Rough Riders Essay

So at age 6 Jack surprised him with a dirt bike. He would stay out and ride figure eight’s in their backyard all day. But after a while the mini bike had gotten old and as soon as age 11 rolled around and he found himself racing his first BMX race. He continued racing BMX for most of his childhood. He had a couple used dirt bikes here and there but nothing special. He competed in BMX for about 3 years. He had won several championships and was good enough to hold a sponsor and race for a race team. This was where his whole career was starting and he didn’t even know it. In 1985, age fourteen Jack bought him a brand new YZ80. Soon as that 80 came into view Jeremy through the BMX bikes into the back of the garage. He started racing at the local track right around the corner. Racing was great for him because he got to meet a lot of riders that would push to win, and that’s who you want to ride with. He was winning all the 80 races and was now traveling around California beating all his competitors.

The term “biker”” is anyone who rides a motorcycle, but for most Americans the term suggests tattooed, leather clad, barroom brawling, criminals” (Quinn & Forsyth, 2010, p. 237). The image that non-riders have refers to the “Outlaw biker” (also call the one percenters) and makes up only one percent of the culture (Quinn & Forsyth, 2010, p. 238). This paper will bring forth the other ninety-nine percent of the culture to give the public a look at the image from a different perspective. The research questions were: What is the culture of the American biker, how has it changed over the years and what influenced those changes? It starts from its early beginnings in the 1940’s with returning World War II veterans, who were looking for something other than the domestic expectations of the dominant society (Austin, Gagne, & Orend, 2010, p. 946) through the “non-outlaw recreational touring” (Austin, Gagne, & Orend, 2010, p. 943) biker culture of today. Influences, such as how the American biker culture has been exaggerated by the media and hyped by the movies to portray an image of thug like and dangerous. Then showing how the manufacturing side, with commodification and branding, created an alluring image of that culture which continues to evolve even today. This author’s methodology is a review of literature from scholarly journal articles and on-line sources about the biker culture.

Knees weak from climbing a flight of stairs or the anticipation of meeting Brian, I walked into his office announcing my presence with a raspy, delayed voice. Upon flinging open the door, his face lifted of his desk and stared at me with a distant expression. My first take of Brian caught me off guard, with his apple red mohawk, wearing his branded castle racing jacket and pants. Looking at his appearance you just knew he was into racing. After building up the confidence to murmur good morning we left his office to his own personal race track he made at his house. “There is more to just sitting down on a vehicle and holding down the throttle. If it was that easy everyone would do it.” For Brian racing has come at a cost and has been through adversity on and off the track.

After a tough ride they had a little break and got right back at it. The first rider this time was Harley Gilbert this would be the toughest bulls the riders would face.

“Big wheeler” bicycles were a popular in the early days. Del Greenslate, Charlie Stevens, W. E. Rosencrans, and William Atchison would sometimes cycle to Louisville, Weeping Water, and back to Elmwood on a Sunday afternoon.

All of this started in the mountains of Colorado, with an average family “The andersons”, who are working eight hour shifts, live large on the weekends. To give you an idea of their seriousness they have in their weekend activities,and any spare time they have, you should first hear the amount of determination and sacrifice they put into their hobbies. This family has a small house with a forty foot enclosed toy hauler, which is massive, with a big fifty by thirty foot shop where they store bikes and equipment. They have roughly two-thousand acres and two big motocross style tracks on their property,and each one is roughly one mile each. Each family member puts everything they have into this sport. The family consists of a mom,dad, with

Where can you see a horse pulling a tire down the road with a young boy riding in the tire?

Anyway let’s get to know one of the pro pullers. His name is Russ Freeze, and he drives in the Super Farm Tractor class. His tractor is called “Big Rack”.

The movie “Easy Rider” revolves around two bikers making a trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans, to attend Mardi Gras. The first scene in the film involves the two main characters selling a good amount of cocaine to a man in Rolls Royce. After the drug deal the bikers begin their journey to Mardi Gras, but not before one of them removes his watch and throws it on the ground. I found this indicative of his pursuit of freedom, because time serves only to constrain us. Once on the road you learn that their names are Wyatt and Billy, an obvious reference to Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid who are considered American legends, as well as outlaws. Wyatt rides a chopper with the stars and stripes on the gas

The two males from Scotland sat soaking up the local atmosphere in the busy Mexican restaurant. They’d heard this place served excellent Mexican food. Mexican food which they’d recently been introduced to by Aileana. Aileana, a young Southern California woman who moved to Scotland and happened to be dating one of the men’s brother. The two large, heavy muscled men enjoyed a lazy Sunday afternoon throwing back a few beers at the Sagebrush Cantina. The Cantina a local watering hole in the West San Fernando Valley, well known with the biker crowd, along with all the up and comers. They fell into the first group; not the second, bikes in general and Harley’s in particular.

Since the founding of Harley-Davidson in 1903 by Arthur and Walter Davidson and William Harley, the company has a rich heritage and a loyal following. The company has proven to be resilient and innovative throughout the years. They have made their fair share of mistakes, especially while under the ownership of AMF, whose decisions almost destroyed Harley-Davidson. They have also made an inspiring come back, recapturing their share of the market and more. Harley-Davidson has managed to attract all sorts of riders including motorcycle “rebels”, women and blue and white color workers. In fact, in our church small group there are two

A wide variety of individuals, with equally different tastes, bought and rode motorcycles (Exhibit 4). “Knee down,” or racing aficionados, sought extreme performance and functionality (e.g., reliability and technical excellence). ”Easy-riders” lay at the other extreme, and associated the motorcycle with a particular lifestyle.

Buss, D., (2004), Can Harley Ride the New Wave? Brandweek . 45. Retrieved June 12, 2007.

Harley-Davidson has been a widely admired fixture in the motorcycle industry since the “golden years” of American motorcycle manufacturing (1900-1931), when at times there were as many as 200 different brands of American-made motorcycles. By 1930, the market had consolidation and the “big three” – Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycle, and Excelsior Supply – together accounted for 90% of the market (Ballon, 1997, p. 43). The Great Depression nearly destroyed the industry – wiping out all of the smaller manufacturers, forcing Excelsior out of business in 1931, and leaving Indian severely weakened until it too, ceased operations in 1953 (Ballon, 1997).

Wandell, K. E. (n.d.). Harley Davidson Annual Review 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2015, from Harley Davidson: http://ar.harley-davidson.com/letter.php