It was a lot different back then and it was more the love of bikes that formed most of the early groups and
@digital*ghost wrote:
@collect247 wrote:I've got 2 sons that ride Harley's and one of them is a bikie fortunately/unfortunately which ever way you look at it
lol.
They both used to race trail bikes and were sponsered to race by Suzuki.
They're both good boys and haven't done anything really that bad in their lives haha.
I think most people (just in my limited experience) who love bikes are good people, if they're not, it's not really got anything to do with riding. My mum's crowd were more just hippies who loved bikes, rather than what many people think of when they hear "bikie", she did know and ride with people in the Hells Angels and such, but it was more an association built from shared interests and mutual respect, some may even still wear the patch that was made in her memory (the fundraiser I mentioned was for me and my brothers - I was 14 at the time and that was the last time I ever saw most of them, except for a decade later on the 10 year anniversary, a few rode out to pay tribute). I did go to their club (in Adelaide) a few times before that, but all I really ever saw was a group of friends enjoying life, though definitely with a little excess here and there, and loving their bikes. (She was always ticked off when people called her or her friends "bikies" instead of "bikers" lol, as she saw a distinction between them and herself / her friends - bikies were the gangs giving her and her friends a bad name).
@brer - we lived in the country as well, so sound definitely traveled. That thing was like an air raid siren.
there was just a bit of conflict between some of them that was generally easily sorted.
The other 2 groups there were the Undertakers used to be a group who all rode Harleys but they were all
doctors and lawyers and the Finks were similar to the rest of us and rode whatever they could afford as a
Harley was out of the price range.
The "throaty" sound of a Harley could be heard for miles (where we live there are always bikers traveling and
going on a run during the long weekends/holidays and you can hear them coming from miles away).
When you get 50 plus bikes going through it does sound quite load.
Most of the "bad" rep came when Sam Bass was appointed in charge of the "bikie" task force and he just
made a nuisance of himself by harassing the groups and they off course rebelled against that (he became a
SA politician later on as he seemed to be cleared of every wrong doing it must have been easy for him).
He asked for my full name once after one of their raids and he couldn't even spell it (so used my nickname
instead).
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/guilt-by-association/news-story/92e62abb53bf98d7e5158...
In June 1974, a moral panic over bikies began after a wild beach brawl at Port Gawler, an hour north of Adelaide. It started as a disagreement between two local clubs, the Iroquois and the Undertakers, but soon affiliated clubs and friends lined up behind the two clubs. After dark, two mobs of more than 100 bikies, brandishing hockey sticks, cricket bats and motorcycle chains, gathered on the deserted beach. One was armed with a shotgun and in the melee four shots were fired. A bikie was wounded in the chest and a few others less seriously. Police made 85 arrests and, as The Advertiser newspaper later noted, South Australia had "a new breed of bad guys".
Amid public outrage, the state government directed the police to drive the bikies out of South Australia using consorting laws, and a new squad was formed for the purpose. The leader of "the Bikie Squad", Rodney Piers (Sam) Bass, was an unusual policeman by today's standards. Some bikies say if Bass hadn't been a cop he would have made a fearsome outlaw.
The times my OH has mentioned that I rode with biker group there is always the what?
They seem to think that a biker has to have a certain "look" (and I don't have that).
@digital*ghost wrote:
@collect247 wrote:I've got 2 sons that ride Harley's and one of them is a bikie fortunately/unfortunately which ever way you look at it
They both used to race trail bikes and were sponsered to race by Suzuki.
They're both good boys and haven't done anything really that bad in their lives haha.
That's pretty impressive (the sponsorships) - I think most people (just in my limited experience) who love bikes are good people, if they're not, it's not really got anything to do with riding. My mum's crowd were more just hippies who loved bikes, rather than what many people think of when they hear "bikie", she did know and ride with people in the Hells Angels and such, but it was more an association built from shared interests and mutual respect, some may even still wear the patch that was made in her memory (the fundraiser I mentioned was for me and my brothers - I was 14 at the time and that was the last time I ever saw most of them, except for a decade later on the 10 year anniversary, a few rode out to pay tribute). I did go to their club (in Adelaide) a few times before that, but all I really ever saw was a group of friends enjoying life, though definitely with a little excess here and there, and loving their bikes. (She was always ticked off when people called her or her friends "bikies" instead of "bikers" lol, as she saw a distinction between them and herself / her friends - bikies were the gangs giving her and her friends a bad name).
@brer - we lived in the country as well, so sound definitely traveled. That thing was like an air raid siren.
There was an old bridge about halfway to town and you had to slow down on a motorbike, and I think it was because of the acceleration (or decelaration) we could always hear my brother's bike from that point on.
He was too young to have a licence when he started work so he rode his bike until he got his L plates, and then he said he'd have to slow down a bit lot. He was 6'3" so with his helmet on you wouldn't have known he wasn't much over 16. His first bike was a 350 but that'd never be allowed these days.
@padi*0409 wrote:
Yep, I had a green one of those in the mid 70's as well Tazz, it was ok apart from the odd electrical problem where it cut out for no apparent reason, and the occasional "tank-slapper" which even a Kwakker 900 damper couldn't fix.
Eventually sold it and the buyer wrote it off a couple of weeks later................bugga.
I got married in Nov and some mongrel put a bit of sugar in the tank and I couldn't afford to get it fixed as it ran
like carp so sold it to a guy who pulled it all apart and it took him 2 years to put it back together (then sold it for
$500 which was the same price he paid me).
Originally bought it for $900
Closest I ever came to losing it was having the front tire blow out at 80 kms and nearly lost my OH going over a
bump and she ended up sitting on the taillight (that's why I put the sissy bar on first).
Wouldn't mind a 500 four to cruise around on but currently don't have the space to keep it and the finances are
a bit tight.
@go-tazz wrote:
Wouldn't mind a 500 four to cruise around on but currently don't have the space to keep it and the finances are
a bit tight.
I've still got a couple of 750cc Commandos, one's up for a complete rebuild and upgrade and the other's a runner that's already got most of the upgrades (front disc brake, oil filter and cooler etc etc). The commandos were a bit special compared to Trumpies and Beezas, but they were way out of my price range when I was a young fella.
Wouldn't mind a 3 wheel Morgan, they're not strictly a motorbike but even so.................I'd better win Lotto for one of them Tazz....
My Yammie had a sissy bar as well, but that was to strap my guitar onto. Oh the days of long hair, motorbikes and guitars - shame about the extra-diligent coppers (particularly in Jo Bjelke's peanut state, though NSW wasn't far behind.)
Scariest ride I ever had was on a Norton Commando (nobody told me the gears were the other way around and
going down wasn't to slow down).
Went straight through a four way crossing as the "brake" wasn't working (rode it back to him very slowly and
told him to shove and and I've never ridden a British bike since).
If/when I win FIRST divy in lotto I'm buying a Harley and maybe a couple of others.
