![]() Until 1954 they dripped a part of it on the street. Until 1930 they dripped their oil on the street. This greasy, troublesome "mother" has been the thorn in society's side since Messers Harley and Davidson produced their first bikes in 1905. But aside from the personal angle of the standard of behavior that is followed in some of the early bike clubs, let's investigate the reason for this all.the motorcycle. We cannot refuse the fact that all over the country guys are growing their hair and wearing dirty clothes for the weekend cruises in cars to enact some of the rough and tough he-man ways that the Angels and other hardcore bike clubs pursue. We cannot discount the brave, exciting personal image aside from the bike that has caused many a kid to seek out a set of "colors" from his local embroidery shop. Movies and TV series are all taking advantage of the situation and some real artistic endeavors are coming from the crude beginnings. Never since the Hot Rod has such excitement been generated over a thing such as the motorcycle. A cowboy with a horse.the old west all over again. Here is a ready-made piece of American folklore. After all, the amount of old Harley Davidsons was hardly enough to support one of these clubs, much less the hundreds of other similar clubs that have popped up all over the country in the last 5 years. Without HONDA, this would never have gotten off the ground. "The Chopper" or "chopped hog" is the name of the machine that these men ride, and to view an "Angel" jammin' down the street on his scooter is without a doubt one of the most adventurous sights ever seen. ![]() So here we are racing and doping and singing and have a little war or two when the news agencies start publishing stories and Hunter Thompson writes a best-seller about a much talked about group of motorcyclists named the "Hells Angels." Most publications wouldn't discuss or mention this activity because it didn't sit right with them. ![]() Some of us are satisfied as an observer while the hardcore must own or actually drive this machine. We tend to fall into a rut and even though we have this speed and power at hand and a lot of fancy clothes and a wide selection of drugs to put our head where we want it.we miss that ever increasing romance with adventure.that self-destructive, violent-oriented thing within ourselves that wants something to tell ourselves how neat we are when we have a "close call." So we look at transportation or the racetrack for this experience since the cops discourage street racing. Payments? Let the old man make em.he has a lot of bread. Go down to the Dodge dealer and "BUY" one. So it is no longer to go to the junkyard to get enough goodies to build yourself a rod. Most of us have a car or two around the house. The Beatles and the other famous groups dominated the news and the basic structure of our youth changed from a build it yourself Hot Rod to a buy it and race it thing. The basic foundation being a narcotic-aware-art-folk rock music beyond description. Then as the words such as "Beatnik" and "Korea" disappeared into the American slang the new undergrowth of what we know as the modern Hippie started to rear itself onto the American scene. ![]() These triers of ideas proved that we could replace violence and bad temperament with fast cars. To me, all modern things started with the Hot Rod! That mechanical outa' sight machine born in the junkyards of our country and bred with speed and endurance thru the trial and error method of such work great people as Dean Moon, Mickey Thompson, CRAGAR, Iskenderian and a myriad of others. The first clue to their inability to cope with hew rends is the good old dollar and cent "circulation figures." And then.only after considerable pressure will they swing with the "New." Publishers find this be the most prominent reason for th reduction of their magazines, when they stay in the groove of one idea or one theme and refuse to note the interest generated in different directions. To be groovy and "IN" can be a problem after a time becasue as time passes, these standards of "where it's at" also change. "What is going on in young America?" Recently I have had to answer that question more often than before so that our products would seem more in step with the young set. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |