Photo: mecum
I have no real numbers to back the following statement up, but it seems many of us who now, during our more responsible adult lives, are suckers for custom motorcycles have a single crew to thank for that: Orange County Choppers.
Best known as OCC, this custom crew was created back in 1999 in Newburgh, New York. It was more or less a family-run business, with the patriarch, Paul Teutul, running things. These guys must have been quite charming, as just three years later, in 2002, they went on TV as part of a Discovery Channel series called American Chopper.
It is thanks to this show that not only the Teutuls' fame, but also an undying passion for custom motorcycles spread all over the world. Seeing this crew working, fighting, and then working again to create incredible one-offs was a true delight. Sadly, the fighting part is what eventually spelled doom for the series and sank the OCC name at the bottom of the relevant custom shop list.
OCC had the habit of not re-working an existing motorcycle into a new form, but liked to build stuff on order and by following a theme. That's probably one of the things that contributed to the shop's success, and the reason why every time one of their builds surfaces, it immediately catches the eye of those interested in such things.
Starting this Friday and well into the next week, auction house Mecum is holding its annual Indianapolis event. It is there where one of OCC's builds is featured as a star, hoping to fetch, through a no-reserve sale, as much as $30,000.
The bike in question was put together back in 2016, and was requested by a New York-based entertainment center called Spins Bowl. It's something that OCC did a lot – build bikes for businesses, so that they can advertise their products and services. But such an approach usually has an unlikely effect on the bikes themselves: they are never enjoyed as they should be, becoming museum pieces or elements of some background.
It's exactly what happened to this bike which even now, seven years after it was assembled, shows just six miles (ten km) of use of the clock – and those are probably the test miles.
Being made in 2016 means this motorcycle did not get a chance to be featured in a TV show, so you'll not see the Teutuls, father and son, fighting over what should be done. Also, not many details about it are available, save for the fact the custom frame holds a 100ci RevTech V-twin engine tied to a five-speed transmission.
Even so, the connection the bike has with some of the biggest names in motorcycle making makes its current, unnamed owner confident the bike will fetch at least $20,000. We'll see if that's the case next Saturday, when the two-wheeler goes under the hammer.
It is thanks to this show that not only the Teutuls' fame, but also an undying passion for custom motorcycles spread all over the world. Seeing this crew working, fighting, and then working again to create incredible one-offs was a true delight. Sadly, the fighting part is what eventually spelled doom for the series and sank the OCC name at the bottom of the relevant custom shop list.
OCC had the habit of not re-working an existing motorcycle into a new form, but liked to build stuff on order and by following a theme. That's probably one of the things that contributed to the shop's success, and the reason why every time one of their builds surfaces, it immediately catches the eye of those interested in such things.
Starting this Friday and well into the next week, auction house Mecum is holding its annual Indianapolis event. It is there where one of OCC's builds is featured as a star, hoping to fetch, through a no-reserve sale, as much as $30,000.
The bike in question was put together back in 2016, and was requested by a New York-based entertainment center called Spins Bowl. It's something that OCC did a lot – build bikes for businesses, so that they can advertise their products and services. But such an approach usually has an unlikely effect on the bikes themselves: they are never enjoyed as they should be, becoming museum pieces or elements of some background.
It's exactly what happened to this bike which even now, seven years after it was assembled, shows just six miles (ten km) of use of the clock – and those are probably the test miles.
Being made in 2016 means this motorcycle did not get a chance to be featured in a TV show, so you'll not see the Teutuls, father and son, fighting over what should be done. Also, not many details about it are available, save for the fact the custom frame holds a 100ci RevTech V-twin engine tied to a five-speed transmission.
Even so, the connection the bike has with some of the biggest names in motorcycle making makes its current, unnamed owner confident the bike will fetch at least $20,000. We'll see if that's the case next Saturday, when the two-wheeler goes under the hammer.
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