Why you SHOULD NOT buy an Orange County Chopper

So I bought the Bike from the TV show Orange county choppers but the big question is, will it live up to the hype, and if it doesn't what do we do with it?

Watch another awesome video:
I Bought the Cheapest Side by Side on the Planet

#BikesandBeards

[ivan]

When I was 8 I was in love with choppers. Now I can see why, I was 8.

[christianbarnay]

I'm really amazed anyone could ever think OCC bikes were of any value on the road. It was pretty clear from the show that most of their builds were not designed to be functional. They were display toys. It was even more obvious in late seasons when most customers were companies that commissioned some eye-catching bike with their logo for a charity auction event.

[sethc]

As a kid I was a huge fan, I was raised in Rapid City, the largest city in the Sturgis area. My birthday is August 8th, which is pretty much always right in the middle of the rally. On my 9th Birthday my parents left me with a babysitter so they could attend some concert at the rally. Turned out my parents would meet the OCC guys backstage at the concert that night and tell them how i was a huge fan, and how they felt bad to be missing my birthday to be there, well the OCC guys made sure to make i still had a great birthday, Paul Jr gave my folks the OCC sunglasses he had been wearing, and Vinnie gave them a well loved biker flat bill with the tip all bent up and signed it. So no matter how the show has aged I got nothing but love for those guys. That was a pretty cool birthday gift.

[DesXS]

I remember most of the bikes they made on the show being revealed at big show rooms and conventions. I always thought they were more display pieces than rideable bikes.

[findyourinnertube]

This was eye-opening. I realize on all these chopper/hot-rod type shows they never emphasize the safety or performance.They emphasize stuff like how the hood ornament is actually the flusher mechanism from a space shuttle toilet, or something like that.

[DexSS]

If anyone could watch that show 5 times and not realize that they just watched 5 of the same bike being built, with every single other episode being more of the same bike, with the only thing changing being the paint job to tie into some corporate sponsor theme... then that anyone would have to be a heavy derp. As the show was just that, parts bin bikes, all the same... with sponsor paint.

The actual appeal of the show was the awkward family drama... Like going to your best friends house as a kid and having their parents open the F up on them, you could get that same feeling over and over again, just by tuning in. And Discovery knew what kinda social experiment they were running... and it wasn't one about bikes, lol.

[tubeaddicted]

I still remember the golden sentence they said in EVERY single show : "This bike means a lot to me..." 😂

[TheHavnmonkey]

I worked on Main St in Daytona Beach for Bike Week during the height of the 2000's chopper craze. These were the bikes that got all the attention by 90% of the crowd.... but there was always a few bikers in the corner grumbling about why these bikes were terrible and how they hated all the OCC clone companies getting all the attention while good builders were ignored. Turns out they knew something most of us didn't. Paying $80k (or winning but having to pay taxes on) for a terribly uncomfortable motorcycle was a bad investment.

[tmartin]

I remember watching OCC with my dad. He would always laugh and say that these guys aren’t building a bike. They were tack welding bits and pieces of metal to the pre fabricated frame and tank then assembling them. As much as he hated Jesse James, he respected that he actually built things from the ground up.

If I was gonna pay 80K for a chopper, I’m buying something Indian Larry built, he was the best in my opinion.

[airborneleo]

I had a neighbor that had an OCC bike, it was a nightmare. The only thing the bike was good at was sitting in a man cave with lights on it to look cool and have everyone talk about it. It was also good for a photo session with pretty girls around it. He paid big money for it, and in the end he had to almost give it away, I think he got around 7K for it. His wife was ready to divorce him over the whole thing.

[Metal-Possum]

When I was a teenager I'd watch American Chopper, my older brother had a DVD of it. Eventually I learned to realise "Wait, what? They don't make their own frame or handlebars or other such things? They just bolt together some kitset parts and then weld a bunch of tacky crap to it?" My brother, an accomplished welder even commented that they could have used some additional experience there too! It's like handing a kid a model of a motorcycle, some sheets of paper or cardboard, and a hot glue gun.

It's difficult to respect a craftsman when 90% of his work is outsourced.

[blueaardvark]

me and my mom would watch this show when i was a kid. She even drove me up to there store in ny. RIP mom

[davidmilostan]

“He had been designing it for years, it was his dream bike... not even sure why he’s selling it.”

Calmly explains that it’s a hard tail.

[jamesdeady]

Jessie James said it best. Occ was cake decorators.

[broadcasttttable]

A few years ago I had an itch to buy a Harley, or cool-looking Victory, semi-looking chopper with extended fork (but nothing like OCC's). Scratched the itch with a one day rental of a 1200cc BMW. Rode scenic mountain roads around Stanley/Sun Valley, Idaho. Had a great time. Returned it to Boise which required me to ride on Interstate 84 for thirty miles. Buffeted by winds, 80-mph trucks, bugs crashing into my face shield, and the knowledge that a slick spot, flat tire or wrong move could end it all in an instant....not fun. Lesson learned: cost me $200 instead of $20k, itch gone.

[TheWombat]

The bit about the “person who gets chosen” to go on a show is absolutely correct. I personally know someone who auditioned for one of those rising music star TV shows. This guy was an amazing amateur singer, and had the choice of an angel. Audition time? Nope, didn’t get very far. He didn’t have a “tragic” or “interesting” backstory. He had too normal a life, not dramatic enough with no “story”.

[barnybrewman]

A bike is a lot like a woman, having a good looking one that you can't ride, is way worse than having one that rides well, but might not look so hot.

[tombstone]

I used to watch the show, never could understand how those clowns got more money for 100 bucks worth of metal tubing, a little motor and two wheels than what my 2, 000 sqft home costs. Suckers born every minute I suppose.

[ssjones]

I worked occasionally near OCC. It was funny to see their transformation as the show became more popular. On my first trip, I wandered into an open garage bay where Vinnie was putting a bike together, he was very nice. Then, they roped off an area where t-shirt were sold by their wives. I stopped by one afternoon, and the kid, was loading five bikes onto their tractor-trailer for a show. I helped him get the Fire Bike up a ramp into the trailer. He could barely reach the forward controls, and they didn't have anyone helping him, crazy. Then, they build the new shop/restaurant right off the NY Thruway. If you are in that area - pass on OCC (if they are even still open) but rather go to the awesome Motorpedia Motorcycle museum nearby, it's a gem!

[AwesometownUSA]

The thing about reality tv shows vetting contestants for their charisma and engaging backstory is so true. Even on like American Idol, _every single contestant_ comes up with a ham-fisted underdog story “growing up my little sister had autism, and it was really hard, and that’s how I knew it was my mission to sing good on tv” haha