The Racing Innovations Yankee-blue powercoated frame came back from Sumax right on time. The next step was to drop in the 131-inch monster motor from Thom and his crew at H&L Performance in Wallingford, CT, without skipping a beat (well, maybe some screwing around was involved). The beautifully chromed billet six-speed transmission from Bert Baker and his boys at Baker Drivetrain, located in Haslett, MI, was then positioned down for its final time. Step three involved stuffing in the primary drive and then capping it off with an incredible CNC sculpted-billet primary cover with the image of Yankee Stadium gracing its length. No Orange County Chopper is complete without a radical frontend. A set of 14-over forks from Meanstreets spans the gap between a custom billet spool wheel swinging a triad of Yankee logos whittled out on the same Haas CNC mill that OCC billet master JQ used to create the wheels. For the Yankee Bike's handlebars, Vinnie turned down billet aluminum on a manual lathe, then welded them with his trusty Miller welder to T-braced downpipes, creating a pair of riserless bars. It was "Miller time" again when bell-tip mufflers were cut down to create baseball bats for the exhaust system, using exhaust wrap to detail the handles. The Yankee Bike's braking chores are handled by a single rear-mounted disc-brake unit from Hawg Halters that's operated by a hand lever, normally associated with a front brake. For forward motion, a chain drive was used on the right side to spin the Yankee Bike's matching rear wheel. For wiring, Vinnie started from scratch with a handful of wire spools and then soldered the lengths of wire from its Arlen Ness headlight to wherever they hid the taillight on this bike.
For Nub and Rick and perhaps the rest of the crew at OCC, the Yankee Bike's pice de resistance is the hand-formed gas tank Rick made. Nub matched the Yankee Bike's dark blue powder paint with a custom mix of PPG products. The very minute Nub plucked the PPG-cleared tank from his spray booth, Mikey was placed in a first-class seat on a jet headed to Milwaukee, WI, where the Yankees were playing. While there, Mikey had the entire team autograph the tank with a silver Sharpie and then hopped back on a plane. Nub told us Mikey showed up at his shop with the signed tank at around midnight. For those of you not familiar with shooting clear urethane over a Sharpie's metallic ink, there is a significant risk the clear will melt and drift the Sharpie's fine lines into a dirty silver blur mixed into the clear. No TV retakes here-Nub was under tremendous pressure to get it right on the first attempt.
On the final day of the Yankee Bike build, Jorge Posada was scheduled to arrive with his family and view the Yankee Bike for the first time. Paul Sr. and crew jumped into his H2, headed out to the Orange County Airport, and waited for the Posada family to arrive. Once the entourage had returned from the airport to Orange County Choppers' shop, Jorge got his first look at the Yankee Bike. When he spotted the beauty he was all smiles. Mikey poured in the gas, and Paul Sr. yelled, "Fire in the hole!" The mighty 131-inch H&L motor lit up like a nitro-burning dragster on a record pass.
The night wasn't over, though-the Teutuls still had one more mind to blow. The boys went to their 87-year-old grandmother's house and picked her up. Grandma Teutul is a rabid Yankees fan, so it was easy to get her to come check out the Yankee-themed bike. What she didn't know was that she was about to meet Jorge Posada. She was absolutely delighted, crying, "Oh, my God! George Posada!...Oh, George Posada! I can't believe this. I can't believe this!"
Since the build of Posada's Yankee Bike, the OCC crew has created additional versions of the Yankee Bike for other team members.