hovel
ol' stupid
Here's your dose of culture.
"It was on April 1, 1957, that the Oakland chapter gained a member who was to change the entire course of the Hell's Angels and almost singlehandedly elevate them to legendary status. He was a nineteen-year-old warehouse laborer named Ralph Hubert Barger Jr. known to his friends as Sonny. After briefly serving in the infantry, this skinny, intense, intelligent, rodent-tough native of seedy Modesto hooked up with the Angels and within a year was elected president of the Oakland chapter. It was Barger, thanks to his supreme self confidence, his penchant for publicity and his innate sense of drama, who transformed the Angels into a nationally recognized organization, artfully balancing its image of thuggish villainy with that of a gang of raffish but essentially harmless cutups."
"...Barger had the club's colors trademarked..."
"...Barger would forever remain a pariah and a heretic within the precincts of the Harley Davison company, but in a broad sense his contributions to the ultimate success of Harley Davidson rank with those of any of the personalities within the organization proper. Such was the impact of the scrawny tough guy from Modesto on the world of motorcycling and, perhaps, on the nations self image."
Brock Yates, "Outlaw Machine"
Sonny passed away less than two weeks ago. I highly recommend Brock Yates book and damn near anything else he wrote. Few folks write as well.
"It was on April 1, 1957, that the Oakland chapter gained a member who was to change the entire course of the Hell's Angels and almost singlehandedly elevate them to legendary status. He was a nineteen-year-old warehouse laborer named Ralph Hubert Barger Jr. known to his friends as Sonny. After briefly serving in the infantry, this skinny, intense, intelligent, rodent-tough native of seedy Modesto hooked up with the Angels and within a year was elected president of the Oakland chapter. It was Barger, thanks to his supreme self confidence, his penchant for publicity and his innate sense of drama, who transformed the Angels into a nationally recognized organization, artfully balancing its image of thuggish villainy with that of a gang of raffish but essentially harmless cutups."
"...Barger had the club's colors trademarked..."
"...Barger would forever remain a pariah and a heretic within the precincts of the Harley Davison company, but in a broad sense his contributions to the ultimate success of Harley Davidson rank with those of any of the personalities within the organization proper. Such was the impact of the scrawny tough guy from Modesto on the world of motorcycling and, perhaps, on the nations self image."
Brock Yates, "Outlaw Machine"
Sonny passed away less than two weeks ago. I highly recommend Brock Yates book and damn near anything else he wrote. Few folks write as well.