BIKER MOVIE REVIEW
staged and shot at Orange County Choppers in upstate New York was a weekly docudrama where Pauly Teutul, the craft genius son of monster 70s era tough guy biker/welder, Paul Teutul Sr, would create a masterpiece with his handpicked team of maven craftsmen despite his father’s relentless tirades and near fatal high blood pressure. If you are not up to speed, the conflicts that were exploited in the weekly shows took a toll on the relationship of father and son and culminated in a bitter lawsuit pitting Paul Sr. against Paul Jr. over rights of ownership and control of the brand The reality fabrication shows all use this crisis/emotional conflict formula to make the hour stimulating. It is much ado about nothing and for me, as a guy who wants to see the details of using an English hammer to make a bobber tank, the emotional stuff is just junk that gets in the way. Fact is this, when we start a project with our co-workers or bros it isn’t about the conflict it is about the love. The love of the ride, the love of the journey, the love of the time spent figuring out the challenges and the stimulation comes from those moments of success – the thing you have to fabricate with torch and file fits perfectly and now the project is that much closer to completion.
THE HARBORTOWN BOBBER A MOTORCYCLE FABRICATION DOCUMENTARY FILM BY ZACK COFFMAN & SCOTT DI LALLA Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla make wonderful documentaries about creating motorcycles out of found parts, hot metals and thin air. It is in the thin air that the spirit of the project dwells and along with it the love. As the producer/directors of Choppertown, Brittown and the Harbortown Bobber, Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla have become the crafters of the rebirth of the genuine expression of why we ride, how we ride and why we ride with whom we ride. The Harbortown Bobber is a two-year Fabrication Documentary of Scott Di Lalla’s 1969 Triumph bobber. All the work was done by one off, backyard and shade tree craft masters. Fabrication Documentaries are not so rare now. American Chopper, which was
Harbortown is the seaport area of L.A. and the producers note that in vista after vista of heavy lift cranes that process the containers off ships from China. Southern California and custom bikes are legendary but what is often overlooked is that these great bikes are not $100,000 Sunday riders. Some of them are slammed together with respect for making the best looking bike you can afford while doing most of the work yourself. Sure you enlist the best in your bro-network when you are over your head and this is how Di Lalla and Coffman roll, just like us. The film opens with Di Lalla talking about his first bikes and how he was just in need of something awesome and so, one by one we meet the local experts in the composition and creation of bikes that have deep roots in the history of 20th century motorcycles as Di Lalla’s bobber takes form. The coolest thing for me when I watch these guys’ work is the smile that I notice ever present on my face. They explore the most diverse and twisted characters but the bottom line is a celebration of life and bikes. The rest of us are more like this than the reality fabricators, we groove on our families and our friends and we have each other’s backs. www.harbortownbobber.com
Do you have a favorite Biker Movie we don’t have? Let us know: info@borntoride.com
KC O’DUNN AKA CHAPLIN PLATO BORNTORIDE.COM | BTR 43
