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 The Hollister Motorcycle Rally March 17, 2007 10:00 AM

The Hollister Motorcycle Rally

Thumper, the well-known builder from Arizona, perches atop his Wino Willie Forkner Tribute bike, which he handed over to Bill Hayes, author of The Original Wild Ones, at this years Hollister gathering.



Every year here in Northern California towards the end of June and beginning of July there is a big gathering held in Hollister, a quiet town that lies inland and just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Behind this Hollister rally, which is quickly becoming the Sturgis of California, is an unusual history, a saga that looms large in all of bikerdom. I’m sure that many of you have seen the old black and white Stanley Kramer film The Wild One. This seminal flick starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin was loosely based around the actual events that conspired to create today’s Hollister rally and, indeed, the world’s image of The Biker.

At the end of the Second Great War many fighting servicemen returned home to a now-prosperous and grown-up America. This new America was a land that these brave men had fought and risked their lives for, yet readjustment and conformity came with difficulty. Today what we label as “post-traumatic stress syndrome”, indicating the lingering psychological effects of the horrors of war upon soldiers, was simply dubbed “shell-shocked” back then. After the war, Uncle Sam released war surplus Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles literally by the trainload. Two-wheeling proved to be an effective “throttle therapy” for many shell-shocked vets, and many rode together to let off steam. On week-ends they raced or enjoyed impromptu hill climbs together, then in the evening, they knocked down a few at their favorite pub, which came to be called “biker bars.” Many “bobbed” their bikes by removing excess parts—like the fenders—to create a new genre of bike, the “bobber”. From these bobbers or bob-jobs the chopper would eventually evolve in the mid-fifties.  [ send green star]
 
 March 17, 2007 10:01 AM


At an American Motorcyclist Association race held in Hollister, California on the fourth of July, 1947, a few members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club stormed into town to ride and to party together. They were having a good time overall, but some of the locals looked askance at their type of fun. Later, their activities were wildly exaggerated in the press, and soon a story blown out of proportion written by Frank Rooney and entitled “Cyclists’ Raid” appeared in Harper’s magazine. This story became the basis of Stanley Kramer’s movie The Wild One in which Marlon Brando as Johnny, the leader of the Triumph-riding Black Rebels Motorcycle Club, faced off with Lee Marvin as Chino, the leader of the Beetles. Marvin’s character was loosely based upon the personality of “Wino” Willie Forkner, the founder of the Boozefighters M.C. Mild by today’s standards, The Wild One was banned in Great Britain until the late 60’s. Legend has it that the Beatles saw the movie and took their name from Chino’s “gang” the Beetles, but that is another story.

"Wino" Willie's likeness is immortalized on the the Tribute bike's rear fender. This old school chopper has an uncluttered and businesslike look that harkens back to the early days of customization. The bike is headed for the Easy Rider show circuit.

What did happen on that summer day in a quiet central California agri-town is that the biker image was born, even right down to the leather jackets. The “outlaws” wore inexpensive surplus leather bomber jackets, which quickly became a statement of biker fashion. When the AMA spokesperson tried to explain away the presence of rowdy, non-conformist, leather-clad motorcyclists, he stated in an interview that only about 1% of the motorcycling community rides outside the rules of their organization. Inadvertently, he gave birth to the term “1%er”, the outlaw rider. Today, members of clubs that are not aligned with the AMA wear patches that read “1%er”, indicating that they are not beholden to the rules of the AMA. Ironically, members of clubs of law enforcement riders can be seen wearing patches with the counter-statement “99%er”.  [ send green star]
 
 March 17, 2007 10:03 AM

At this year’s Hollister Rally, around 120,000 bikers showed up to celebrate the “birth of the American biker.” Moto-journalist and Boozefighter Bill Hayes, was there to sign copies of his fascinating history of his club, entitled The Original Wild Ones. The publisher, Motorbooks International, had shipped Bill two hundred copies of the book to autograph, and his entire allotment was quickly sold out leaving Bill with a sore right hand. But don’t despair, for any member interested in biker history, we’ve got copies of The Original Wild Ones featured right here on the CruiserCustomizing website.

No, the ghosts of Marlon Brando and the Black Rebels M.C. didn’t terrorize this year’s event—and neither did the Beetles or the Beatles—but you can still rent the movie and relive Hollywood’s fantastic version of the Hollister “riots”. And this year one stranger-than-fiction event did take place. The well known customizer, Thumper, arrived at Hollister with his “Wino Willie Forkner Tribute Bike”. He ambled over to the booth where Bill Hayes was signing books, and—taking Bill aside—he handed over the title to the motorcycle. Boozefighter Bill Hayes already has plans to enter his serendipitous Wino Willie Tribute in a number of Easy Rider shows later this year!  [ send green star]
 
anonymous  March 17, 2007 6:06 PM

Hollister 1947 Poster

It was a little over 50 years ago that a group of “outlaw bikers” roared into the town of Hollister, CA and generally raised Hell for a couple of days. Well, after the media and Hollywood offered their interpretation of the incident, the image of motorcycling had been tarnished for good. These black and white glossy posters are from the classic flick “The Wild One” based on Hollister, starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. It’s the movie that introduced the image of the motorcyclist that bikers have come to resent and embrace at the same time.

64381_hollister_poster.jpg    [report anonymous abuse]
 
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