American Chopper: Orange County Choppers takes Daytona
Beach Bike Week
In this episode of American Chopper, the Orange County Chopper
team heads to Daytona, Florida for Bike Week. The biggest question
is will the Fire Bike be ready to go with them. Unfortunately,
the answer is no but many other bikes will. Including Cody’s
first design and build, which will be sold at the show.
As with seemingly every episode, there is a heated argument.
This time it is Sr. yelling at the guys to get the trailer loaded.
The OCC team just returned from Florida not two weeks ago and
they are going to make this long trip again. Vinnie, Mikey, Paul
Sr., and Paulie spend most of the day loading fifteen bikes,
t-shirts and hats. Everyone in the shop is going so they all
pile into the motor home. While bumping and swaying back and
forth, Mikey makes eggs and flips an almost perfect omelet. So
that was Wednesday and the OCC team arrives safely in Daytona
on Saturday.
There are five hundred thousand attendees at the Daytona
Bike Week all ready to have some fun. Chopper fans stop
by the Orange County Choppers booth for some picture opportunities
with everyone
from the shop, except Mikey, even though he is the “Chief
Fabricator and Engineer.” Want an autograph? he asks.
The boys head over to the Iron
Horse Saloon where there are
some insane attractions like the Roll of Death. Daredevils ride
their bikes around an inner tube like contraption. They ride
really fast so they make it up along the sides of it and try
to grab money from the people leaning over to them. Mikey points
out how dangerous this is. The bikers could literally yank you
over the side and probably kill you or at least put you in the
hospital. Oh, and Mikey dumps a guy by throwing a ball and sinking
him in the tank.
As it is tradition, the guys load up on their bikes for a ride
down Main Street. They were having a fine time until they were
pulled over. None of the bikes had license plates, registration,
and among many other things, the handlebars were too high. The
cop ended up being a good guy and let them off with a promise
that they would just go home and park the bikes. Sr. agreed and
they headed back to camp.
On Tuesday, Cody received a lot of attention for his bike. He
is only 15 years old and designed the bike himself. People really
took to him and built his confidence by their interest in the
bike and him. Sr. used his ESP to know that a huge storm was
coming with hail and ordered everyone to get the bikes under
cover. The storm did indeed hit and it was a big one. Gail force
winds blew so hard that Sr. had to hold the tent down before
it flew away. You could tell he was holding on tight and he was
getting totally soaked in the process. Mikey saw his dad in the
rain and since he had put so much effort into this show, he headed
out into the rain to help his dad hold the tent. The storm lasted
for more than an hour and a half.
Mikey headed over to Bikers Paradise. What a freak shoe. They
had cowgirls dancing in cages, and spaghetti wrestling. Mikey
helped cook the noodles and watched on as girls battled it out
in a bunch of nasty noodles. Meanwhile Cody went with Christian
and Vinnie to American Motorcycle Institute. The two graduated
from there and wanted to show Cody where they learned all that
they have. Cody got to ride a Dyno test bike and drive over 130
mph without moving an inch.
Friday came and Cody was preparing his bike to be sold. He gave
it its last washing and was a bit sad to see it go. The new owner
came to pick it up and Cody said, “It’s tough to
see her go.” Sr. lifted Cody’s spirits bike suggesting
that they build another bike together. Maybe and Old
School bike with a high sissy bar and tie the exhaust into it. Cody was then
excited about the new build and it makes it easier to see his
first bike go.
The Rats Hole Show was the place to be for Paulie. He entered
the Black Widow Bike in the contest and went around to view the
competition. There were so many different shapes and styles at
the show; I don’t see how they could choose a winner. Teddy
Jr. builds a gold bike, which took two and a half years to design
and fabricate. This bike was a clear winner. An absolute work
of art. It had so much more than the every day bike and was really
special. It went on to win Mr. Show, the top award. The Black
Widow bike placed sixth in the radical design category but Paulie
left with so much inspiration. He wants to take his designs to
a whole new level.
The last day of Bike Week, Paul Sr. and Paulie take a ride together.
They spend so much time together that tensions rise and they
bicker a lot. It was good of them to get away together and relax.
They took a ride to the piers and enjoyed the scenery before
heading back.
Two days later Paulie intends to work on the Fire
bike but Sr.
has other plans. It seems as soon as they return, Sr. returns
to his crabby mood. He has Paulie categorize and organize the
frames that need to be powder-coated. Of course, there is confusion.
There is also a lot of tension in the air and it is going to
blow. It starts with Sr. saying that a buyer will be there that
night to buy a bike. Sales have been slow so far this year and
they need this sale. Paulie says he has plans and the argument
begins, a big one. They bicker back and forth as to who works
harder and who stays later than the other. Vinnie takes cover
and escapes outside. He can hear the yelling through the door.
How does it end up? Typical, slam door and throw something.
Paulie finally finished the frames and gets to the Fire bike.
They mount the dual exhaust on top of the other. He then creates
a rear fender and mounts it to the swing arm. It is so tight
that they have to deflate the tire to get it on. The next day
Paulie and Vinnie go to work on the fender but again Sr. has
other plans. He wants the shop cleaned. Paulie can’t win.
He finishes up and creates a projection for the bottom of the
fender. Friday follows and Sr. doesn’t like the design.
Sr. doesn’t think it flows right. Paulie disagrees and
since it is his design, he continues on. Even though “change
is a part of design.” It’s not changing this time.
Who knows what this bike is going to look like. We will have
to check back to see.
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