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 Origin of The Wild Ones Legend March 17, 2007 10:12 AM

THE WILD ONES LEGEND

began with the Boosefighters Motorcycle Club

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 March 17, 2007 10:12 AM

The Original Wild Ones!The Boozefighters have never been an outlaw club. We believe in respecting the rights of all members of the community and peaceful co-existence with all other Motorcycle Clubs. We believe in FREEDOM OF CHOICE and FREEDOM OF THE ROAD

In 1946 a group of young guys in California fresh out of WW11, formed a motorcycle club called the Boozefighters. "Boozefighter" was a term used in the 1940's to describe a man fighting the bottle, an alcoholic. These guys raced motorcycles and drank a lot of beer. Their girlfriends were called "Boozettes." They generally raised some harmless hell and had a good time. The American Motorcycle Association refused to let them participate in AMA sanctioned races because of the name, so they raced under another name, the "Yellowjackets...all the while keeping the Boozefighters alive."

In 1947 there was a 4th of July ride by all the motorcycle clubs in the Los Angeles basin to Hollister, California. The press reports of that days events said "4000 members of a motorcycle club roared into Hollister for a 3-day convention...Racing their motorcycles down the main street and through traffic lights, they rammed into restaurants and bars, breaking furniture and mirrors..." That's a quote from LIFE Magazine, August 1947.

Wino Willie Pic
Wino Willie in the 90's.

Actually, 300 to 400 people showed up and partied as they had done in previous years. The Boozefighters were the guys spinning donuts and drag racing up and down the street. The street had been blocked off by the town specifically for that purpose. They were the "show-offs" without a doubt. A LIFE reporter staged a photo and put it in the magazine with the above quote. The events that occurred were blown far out of proportion and a legend was born. 

The whole thing was immortalized by the movie "The Wild One" starring Marlon Brando.

The young man who founded the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club, "Wino" Willie Forkner, was played by Lee Marvin in the picture.

Over the years there have been numerous articles written and published in a wide variety of motorcycle magazines about these guys, the Boozefighters, as being "The Original Wild Ones." The July 4th, 1947, Hollister celebration was truly a watershed event in the history of motorcycling in America. The major cycle magazine today, "EASYRIDERS" has interviewed the founders in two of their videos and published two articles about the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club.

The Boozefighters have enjoyed a good reputation and have a rich history of racing and hard partying. The club has existed all these years. "Wino" and "JD" Cameron, a close friend, are no longer with us, except in our fond memory. They wanted to see the Boozefighters grow and continue the good times after they were gone.

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 March 17, 2007 10:14 AM

The s shoulda been a z in Boozefighters  [ send green star]
 
anonymous  March 17, 2007 6:04 PM

I've met quite of few of the group man they can party. Great guys  [report anonymous abuse]
 
 March 28, 2007 6:33 AM


Hey Wild One thanx for the invite man ~ i'm a rampant rebel from way back hehe ~ g'day Jim old mate and kewl to see ya brother Dougie ~ hey and a holla and whoohoo to all the hot babes y got in here man hehehe ~ i waz still teethin when my old man would put me on the tank of his ol vincent and take me for a run down the road to Bondi Beach ~ he used to race on dirt tracks in Sydney so i grew up on hrds, black knights, matchos, ajs, velocettes n beezas, oh and cant forget nortons, now theres a machine the commandos ~ when i waz 16 my old man used to take me for a beer at a Bondi pub where he used to drink and he introduced me to the Sydney Angels crew who were bout the only patched club in oz way back then ~ they loved the old man and wouldnt let him shout a round of beers coz he'd fix their bikes or give them the mail how to ~ my first bike was a tiger 100 and then i got a beeza gold flash after that, had a 1/3 share in a waller but never got to ride it, bummer coz i've never ridden a harley ~ every Sunday at a milk bar in Coogee, ironically called Stones hehe, there was a rock n roll dance where you paid 1 shilling and sixpence (15 cents) to get in and you got a bottle of coke to boot ~ there would be no less than 200-300 bikes arrive at this dance from all over Sydney ~ what a buzz for a 16 year old kid ~ then bikers and their babes were called bodgies and widgies (you'd remember them days Jim) ~ yeah i was a bodgie, had me black leather jacket with lone wolf on the back n me motorcycle boots and NRNRH on the front bike guard, we had Tony Curtis haircuts (like Lyle Lovetts hehe) and got the tattoos, even one down on junior which waz most painful, but it paid dividends ~ it went down well with the widgies, or should i say, the widgies went down well hehehe ~ never wore a patch but have been on some kewl runs and had many a stoned n boozed out nights at clubhouses and meets hehehe ~ yeah man fond memories ~ but too many drugs, too many busts, too much time done, takes itz toll, so i changed to driving chevys, vettes, even have a son called Chevy ~ and i'm now wearing dreds, thongs (on my feet) and boardshorts, and drivin a ford hehe ~ but i still have a few friends, Rebel prezz's with local chapters ~ but nowadays most of the clubs are stuffin up the country with ice and becoz of it, therez roadside cops now doing dope litmus tests and bustin the poor ol harmless stoners instead coz thc stays in ur system heapz longer ~ and thatz why i'm a rebel man, oh, and why i first started this post, my favourite bike'd have to be an Indian ~ cheerz from downunder hehehe ~~
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