Las Vegas Weekly

September 11, 2008 · 6:49 PM

OC Choppers makes Strip-side magic

By Allison Duck

That's not a bike, it's a chopper, baby.

Discovery Channel scored a big hit when they booked the rough-around-the-edges Tetul family and their garage reality show American Chopper. Now, even Strip magicians are eager to get their hands on one of the hand-crafted high-shine bikes that have made Paul Sr. and his boys into familiar faces. This Friday night, the Tetuls are engaging in the best kind of customer service, personally delivering a chopper to Steve Wyrick on the patio at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in the Miracle Mile Shops to help him celebrate his 1000th performance at the Steve Wyrick Theater.

I was first introduced to American Chopper by my braniac engineer uncle while staying with him and my aunt one summer. My television palate was forced to change, as the only channels his remote recognized were the History Channel, Discovery Channel and the Food Network.

One night my uncle said there was a show he wanted me to see, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the onscreen antics of the Tetuls and the happenings at Orange County Choppers where Paul Tetul Sr. and his sons toil away building the coolest custom choppers around. This isn’t your basic grease monkey show. It focuses a lot of attention on the slightly dysfunctional family behind the famous motorcycle shop. Paul Sr. constantly picks on his sons Mikey (whose role on the show is literally listed as “comic relief“) and Paulie for their every mistake. I’m surprised one of them hasn’t hit the other over the head with a socket wrench yet.

While the Tetuls are the stars of this show, the supporting characters are the bikes themselves, sculpted works of chrome that could turn even the most demure Volvo driver into a road warrior in a matter of seconds. Steve Wyrick might be able to make a plane disappear, but doing away with his new OC Choppers SW1000? That would be tragic.

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