I recently saw the movie Easy Rider. Nothing what I expected... Geez, was it really that bad being a biker those days. I do not know many old bikers from the US, so I'm not familiar with the social rejection (if there really was any) towards long hair and two wheels. I found the movie quite... well quite not what I expected...

What do you guys think of that movie, what is historic background on that.

Best regards.

 

I watch the movie every Fat Tuesday....Sort of a tradition I guess....I'm 56, been riding since...Well...A Long Time...

The movie is more of a social statement...Like I've always said: If you remember the late sixties and early seventies...You didn't live them...

 

Saw that movie along time ago, gotta see it again i guess [8D]

 

[sm=icon_guiness.gif]

 

I'm from Louisiana. It was worse than that.

 

Yeah....And a whole lot of other 'recreational' botanicals.........I never inhaled..........

 

I saw the movie when it came out (was just out of the service and in college). A time of lot's of social unrest, mostly over the war. As to how bikers were treated, I had a friend from a small town in Wyoming (his dad was the Police Chief) that was working on his masters and also was a TA at the Univ. of NM. He rode a BSA and when he wanted to visit home he would ride to Denver, leave his bike with me and take my cage to WY. If not, first pickup that passed him would put him in the ditch.

 

Damn... Well I have nothing against the movie, it is a good one, nice photography for its time and I do get Hackd's point as for the social statement in it. It is just that was kind of sad finding out that riding a motorcycle actually was a reason to be discriminated and/or killed sometimes. I guess that nowdays it is one more reason to feel free when riding one, I mean cages give us a hard time almost all the time but at least now it is not like personal and intentional (or so I like to think)... I'm gonna get one of those "Motorcycle friendly" stickers, I think they are nice flags

Stay healthy.

Best regards.

Mimo.

 

While not every encounter with straights resulted in being beat to death, or blasted with a shotgun, bad stuff happened.

How about being thrown into a Colorado town pokie, just because you were on a bike. How about walking into a bar, asking for a beer, being ignored by the barkeep, then as you leave having beer bottles chunked at your back, then seeing the tires on your ride knifed? Then there's the white-trash trick of tossing a beer can/bottle out the window when you're coming from the opposite direction, or purposely swerving into your lane. How about a law-pig (apologies to the "normal" cops here & elsewhere) harrassing you every time he spots you on your bike? And the same pig seeing you as a passenger in a buddy's car, stopping him and calling for help, then literally destroying the interior of the car (brand new RX-7) searching for "dope". Or being at a ship's sponsored party at a lake and having the city, county, and state law-dogs descend on you, throwing people to the ground, knocking bikes over - 'Sorry, we made a mistake.'

It wasn't always bad, but it paid to have eyes in the back of your head, and to know where the welcome wagon consisted of billy clubs to the head. From the early '70s 'til the mid '80s, I can't remember a time when I rode that I didn't wonder what bad was gonna come down. Something always seemed to happen; sometimes just a small thing, but sometimes not.

 

That movie was released in 1969. I started doing some serious riding about three years later. In the early 70s I mostly rode in south Texas and northern Mexico. I never had any problems with the law or anyone else. It was obvious that some people were somewhat apprehensive about you, possibly from seeing too many movies about bad bikers. Granted I did not wear colors or ride with a group but I did ride a Harley and even a chopper during the early years. I did not start trouble with anyone and nobody started any with me. Just lucky I guess.