I was raised by wolves. Very kind, very nurturing wolves. I love riding to a town a just barely learned the name of on a Friday, making a decision at the intersection to get myself lost 1000 miles away from home on a Saturday, and trying to figure out how the hell I can get home on a Sunday. Just ride a place and see a thing.
I took a couple days off next month, and I’m fairly fired up about it. I haven’t had a good long ride in a while and I want one. Fuck that, I kinda need one.
Life is a tricky thing, it seems. Being a father, a husband, performing at work; all these things must be, yet you are torn to do what you wanna do. I don’t believe in Utopia; thats just a fools dream. The trick is, handling the shit you gotta do, and mixing in the things you wanna do. Balance… That’s just how life works, and I’m good with that. It seems to work.
Me? I wanna ride somewhere. It fills the tank. It’s fuel for the fire.
I’ve ridden almost every major road in Arizona, but highway 191 that hugs the edge of New Mexico, I haven’t. I’ve heard its the best bike road in Arizona. I can’t wait.
Just ride a place, and see a thing. After this, I gotta explore New Mexico and Texas 🙂
Turns out, I record shit on my DVR, and I’m pretty particular. A lot of documentaries, history Channel stuff, Shark Tank, American Pickers….. I do like the Business stuff, because I’m a capitalist at heart. Really, anything that I find interesting, or I can learn a thing from.
There’s this series on AXS TV Called “The big interview with Dan Rather”. He interviews guys like Merle Haggard, Robert Plant, Neil Young and a bunch of other classic celebrities and in a Dan Rather sort of way, tells their story.
The man just gives a good interview. He’s a throwback to when News was News, not Pop culture shit that gets a reaction from people, but respectful interviews whether Dan Rather Agrees with them or not. If he doesn’t, you’d never know.
He had Bryan Adams on his show, which I remember from the 80s and when I was a kid from the MTV years, but I never really paid attention to his music to be honest. I downloaded his latest album, and this is what I found.
Hell yes, good stuff. An ode to the Classics. I’ve been listening to it all this week on the way to work.
This song came on the Radio Tonight. It took me back…
La Grange…. I feel a Saturday night comin’ on.
Billy Gibbons is the man. He’s come through Phoenix on on tour and I’ve never seen him, but I’ve always wished I would have.
I’ve ridden through La Grange Texas, and I have a good memory of it.
The thing I like about Texas, is the pride. Texans are proud to be Texans. The place is a republic, and they do their own thing.
I actually have a lot of good memories of Texas, but my favorite is from the 2nd Easy Rider tour — we’d broke a tie down strap on the captain america bike that we had from our chase vehicle. We pulled over a little west of LaGrange, and tried to figure out the problem.
At least 2 Texans in trucks pulled over to help us. One, pulled a tie down strap out of the back of his truck to fix the problem. We got the bike upright, and tied down properly so we could go on our way.
I offered the man $20 for his efforts and the tie down strap; he’d stopped and given of his time and helped us out. He Refused. He simply said “that’s just how we do things here”.
I Immediately liked this part of Texas.
Rock on. I still owe that man a favor. It’s how it should be.
Most of you know I’m a huge Easy Rider Fan. I’ve made a hobby of sorts the last 20 years riding to movie locations and researching the movie. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve compiled a lot of info, and now and again I get film makers or even tour groups hitting me up for info on the film. Some of them have been pure bullshit, some have not.
An established author hit me up a couple of weeks ago who wants to do a book on the 50th anniversary of Easy Rider to be published later this year. He asked for my Easy Rider story; Initially I told him no, but after looking at his books I somewhat trusted this guy. We talked on the phone last weekend, and he seems legit. He’s written some books on the history of old Hollywood. We’ve talked on the phone, and I like this guy. We’re co-authoring the book.
I first saw Easy Rider 20 years after it was released in theaters. I’d never seen a movie like that before, and after I first saw it, I was a bit in shock. I bought my first Street Bike the next day. I’ve been riding a bike since I was 11 years old, but I gotta say it did have an impact on me. Seeing them cross the country on bikes made me realize that I want to do the same thing. I’ve been trying to ride as much ground as I can ever since then; Look for adventure, and whatever comes my way…
So I have a question: what is your Easy Rider Story? I’d like to know. I’d like to put them in the book. Did you see it in the theaters when it came out? Whats your thoughts on the movie? Gimme a quote, or a paragraph, or 5 pages. Let’s talk,
I’d love to hear them. If you’ve got a good story, let me know. Email me: mrzip66@gmail.com
Time to Start thinking about kicking a little ass.
2018 Has been a helluva good year, at least for me. 2016 was a transition; 2017 was adjusting to the same, 2018 was for feeling out my situation, and 2019 is for owning it all and kicking a little ass.
I took 10 days off of work this year, and I gotta admit I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Every day is a little more fuel for the fire that I wanna light come January 2nd.
Time to surprise myself with what is possible. I’m sorta fired up about it.
Easy Rider was filmed Starting in late February of 1968. It produced the arguably most famous and iconic bike of all time, the Captain America chopper. The Billy bike, while less famous was also made. Before filming concluded, the remaining 3 bikes were stolen.
Who Stole them? I gotta think that someone out there, knows what happened.
We know this: There were four bikes made for Easy Rider. 49 though 51 Police Panheads, Bought at auction and customized for the low budget movie Easy Rider by local LA bike builders Ben Hardy and Cliff Vaughs. Two were made for filming, and the other two were backups. The backup captain America bike was pretty much destroyed by the ending scene, and what was left of it was given to Dan Haggerty. I love Grizzly Adams, but his stories are all over the place. Turns out, he sold a lot of “original” Captain America’s, and I question his credibility.
Then, before filming was completed the remaining three bikes were stolen. They completed the movie without the bikes. Tex Hall was the stuntman on the movie, and the story goes he went after the guys who stole the bikes to recover them. Guns were involved and a recovery was unsuccessful.
The rumor was, is that the Hells Angels stole it to repay a “debt” in their eyes. Before Easy Rider, Peter Fonda made a movie a year before Easy Rider was even an Idea called the Wild Angels. It was another Roger Corman funded film, and quite honestly set the stage for Easy Rider. If you haven’t seen it, its a pretty campy flick about the late 60s 1%’er motorcycle culture, but worth watching.
I’ve read Sonny Bargers book several times. He’s clearly not a fan of Peter Fonda or anyone flippantly using or disrespecting the name of the Hells Angels. I think he felt Peter Fonda tried to capitalize on the HA name when he made Hells Angels on wheels. Personally, I think he was right.
We also know the Hells angels were not afraid of throwing their weight around in a big way when they needed to. When the HA felt they got screwed over at Altamont for the death of Meredith Hunter in 1969, The rumor was they put a hit out on Mick Jagger. It got real enough for the Stones, that they eventually settled with the Angels.
I actually hit up George Christie who was the President of the Ventura chapter of the Hells Angels for 35 years. I’d read his book as well. George is a natural born leader and quite honestly, a very intelligent and gracious guy. We talked on the phone for a bit. Even though George became a Patched member of the HA/MC 8 years after the Easy Rider bikes were stolen, I kinda wondered if discussions of the of the original bikes being stolen by the Angels could have crossed his path at some point. He was also a member of the Southern California MC crowd around that time with the Galloping goose MC, Satan’s Slaves and the Question Marks. He woulda been involved in the scene during those times. I asked him directly, and he said he didn’t know.
I’ve just always been curious: Who stole the Easy Rider Bikes? Do you know?
About a year ago I won one of these Google Home things, and for the most part I’ve found it fairly worthless. It’s good for asking for random facts here and there, and my kids and I giggle when we make it repeat swear words. Other than that, I can’t really say its changed my life. I mostly think it was made to listen to my every word, and its saved in a database somewhere in the NSA data center in Bluffdale Utah.
I keep all my controversial conversations in the garage, while my cell phone is in the fridge.
We had secret Santa at the place I work today. I got a pretty cool gift, from someone I don’t really know that well. She figured I was into bikes and she just happened to nail one of my dream bikes. It’ll probably always sit prominently on whatever desk I may sit in from now on.
I can get sentimental over certain shit; a good war movie, a new road I’ve never been on, that look my dog gives me when I come home, the national anthem, and a beautifully made motorcycle. What she gave me was 1940-1942 Indian four, and that was one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made.
The real deal. Those fenders and that tractor seat. An inline four engine… This baby even had rear suspension.
Indian started making the four in 1928, and with WWII, they ceased production in 1942.
Anyway, kinda cool I thought. I hope all you biker pricks out there are having a Merry Christmas!
Traditionally, I’ve always been a Christmas guy, and have never really given a holiday nod to a thanksgiving. I don’t really love turkey particularly. Yams and potatoes cause you to take naps, and being trapped at a table talking to relatives you don’t know because of tradition isn’t really my thing. There’s that green bean casserole — I can get excited about that. It’s good when the green beans are fresh, and whomever makes them happens to throw in bacon and puts in some of those fried onion strings. Yeah, I love that.
But That’s just food.
My Steelers never play on thanksgiving; The Lions are boring and although I love the state of Texas, the Dallas Cowboys can eat a bag of hell. That’s where the nap comes in, traditionally.
That’s just the day itself. On any given day, you can make a turkey and find sports on TV….
I gotta say, I am thankful for what I have. Life is pretty good. Especially this year.
Here’s what I’m thankful for:
My family — the lot of em. They teach me, pretty much daily.
My wife. 28 years of her, and she of me. I got lucky there.
A grand kid! Can’t wait to see what that brings.
My Job — I found my niche early, and am still doing what I love to do.
My bike — It’s paid for, and in the garage.
America. Just… America. The constitution is a beautiful thing.
I have less than some, and more than a lot. Either way, if you’re thankful for what you have, it propels you for the future.
