OCC gives John McCain unrideable chopper, non-riding McCain gives it back
"Sarah and I are going to get on that chopper and ride it right to Washington and raise hell when we get there." John McCain told a crowd of working-class voters in Media, PA on Sunday. He'd just been presented with the POW/MIA tribute chopper seen here by its builder, Paul Teutul of Orange County Choppers. But just like OCC's bikes, politics is about show, not go. There were a few problems.
Despite attending the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota, John McCain
doesn't know how to ride a motorcycle. While it appears that Sarah
Palin might, there wouldn't be room for McCain to ride pillion, as the
POW/MIA chopper is a single-seater. Even if one of them could ride it, it's extremely unlikely that the pair would make the 128-mile ride from Media to Washington. The hardtail custom was built as a show bike, meaning its riding position is untenable for anything over a couple of minutes or a couple of miles an hour for riders in good health. McCain's degenerative arthritis would most likely mean he'd be unable to control the bike at all, while its lack of rear suspension would aggravate his enlarged prostate.
Taking all of this into consideration, the campaign's staffers quietly
took Teutul aside after the event and told him thanks, but no thanks.
The POW/MIA chopper will remain in the possession of Orange County
Choppers. via SarahPalin4VP
Wes Siler. September 23, 2008 — Permalink
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Good lord is that ugly. I'm sure his hand picked audience just ate it up, too.
Fortunately, I'm blind.
man, that just gave me more reasons to dislike OCC...what if the campaign ask them built it for McCain, but the Teutuls secretly is going to vote for Obama.......
If you think that's bad, check out the space shuttle spinners on their shuttle bike.
Oh dear, oh dear indeed.
Maybe some builder will build Obama a bike and they can have burnout contests at the first debate.
Those shuttle spinners are great.
"While it appears that Sarah Palin might, there wouldn't be room for McCain to ride pillion".
That is a metaphor for this entire campaign.
This just in....
The McPain ticket was stuffed by CNN while trying to get Palin "cliff note" international "experience" because the campaign banned other reporters....
http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080923/ap_on_el_pr/palin_leaders
What's the difference between bush and palin?
"lipstick" said in a 2nd-runner up beauty contestant tone.
How is that an unrideable bike? It's a little extreme..... but it's still quite rideable. I wouldn't put a newbie on it, nor would i go canyon carving on it.... but a couple ride wouldn't be that bad. Maybe a little sore in the seat, but not as bad as some.
Shawn, until that thing passes inspection, (which it won't), it is legally unrideable. Brake light, blinkers, front fender, license bracket, baffled exhaust and a proper front brake are just what I see at first glance that might possibly be needed in the real world when heading to the inspection station.
And even if McCain could ride, he still couldn't operate the controls due to his inability to raise his hands over his shoulders as a result of injuries sustained as a POW. The Tuttles must've looked that one over...
Wow... I didn't notice the barbed wire accents at first. Barbed wire guys? Really? Might as well have made the handlebars from sharpened bamboo spikes.
As Grant stated, McCain cant lift his arms up that high under his own power from POW injuries. Very odd that they'd give him in that scenario a bike with handlebars like that.
As far as enlarged prostate, thats BS, I've got one and I ride a damn sport bike.
Oh yes, I just went there!
Well....I'll agree that McCain probably can't ride the bike. The bike was built a couple years ago as a tribute to all POW's on "American Choppers"... So the bike was more of a symbolic gift.... not a custom bike built for the man.
As for the bike itself being rideable. It has a brake light (behind the POW symbol in the fender) and a proper front brake (look closer). As for turn signals and licence plate (those are small details). It would take little to make it pass any inspection.
Plus.... who'd want to ride it anyways. I'd have a fear of laying it down and watching a 100k bounce down the street. Ugghh...
yeah, i'm with mitch on this one. i would imagine this is about the last thing someone who nearly died in a prison camp would want to own.
what's next? a JFK memorial bike with 6.5mm bullets adorning the tank.
classless, but not surprising.
Shawn, I saw the what they're using as a front brake. It's shit. There's a reason why brake pistons are placed behind the axle on the fork tube. On a custom bike like this, small details are the point. So if you can't get a plate bracket and blinkers on it without compromising cohesive visual unity, you should do probably something else and folks like Heiwa do the designing and building.
And they still should have switched the bars out. That's just tasteless.
I would not want to ride that bike, look at those spikes just waiting for a chance to poke a hole in something.
I'd like to see those OCC guys tortured.