Portraits Of American Bikers: Inside Looking Out (The Flash Collection)

Introduction (portion of): It's been a long time since the mainstream media first discovered the motorcycle club culture and its seductive appeal. That particular journey has seen our lifestyle creatively populated by villains, clowns, cutthroats, buffoons, deviants, sadists, criminals, badasses, and everything in between. But no matter what characters or images the writers, reporters, producers, and directors have devised to represent our lifestyle, the bottom line is that people love it. They fear it. And deep down in those trembling, vicarious bones they would give anything to be a part of it. Anything, for just one ride in an endless pack, hammer-down in the screamer lane of some interstate. Anything, to walk proudly into a bar or an event with a set of colors on recognized colors that are not given, but earned, through serious effort, blood, and brotherhood. Anything, to be able to call a brother at any hour of the day or night when they needed help with anything, and to know that their back is covered. Anything, to be intimate with the powerful family life that is truly enjoyed and unapologetically embraced by so few. But envied or not, this way of life often comes at a high price. A patch on one s back can translate into a titillating target for law enforcement, as well as media. For a variety of reasons commercial gain, high-profile PR, and political pandering among them both have dipped to sordid lows in their pursuit of the biker essence. Those clowns and buffoons of the old B biker movies have increasingly given way to the cutthroats and the criminals. Entire television networks use shows about the presumed inside of the motorcycle clubs as their commercial anchors. Dozens of books and productions glorify the dirt-digging adventures of undercover law enforcement infiltrators, turncoats, and snitches...