Fifty years ago, the summer of ‘72, I landed my first job in advertising. McMullen Advertising was the “in-house” agency for AEE Choppers, manufacturers of custom motorcycle parts. This was three years after the movie “Easy Rider.” We toiled in cahoots with Street Chopper Magazine. Motorcycle impresario, Tom McMullen, lorded over all three enterprises.
Possessing an uncanny knack for photographing choppers, the magazine dispatched a mechanic and me on a cross-country summer spree to biker events. Our van hauled Tom’s uber-cherry Harley Sportster and a sleek Honda 750. My hair was long. I was unshaven. I stopped bathing to not only look – but smell the part. Our itinerary took us from Southern California up to Reno, Nevada; Boise, Idaho; Chicago and Cleveland, culminating in Laconia, New Hampshire’s motorcycle mecca.
00:00 Opening
01:57 Letter to editor Sonny Barger Hells Angels MC
07:21 Bikers help police relax
10:51 Why Kim Coates won’t play a biker anymore
13:06 JUDGEMENT DAY BANDIDOS MC MEMBERS STEAL RIVAL MC’S PATCH