Ep 5. POW/MIA Bike 1

After establishing Paul Jr. Designs in season 1, American Chopper returned for its second season with the Teutuls still dealing with the ups and downs of running their own custom bike shop. Season 2, episode 5, titled "POW/MIA Bike 1," finds the Teutuls making their biggest bike to date- a custom chopper honoring prisoners of war and missing in action soldiers.

The episode begins with a meeting between Paul Sr. and a military organization. They want OCC to create a bike for them that will honor the 92,000 American soldiers who have not come home from war. The bike must not only look the part but also be practical and rideable. This is a huge opportunity for OCC, considering the high-profile military connection they can make by creating this bike.

Paul Sr. and his team take on the challenge by starting with a design sketch. They approach the project with the utmost respect, knowing this bike will represent something much more significant than just another custom chopper. They plan for the bike to be finished and unveiled at the Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota.

The team's first step is to strip a stock chopper down to the frame. They begin to rebuild it from the ground up with army green paint, and American flag accents. Paul Sr. emphasizes the bike's practicality, which he achieves by building the saddlebags into the frame of the bike. The bags' shape is designed to resemble a military coffin, which is a significant touch to the theme of honoring POW/MIA soldiers. Then, the OCC team builds custom handlebars, footpegs and forward controls, as well as a custom exhaust system.

One of the most affecting parts of this episode is watching Paul Sr.'s journey to find the perfect POW/MIA symbol to adorn the bike. He visits the United States Army Institute of Heraldry, where he is led to the symbol they have had designed for military use. The symbol is the POW/MIA emblem containing an Eagle and a five-pointed star. Paul Sr. sees it, and within moments he decides to use that symbol and give it a three-dimensional interpretation to create a beautifully designed gas tank to top off the bike.

As always, there are challenges and unexpected moments throughout the episode. One of which is when Junior is working on the wheel design, which he finds is going to be a significant challenge as creating a bike as grand as this one is entirely new territory for them. And when the final reveal comes, it isn't entirely painless for Paul Jr. Designs; their bike doesn't win the competition because of a technicality with the LED lights. Nonetheless, they find joy seeing the bike finally hit the road and knowing that they built a bike that will make a significant impact.

In summary, American Chopper's season 2, episode 5 is about the Teutuls building a custom chopper for the military to honor the 92,000 American soldiers who have not come home from war. The bike is a task unlike anything they have created before, given the significant importance of what it represents. The episode's highlights include the team's journey to build a practical, rideable bike that looked the part, Paul Sr.'s search for the perfect POW/MIA emblem and the final reveal, where the bike gets to hit the road.