To: KRBFrom: Paul RE: OCC GOES DOWN UNDER!about 575 wordsExclusive to Bikernet: OCC Hits Australia – First Look
Yes, Orange Country Choppers trio of Paul, Sr., Paul, Jr. and Mikey have scored a major hit with the Aussies and at this very moment are motoring about Down Under scaring the bejeebus out of kangaroos and wombats. What’s the occasion? Well, another TV documentary, a film crew following the famous ambassadors of American culture as they build a bike to be given away to one of the 13,000 Australian “bikees” who bought $45 US tickets to the sell-out bike show called “American Thunder Down Under” scheduled to take place Saturday Feb. 24th in Sydney. At some point we’ll see the whole TV show here in the States, but we get the first up close and way too personal look direct from Sydney by the speed of light thanks to Bikernet’s intrepid Australian reporter Dave “Mad Dog” Mawson who’s teamed up with our intrepid L.A reporter Paul “Mad Hog” Garson.
So here’s what’s happened so far….
Upon arrival in Sydney all three OCC guys, despite serious jetlag, managed to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge right up into the arch, no small feat especially with big American biker feet. The following day they took a flight from Sydney to Hamilton Island in the chain of Whit Sunday Islands or as Dave says, “The Island In Question is located in beautiful Queensland, beautiful one day, Japanese the next.” Which is theAussie reflection on what’s happened to their real estate. Says Dave, “They’ll be snorkeling and kissing dolphins and swimming the Barrier Reef, all on film of course, then flying to the Northern Territory, the Outback and Ayres Rock where they’ll be camel riding and cattle wrestling. After that they’ll be back in Sydney for the Saturday bike show. 150 lucky ticket holders, at 440 dollars a ticket get to have a sit-down lunch with the OCC people, have their photo snapped, get a copy of the latest OCC book and top it off with a ride along with them. They and the 13,000 others who bought tickets to the bike get to watch the OCC blokes build a bike that someone will win with the raffle ticket that everybody gets for buying a ticket to the event.”
Dave also tells us that the OCC crew hooked up with Australian’s own famous duo, Graham and Scotty of Scotty’s Choppers, buildings of the most famous bikes in that country. OCC will be using their tools for the bike build-up. That brings us to the two bikes you see here, customs built by Scotty’s Choppers. They carry a price tag of $69,000 Aus dollars (1 Aus + $.78 US). The candy apple orange or as Dave calls it, the “Fanta bike” is powered by an 88 Twin Cam motor with a standard 5-speed gearbox, rolls on Sturgis wheels with a 230-series rear, and wears Scotty’s triple trees, frame, seat, struts, tank, and taillight while the leftside drive, forward controls and grips are OMP. The second bike, in black, is a softail with a rigid look and runs a 96 cu. in. S&S, all bodywork, bars and exhaust by Scotty’s Choppers, and a 250-series rear rolling on Scotty’s custom “Discovery” wheels. Grips, forks, trees, headlight, brakes are OMP.
Stay tuned for more as they happen news flashers, more pix of our OCC boys Down Under and shots of the Aussies versions of a bike show complete our Orange County Choppers exports.
