 
| Excerpt from: Motorcycle Addict
|  | | March 17, 2008 | | Tradition and Authenticity | Once again I've been reading about the history of the chopper, the bobber, the fall and rise of Harley Davidson, and the annual rituals of Sturgis, Laconia, and Daytona. (Bad year at Daytona for rider safety - more about that later, probably).
No matter how many times I go through it, it is a fascinating story. The cultural conclusion that being "authentic" as judged by "tradition", and somehow this explains everything.
Whenever I think that Harley riders are just like other riders, the least bit of exposure brings me back to my senses. For example, can you imagine a sport rider with a leather vest? Even the build of the Harley rider is different.
The tradition, of course, predates many. For those of you who are unaware, it began when Uncle Sam released bikes after the war. There was a general shortage of transportation, because the car manufacturers converted to producing equipment for the war effort, and there was a shortage of workers as well as buyers.
Those army green motorcycles were the stuff of ads in comic books for decades after, claiming that you could buy them as low as $250.00. Of course, they needed to be modified, so chopping, bobbing and painting pretty readily developed into a culture. Fast forward half a century, ad technology, and Voila! Speed Channel and Discovery Channel, with untold numbers of wannabes imitating movie stars who themselves are imitating icons from the past.
Very confusing scene now that so many bikers have gotten older. However, the basics remain the same. Anything that looks "real" is good, and works. Anything that is imitative, and lacks "authenticity", is bad. Arlen Ness is the real thing. But for $40K, more or less, Arlen will make a "real" bike, but sell it to an inauthentic person, but that person may actually ride it, and become "authentic".
All of this is a lot of fun, of course, and it all works, providing that we remember the important thing, as always: the ride.
| Topic Tags: Arlen Ness, authentic, bobber, chopper, Daytona, Harley Davidson, Laconia, Motorcycle, Sturgis, the ride., tradition | |
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