Orange County Choppers Web Bike

Description

Up for sale is truly a unique collectors Motorcycle. It is Orange County Choppers Web Bike. This bike was the first Paul Sr. vs. Paul Jr." buildoff". Paul Jr. won with this design. The bike is just an absolute work of art. with custom one of a kind features everywhere. This particular bike was built for Contractors for Kids as a fund raiser and has been hand autographed by Paul Sr., aul Jr., nd Mikey. The autographs are on t locations on the bike. One set is on the top of the gas tank and the other is on the one of a kind air cleaner. There are many articles on theinternet about this bike and here is a clipping from one article on MotoUSA.com:

King for a day. Turning the key and pushing the button on the electric starter, he guttural growl of an S&S 45-degree V-Twin firing up and booming out of dual Vance & Hines Big Radius RSD exhausts rattled in my skull as life sparked into the Web bike like the monster in a Mary Shelley novel. I hadn’t even put it in gear and already I was under the burly black bike’s spell as we readied to rumble over the two-lane roads surrounding Montgomery, ew York.

Rich autumn reds, ranges and yellows canvassed the countryside in full fall splendor, ainting a picturesque backdrop for our ride and reinforcing my feelings of regality. I was about to join an elite list, ames like Billy Joel, ay Leno, nd Lance Armstrong, he privileged few who have hiked a leg over an Orange County Chopper. But OCC has its sights on reducing the disparity between those who wished they could ride a Teutul creation and those who actually have with its introduction of a production line of motorcycles, roviding more riders the opportunity to don their own crown and ride like the king of the world.

But before we mount up and explore the four latest creations coming out of a modest-looking brick building in upstate New York, here’s the question of impetus. Why enter the production bike market when your work is already in high demand and a single bike sells in the six-figure range? For a company that has had timing and good luck on their side, t is a risky venture throwing your hat into the ring while other custom-style manufacturers are scaling down and having to reassess their marketing strategies. Despite the economy being crap, isposable income scarce, nd competition being fiercer than ever, CC badging has been as good as gold.

“We wanted to create a bike line that would be accessible to more riders in design and in price, ut with absolutely no compromise of the quality, nnovation or style that characterizes the ‘true customs’,” said Paul Jr., ho heads up design and fabrication. “A production bike’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. We waited until now when we had the technology and the manpower and the capability to come out with a line of bikes.”

Indeed, CC will soon have the luxury of its expansive 92,000 sq. ft. World Headquarters to crank up the production numbers. The ultra-modern facility was projected to open around Thanksgiving, ust down the road on NY 17K from their current location. The front of the business will be for the throngs who flock to the area to get a glimpse of the famed family they see on TV or to buy swag from the OCC store. The building will contain a new retail store and will also include a museum-type area for some of the customs they have on display in the current store at Montgomery Plaza.

It’s the little touches that make the Web bike stand out, ike its red OCC custom-designed 21-inch front and 18-inch rear webbed wheels to the small red widow painted on the inlayed black tank to the small web mounts OCC fabricated for the seat.

But the real beauty of the facility is the new shop, ig enough to allow for the manufacturing and assembly of both one-off custom and production bikes. It also gives the Teutuls the ability to have all the necessary equipment on-hand under one roof, llowing them to oversee every phase of fabrication and maintain a tight grip on quality control. It will also allow OCC’s Lead Engineer, im Quinn, ore room to exhibit his technological genius.

Quinn writes the programs that control the six CNC mills and two Haas lathes OCC currently uses in production. The most impressive of these machines is a 5-axis Flow Waterjet machine that has the ability to cut three-dimensional shapes. Quinn uses Solidworks, 3-D mechanical design and CAD program, n addition to Mastercam to create toolpath programs that drive the CNC equipment. The high-dollar machinery cuts and shapes billet bar stock up to nine inches thick with streams of water shot out at an astounding 80,000 psi. Mastercam allows OCC to cut parts at higher speeds with less tooling force for a faster production cycle and better surface finish.

“Anything Jason can model or come up with on the computer can be cut out here, o matter how crazy or wild the shapes he comes up with – so far we’ve been able to make everything,” Quinn said.

Nowhere are the capabilities of the Flow jets more evident than in the intricate design of the fenders on the Web bike. The wide rear fender has been cut out in the shape of a spider’s web with amazing detail, ach segment of the web maintaining perfect proportions with clean, risp edges. I ran my gloved hands over the metalwork to test the finish with nary a snag. While the fender is painted black, andy red paint outlines the pattern and gives it definition. The cutout design also puts the focus on the meaty 300mm Metzeler ME880 Marathon rear tire. If you’ve got a phat ass, ou might as well flaunt it.

The Web is a bike that would leave Marvel Comics originator Stan Lee nodding his head in appreciation. The bike is the result of the Senior vs. Junior build-off, friendly competition pitting father and son against one another. Being an old-school fan of the Wall Crawler, t was the bike I wanted to ride the most. Sure, he two other choppers and the Senior’s bobber are cool, ut from its custom OCC inlayed gas tank to its Stealth fighter-shaped handlebars to the small details like the red widow dangling from her web, ts originality was immediately attractive.

OCC uses a 5-axis Flow water jet that cuts parts out at higher speeds with less tooling force. It results in clean edges cut out in less time, o matter how intricate the design. The rear fender on the Web bike is a perfect example of their machining capabilities.

Christian rolled the four new bikes down the ramp so I could join two other journalists and OCC Bike Sales Manager Mike Burkhouse in a tour of the hills and rivers of the Hudson Valley. There are always butterflies in my stomach before I take off on a new bike. Thoughts like Senior cracking my skull in his massive biceps if I crashed one of the few hand-built Web bikes around didn’t help. Coming from a cold garage, he Web kept me sitting on the edge of anticipation in the black leather seat as it took three pushes on the starter before the pistons got fed enough of its rich fuel/air elixir to fire up. After the engine was warmed, hough, he Web cranked over first shot the rest of the day.

The arachnid-influenced theme of the motorcycle can be found even in subtle details such as the seat. It has spider web-patterned stitching covering a padded Danny Gray custom saddle that felt good on the backside. It plays a large role in rider’s comfort with a Progressive Supsension 5th element seat shock underneath that attaches to the frame. I didn’t get a chance to test its settings, ut it is fully adjustable to a rider’s personal preference. If I would have been spending more time in the saddle, ’d have dialed in the settings because it was set a little soft for my 225 lbs. But the seat gets high rankings in the cool factor thanks to the web-patterned mounts connecting the spring to the frame and the seat to the spring. It is the attention to the small details like this that make the Web bike almost indistinguishable between a one-off custom and a limited-edition production model.

The seat’s placement on a Rolling Thunder frame left me comfortably upright and the custom OCC black powder coated handlebars situate the Harley-Davidson chromed hand controls within easy reach, rms a little lower than shoulder high and slightly bent for a six-foot tall man. The clutch lever engages with a light squeeze and I was comfortable with two-finger shifting during the ride. The Baker 6-speed RSD transmission seems to be the favorite for most of the custom-style production bike manus, nd the tranny on the Web lives up to Baker’s reliable reputation and didn’t miss a shift. The model that I rode had a Harley-Davidson closed primary, ut shop foreman Mike Ammirati mentioned that for the production run that they would probably swap it out for a Primo enclosed RSD.

“Primo’s going to put its heavy duty aluminum clutch in it for us,” Ammirati said. “The chain-driven, et clutch uses an oil bath to help keep noise down.”

The Web bike features a S&S 100 engine teamed with a Baker 6-Speed RSD transmission all housed neatly within the large tubing of a Rolling Thunder frame.

And while minimizing noise from the primary is important, he rumble coming out of the 4 X 4 in. square-bored bike provides an auditory treat. Rolling on the accelerator, he 1632cc S&S motor lets out the type of bass-filled note you feel in your bones and easily sets the 623 lb. bike in motion. The engine is well-balanced and vibrations coming off the 45-degree V-Twin are minimal. One of the reasons OCC stated for choosing a Rolling Thunder frame to house the mill is because of its ability to help reduce vibrations from the motor. The engine’s torque came on low in the rpm range but tapered off in the high end of the rev range. When you get near the top of the rev limiter, t works best to shift early to maximize the bike’s power. I was pushing each gear to its limit, xcept for sixth, nd it could have benefitted from a little more “oomph” at the top end of the rpm range. But I watched videos from the ride and noticed how Burkhouse shifted up evenly and early and the bike ran fluidly through the gears, emonstrating that he was more familiarized with the nuances of the bike than me.

The Web’s subframe is flared to accommodate the hulking 300mm ME880. The back tire looks bitchin’ and complements the bikes overall design but requires a little extra effort in hard turns. Attributes like an extended rake angle, n 82-inch wheelbase and its center of gravity also factor in to its need for extra coercion when titling into a heavy sweeper. This primarily came into play when our first photo shot was on a serious 180-degree switchback coming downhill in the Shawangunk Mountains where the bike had the tendency to want to stand up at low speeds. Otherwise, he motorcycle had no problems executing standard right or left hand turns. It was only when the terrain required sportbike-friendly suspension settings that I had to work a little more at the handlebars to keep it turned in.

The Web bike does earn the distinction of having the most head-turning styling of the four. From its high-rising V-shaped handlebars to its razor lower legs and Mean Street tubes, he front end is angular and aggressive. The Widow theme is carried out in the red OCC custom-designed 21-inch Web front wheel and the 18-inch rear. Even the rear brake rotor has been dyed red and etched with webbing. OCC badging on the red air filter cover and the Orange County logo printed on the seat leaves no mistakes about who to credit for such a trick bike. The OCC design team did a bang-up job offsetting the sinister black of the frame, wingarm, ank, eat and handlebars with the red rims, ir filter cover, he tank’s pinstriping and the webs on the fenders. There’s just enough chrome thrown into the mix from the S&S engine, ance & Hines pipes and Mean Street fork to keep the bike from being too dark. A Mooneyes oil tank mounted horizontally below the seat is another sweet styling touch. As we stopped at a local gas station, assersby were reaching for cameras and the Web was the center of most of the attention.

Being a long-time fan of Marvel Comics and the infamous Wall Crawler, t was impossible for me not to be instantly attracted to the stylish Web bike.

Also published at eBay.com