Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.
What: Book signing with Paul, Paul Jr. and Mikey Teutul, stars of the hit reality series "American Choppers" and authors of "Orange County Choppers: The Tale of The Teutuls"
When: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday
Where: The Reading Room book store, Mandalay Bay.
Admission: The book ($29.99) must be purchased in order to obtain a ticket for the book signing.
Info: 632-9374
Paul Teutul's fame has taken off like a blown bike without binders, flogging it down the interstate to destinations unknown. Teutul, 57, is the patriarch of the dysfunctional clan that's helping fuel the national mania for motorcycles. He and his sons Paulie and Mikey (more formally Paul Jr. and Michael) star in the hit Discovery Channel reality series "American Chopper," which debuted in 2003 and is still carving its way across the countryside.
In reality, they own Orange County Choppers, a seven-year-old company that designs and builds "choppers" or motorcycles with extended front ends. The bikes usually have been "chopped" or cut up to reduce weight.
A third son, Danny, now owns Orange County Ironworks, the business that gave Paul Teutul his start back in the late '60s and early '70s.
Paul Sr. is a colorful character, a working-class denizen who is living the American dream.
The native of Yonkers, N.Y., is almost an outspoken caricature of himself - muscular, tattooed, a cascading white walrus moustache accentuating a strong chin.
Paul, Paulie and Mikey Teutul will be at the Mandalay Bay Reading Room on Tuesday to sign copies of their book, "Orange County Choppers: The Tale of The Teutuls."
Paul Teutul Sr. recently talked to the Sun from New York City, where he was launching his national book-signing tour.
During the last two or three years the popularity of motorcycles has really taken off. Do you feel you and your sons are at least partially responsible?
I believe so. Yeah. I think our show enhanced the industry tremendously, you know. I think at one point Harley Davidson sales were up 15 percent due to our show.
I'm blown away by the phenomenon.
Me too.
Have you been a lifelong bike rider?
I been riding since the early '70s. I was 24 years old or something like that, in my early 20s when I started riding. I got started kind of late, you know.
What's your book about? Is it a 'tell all'?
It's actually done by the family, kind of a combination of business and personal. Kind of everybody's story, you know what I mean? My story. Paulie's story. Mikey and my son Dan's in there. My ex-wife's in there. My daughter's in there. My mom's in there. Everybody's got a little section of the book, you know what I mean. There's a lot of history in there, a lot of history, you know? When I was a kid. Some of the issues, some of the battles with alcohol and drugs. Actually, yeah it's kind of a tell all, you know?
You've weathered a lot of storms in your life, now you're like the American idol. What's that like?
We're living the dream, you know what I mean? It's kind of like the dream that comes true, you know what I mean? It's, you know, you started out - me personally - you come from a poor background, you know what I mean? It's kind of growing up not having any role models and dealing with drugs and alcohol and then having a family and going through all the struggles.
How did your career begin?
I actually bought a pickup truck off my father, a '60-something Chevy pickup truck. A friend of mine was going to spend a little time in jail; so he had a welder and I buy it from him and that's the way it started out. At some point, I (leased a building for) an iron works shop and eventually I bought some property and built my own shop. It came from a one-man operation - my son, Dan owns it (Orange County Ironworks) now.
What did your ironwork entail?
We did everything. We put up like steel buildings, you know what I'm saying, like Home Depots. When I started out, I started out with ornamental work, you know, wrought iron railings, steel stairs, that sort of thing. But there was nothing I really didn't do.
How did the cycle business get started?
All my sons worked in the steel shop with me. That's where they got their background from. When I was like semiretired (in the mid '90s), I started building motorcycles out of my basement. Then I opened a little shop down below my steel shop, and eventually I would have him (Paulie) do some of the work on the bikes and eventually me and him opened up the motorcycle shop, you know?
How are you dealing with your sudden fame?
It has its ups and downs, like anything else, but for the most part its more ups than downs. It's a change of lifestyle. You give up certain things, like privacy, you know? And it's very demanding, you know?
What's the hardest part?
For me it's the traveling, trying to keep up with everything that's going on. It's kind of difficult. We constantly expand our businesses. Our popularity doesn't seem to drop off, you know what I mean; so it's like we're constantly evolving and going into different areas, you know what I'm saying? It's just not motorcycles, it's merchandising and we're going into parts now. We have a line of bikes. The business just grew so fast.
How many employees do you have at Orange County Choppers?
Seventy plus.
How many before the TV show began?
Me and Paulie. That was it.
Where do you see yourself 10 years down the road?
Right now we're doing a dealership network so we're coming out with different model bikes that can be purchased through dealers. Also, we're looking to do our own brand of parts, you know what I'm saying.
After the show's all gone, we'll be a manufacturer, you know? You stick to your basic roots, you know.
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS / LAS VEGAS SUN 
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