Chad handed the officer in the booth our identification documents, and he asked where we were headed; when Chad answered ‘Rock Tavern, NY’ he asked his partner in the booth if he could go home and change his clothes and jump in the car with us. We’d not even said where we were headed, but he said ‘I know what’s in Rock Tavern’ and wanted to join us instead of working. But he decided he’d better stay and work, after the OK from the officer we headed down the open highway.
We were King of the Road, as early morning traffic is almost non-existant on Interstate 91 southbound, making a few pitstops along the way. In Connecticut we veered off I-91 onto I-84 towards NY State. About 100 miles later, we arrived in NY and had to watch for exit 6, then Rt. 17 to arrive at our Rock Tavern destination.
You see, we attended V-Force Customs open house. For those who are not Orange County Chopper (OCC) fans or bike enthusiasts, V-Force Customs is the brainchild of former OCC television show stars Vinnie DiMartino and Cody Connelly. Vinnie left OCC back in August of last year, and Cody followed suit one month later.
Cody had begun working for OCC at the age of 14, and had been employed there for six years. He has the love of bikes in his blood, having been introduced to motorbikes at an early age. Connelly has said that he found it difficult leaving OCC as it was his first job, he enjoyed what he did, and working there for six years helped him improve his welding skills, as well as his metal working and fabrication skills.
As for Vinnie, he was a star on Discovery Channel’s OCC. Vinnie lives by two rules that his father told him about early on in his life:
Number 1…Never buy or pay for something you can do or fix yourself.
Number 2…The only way to get something done right is to do it yourself.
John, Vinnie’s father, owned a snowmobile/motorcycle shop in the 1970’s – at age 3, Vinnie was already riding smaller scaled snowmobiles (Artic Cat Kitty Cat) and Indian motorcycles.
The shop had experienced a fire, and John then undertook the duties of an automobile repair shop and gas station owner. Vinnie was then 9 years old. Being an observant student at the garage, he had gained enough experience to rebuild his dirt bike engine. From there, at 14, he worked at a small engine repair shop; and his father had adventured out and purchased a golf course. Vinnie worked at the golf course for 10 years, until realizing that he wanted to follow his dreams and his passion for motors and making bikes and automobiles run faster.
Vinnie had tried his hand at different jobs, such as auto mechanic, truck driver, and then a bike builder for a small shop. Then he went on to OCC and only after a month of being there, Discovery Channel hooked up with the guys at OCC and put them on television; and the rest of the story is history in the making – the former OCC boys are now following their dreams…
A short drive down the road is the new headquarters of Orange County Choppers, and of course, being so close we adventured out and discovered that television does not do justice to their bike building creations. Once you arrive at OCC headquarters, you are welcomed by the huge logo embedded into bricks in the front of the building and the huge OCC logo appears etched in glass at the top of the window. Up there, on display in that window is a masterpiece bike.
The entire gift shop doubles as a museum, band stand area, and bike shop where you can purchase either a souvenir or an OCC bike of you own. This is a great place and you can spend hours there just admiring all the custom bikes that have been produced by the OCC team. But once again, I must emphasize that television does not do these bikes justice. They are a real piece of art, and I got goosebumps just by looking some of these bikes over, thinking back to the time I saw the bikes being built on television. It’s just amazing and a must see if travelling in that part of NY State. You won’t be disappointed. They even have a glassed-in viewing area of the shop that is accessible to visitors, however when the cameras are rolling, it’s a bit more difficult to get a good look at the shop as the windows are darkened out.
Don’t miss the chance to check out Rock Tavern NY’s two bike shops, OCC and V-Force – I promise, you won’t be disappointed, even if you’re not a bike enthusiast, the art work and construction of these pieces of rolling art is breath taking and well worth a detour.
For more photos click here and find the OCC or V-Force galleries.
Karen Eryou
June 11, 2008
