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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