Random Thoughts

Who stole the Easy Rider Bikes?

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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?

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Google Home Alone

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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.

But this commercial kinda made me giggle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=60&v=xKYABI-dGEA

Nicely done Google.

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Secret Santa – 1940’s Indian “Four”

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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!

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Man, I love this time of year.

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.

At least I think so….

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

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The only true Easy Rider Bike that’s ever gonna come up for sale.

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Since Easy Rider came out, almost 50 years ago there has always been the question on what happened to the Captain America bike.    There were two;  one was blown up and burned at the end of the move, and given to Dan Haggerty who supposedly rebuilt it.   The other one (which appeared in most of the film) was stolen before the movie was even finished filming.    There’s also been a handful of people who claimed to have put together the original bike, and I’ve found most to be problematic.

I think those bikes are long-ass gone.

The rumor that I tend to believe is that the remaining bikes were stolen by a certain 1% bike club, as a bit of payment and maybe even vendetta against Peter Fonda for events that happened during the  making of “Hells Angels on wheels”.

Easy Rider took a year to edit and then premiere.   Bikes are stolen and sold, fairly quickly for money.   No one knew the bikes were going to be famous or that Easy Rider was going to be a hit, any more than all the other dozen B-movie motorcycle films that were showing up as the 3rd feature in drive ins all over the country.     They certainly didn’t wait an entire year to find out.    They were stolen, and they were sold, more than likely parted out.

Several people have popped up over the years (including Haggerty) claiming to have the original bike, and eager bike historians have bitten on the bait.   Some were endorsed by Haggerty and even Fonda, who later back-pedaled on the endorsement.    Haggerty has sold more than one “original bike”.

My take is that they’re long gone.    Ray Charles could seen that, when you take in the circumstance and history of Easy Rider.

 

But a few weeks ago my friend Manchester Paul (whom I’ve ridden the Easy Rider route with) sent me some info on an Original Easy Rider bike that actually comes with some proof.

The original script had Billy and Wyatt as carnival stuntmen who were going for the big money by making a big drug haul.    You see hints of this in the opening scene, where they show up on dirt bikes.   They were headliners baby!

 

Bonhams Auctions in the UK got Fonda’s original 1968 Bultaco Pursang 250 MkII.   It was sold, for an undisclosed amount, complete with an invoice from Bultaco Western to the Pando Company.   Matching Numbers on the engine and frame….  I thought it was pretty cool.



Here’s the notes on the Auction:

Peter Fonda is a genuine motorcycle riding enthusiast and so when contemplating the task in his own movie, as his character Wyatt, of riding a chopper, he did not hesitate. But you can bet he jumped higher when engaged to also ride this Bultaco for a Pursang is an agile, go anywhere, lightweight that spells fun and turns on a sixpence…unlike Captain America!
To put into context, Bultaco’s premier model in the USA, the Pursang, was a powerful 250 cc comp model. It was a winner in virtually any type of high-speed-based off-road event. The Pursang range was later expanded to 360 cc and 370 cc, and reduced also to 125 cc.The boat-tail 250 MKII pushed out 34 horsepower from the crate and with the standard 5-speed was thought to be the fastest 250 in 1968. Warning: Do not let that high pipe burn your right leg!
This Pursang – now repainted and restored but still in ‘film used condition’ – is one of two bikes supplied by Bultaco to Peter Fonda’s Pando Company for ‘movie use’ in Easy Rider…see the invoice from Bultaco in the bike’s history file. Wyatt rides this Pursang to the La Contenta Bar to ‘do a deal’ in the very first scene. Billy, Dennis Hopper’s character, is riding a CZ motocrosser in the very same scene. From then on in the two are riding a pair of choppers.

 

Yeah…Pretty cool, methinks.

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Sometimes, its the little things….

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Sometimes, its the little things that just make you happier than hell.

My 2nd oldest just drove herself to work.   She went from me wondering how I was going to get that much insurance, to owning her way around the road.    At least, that’s how I saw it.   She took my Dodge truck through busy traffic into her Job at Burlington coat factory.

It’s a victory….Way nice…. I’m a pretty proud dad right now.

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The Dog Days of a Phoenix Summer

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I haven’t ridden much lately.   It’s pretty hot outside.   It hit 118 degrees a couple of days ago here, which is pretty damn hot.   On a bike, in the wind, thats like 130 degrees.     I’ve done it before, and it never really turned out that great for me.

I’m not bitching;  I love it.   It beats the living hell out of snow in the winter.    You don’t have to shovel heat off your car, or your doorstep.  You don’t slide sideways into a ditch, because of heat.

These are the times for an air conditioned car.   It’s 108 today, and that’s more like it.   It’s that extra 10 degrees that’ll kick your ass on a long ride.   In another month, It’ll be time to bust out the bike and go ride a place and see something new.

Never been to Alamagordo…   Or Madrid New Mexico.   Or white sands….  I’ve been kicking those places around to ride out and have a little look-see.   I can feel a ride coming on.

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I think I’ve had a stroke.

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Pretty much my whole life, I’ve made fun of country music.   I laughed it off as corny and even a little too simple for my tastes.    I’ve liked a few artists;  Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash, a little Alabama or a country/pop crossover song here and there.    Mostly, nothing I’d admit to.

I think it all started with that trip across the Texas Panhandle.    I found some old classic country riding through there, and it just seemed to fit the territory.   No big deal; I enjoyed the hell out of those miles.    That was a few months ago.

I came home, and lived my life.

Now all of a sudden, The last couple of weeks, for some reason all I’ve been listening to is country music on the way to work.    I found this playlist on my Amazon Prime account on my phone that sync’s up with my car and its been Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn… shit I’ve heard, but never listened to.    Even some of the new stuff;   yeah, it’s simple and even so  corny sometimes I wince a bit when I hear it.

Yeah, I think I’ve had a stroke.     This stuff all of a sudden sounds good to me.

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