Dad, I Wanna Buy An Orange County Choppers Motorcycle, What Could Go Wrong?

OCC choppers may have been the stuff of teenage dreams, but poor workmanship and dubious mechanical choices make OCC choppers a pain to ride. Shows like American Chopper on the Discovery Channel capitalized on the chopper craze of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Orange County Choppers and the Teutuls became household names for their chopper builds and explosive on-screen drama. Of all the styles of motorcycles that have come and gone into popularity, the chopper may have been the least practical. Sure, stretched out front forks, and raked back handlebars might have been the coolest thing since neon underglow, but they’re not the most comfortable to spend long hours in the saddle with.

Admittedly, Orange County Choppers builds were unique, theme-built custom choppers around Harley-Davidson motors, which really captured the imagination of gear heads of the time. They weren’t cheap either, with OCC custom-builds valued at well over the $100,000 mark. But as YouTuber Bikes and Beards recently found out when he bought a 17-year-old OCC chopper for a fraction of the cost, the bikes are nowhere near the kind of riding experience you’d expect for the money.

Video by: Ian Somers
VO: Bradley Hasemeyer
Edited by: Gonzo

Our Social Media:

[bbo]

"Tuned in for the workmanship" made me bust out laughing ! My dad used to watch this show and sometimes I would watch it with him. He used to point out to me and be amazed at all the items that they fabricated; and I used to say to him I do all that same stuff ! I know working at a valve company that fabricates distribution assemblies for polychemical refineries is not all that exciting but it is the same skill set (if not harder!). He would just laugh and say " No one is filming where you work at" and he was right; it was a real job with real consequences for yelling at your boss everyday !!!

[markkulyas]

Just proves that television can hype anything, and people will pay an outrageous price for it.

[Popwarner-xw]

I liked watching senior slam the door and Mikey talking about something completely different than Choppers😅

[jasonmitchell]

when u pull up on ur custom chopper and think u are so kool but everyone says " wow look at that douche "

[sterkriger]

There’s a tv presenter in Brazil that lost his leg riding one of these. A collision? No. His leg got caught in the belt of the transmission.

[angelobersito]

Don't ever call those overpriced pieces of garbage a chopper

[Lovetheducks]

When American choppers first started it was a great show. Problem is if making bikes that aren’t practical or truly rideable they aren’t true bikes to me.

[davehoward]

Watch someone like Allan Millyard to see a true genius at work

[MB-zjer]

The Harley shop down the road from OCC was where everyone from the area went to get a bike.

[CarlDraper]

no sh*t. I'm no mechanic or bike builder but even i could see that the bikes were shoddily built and completely impractical as bikes.

[ls.]

As riders, we call them "the rich man's folly"

[bobmarlowe]

They showed some older Triumph choppers that Senior had built that looked pretty nice, but the stuff they created for the show all looked like a real pain in the ass (literally) to ride.

[SithisLich]

I've never heard a good thing about their bikes.

[steves]

OCC bikes are over-priced trash. The Geico bike they built was valued by OCC at $140, 000, and it just recently sold for $10, 000, with the trailer, and the RC boat included. I saw another OCC built bike they valued at $80, 000, after the owner had it for a year he sold it for $8, 000.

They are poorly built, have all kinds of problems, no warranty, and are very dangerous to ride. Some of them have very bad brakes, and on a heavy bike that is bad news. If you bought one, you got robbed.

And the giveway bikes they made were even worse than the regular bikes. The wiring was bad, the battery does not stay charged, the front brakes are worthless, and they were so stingy building it they did not even put a primary drive cover on it, so if your pants got in it you end up with a chewed up leg.

They said they were worth $60, 000 to $80, 000, and when the owners tried to sell them they were lucky to get $10, 000 for them, or less.

[scottbaxendale]

They were never real motorcycles, just sculptures to display in a sports bar.

[larry]

They didn’t use OEM Harley engines. Most were S&S engines. The wiring was the thing that scared me the most. It was really questionable.

[tubbers]

BLOTCHY WELDS CUSTOM BIKES!!
The one that got me was the spider bike where the belt was rubbing on the inner primary. They took it apart and 'machined' it with a hand grinder. I'm guessing the mill wasn't working that day. 😄

[isaachaze]

This show was very entertaining, and it was great for companies that wanted an episode featuring their company and then have a show bike that was used as a promotional tool and could be driven on to a stage at their events. Yea, never knew why a regular person would buy their bikes though.

[VR-mmys]

Overpriced dangerous pos bikes bad craftsmanship lousy hp, worth 1/10th of its value now

[tylerdurden]

As a lifelong rider, I have to chime in here. To help establish my background, I started riding when I was 12 on a Honda 50 Sport - not the step-thru sissy kind. I've raced 250 Bull Taco's in half-mile dirt flat track racing, Raced the same bikes in motocross, as well as jumped a few cars off ramps, I got my first 54 Panhead when I was 16 and rode and rebuilt that bike many miles and many times. Been in a couple 1% support clubs, Rented or owned just about every Harley ever made as well as many many other makes and models, and currently own a 07 Big Dog K9 Chopper.

OCC bikes are not Choppers. They were corporate billboards and in my mind represented everything a chopper ain't. I thought the show itself sucked but who cares right? Jessie James Bikes are choppers and so were Indian Larry's bikes along with some other builders. As far as rideability is concerned - it comes down to each individual bike. You can just say all choppers suck when it comes to how they handle or for that matter how reliable they are. The worst bike (s) I've personally ever ridden are a lot of stock Harley's with the Electra Glide full dresser being the worst. Besides sitting on top of the bike as opposed to sitting down in the bike (like on a Chopper) you get the full force of the wind hitting you straight on so you have to attach a stupid windshield to bock it and that top rim at 6'4" hits me right at eye level. That same windshield caught a huge gust of wind coming around a tractor-trailer going up a hill hauling ass putting the bike into a death wobble. Anyone who has ever experienced one of these at a high speed knows all you can do is hold on, not overreact and hope you are right with Jesus. 800 pounds of underpowered, overpriced crap as far as I'm concerned. With that as a personal experience, as far as I'm concerned, all bikes are cool. But again, OCC bikes were not Choppers and were made for corporate advertising/marketing purposes.