper. However, his departure from the show in 2007 was followed with trial of controversies.
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After teaming up with Vincent DiMartino at the V-Force Customs, Cody subsequently sued the Orange County Choppers and its founder Paul Teutul Sr. for the breach of contract, fraud and other charges. He claimed that the company used Cody’s brand name in their merchandises and posters without his approval. Additionally, Cody also mentioned that he never received the Old School Chopper which was actually handed to him by Paul Teutul Sr. in one of the episode.
Despite all the heat, the case was settled in 2011 and all the charges were eventually dropped. Cody left the V-Force Customs after it was transformed into DiMartino Motorsports. He then went on to work for Paul Teutul Jr. at Paul Jr. Designs instead of OCC. He was also featured in the spin-off series, American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior.
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In the recent years, Cody has ended up on a long hiatus away from the spotlight. He has not been active in the social media and seems to be enjoying his time in privacy.
Transcript
Cody Connelly is an American motorcycle builder, best known for working at the Orange County Choppers.
Cody was born on August 30, 1987, to Sean Connelly and Darci Dembrek.
He has a younger sister named, Tylar Connelly.
He got his first bike, an XR-50 at the age of five and learned how to maintain bikes from his father while working on their bikes together.
He completed his graduation from Valley Central High School in 2005 and also attended American Motorcycle Institute (AMI).
He joined Orange County Choppers in 2001 while still in college, and his tuition fees at AMI was paid by OCC as part of his training.
In 2003, before the first episode of ‘American Chopper’ was aired, Connelly was involved in the design and build of a bike which became known as The Cody Project.
The bike he built was sold during the 2003 Daytona Beach Bike Week, and that was aired in episode 6 of season 1 of ‘American Chopper.’
Connelly left OCC in October 2007 to team up with his colleague Vincent DiMartino at V-Force Customs in Rock Tavern, NY.
Subsequently, he sued OCC and Paul Teutul Sr., seeking damages for misappropriation of likeness and breach of contract.
He claimed that the show used his likeness in coloring books, posters, and other merchandises after he left he left the shop in October 2007.
Additionally, he also claimed that he never received “an old school chopper” he designed, though Paul Sr. gave it to him in an episode of the show.
The case was settled in 2011.
He returned to choppers when V-Force Customs morphed into DiMartino Motorsports. But, instead of joining OCC, he joined Paul Jr. Designs.
In recent years, he has stayed out of the media limelight. Fans are frantically searching about his whereabouts.
As of January 2018, Cody has accumulated a net worth of around $200 thousand.