Back To Basics

Sometimes you just gotta go with what you know and stay close to home. Tony Colazzo, a Manhattan restaurateur was in the process of buying a motorcycle. Having just mailed a check to an out-of-state builder, by chance he saw a bike from Orange County Choppers located in nearby Rock Tavern, New York, at a local pub. At that point, he re-thought his motorcycle-buying decision. Why should I go with a builder who's more than a thousand miles away when these guys are practically in my backyard and can build me exactly the bike I want? With that, he canceled his order and the next day made his way to O.C.C.'s shop.Upon arrival, Tony was greeted by Paul Teutul Sr. The two talked, checked out a few choppers in the showroom, and toured the shop. In just a short time, the two New Yorkers felt like a couple of old friends, and Tony placed an order for a chopper that he knew would be a knock-out. The bike would be a back-to-basics, no-nonsense machine.

Fabricating the stretched frame out back in the shop was Paul's son, Paul Jr. The frame jig was filled with enough tubing to build a frame that sports 5 inches of backbone stretch and 8 inches of upward stretch -- all culminating at the 45-degree raked neck. Satisfying Tony's need for a long front-end, Paul Jr. mounted a pair of 5-degree RC Components trees and clamped a couple of 18-inch-over tubes inside of them.

Rolling the frame around is a pair of RC wheels wrapped in Metzeler rubber -- a beefy 18x8.5 out back while a 21x2.15 resides in the front. Tony wanted the pipe side of the chopper as clean as possible. So Paul Jr. mounted an RC drive-side brake setup, leaving nothing to obscure the pipe side of the rear wheel.Up front a single RC rotor and caliper combo keeps the bike's speed in check.As soon as the wheels were on the bike, Paul Jr. lowered the lift and rolled it outside into the sunlight. There he could clearly see the lines of the bike taking shape. Always in the back of his mind was Tony's desire to keep things basic. First thing he did was mount a long one-piece Pat Kennedy gas tank high on the backbone. Using the tank as a starting point for the sheetmetal, he got busy banging out steel front and rear fenders. By the time he was finished, he had a couple of tire-hugging fenders that lined up nicely with the radiuses of the wheels. Helping keep the pipe side clean, Paul Jr. built a single fender strut that he mounted on the primary side of the bike. With only the spun aluminum oil tank left to mount, the frame was almost ready for the painter.

After a quick molding session at nearby Nub Grafix of Walden, New York, it was time to spray the Magic Blue basecoat. The paint was drying as Nub finalized the design for the clown graphics and flames that would soon be taking up residence on the rear fender. In no time, some serious artwork found its way onto the freshly painted metal.

Understanding Tony's need for speed, Paul Jr. used a TP Engineering 121-inch motor, that would spin the big Metzeler anytime it was wanted. The motor is all TP from the cases to the heads, and it gets fuel through a 45mm Mikuni, spark from a Crane Hi-4 ignition system, and the exhaust exits through a set of Martin Brothers Slicksta pipes.

To keep any of the massive 121's power from going to waste, Paul Jr. bolted a BDL 3-inch open primary between the motor and a polished Baker five-speed transmission. He then installed a BDL clutch on the transmission shaft before he covered it up with a BDL outer support plate.

Tony was scheduled to stop by to see the bike in a couple of days. In an effort to surprise him, both Paul Jr. and Sr. jumped on the final assembly. In no time they had a pair of their own handlebars mounted and fit with OMP hand controls. Rounding out the chopper are Legends USA foot controls, an Adjure headlight, a Taylor Engineering taillight/plate frame, and a black, stitched Danny Gray seat.The day that Tony stopped in to check on the progress of the bike, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was only a month prior that Paul got the ball rolling and at that moment, Tony knew he made the right decision to have the bike built closer to home.