I was surprised that the building itself was so nondescript and unassuming. It was all there: the well-used shop, the corporate logos, the doors that slam as a “character” exits the set. But for anyone who’s watched American Chopper with any regularity, walking into the setting where it’s filmed would be as surreal as strolling into Seinfeld’s living room or ambling into Arnold’s Diner and finding Fonzie, Potsie and Ralph leaning on the jukebox. Having caught the show a few times over the years I know the basics-it’s the most popular motorcycle content program in the history of television. It was the television program that set this locomotive of marketing, merchandise and motorcycles in motion. They represent only a portion of the bikes built for American Chopper, yet the collection illustrates the depth and variety of both the company’s abilities and its range of celebrity and business clients. So enthusiastic are the fans that, in an effort to detour some of the traffic from the ”factory,” a strip mall a few minutes away houses the OCC store with an ocean of paraphernalia and 20 or so of the famous theme bikes.
Today the pilgrims were going to get lucky. Send them to Australia, thousand of fans will show up, send them to England and thousands of fans will show up, Japan, the same thing. The Teutels are A-list celebrities with a near global appeal. Every day fans of the television program American Chopper linger across the street from the company’s headquarters hoping to catch a glimpse of their heroes. But it’s Orange County and home to the biggest celebrities in the world of motorcycling: Paul Sr., Paul Jr. Certainly there was the inevitable “get you in, get you on the bikes, get you out” aspect of the event in August, but it was also spiked with Celebrity Factor, best illustrated by the faithful who made the pilgrimage to this quiet county, some 80 miles northwest of New York City. Also obvious, judging by the size of the crowd standing vigil over OCC headquarters, was that this was not going to be a run of the mill motorcycle press launch. There was no sign of a son anywhere in the vicinity, but obviously this guy was a fan.
“I’ll pay anything for a picture of my son with one of the Teutels.” “Do you work here?” asked a man who had stepped out of the crowd gathered near the Orange County Choppers building. Now, the TV gang is embarking on a new venture: the manufacture of production units bearing the OCC Motorcycles logo. The success of the Teutel clan can be measured in the phenomenon that is American Chopper-the most popular bike show in history. The Pauls, Junior and Senior, and Mikey are the most recognizable faces in today’s motorcycle industry.
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