Production Bike Showcase
Friday, May 09 2008 | Comments (0)
The OCC receives an award for one of their production bikes, but they don't have any bikes ready to take to the show! Things get tense between Sr and Jr as the crew scrambles to build some bikes in time for the award ceremony. The OCC crew uses this time to further test their new applicants. Jr gets some hands on experience as he visits some vendors. The Teutuls deliver some custom bikes to their old friend Russell Crowe. And Sr and Mikey match wits in OCC's snow filled parking lot.
The V-Twin Expo is the largest show in the world solely for the V-Twin custom motorcycle industry. All the movers, shakers and shapers of the industry are out in force. And the pinnacle of the event is the Saturday night Excellence Awards ceremony.
AS the show opens, OCC has just received a call that they have won one of these awards for industry excellence, Production Chopper of the Year, for their Split Back Production Bike! Over the last year and a half the Teutuls have developed four production bikes--the Web, the Soft Tail, the Greenie, and the Split Tail--and they're excited to get some recognition for their efforts from their peers. This year's V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati will be just the place to show off their stuff. The only problem is they only have one of these bikes ready to go and the Expo is only two weeks away!
To help get the ball rolling on production bike production, Paul Jr and Jason Pohl head to Montreal to visit Rolling Thunder Frames who manufactures all of OCC's custom frames. Visiting the Rolling Thunder facilities is a thrill for Jason. He's been talking to these guys on the phone for years and it's good to finally meet them. For both Paulie and Jason, seeing how their frames are assembled from start to finish will facilitate communication between the two companies. Paulie points out that Rolling Thunder's work speeds up OCC's production time because they put on all the little struts, tabs, and attachment points that OCC would normally have to weld on themselves.
Back in NY, the OCC team gears up to build three production bikes for the Cincinnati show: the "Soft Tail," the "Split Back," and the "Greenie." Assembling the "mock ups" is a good opportunity to further test their new applicants mechanical ability and the OCC crew wastes no time in getting them out on the floor to see what they can do. The team divides up the labor. Paul, Jr sets to work on the Soft Tail production bike with applicant Michelle. Mechanic Rick Petko assembles the Split Back with the help of OCCer Mike. And Paul Teutul, Sr takes the Greenie with the aid of OCC hopeful Jason.
Once the mock ups are done, it's time to tear 'em down and send them out to be painted. Junior takes a trip over to Orange County Powder Coating to get some hands on experience at applying powder coat to one of OCC's production bike frames. Powder coating allows a thin coat of plastic to be applied to the metal frame. The frame is given a slight negative charge and the positively charged plastic is applied like spray paint. Pauli has some experience painting frames and gets kudos from the OC Powder Coatings crew. Once the frame has been coated, it is baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minute to create a sealed, durable finish.
While the frames are being coated, the Teutuls take a day to deliver some custom bikes to an old friend, Russell Crowe. Crowe is in Jacksonville, FL with his rugby team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, for an exhibition match. The choppers were designed for Crowe's team and sport the team's bright green and red colors. When they were in Australia last year, the Teutuls got out on the field with the Rabbitohs. Today they settle for watching the match and Pauli expresses some hope that, once Americans understand the game of rugby, it will catch on and be maybe as popular as football.
Back in NY again, the crew begins the race to assemble the production bikes in time for the Expo, only five days away! While Junior, Rick, and Christian team up to work on the Soft Tail, Senior works on the Greenie with a little help from shop foreman Mike.They take the opportunity to let another OCC job candidate, John, show off his mechanical expertise by putting together the Greenie's front end assembly while Mike watches. No stranger to bike assembly, Paul Sr, expresses some frustration. He's never learned to wire a bike! He's promised himself he'd learn this complicated process on the next bike he assembles, so he does what he can without the wiring, then calls in Phil to walk him through the process. "I figure after two or three bikes, I should be able to do this myself."
While everyone else is hard at work on the bikes, Mikey Teutul decides to be helpful by clearing the parking lot of snow with a snow plow ... and piles all the snow into the back of his dad's hummer! Dad is both amused and pissed, and he tries to just back up over the huge pile of snow, somehow blowing out the reverse of his vehicle. Both son's get together to tow dad's hummer out. In an attempt to "get reverse working again" (or just to have some wild fun), Senior starts four wheeling in the snowy parking lot and tries to jump a snow bank!
The two Pauls eventually butt heads over process. Paul Jr has what he feels is an efficient three man process for bike assembly: two men build and one wires. Paul, Sr. doesn't agree and insists that only two men at a time should work on each bike. This slows assembly down and there is only one day left to finish the bikes! But Junior has a plan. Paul Sr. has to go into the city on business and Junior makes sure his driver will "drive slow" getting dad back. While dad is away, Paulie put every available crew member on the bikes and they are assembled in no time. Paul Sr. returns just before they are doe and he's mad! But, as Junior says, "What was he gonna do? Make us take the bikes apart?"
Finally the bikes are ready to be shipped to the Expo. The Teutuls take the opportunity to show off their productions bikes as well as two new designs that they've kept carefully under wraps: a "bagger" and a "low profile" bike. They hang out with their vendors and fellow designers. The high moment comes for them when they receive their award and the praise of the bike manufacturing community. Senior is glad for the award but as he's leaving the stage he mumbles, "Next thing is to go back home and start building bikes again." Building bikes is what it's all about.
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