John McCain and Sarah Palin with Orange County Choppers

Heavy metal music thundered from loudspeakers. Then, barrel-chested, blond-haired, grandly tattooed Paul Teutel slowly rode a gleaming, cream-colored chopper up a ramp and onto the stage, followed by sons Paul Jr. and Mikey. The crowd cheered at the sight.

The trio are best known as the constantly squabbling stars of Orange County Choppers, a custom motorcycle company based in central New York state (no, not the other Orange County) that is featured on “American Chopper,” a long-running reality TV show on the Discovery Channel.

Paul Sr., a Vietnam veteran, climbed off the bike and leaned over to the microphone. The chopper, he said, was a special POW-MIA tribute, referring to prisoners of war and missing in action. “How many people out there love their country and the military?” he asked.

Satisfied that enough did, he noted that McCain suffered as a POW in Vietnam and said, “This bike represents that. All the people who have been POW-MIA, this bike represents that.”

McCain, standing to one side, grinned wildly. “Marvelous,” he enthused, after grabbing the mike. “Sarah and I are going to get on that chopper and ride it right to Washington and raise hell when we get there.”