One Percenter: The Legend of the Outlaw Biker

Motorcycle Mavericks

It is not a coincidence that you are holding this book in your hands. The fact that you are drawn to this subject means that there is a bit of the rebel in you. You have a mischievous streak and you don't fit in with the bland suits out there waiting in line for Starbuck's non-fat lattes. You have an artistic spark and an intelligence that pushes the edges of the reality that you've been handed. You will not simply accept conformity; there's a bit of the outsider in you. You question authority. Naturally, this means that youdon't fit in with "the program." You have little patience with the status quo and enjoy shaking things up a bit. I know you because I don't fit into society's mold either. We are rebels, you and I, and we are about to embark on a fascinating adventure.

We are about to set sail beyond the edge of the world, beyond the drawn boundaries of convention, to world's end and back, and where we are going there be dragons. We are about to become anthropologists of the modern age, looking for the origin of an ancient tribe whose name is Rebellion. We will go spelunking in forgotten caves of consciousness where the darkness has a life of its own. To explore the history of motorcycles rebels is to examine the history of the rebel spirit itself. We will look back in time to uncover the source of our discontent.

The modern outlaw biker is linked in spirit to ancient tribes of radical thinkers, people who would not go quietly into the night, but raged with the dazzling fire of nonconformity and lived outside the box. Thus, we will unearth the seeds of rebellion sown by the Vikings, the Huns, the Mongols, the mercenary knights, andthe pirates of old. Within the tattered pages of their history we will find the birthplace of the outlaw biker. We will examine clues left by those who dared to cross perilous seas in search of a free nation in America. We will recognize our own rebel yell.

In the new world of America the seeds of rebellion blossomed into the new forms of the frontiersman, the mountain man, the cowboy, and the old west outlaw. These earlier American rebels gave birth to the outlaw biker, a demon spawned when returning servicemen from World War II tried to calm their savage inner beasts by twisting the throttles of powerful motorcycles and letting that V-twin roar become their new collective voice.

The road from outcast to outlaw often turns out to be a short trip. Many war-ravaged veterans returned home to an America that did not want to deal with them. War is always nasty business, and the Disneyesque, homogenized, seemingly safe facade of America did not know what to do when faced with the bloody fangs of its own creation. When Johnny came marching home, he wasn't the same sweet boy who trotted off to war like a good puppy. Once you learn to kill and think on your feet in order to survive, you just don't fit into the same little box anymore.

We will see how "drinking clubs with motorcycle problems" evolved in the public mind into vicious outlaw gangs and how the media fostered this frightening image. We will also delve into how marketing and media brought the outlaw image to the masses, how the film Easy Rider ignited an entire generation in search of a celluloid anthem and how the motorcycle magazine Easyriders gave the biker lifestyle its own tongue.

Just as all things in nature run their course, so we will see how history closes its chapters on bygone rebels. We'll examine how the edges of the world closed in to halt the pillage of the Vikings; how the seas grew smaller to end the golden age of pirates; how the Wild West was tamed to end the days of the cowboy and the gunslinger. In every case, the broad map of reality was drawn in to limit the spread of nonconformity. Once limitless frontiers close their borders, civilization reins in lawlessness.

So many times we have found our most frightening bad boys have become the darlings of the media in watered down, romantic versions of themselves, from dime-store novels of Billy the Kid to comic books of Blackbeard. The media has made modern mavericks such as Billy Lane and Jesse James into TV sensations, seen from the safe side of the cathode-ray television tube, like tigers behind glass.

We will look at the homogenization of the outlaw biker image in an age when motorcycle jackets became a fashion statement and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company markets sanitized rebellion to the masses. The rise of the RUBBIE (rich urban biker) will be examined as Americans from all walks of life discovered the freedom found on two wheels. Today, the scary-looking biker who roars up next to you at a stoplight might very well be your doctor or lawyer converted to weekend warrior.

We will witness the rise and fall of the one percenter culture, from wild one to mild one. Yet in every age, society, and culture there is a need for the nonconformist. Without the heady, blazing fire of rebellion, there is no one to stir the cauldron of convention or keep rational society on its toes. In all great myths and stories from all times and lands, there has always been "the one" who has come forward to shake things up, to create change. Indeed, it is the bad boy, the rebel in society, who helps to define the lines and charts of society's course. The outlaw dares to travel beyond the safety of the map of the known world and push until something pushes back. That is our job, for you and I are rebels in a time that needs us badly.

Aye, we are venturing off the map . . . there be dragons here.