The worst American Chopper Motorcycles of all time 

How Ferrari didn't step in to prevent the Ferrari bike from being made is one of life's greatest mysteries

The worst American Chopper Motorcycles?....All of them.

The biggest running joke was letting mikey think he was an artist when his art looked like a blind child had done it 😂

Can u imagine working at that place where the owner comes in and tells you that you’ll be working on the “Tampax Tampons” bike one week and then the Gerber “Baby Food Bike” the next.

It went from a chopper show to a soap opera. The 56 chevy bike and the gto bike they did was horrible.

They didn’t craft anything they just bolted things together

I agree completely. Nearly everything they did looked "silly and stupid". You left out the Caddyshack bike, the worst piece of crap they ever did.

I hated this show. The bikes were corporate billboards…everything a Chopper isn’t. the family squabbling was disgusting. Glad these dudes and their show is history.

I never really understood the whole thing about making motorcycles that were supposed to look like things that weren’t motorcycles.

Lots of stories online about how bad those bikes are. I remember one episode (Wendy’s theme bike, maybe?) where they built a battery box to the exact dimensions of the battery, not taking into account the change in thickness due to paint/powdercoat. When the problem became apparent, they didn’t build another battery box. They beat the battery into the existing box with a rubber mallet. Good luck getting it out when it’s time to replace. It was at that point I realized I was watching a giant joke.

These bikes should never be allowed on public roadways. They have so many pointed pieces of metal that I can imagine you’d ever survive a wreak without getting empaled in multiple locations

Ya know,nomally a build like this takes 6-8 weeks..but we have to get it finished in 25 minutes!!😂😂

OCC bikes are all loathsome. I lived in NJ at the time and went to their shop. I was amazed at how poorly the finish was up close. Welding blebs were painted over-WTF? I would imagine you could ride them about 5-10 miles before saying "Uncle". Pissing blood from kidney injury doesn't sound too sexy. If you bought one for $85,000 and it's now worth $ 9,000, well that's quite a nice return on investment-LOL. Good-bye OCC and good riddance.

I watched and enjoyed this show before I got my first bike. Now that I have some riding under my belt, I can definitely see why riders have a low opinion of these choppers. As works of art (or corporate billboards), they are arguably fine. As functioning vehicles, give me a pit bike or a scooter instead.

Years ago I stopped at their newly built showroom on I-87. I thought "wow, these guys are way over extended". Now I think it's some indoor go-cart track and arcade. They had their 15 minutes (maybe fifteen years), but it was over fifteen years ago. There is a reason why Honda has sold 100 million Cubs.

$100,000 for a bike with a stock Evo, no suspension, and no gauges. ALL of their bikes were crap.

The Ferrari chopper was from the 'Paulie Jr. left to do his own thing... which was lots of coke and designing BBQ grills! *Allegedly

You're right on all of them! They were fugly, but what really made them unrideable was their 'fool frames'! Otherwise known as rigid frames, or kidney killers. Instead of hiding a monoshock softail system with a swingarm in it, noooo, make the marks pay $70 large for a fool's frame! Did you really pay $10 large to beat up your bike!?

I think that after the Discovery series made them so popular it became a case of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Usually the company or organization that commissioned the bike saw the bike for the first time when it was revealed at a big public event with news media present. They couldn't admit on camera that they hated the bike. They are thinking, "This is horrible" but saying aloud on camera, "This Bike is better than we expected!".

Some of these bikes are so cheap now you can just buy it for the SS engine and transmission and some had nice open primaries and rebuild a much more practical bike. They all have low miles.

I lived near Newburgh, NY and we passed these guys on their bikes all the time. Once, we passed several of them and you could hear the bikes rattle as they hit bumps in the road. I would never have one.

I watched the show a lot, it was fun, but it seems like a lot of times they just took a standard chopper and stuck a bunch of crap on it that matched a theme, but that was the point I guess.

Ok so your only consideration for good vs bad in this list is looks? I suppose that is fair since all OC bikes are uber-expensive un-rideable junk.

Piles of junk. I had a 9 feet long 1967 Triumph chopper in the 90s. Rode it back from where I bought it, and promptly sold it again.

If it is from OCC it's probably junk

I actually use to love watching this show back in the day. I stopped watching when Jason became a part of the show cause he was really annoying and I hated his bike designs. I only watched it mainly because of Vinnie, Rick and Jr. I agree with you though, these bikes are the drizzling shits.

I remember seeing the 7/11 bike for sale at a car show. The guy won it in a raffle or something and was trying to get rid of it because it was so ugly. It’s got a Big Gulp as the gas tank. I’d love to meet the fool that eventually bought it.

Paul Sr. trying to look tough on these circus bikes always made me cringe. The OCC era was a complete embarrassment to chopper history.

I remember putting a bicycle together one xmas eve for my 5 year old niece with my dad and we were both drunk. It was like an episode of OCC with the two of us shouting at each other.

Let's not forget the GEICO bike. It wasn't totally finished when they delivered it and never finished. I can be seen on the last few videos on the "Bikes and Beards" channel.

Every time I watched what they were building I was in absolute amazement...that anyone in their right mind would want one of those bikes.

I thought all the the bikes they did were pretty awful with one exception.. The old school bike they did for Cody. To me, it had the right look for a chopper.

I had to fix an OCC bike- the rear suspension had collapsed, ripping out the rear lights wiring- such crap, quality on a zero . . ,.

The love child of Clifford and a Preying Mantis?.. I was pissing myself laughing!

I was shocked to read that many of the OCC bikes don’t run and most have found there way to a scrapyard. I’m not a fabricator or builder but I do have commonsense. When you read about the tens of millions manufacturers spend on R&D before releasing a bike how did OCC put these things together in such a short period of time and how were they allowed to sell them.

Choppers and reality TV. A perfect match.

I loved this show,but if I was asked which one of these bikes you showcased ,would I want? The NHL Bike for sure. I’m a huge original 6 fan,and it’s a normal looking bike

Those over the top Frankenstein creations are not practical by any stretch of the imagination but each to his own.

I never really cared about the bikes. The Story line was compelling. Father Son duo reach incredible heights doing what they love but are too incombustible (see what I did there) to work together. The Bikes just seemed like a Bunch of ordered parts hacked together with a fancy paint job on top. IMO

I would never buy one of OCC's custom bikes. They are clearly deathtraps.

I kind of like the headlight on the Ferrari bike. It looks like something right out of a video game

"reality tv" was a scam from the very beginning. the part of this show that I laughed at. was how whenever there was one of those monolgue sections of the show. they all spoke exactly alike. same cadence, same rises and falls in pitch. it was crystal clear they were being coached, and a tell of how much of a production it truly was. the commanche bike was my favorite. it was the only one that I thought brought the design together with cohesion. like alot of others pointed out, the rest were just hodge podge mess of design elements to make a rolling billboard.

Eragon bike was cool for the local blacksmiths they brought into the build, the insane axe down tube piece, the awesome nubby paint, and seat made by the legendary paul cox

All of OCC Choppers were Horrendous ... Comissioned by companies to build custom bikes for their brand , so they could write it off on the tax bills ...

I wasn’t there but I always theorized that it started as a serious minded show then at some point the tension broke through and somebody blew up at somebody. The producer looked at it and thought, that’s TV gold, I ain’t no way I’m cutting that. And then it just got to where they scripted that in and all reality shows followed suit. Consequently, all these reality shows all suck - Wheeler Dealers being the sole exception I can think of.

I never noticed how unstable these bikes are. You can see even the people that built them are struggling to ride them at 45 mph.

I'm 66 and my father was a motorcycle fanatic. Me not so much. He rode British bikes triumps, BSAs, and notons. He thought choppers were a impractical silly gaudy looking things.

A buddy used to describe them as cake decorators, strapping and bolting garish sh*t on what they claim are motorcycles. 😂

I've worked on a couple of there bikes years later. Lots of broken parts and frames. But if you only got a few weeks to make them , of course they would have some problems.

I actually like the hockey bike, & I'm not even a hockey fan...it looks like it would be the most ridable bike out of any of them... I also like that it's a bagger... I like to travel... long as the bike would stay running...my favorite chopper they ever made was the one with the chrome spider webs on it...none of the choppers were meant for practical riding... they're built to be looked at... that's why they depreciate so much...

I used to watch this, I even got sucked back in when they tried to do the reboot. I agree with most of the comments. The show would have been SO much better if they focused on how the bikes were designed & built instead of all the fake deadlines & manufactured drama. The absolute worst bike they did (surprised it didn't get a mention here) was the Christmas bike. Look it up and see if you agree. One of my favorite builds was the Lincoln bike. I don't consider any of the bikes they built for the show to be REAL motorcycles; they're just examples of rolling art. Like with ANY art form, it's mostly about personal taste/preference. I'd take an original vintage bike over ANY chopper all day long.

Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.

Motorcycles for me are made to be ridden, for others to be showed. To be showed, they have to be perfect.

They never did make a bike that didn’t look stupid.

I agree about the eragon bike, Paul jr keeps having to look side to side as he cannot look ahead as the headlight is in the way.

Some of us like choppers but old school not these cardiologist owned ones. Real choppers are old and mostly evo and shovelhead and kickstart and old. Did I mention old? They dont cost 100,000 grand. There is one for sale (almost brand new hardly ridden) and it was custom made with receipts locally for 105,000 Can 84,000 US and he is now asking 22.500 can 18000 US and I dont even know if it will sell for that as you can buy a decent used bagger for that. I did not like the show because of the yelling. My dad started yelling and me the day I was born and did not shut up till he was dead so I did not need to see it on tv.

I like when a custom bike is also usable but not a big fan of really long forks or hard tails that kill your back.

I grew up right there. The bikes are cartoon junk and the father is one of the most arrogant people I ever met.

I always had a lot of sympathy for Rick.

Aaaand 65hp performance

I've ridden motorcycles for over 20 years. I can only guess that whatever mystique choppers may have, come from two places: the movie "Easy Rider", and this notion that chopper riders are THE bad-asses of motorcycling, because they're essentially riding deathtraps (no front brakes, no rear suspension and a turning radius only slightly smaller than most supertankers). The Yankees bike did have some nice touches to it, and the NHL bike was cool, but I don't know if I would chunk over the change for one of them.

I don't mind the old-school looking long bikes but in my opinion the best look for a "chopper" is something with a lil extra rake and forks just a couple inches longer...think Harley Davidson and the Marlboro man...kinda in between a chopper and a drag bike lol

I’ve been riding for 56 years and I wouldn’t be caught dead on one of their bikes. They were realistically junk.

I grew up in Rapid City, SD, 25 minutes from Sturgis, SD home of the world famous Sturgis Rally. My family never rode motorcycles but i always rode dirt bikes, my moms good high school friend is Brian Klock of Klockwerks customs, out of Mitchell, SD. Through all that i naturally became a huge fan of OCC as a kid. My birthday is at the start of August which means every year the Rally happens over my birtthday. one birthday my parents left me with a babysitter that night because they were going to a concert at the Buffalo Chip, i cant remember what concert but they had backstage passes and happened to run into paul jr and vinny. my parents told them how i was a huge fan and that it was my birthday. vinny took the work biker hat with a bent upright bull of his head, grabbed a silver sharpie and signed that hat then gave it to my parents and paul jr gave my parents the occ sunglasses off his face. that was still the coolest birthday gifts ive ever got. of course being the wild, careless little shit i was i think those pieces were lost to the sands of time.. thinking about it really makes me want to dig through my parents storage unit thats been untouched for 15 years

Custom motorcycles are not for road use, just for display.

This is sort of a trick-question, IMO. 1. They pretty much kept building the same bike over and over (95% were ultra-high-neck, impossible to ride bikes. The only distinguishing elements were some tacky screw-on parts thrown in to match the current theme). 2. They all looked ugly AF.

when Orange County choppers first aired I watched every episode and I was amazed on the bikes they were building , but then I had the opportunity to actually see them up close and I cannot believe how crappy they really looked , the welds were garbage there were what you call Barry's that were never cleaned off from the weld and the engines were about the cheapest things that you can put into the bikes , ever since that I can never watch the show again because looks were deceiving , on TV they looked awesome but in reality they were junk and poorly built but that's my opinion

Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. just destroying chairs every week, that’s what that show was about as I recall 😂

They made 3 really great bikes and the rest were clones assembled from a parts catalog.

They are un-ride-able, if that's a word. I had a home made one in the 70's and it almost killed me several times. ...and girls won't get on them🥴.

I was always amazed that they could actually go round corners

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I enjoyed the show as a kid but looking back on it the show represents so many things I kind of despise. Like the pathetic family squabbling and corporate advertising. The family squabbling was really tragic tbh... Would have been nice to see them move away from the totally raked out chopper look to something more normal. Scienced out even so they had some level of safety. Gotta like when they have literally spikes pointing at your face from the way the bars angle around. I mean bruh.

They had a lot of trouble building bikes because they over designed each one of them.

The worst part is not the look of them, the motorcicles were (most of the times at least) poorly build, not tune up, unrideable, slow, etc. If they want a billboard/exposition motorcicle thats fine, but make it good and rideable, and don't call it "custom super unique bike" if you just assembly or modify a couple of componnents.

Fact. Jesse James had the first real American Chopper Show.

I've riding for over 40 yrs, and have ridden a lot of different bikes. But I wouldn't touch an OCC with a 10 foot pole.

My favorite OCC bike was the Snap-on Tool Bike. Beautiful art, real tools used on the bike, straight bar...bu like all OCC Choppers, uncomfortable and unrideable.

"Looks like Clifford the Red Dog and a praying mantis had a baby." And.... Subscribed. New best friend. HAHAHA made me chuckle dude.

they build realy cool bikes. but i watched this show not that much for a bikes but to see them. i liked how they interact with eachother. this was so enjoyable.

I like the fact that anything goes with the OC bikes, a lot of people started doing weird shit in their workshops after watching the show. Including me :) OC bikes where newer mend to be practical, or even usable - like most choppers

I wouldn't let anyone from American Chopper wash my bikes!

The best thing they ever built was the in game bike for WoW. 😂 I always wanted Blizzard to have a shop where you could customize your mechanical mounts.

I got a Harley chopper show bike, I ride. I love the ride, the old school chopper style. It's crazy the tough bikers don't ride them. I get wobble at 37 and 67 mph. Which are wild

great craftmanship with all these lose wires. Even my bicycle has better brakes than these bikes, its ridiculous

The only OCC bike I actually liked was the NAPA drag bike. I enjoyed the show, but very few bikes were likeable.

American Choppers were so underpowered, small engines and pretty much unrideable past an hour going to a couple bars downtown or something.

Wonder what the fuel cap was in the Shelby bike looks like 12 oz getting about theee blocks a fill

I always wanted a show like this, but with bikes I actually like and want.

Personally I hate choppers it's the worst thing you can do to a bike I had a go on my sister's boyfriends and thought it was just dangerous to ride and incredible uncomfortable

The Snap-On Tools bike broke down on the parade lap at Road America

Couldn’t ride these bikes without getting a sore ass and back

Wait.... so you're saying there's some good ones?

I liked the Statue of Liberty byke. Or, at least, I liked the copper plating. You just don't see copper plating on much. Looks good but the upkeep would be horrendous. Unless you like green.

I watched about 4 episodes of American Chopper and quickly figured out they were building really expensive paperweights. I would rather ride my old Kawasaki 125 CC cruiser, than anything these clowns built.

Today, you can not give a chopper away. A friend of mine offered to trade his chopper, which is a nice-looking chopper, for my 2018 Kawasaki Vulcan SE. I turned him down.

Are you kidding me? The horse bike didn't make the list.lol.

The space shuttle one was ridiculous, it looked like something that a five year old would design.

I love that Jay Leno absolutely hates his Orange County Chopper and doesnt ride it. Most of these bikes arent made to really be ridden, just looked at.

Not one bike was built to actually ride for any distance. They were advertising pieces and tax right offs. The Black Widow bike, and a few others like the 9-11 , Liberty and the Snap on bikes were amazing though..