Filed under: Misc. Auto Shows, Motorcycles, Celebrities
OCC introduces two new production bikes, including first bagger
click above for more pics of OCC's new production bike
Despite the fact that the Orange County Choppers television show has been on for years now and the shop's top mechanic, Vinnie, has left for good, the public still loves the Teutels. No matter what you may think of their theme bikes, there's no denyiny that an OCC bike draws plenty of attention. Those who are willing to pay for that attention can buy one of their production machines full of OCC logos and custom touches, and they have recently added two new models to their line, a bagger and a bike known as "Sweet Amber". Today we'll take a peak at the as-yet-unnamed bagger, which looks pretty sinister above in all black. We like the usability that a custom bagger offers without sacrificing the look of a custom bike. Corbin Fleetliner bags provide 40 liters of storage and hide the exhaust pipes, leaving just the aft openings visible. The rear tire is a reasonable 240 mm, which, along with the livable rake and trail measurements, should provide a decent handling machine.
What is most exciting about this bike is the powerplant, which is the first application of S&S's X-Wedge engine in a rubber mount, meaning that this should be a smooth runner. Other user-friendly touches are included in the fairing, with a low smoked windshield and a jack with speakers for your iPod. Here's the bad news: they plan on selling the machine for around $50 grand. That's quite a chunk of change, but might be worth it considering that a stock Harley bagger is often more than half that amount. We have gathered some photos courtesy of Motorcycle USA and included them below, so be sure to take a look.
[Source: Motorcycle USA]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
the law 5:40PM (2/08/2008)
OCC do some great work.They work out of orange county NY which is very close to me so every now and then I go by to see if they have anything new in their store or pass by the shop to see if i can catch a peek of them working.
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Mr. Oak 12:56PM (2/09/2008)
Used to love their show. Over time, got really tired of Paul Sr. Paul Jr., Vinny and the kid (Nick?) who built that green bike, are the only ones that can be taken seriously on this show.
They are very clever with their designs, but I wouldn't bet my life on their workmanship. Cuts too many corners, and way too much improvisiation, not enough engineering.
Todd 5:56PM (2/08/2008)
At OCC "work" = ordering parts out of a catalog.
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JGN 6:03PM (2/08/2008)
Way too overpriced.
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ED HESSERT 6:04PM (2/08/2008)
WHO BUILT THESE BIKES?
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RLQ 6:34PM (2/08/2008)
OCC are for posers.
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Luis 7:26PM (2/08/2008)
Only 50k?!...no thanks.
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Pete 7:45PM (2/08/2008)
sign me up as the moto correspondent. u can see some of my work at moto-vation.blogspot.com
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ATLien 8:29PM (2/08/2008)
posers are people who build nothing and contribute nothing but mindless b*tching.
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El_Tomacco 4:02PM (2/09/2008)
Um, no actually I dont think thats what a poser is.
Jose 8:40PM (2/08/2008)
OCC = "Over (the) Counter Choppers"
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Cornholio 10:50PM (2/08/2008)
To hell with the bikes, what happened to Vinnie? What did I miss?!?
OK, as for the bikes -- good for them if they can get it. People spent too much money on lots of things in life. Including many of us car guys that frequent this forum....
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MajorGeek 11:38PM (2/08/2008)
Vinnie decided it was time to move on, he was not advancing. Paul senior, on camera mind you, said Vinnie was an employee and replaceable. So is OCC, IMO, their popularity is purely a TV gimmick, not skill, quality and originality. I have owned a American Ironhorse, which was about 35k, and trust me, these custom bikes do not ride like a Harley, Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc. My guess would be they dont have the same R&D, especially over time. You have custom bike companies who build off a handful of parts, and custom guys who do a lot more hands on fabrication, the end result is almost always a "bar hopper", in other words, you are not doing much more then 10-20 miles a pop. Yawn.
Talked to a local custom bike builder recently who has had some national recognition and he says the whole scene has cooled, and naturally so, at 50k+ for a custom, the target audience is fairly small. Guys like me, who might consider it, opt to drop 25k total and total trick out a bike I like that is more street worthy. Sadly, this OCC bike is a beautiful design, but I refuse to spend that much ever again. However, the parts on it alone (S&S motor, chrome wheels, wide tire, billet controls) justify roughly a 30-40k price tag as a base Harley cruiser is roughly 25k. So, overall, as sad as it is, 50k is not way out there.
I feel better about overpaying for my challenger now.
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JIm 12:48AM (2/09/2008)
As a $50K "production" machine the OCC organization is not going to build very many of these bikes, which of course is exactly how they want it. I do question their timing, because as Major stated, the entire bike market has cooled. A lot of these semi-off-the-shelf bike mfgrs will be gone before too long. OCC has capitalized on the entire bike thing and if managed properly (read not too much debt due to excessive expansion) should be fine.
To my mind their whole TV program falls into "made for TV, TV." Paul being "difficult," Mike being the "clown," and Paul Jr. "just trying to do his job" in spite of his father. Of course we all know it's scripted. Paul Sr didn't get OCC to where it is by being the "against everything" father. Every once in awhile some very clean-cut third party comes briefly on the scene and it's clear this is one of the guys managing the OCC business. Paul was there at the start of the fad, hired some good management people and has made a lot of money being at the right place at the right time. More power to him.
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Spyder 3:58AM (2/09/2008)
Great... More coke for Jnr
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Bored 5:09AM (2/09/2008)
Vinnie and Cody gone. Rick next. Time for that obese hippy son to get his hands dirty.
The show (and company's) credibility expired a LONG time ago.
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bob cobb 1:58PM (2/09/2008)
Their credibility may be gone for the average autoblog reader, but for the average american they are still a "cool" bike builder. That average(idiot) American is the type of person these companies make money off of.
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frrfer 2:37PM (2/09/2008)
The show was fun in the beginning until you realized paul jr. has no imagination at all. That's right paul if your reading, we're on to you. OCC is proof you can take a marginal product, market the hell out of it, and make loads of cash.It doesn't mean is good, just that you can make money. Its so American its sick. Need more proof? American cheese. That so called cheese couldn't be called anything else! Fake! Cheap! It has the least amount of substance in it that can be sold and still called cheese. It exists to make money and not to give you good cheese. And we wonder why we're hated around the world!
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Al Terego 4:58PM (2/09/2008)
OCC=American cheese. Thank you, it all makes sense to me now.
The show itself, I always thought it was just an hour long commercial for whatever company commissioned a build. And to make it more TV friendly, script in some dramatic yelling and screaming and you've got yourself a 'hit' with the mindless TV viewing sheep.
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