American Chopper senior vs Junior.

[stevo as b4]

I know talking about this very topic will make me sound like a twat, but did anyone see last week's episode where OCC built that electric drag bike?

It surprised me that they could do something different like that and not totally fuck it up either. The end result was a mid 8second 1/4mile and a terminal of 160mph! I did think that was pretty cool TBH.

Also OCC do seem to be doing a few more original and different projects now like the Café racer bike they recently built, and the bike and sidecar project for a Geophysics team that was more like a jeep with all the tool storage and interesting design touch's.

I'm just waiting for them to build an IL4 powered bobber and maybe a 2stroke classic race replica next!

[monkeybiker]

I quite like the show but you need to take it for what it is i.e a soap opera. The senior/junior arguments start to get a bit boring after a while.

I would rather just see the bikes and for them to piss about a bit. It's kind of like top gear.

[ADSrox0r]

Once upon a time in the first couple of series, it used to be quite good. But once it really took off you could tell Discovery were just milking it and the production team were telling Sr/Jr to go at each other for 'good tv'. It's painful to watch nowadays.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[N cee thirty]

Whenever i watched it last before they finished for good, must be like 18 months ago, its was all the same bolt on tat from ether side

Prefer to watch fast n loud and chasing classic cars, although fast n loud has gone the same way as the later american choppers did
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Joncrete Cungle]

Is this the show where one old guy who looks a bit like Hulk Hogan shouts at everyone and everyone shouts back and shouts at each other?

[Rogerborg]

[mailee]

it's just another crap reality program. Makes me wonder how they have the time to make any bikes!

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

If it's got to be american I go with David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan's Roadkill series every time (I'd take it over top gear - uk or us - any day):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JXDcJQqZrA

I just wish there was a bike version.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[G]

[Rogerborg]

[wr6133]

As crap as it is it is better than the series that was filmed at Arlen Ness. Was similar idea but they didn't even start with a frame they would buy an old wreck/basket case for a pittance, bolt on some tat and sell it at ridiculous markup, they even did an R1 with a handful of eBay tat and sold it for well over it's value.

[bamt]

That sounds like the the Wheeler Dealers programme on Quest at the moment. Buy a cheap car, tart it up and flog it on. But when you watch what they do, it's all a bodge done to as low a cost as possible - like the "expert" mechanic doing wiring using one of those horrible combined stripper/crimp tools. Having seen how they do their cars, there's no way I'd buy one from them.

[Rogerborg]

They're not selling a vehicle though, they're selling themselves, and there's always some mug willing to buy.

Shark in a tank? Offal.

Damien Hirst shark in a tank with a wanky title? Visionary! Subversive! Profound!

Take the label off though and it reverts to a big smelly pickled herring, much like most of the output of American Nobbers.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[wr6133]

Here's the one I was on about

How they found it https://youtu.be/62MnAgEMSH4?t=6m30s

What they did https://youtu.be/62MnAgEMSH4?t=37m58s

Bought for $2500 sold for $12500

[Mudshark]

[Jefr0]

I watched it from the start and was always interested in what they got up to, it's a marmite program.

Last I knew was a couple years ago I thought they had stopped recording. Are these new episodes now? I haven't seen any adverts for any new series?
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Rides: Honda XR 125 ('03) Honda CBR 600F ('91), Ducati 916 Biposto ('95)

[Rogerborg]

Canned in 2010, came back, canned again in 2012.

The OCC Merchandising subsidiary filed for bankruptcy shortly afterwards, which shows how dependent they were on publicity.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[bamt]

[stevo as b4]

I'm sorry to have instigated debate on an 'off topic' topic, and mentioned another self promoting nothing to do with the bike company.

But steering us back to the electric drag bike that was what pricked up my interest after having only ever seen them put together largely un-rideable often tasteless choppers, it did seem to be a success and the performance of the thing did grab me and think fuck me that's way quicker than any gasoline engined bike I've seen from OCC.

What I really want to know though is how easy is it to build a drag bike of that kind of performance level? Does a light bike with a long low frame and huge back tyre+ wheelie bar's almost automatically equal that kind of performance?

Would be nice to hear what it actually takes to build a 6-8second bike with 150mph+ terminals, and from people like Chr15 who have or are doing it.

I saw a Honda CB750F powered drag bike at Avon park years ago on a RWYB test and tune day. The first run of the day that I saw him do was a 6.8sec 1/4 at I think around 145mph. It may not have actually been 750cc but I seem to remember someone saying that it was.

I'm kind of curious to know how much does the chassis/geometry and lightness and grip along with stability at speed, contribute to fast times on the 1/4mile, and how important is the engine or engine power to making a fast bike?

[monkeybiker]

[bamt]

The actual design of their drag bike disappointed me. I don't mean the frame and mechanicals, but the covers around it all looked ugly, boxy and seemed like something that was slapped together.

The engine alone weighed around 250 lbs (IIRC) - that's a pretty heavy lump. It was also interesting to see the guy fighting to keep it in a straight line - certainly not point-and-squirt.