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News › Abilene Man Wins Bike Featured on TV Show 'American Chopper'
Maxey Chittum can't stop grinning. That's because he's the proud new owner of a gleaming yellow and blue ride built by the stars of the television show ''American Chopper.''
The 600-pound bike commissioned by the National Automotive Parts Association features NAPA colors, a monster 1,800-cc, 120-horsepower engine and custom-made wheels. The company toured the bike to more than 40 Texas cities, including Abilene, where admirers could look at the bike and enter a giveaway drawing.
Chittum, owner of Max's Automotive and an avid fan of the Orange County Choppers crew, went to look at the bike when it was in Abilene in May.
''I filled out a card when I looked at it and didn't really think much about it,'' he said.
Chittum said he forgot all about it until October, when he received a phone call from NAPA in Dallas telling him that he was in the finalist drawing.
He traveled to the State Fair in Dallas where he and 11 other contestants picked keys. One by one, the contestants tried to start the bike with their key until only two contestants were left. Chittum had the No. 11 key.
''By this point, I knew that I had 50-50 chance of winning, and my heart was just pounding,'' Chittum said.
The key worked. Chittum won his bike and an enclosed trailer to transport it.
''It is so special to me because of the 'OCC' connection - I can really relate to the show because my family's pretty similar. I've got two sons and an auto shop,'' he said. The ''OCC'' features a father and two sons who build choppers. The chopper is so special that Chittum has taken it on the road just three times - only he and one of his sons have ridden it.
''I had to ride it,'' he said. ''I couldn't stand it.''
But he plans to keep the bike in immaculate condition otherwise and polishes the machine every night. And he has been eager to show his new ride to curious visitors who drop by to see the chopper.
''One day he was in his office just talking away about the bike,'' said his son Corey. ''I finally had to get him out of the office and tell him 'Dad, I need you to look at cars because we're behind.'''
Some days, Maxey Chittum just can't believe his luck.
''I have to pinch myself,'' he said. ''Sometime I'm afraid someone's going to come in and tell me that this has all been a joke and I need to give it back.''
Source: Reporter-News.com
Posted by editor on Monday, November 06, 2006 (17:42:34) (1421 reads)
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