Orange County Choppers Roadhouse

THREE MEN ON A POWERFUL MOTORIZED MISSION

BORN TO RIDE GREAT AMERICAN BIKER BASH IS COMING SUNDAY AUGUST 21ST!

This is the tale of three wise men who love motorcycles and the biker lifestyle and how they put their heads together to create a one-of-a-kind country club for bikers and riders’ destination in Clearwater, Florida. This farout facility includes a restaurant, concert venue, and motorcycle museum to bring the Orange County Choppers (OCC) experience to life. Born To Ride has teamed up with Keith Overton, Paul Teutul Senior of Orange County Choppers, and Bert King of Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson for “Bert’s Great American Bike Night” every Thursday, powered by attorney Fran Haasch as well as other kickass events including the Born To Ride “Great American Biker Bash” on Sunday, August 21. The all-day event will capture the biker lifestyle like no other, complete with our Choppertown Live Ride-in Chopper Show and live music by Preacher Stone in concert! This will be the ultimate summer mega bash for all who love a killer party. You can even shake hands with the star of America Chopper, Paul Teutul Senior himself! How did all this come to be? Let us introduce the men who made it happen. Bert King is an inspiring businessman who developed his outstanding Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson and Bert’s Black Widow Harley-Davidson dealerships. Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson in Clearwater is the place to go for all your two-wheeled and three-wheeled needs and it is home to the biggest American flag in Florida! It is 100 feet by 50 feet and 200 feet tall. We asked Bert about his background and how he got into owning Harley dealerships. “I come from the car industry,” he tells us. “And spent many successful years learning the business and worked my ass off to get to the top and to own a number of formidable dealerships in Texas. I always told my family it was my dream to own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership, and when I sold my last car dealership, I set my eyes on Florida and first acquired what is today Bert’s Black Widow Harley-Davidson Dealership in Port Charlotte.” “I have always thought big and done everything big,” Bert grins. “Once Black Widow was revitalized and producing great results, I learned of an opportunity to acquire an existing dealership in St Petersburg, which of course is today Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson. I knew the old site on 54th Avenue North was too small for my appetite and wouldn’t allow me to create a true country club for bikers, so I acquired the old 49er Flea Market at 10525 49th Street North in Pinellas Park, which had been out of business for a number of years. I knew the details of the new and improved roadways that were coming, and that this property was centrally and perfectly located for all of Tampa Bay to access. I then had to plan and develop the property in order to finally achieve my vision.” “We developed the property in stages but first laid-in all of the infrastructure for the entire site under a unified construction plan. I knew I wanted a formidable restaurant on campus but hadn’t yet developed those details and didn’t even know who would own and operate it, so I planned the site with this in mind. We kept a couple of the existing buildings but demolished everything else. We then installed all of the parking to include the rider’s academy, which is used for students who are obtaining their DMV motorcycle endorsement, and actually the first new building erected was what is today Bert’s Pavilion Live. We temporarily operated the dealership from that building while the new showroom was being built.” “After meeting with my buddy Keith Overton to seek his advice on what kind of restaurant I should plan for, he fell in love with my vision and confidentially shared with me that he and Paul Teutul Senior were planning to

“I am proud that my vision has been achieved and I am having the time of my life. I love the Tampa Bay community, my team of professionals, my great customers, and of course…. most of all, my family.” –– Bert King

build a restaurant brand together. The lights went on for both of us and we struck a deal to make the campus home to the first OCC Road House and to anchor it with a Museum element. Simultaneously, to our building the new showroom, Keith began to plan the restaurant and started construction the week. We moved into the new showroom and literally 120 days later, had the restaurant built and operating (June of 2021).” “We were off to the races and haven’t looked back,” Bert says. “I am proud that my vision has been achieved and I am having the time of my life. I love the Tampa Bay community, my team of professionals, my great customers, and of course…. most of all, my family. I hope it shows in everything I do! I am also very excited to partner with Born To Ride. Their weekly videos capture who we are and what we’re all about, but to truly understand just how special this country club for bikers is, you have to come and see it for yourself and immerse yourself in the energy that’s created every day.”Bert King, having a vision to create a country club for bikers, got together with Keith Overton, his good friend and owner of notable restaurants and resorts, to turn the Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson’s ten-acre campus into something bigger and more unique than anything in Florida. Overton, loving King’s vision, then solicited Paul Teutul to create a licensing partnership with him and to retire all of his notable choppers and memorabilia that were featured on the hit TV Show, American Chopper inside the OCC Road House & Museum. Overton and King built a shop for Senior right on campus for Senior to continue his legendary bike builds and the rest is history. One year later, the entire complex has become the “place to be”! Born To Ride recently sat down with OCC Road House & Museum owner Keith Overton to get the inside scoop about his strategy for how to best fulfil his buddy Bert’s vision for the campus. “I have found success over the past 25 years creating and operating unique destination resorts and restaurants. Over this time, I have observed lots of concepts come and go and developed a good understanding as to why. In my experience

there are two simple principles in creating a successful destination restaurant concept. Those are unique beach or waterfront dining and absent owning real estate with these magnificent natural resources, unique lifestyle brands that authentically represent the people and the surroundings that the concept is located within.” We asked Keith to share an example of a successful concept that he has been a part of that embraces those principles. “An example of one concept that my team and I created was RumFish Grill. The main store on St Pete Beach featured a 33K gallon fish tank that showcased over 150 fish from 40 different species found right here in the Tampa Bay waters. Customers could actually swim in the tank with the fish. Local fish art is displayed everywhere throughout and a retail store that features the largest selection of fishing apparel in the market, including an exclusive line of Guy Harvey fishing clothing and merchandise.” “The RumFish Grill concept became wildly popular and has grown to five locations in the Tampa Bay market. Two of the stores were featured on the hit Animal Planet TV show, Tanked. How did Keith come up with the idea for the OCC Road House & Museum? It all started with his passion for motorcycles. “I find that creating and building these concepts around lifestyles that I personally love and participate in, brings a unique understanding of what the targeted customer wants and what is often missing in other offerings.” In other words, Keith keeps it real and always has a personal connection. “Tampa Bay has more motorcycle enthusiasts than virtually anywhere else in the country, demonstrated through DMV registrations,” Keith says. “Great weather and the Florida lifestyle lend well to those who want wind in their face and outdoor excitement. So, it made perfect sense to create a licensing company with my friend Paul Teutul Senior and build a motorcyclethemed destination restaurant and entertainment venue right on the campus of the already famous Bert’s Barracuda HarleyDavidson.” “Paul Teutul Senior is arguably the most notable motorcycle builder in the country and the creator of Orange County Choppers. Paul and OCC have become well-known around the world due to the tremendously popular Discovery hit TV show American Chopper, which is centered around Paul, his family, and the bikes they build. His TV series is not only loved by those who own and ride motorcycles, but by those who dream about the lifestyle and love

his true American success story. Paul and OCC created a fan base of mothers, kids, families, veterans, and business people who have grown to love the drama of his crazy adventures. Paul ranks in the top five people to be featured in the most-shared memes across all social media outlets.” Speaking of, we had a chance to ask Paul Senior a few questions about how the OCC Road House & Museum came to be and here is what he told us. “I met Keith awhile back and he asked us to build a couple of bikes for him. We talked about doing a restaurant and museum together and decided to do it right next to Bert’s Barracuda Harley-Davidson. I met Bert through Keith and we became friends right away. He is a good guy and an honest guy. A real straight shooter.” When asked what he likes about the OCC Road House & Museum, Paul says, “We’ve

been open a year and we are up percentage-wise quite a bit. I’m really happy with it. My favorite part is eating there. I like the alligator bites and plant-based impossible burgers.” Paul is a huge animal lover and pescatarian. “The salads are good and the salmon is great. I don’t eat red meat and there’s a good variety of food there for me.”

Believe it or not, Paul is still building bikes virtually every day at his new Florida shop located right on campus. So, he goes right next door to the OCC Road House & Museum for lunch most days. Imagine what fans of American Chopper must think when they stop in for a meal or to check out the museum, and there’s Paul Senior! “I usually eat lunch there because I work in the shop there. I take a lot of pictures and sign a lot of autographs. People tell their friends that they met me there. It’s great for the fans.” Besides being able to get a photo with Paul or shake his hand and get an autograph, we asked him why people should check out the OCC Road House & Museum. “The number one reason to visit the OCC Road House is that the museum is really cool. There is 20 years of memorabilia on the walls and all the bikes we did in the TV series. People come from all around to see the famous Fireman bike and P.O.W. bike.”