7 Pop-Culture Figures Who’ve Had a Major Impact on the Outlaw Biker Craze

Regardless of whether they were real or fictional, admirable or misguided, these seven pop-culture figures each had a significant impact in terms of bringing outlaw motorcycle culture to the masses:

Johnny Strabler. As the lead character in Lazlo Benedek’s 1953 drama The Wild One, Johnny Strabler represented a cautionary tale – the dangers of stereotyping someone based on their clan or appearance. Played by Marlon Brando, and outfitted like a star, Strabler was the tall, dark stranger, throttling into town. The movie was based on a short story (“The Cyclists’ Raid”), which was, in turn, based on the media’s bombastic – and misleading – coverage of an incident that occurred at an American Motorcyclist Rally in July of 1947 (AKA The Hollister Riot). The short story and the incident were almost immediately forgotten, but the legend – and the look – of Johnny Strabler lives on.

Hunter Thompson. On the surface, Thompson’s tell-all account, Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, would seem to be a takedown. Thompson spent months embedded with various factions of the motorcycle club, witnessing everything from violent altercations to rape. His account was so scathing that club treasurer, Skip Workman, eventually confronted Thompson about its validity on TV. Oddly enough, the bigger the publicity surrounding Thompson’s book, the more people seemed drawn to that culture. Thompson was a motorcycle aficionado for the rest of his days, and he wrote about test-riding certain Honda models that were sent to his house out in Woody Creek, Colorado.

Evel Knievel. Evel Knievel, nicknamed by Montana police as a child, sacrificed everything for his art. Here is a man that broke almost every bone in his body at one time or another, most of those fractures being the result of continually trying to top himself. As a result, Knievel has become both an American icon and a Motorcycle Hall-of-Famer. Despite dying in 2007, Knievel continues to be a prevalent part of the mainstream. Over the past five years alone, he’s been the subject of various exhibitions, television features and documentaries.

Jackson Teller. As the chosen heir to an outlaw throne, Jackson Teller became many things – a heart-throb, a leader, a sympathetic kingpin and a skeptic. More than anything else, Teller became the public face of a highly sensationalized – yet fictional – motorcycle club. Charlie’s Hunnam’s renegade character is gone now, but Sons of Anarchy lives on. The show’s legacy has proven so powerful that there is a potential 1960s prequel in the works, tentatively titled The First 9.

Chuck Zito. While some may argue his departure from the Hell’s Angels, there is little doubt that Chuck Zito was instrumental in making the club a significant staple in the east. Zito had the look, the balls, and the credentials of an outlaw biker. As his popularity as a public figure/bodyguard continued to grow, so too did his marketability as a star. Over the past 20 years, Chuck Zito has played a number of self-fashioned roles, most notably on HBO’s Oz, Entourage, and FX’s Sons of Anarchy. Zito continues to be an extremely well-liked personification of the outlaw culture and lifestyle.

Arthur Fonzarelli. During the 1970s, it was a major risk for any sitcom about a clean-cut American family to prominently feature an outlaw biker. And it was for this reason that Arthur Fonzarelli wasn’t originally meant to be a Happy Days regular. But the character quickly caught on, and 40 years later, The Fonz remains not only the most memorable character from that series, but one the most iconic figures in television history. For a time, Arthur Fonzarelli transformed the mainstream conception of what it meant to be a leather-clad biker.

Wyatt Williams (Easy Rider). Wyatt Williams hit the screen riding an all-American panhead chopper, a bike custom-designed by Peter Fonda. Wyatt was the more enduring half of Easy Rider’s tandem, in large part because Peter Fonda continued to be such an advocate for Harleys. Assuming that most marketing comes down to convincing people that whatever they’re doing is OK, Wyatt Williams deserves tremendous credit for making it seem entirely fashionable to get out on a motorbike and ride. He is the all-American, burning hot along the sprawling canyon road – forever young, forever gold.