Orange County Choppers

When Dave and I drove down to Lisa's wedding in June, we took a different route than normal. It was much faster and gave us new stuff to look at. On the way home, I was driving and we were on I-87 in New York, about to take the exit to get onto I-84 and head back to Massachusetts. For some reason, I looked over to my left and saw a building on the other side of the highway.

"Gee, that building looks familiar," I thought as I looked back at the road. I looked at the building again, and exclaimed to Dave, "It's OCC! That's their new building! Want to stop?"

I did not crash the car or create any traffic violations. We took our exit, but couldn't figure out where to go to get to that side of the highway, so we just drove home. But we were excited at the prospect of stopping on a future trip.

For those of you who are wondering "WTH is OCC?", allow me to explain. OCC= Orange County Choppers, also known as the motorcycle shop featured on the hit (and newly renewed!) TLC program, American Choppers. Not actually interested in motorcycles, I was turned on to this show almost 8 years ago when Dave and I visited our friend Jesse for a New Year's Eve party (before we were even dating) and spent a few days with friends hanging out at his parents house. There was an American Choppers marathon and the boys beat the girls on choosing what to watch on TV.

I was hooked from the beginning. The designs on the bikes are phenomenal. And just seeing it go from paper to finished product is pretty impressive. Not to mention the family dynamic between the father, Paul Senior, and his two sons, Paul, Junior and Mikey. The personal interaction, sometimes volatile but often very funny, make for really good TV.

Needless to say, when TLC announced an end to the show this past spring, Dave and I were a little intrigued and mildly disappointed. For Christmas last year, I bought Senior's book Ride of a Lifetime for Dave. He loved it, and really gained a great deal (more) respect for Senior as a businessman.

And last week I found out that they renewed American Choppers. The bikes are just as awesome and the family plot thickens, what with Junior leaving the company (we saw that episode last year) and starting a competing business of his own. Oh, and Senior is suing Junior. (You can vote for who's side your on, too. I truly believe in Senior and what he has built, so I have to go with him. And I don't understand these people that are on Junior's side--seriously? Read the book!)

So, back to our drive home last Sunday, we decided that since it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn't have work on Monday, we might as well stop at OCC. We eventually found it (our GPS map is a little old, so we had to follow our, I mean my, directional instincts--I won!).


It was a great day, so there were lots of bikers around and people who generally had the same idea as us. We saw cars in the lot with plates from all over New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio and even one from Texas.

Inside, they have a great showcase in the windows of some of the best bikes they've built. I couldn't believe how huge some of these things are. Really big bikes. I have a whole new perspective of the work they do on the show.

Spiderman bike--they created webbing around the gas can and the wheels.

FBI bike (left) and New York Fire Department bike (right). They have this area set up so you can get your picture taken with the bikes. And the background is made up of patches from various emergency agencies from all over.

Lance Armstrong Foundation bike--pedaling not required!

The OCC version of Santa's Sleigh. I believe Senior actually dresses up and rides this bike to events where gifts are handed out to needy kids.

Besides all the merchandise and loads of TVs to watch episodes of the show, they have hallway you can walk down and actually see the shop and where they build the bikes and film the show. It was pretty cool to see. We may need to stop on a weekday to catch them during an actual build.

The lovable and plush versions of (left to right): Paul, Sr., Mikey, and Paul, Jr.


On our way out, I was still taking pictures. A nice guy asked if we wanted a picture of both of us.

The bike above the door is the Air Force bike.

We were really glad we stopped. The bikes are amazing and it was a cool little side trip into a little reality TV vice of ours. At least it's not complete trash and we learn a lot about motorcycles! And anyone who actually is into bikes should absolutely make the trip. They really are more than just bikes--they are works of art and each one is totally unique and absolutely original.