Orange County Choppers becomes Ducati dealer, gets first American Streetfighter
Ducati is throwing their full weight behind Ducati Hudson Valley, Orange County Choppers' new venture, giving the dealership the first Streetfighter to arrive on US soil. OCC is better known for its unique brand of father/son homoeroticism and lame choppers than it is high-end sportsbikes and luxury goods. OCC also unveiled a custom Ducati Monster 1100, replete with non-functional carbon accessories, a bitchin' spider web 'n Venom airbrush job and even a spider web clutch cover.
Correction: According to Ducati North America, the Streetfighter was a display bike only and OCC/Ducati Hudson Valley haven't yet taken delivery of one.
The OCC née Ducati Hudson Valley showroom will be the first "Ducati Retail Design Project." As such it will feature custom stands for each bike incorporating elements unique to each model's character; the Monster will use a curvy mountain road, the Ducati 848 a race track, etc. While that sounds pretty tacky, we'll reserve judgment till we've seen it.
Cadillac once forced us to visit OCC's new showroom in Newburgh, NY and it couldn't have been less about motorcycles. While there's a line of cheesy OCC customs surrounding the perimeter, 99% of the floor space is devoted to novelty t-shirts, mugs, thongs, caps and other nonsense. The bikes themselves are roped off and didn't appear to be for sale.
It also looks like Ducati Hudson Valley has received the first Ducati Streetfighter to reach US shores; established dealers aren't expected to receive their first bikes until next month.
via Autoblog
Thanks for the tip, Jason.
Wes Siler. April 24, 2009 — Permalink
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its the end of the world....
It is indeed, a sad, sad, day.
What are you guys talking about?! The marriage of OCC and Duc will be the sickest, gnarliest, badest ass, uh, poppin' fresh-est(?), and... aww fuck it. The Streetfighter was only kinda ugly before they got their chubby fingers on it, but that's a full-blown abomination. At least it's still rideable, and with a full face helmet on, no one would have to know it was you.
Father/son homoeroticism? Wow, I've got to get cable.
"father/son homoeroticism"
It's clear that you have no regard for OCC (I know nothing whatever about this organization) but this is about as low as one can go in expressing it.
Aoulus: Have you seen the show?
Matt: that's a custom Monster, they haven't gotten their big meaty paws on the Streetfighter yet.
Meh... Could have been worse.. Take off the ugly spider webs and it's not bad. The clutch cover is pretty cool. I still think OCC/Duc is a bad idea though.
that poor Monster.. .
father/son homoeroticism... Someone's gonna get a Size 12 Buried in his Butt pretty soon!!! ...Yep, homoeroticism...
You don't need to have any regard for OCC with all their kibbling and bigmouthing and fooling around and downright stupidness, but I guess to be able to come up with such a characterisation of that situation says more about the one who thinks of it...
They do make loads of cash, they do get publicity and their business does expand. That makes them succesfull. If you want to show puny envie by calling what they do father/son homoeroticism, ...well....
I think it is a positive for the motorcycling world in general, so I approve. Get more motorcycles and more publicity out there!
My Ducati ignorance exposed! I await the custom Streetfighter with bated breath.
OK, so I watched the OCC show on TV last night where the highlight was the dismissal (oops, temporary layoff) of a lowly employee. The recession is hitting this ego charged business with lower sales of their over priced products. So, what do they do? "What's that, Paulie?" Ducati!!... Actually, I would have been less surprised if they had opened a customized scooter shop...a mega Vespa shop. Maybe for next year's show.
I just puked in my mouth a little.
Ducati is desperate to become a pop culture brand...and in doing so will start to loose the respect of true Ducatisti.
If a hammer is your only tool, the world looks like a pile of nails.
why do we have to respect occ for making money??? its doesnt mean theyre doing anything good. im sure wes could write a bs street magazine in his spare time that would sell just fine, but he doesnt, cause he's not a douchebag
I thought that line was hilarious.
Very ... interesting.
I'm not a fan of OCC and the idea of them selling Ducati's is kinda gross. Mainly because custom choppers and Ducati Sport Bikes seem at completely different ends of the motorcycling spectrum to me.
Makes me wonder what Michael Lock was thinking...
Everything those primates build is garbage. Fuck those assholes.
paul jr. doesn't even ride. he said in an interview that riding on the street is too dangerous.
that combined with the painfully delivered scripted monologues was enough for me to want them all to die. let alone their crap sense of design.
doesn't "nee" mean "born as" or something?
So it IS possible to make it uglier.
There is a Ducati dealer 15 miles from them that is a race-performance store, and has been selling Ducati Motorcycles for more than 10 years.
I think it is a bit of an insult to the small dealer in the area that they would partner with a group that is concerned more on the chrome and their own brand than the performance of the bikes and the brand image that Ducati has worked hard to develop in WSB and every other level of racing.
Support the real Ducati dealer in the area - Rockwell Cycles
Now THAT sucks... the OCC guys do what they do, but DNA should feel some shame for likely putting a rather large dent into one of their dealerships.
he's right. that show couldn't get more locker-room-towel-popping if it tried. why don't they just admit it and syndicate with BRAVO.
also, is it just me, or do the new ducs look more and more and more ridiculous each year. someone should just come out and say it: streetfighters are ugly. they're the sportbike equivalent of NOPI style import cars.
keep up the good work boys!
Oh I'm sorry- I was under the impression that we lived in a Kapitalist society and that therefore success in making money could be respectfull.
And aside from that- If we don't like them we, Because I firmly agree on the part that they make pug-ugly-un-useful-fun-fair-monstruosities , there still seems to be a large part of the world that does like them and believe they earn respect if you look at their fanbase.
"streetfighters are ugly. they're the sportbike equivalent of NOPI style import cars."
very true. The tail in the air (euro-style) is equivalent to the wings on the back of the tuner cars.
The name is stupid too
Larry? As in "ride to live, live to ride" in your year book quote?
Been a while bro....
Hell for Leather should become a Ducati dealership... a metro match made in heaven.
just because a couple of hired monkeys can make a buck on a bunch of idiotic redneck fools, i owe them some sort of respect??? if every other "kapitalist" american dragged their art this low in the dirt then it would be the end of us. they have invented nothing, and they do very little, just beat the piss out of this dead chopper horse
man, this seriously ruin my day...
fucking seriously. this is FUCK UP!!!!
I am new to motorcycles thanks to OCC shows. I would have never considered riding a bike prior to watching that show. I proceeded from looking at Harley's to Ducati's to BMW's now I am the owner of a used Honda VFR. Say what you will about OCC but but they have made a whole bunch of us consider motorcycles where 10 years ago I would have never thought that possible. Come to think of it - if it had not been for OCC I would have never given this blog a second thought.
homoeroticism? I don't think so. I think that says more about you than OCC... just sayin....
First it was the "me-too" logo change, and now this.
I've lost what little respect I had left for Ducati...
Wow, that made me stop lurking. Ducati just fell a few steps down the hipster ladder.
the hipster ladder? you mean the ladder of people that respect themselves?
SICK, BRO!
Whoa, that's heinous!
Calling a group of custom bike makers tasteless idiots with no regard to actual functionality is considerably less offensive and is downright acceptable next to claims of homoeroticism. Hopefully, someone else sees how absurd that is.
OCC inspired you to get a VFR?! At some point I look forward to hearing that story.
It doesn't matter how you got into bikes, we're just glad to have another motorcyclist.
What if that other cable TV chopper maker Jesse James was given the ball on this play?
Would that work? probably not...ROTFL
Ducati, lock,
you've sold your soul!
we've been supporting Ducati while it was a genuine sport bike company.
We loved Troy, we watched the races, we lived the red italian adventure.... but you guys are taking us for fools!
It is so insulting!
We spend 15000 on motorcycle, we are usually serious people.
Don't turn this into a parody.
Hey boys, nobody has realized that this is not a Ducati Streetfighter? It is a Ducati Monster 1100 customiced by Teutuls.
I saw the true Ducati Streetfighter last weekend in Valencia's circuit (Spain) and it is a real bike, impressive and amazing.
As stated in the article, it's a ducati monster 1100.
Jesse would probably work something out better than the above cartoon bike. Have you seen the cafe bike he and Mike Cook made out of the Honda VTX engine?
What is with the seat on the OCC monster above and the rear seat cowling? The proportions are all wrong.
I am so sick of spider webs. OCC should change their name to We Love Spider Webs Motorcycles. Why Ducati? Harley or the new Indians would make sense, but Ducati? Anyone who has ever embraced a motorcycle knows that the entire show is a spider infested abomination. Ducati should know better. The show is a joke, these model inspired stands are a joke, and the dealership is a joke. I think they should all trip on crome plated steak knives with spider web laden handles.
Sorry, I must read the article first.....
My eyes, my eyes!
Or
"Oh, the humanity"
Yea, I agree with the sentiment, I have lost what respect I had left for Ducati. Saddens me to see a great marquee 'marketed' to hell like this. Somehow I always felt the real Ducati ended with the 996 and 748 models. This now only confirms it.
Could have been worse, they might have gotten a MV AGUSTA store.
people have been trying to make Duc choppers for years.
Exactly.
Damn this is Great!!! Ducatis and OCC!!! OVerpriced Junk!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should have a Ducati show too...!!!
Reward.
I offer 500$ to anyone coming up with pictures of that bike totaled.
500$ for anyone with the decency to put that poor Duke out of it's misery!
Cagiva Indiana circa 1986-87 Ducati?Cagiva attempt the cruiser. And since it is so well know that ought be the example of how successful ducati cruisers are.
I really dont know who is more desperate Ducati in the effort to just pimp out every aspect of the brand or OCC fro trying to find a way to keep some money coming in now that the finacial laws of reason have killed useless motorcycles.
A good example was the just ended laughlin run the biggest sellers this year for items at the show? Tires and seats and chrome addons very few new bikes we worked on. Many people echoed each other "I am not riskinga new bike let alone one that I cannot ride on a regualr basis, so I will fix mine up nicer and more useable way."
They could of gone with Triumph who at least has a history of some choppers in the old school chopper realm.
OCC to VFR... My Dad always said "Get a motorcycle for your last birthday...". So I never considered buying a bike - thought it was stupid. Started watching OCC first to laugh at the father/son interaction - reminded me of my Dad and me working on the house when I was young. Came to appreciate a motorcylce as an interesting piece of machinery. Next watched some of the biker build-off spin offs. Then started buying motorcycle magazines/going to websites - wife thought I was going crazy. Considered VROD Harleys. Had a friend that was really into Ducati's - he steered me to touring sport bikes, after a long search (Ducati, BMW, Triumph, to VFR..) finally ended up with a VFR.
It’s a little silly how emotional people get about these things—my god, I love my bikes, but in the end, it’s about riding. Not watching TV, not branding, not posing… burn some fuel and scrub away some rubber people…
Amen.
OCC is a great show, and they make some amazing custom cruisers. They do have talent and have done wonders for the industry.
However, people do not buy Ducati's because they want an Americanized bike. We buy Ducs because we want that Italian flair... dare I say Eurotrash image? That's what makes them special, how they look, feel and ride. It's a lot like the "Harley" mindset, except that Ducati has the quality, class and performance to actually back it up. Apart from some old dirt track records, Harley hasn't jack. They are the "Hard Rock Cafe" of the motorcycle world...
If America wanted an American custom streetfighter, we already have the Buell platform to work on. I have no problem with them joining forces with Ducati and driving the brand name home and increasing sales and market share, that's good for all of us.
But don't screw it up by bolting on cruiser-like parts and fagging it up with awful paint jobs.
Use the OCC name to spread the Ducati brand, make some trick billet parts for it, but don't change the very essence of what a Ducati is, because it negates the core reasons why we would buy a Ducati in the first place.
"Ducati is throwing their full weight behind Ducati Hudson Valley..."
Indeed, the picture illustrates the point. It just doesn't look good to have the rider weigh more than the bike. That's why choppers are big and heavy, whereas top pilots and their motorcycles are lean. I'm not trying to be judgmental, but the markets are as far apart as can be. What's the point of mixing oil and water?
Ducati, please come to your senses.
I was at OCC recently and they do have the streetfighter and I saw it but it's being kept under wraps for now for some legal reasons to do with their TV show. As for their Monster 1100 line, they only did the one with the spiderman theme as a display model/promo, the rest are as the Italians intended.
As for the negative comments about OCC and choppers - please! These glorified Hondas don't even belong in the same showroom as a custom built OCC chopper. An OCC chopper has more styling and character than some rice-burning crate bike. Ducatti's are nothing but yuppie ego trips because no true rice-rocket rider would touch them. A Yamaha R1 is far superior to your Monster 1100 and looks a thousand times better. Stupid yuppies, trying to be cool, is the only morons you will see buying a Ducati.
great Orange County Choppers
katana...you shouldn't be talking...calling Ducati trash?..u ride a Katana...talk trash after you ride a ducati..I had a gixxer 1000 and Kawi sbk too...Ducati is king..move up to a gsxr then start talking..don't talk when u have a lowly katana..
I like the marriage...I always wanted a chopper with a Ducati motor...cause we all know Harley motors are too damn slow...I want a chopper that can kick real a**
HMMMM... so, OCC really HAS become what they are- OCD
Chester Cheetah and Son are the text book definition of "Trailer Trash Rich". And 90% of their designs are just shit.
Exile For Life.
Maybe Paul and Pauly can now argue about what kind or color of sticker they are gonna put on that Ducati! I can see it now! Too bad nobody at OCC is an experienced rider on high performance motorcycles. I predict one of them will be hurt within 6 months. Crawling off of a 65HP, 700LB hog and jumping on a 150HP, 400LB Ducati will ultimately prove to be too much for inexperienced hog riders!! Of course the only time they will ride them will be when the cameras are rolling! OCC choppers are for girls! Buy a man's motorcycle with at least 150 hp!!
If you want to see what a custom builder can do with a Ducati, google Roland Sands Hypermotard. True to the spirit.
Fellas, fellas -don't we all just love motorcycles? Can't we all just, get along? I have been a biker since I was in the first grade but I hope I have left my first grade attitude behind. I don't care what kind of motorcycle it is, Harley, Triumph, Japanes, Euro, if it has a motor and leans in the turns, I like it. I also enjoy watching OCC, Biker Build Off, Twist The Throttle, West Coast Choppers and any other TV show or movie that comes along with a motorcycle theme. I have never understood why we have to pick a side and hate all others. I used to commute on an electric BikeE and now I ride an '05 Rocket III. Also, I will wave at any biker that looks at me. Peace!
P.S. I'm thinking about renting a Ducati for a day, any suggestions?
OCC/Ducati is as bad a marriage as Harely/MV Agusta
Next up - Rossi will start using ICON on the track
The arguments here are so pointless. I have owned many Ducati's including a 1098s, s2r800 and a 748. They were fun bikes, especially the 1098s. I now build traditionally styled 60s 70s era HD bobbers, street trackers and cafe racers. I like the nostalgia in particular.
Basically, I like all motorcycles. Also own a Triumph America, very happy with it. I can't stand when people take sides or worse, brands. It's childish man, grow the hell up. Also for the record, my Ducs were always in the shop with more recalls and warranty repairs then you could imagine. Go to any Ducati forum and read up for yourself. The "quality" isn't as high as most fanboys want you to believe. The other thing is that the high perf Ducs like the 1198 belong on a track where you can actually utilize all that race technology, power, and grace. They are great bikes, but really not meant for the street. In the end, just ride what you want and stop contributing to brand loyalty bullshit and stupid demographic segregation.
Bullllshit.. All 3 of my Ducatis spent more time on the road than in the garage. Only one went in for any more than standard service when the flywheel came loose. You must be getting old (actually, that would explain the America and the HD's)
:)
Hi guys, Here in the Netherlands I've tried in the summer de SuperFighter. I like it a lot. it's a real beast. i've seen the OCC show and still don't understand how you can corner and ride 100km with those bikes. Well I must admit that I don't like those old looking bike (HD) and chopper generaly. I own a superduke 2007 :P