| Some people feel bikers are hoodlums in leather | | | | is a high profile activity. Studios can showcase and |
| jackets that are continually up to no good. This is | | | | draw attention to their stars through motorcycles. |
| rarely true. In the 1960s the Japanese started | | | | There was even a silent movie of Charlie Chaplin's in |
| manufacturing and exporting small motorcycles to the | | | | 1914 where he road a motorcycle. Yes it is true that |
| United States that were unintimidating. Motorcycling | | | | motorcycles have played a big part in Hollywood, but |
| has become a status of high fashion. | | | | Hollywood also had a part in shaping motorcycling. |
| There were Hollywood bad boy bikers that rode | | | | Whatever was seen on the screen would become |
| motorcycles such as Clarke Gable, Marlon Brando, | | | | more popular to the viewers, creating more riding |
| James Dean, and Steve McQueen. People like Donna | | | | along with that specific stereo-type of riding. The |
| Reed or Jimmy Stewart wouldn't be seen straddling a | | | | movie Easy Rider with Dennis Hopper, and Peter |
| motorcycle. | | | | Fonda, which Peter Fonda directed, changed the view |
| That has changed today. Since the 1980's our | | | | of bikers from the outlaw riders to sensitive and |
| perception has shifted. Other people, who were in | | | | thoughtful. |
| the public eye, came out with the fact that they | | | | Today biking is enjoyed by a cross section of society |
| were bikers, people such as CEO Malcom Forbes, | | | | that includes a wide age span covering all types of |
| who toured the world on his Harley-Davidson, and | | | | people. There are seniors that are enjoying riding as a |
| Juan Carlos, king of Spain. There are others, the new | | | | part of retirement, executives that ride to work, and |
| bad boys Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stalone, Bruce | | | | ride on weekends to be free from the office life, to |
| Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger that came out that | | | | young people who love the adrenaline, and women |
| they are bikers. Others that also shared they rode | | | | bikers who have joined the riding scene in big |
| are Jay Leno, Mary Hart, Lyle Lovett, Rosie | | | | numbers, expressing their individuality and |
| O'Donnell, and Ewen McGregor. This connection of | | | | independence. |
| motorcycles to Hollywood is no accident. Motorcycling | | | | |