Bikers Defy Officials, Rally in Hollister

 Bikers Defy Officials, Rally in Calif.

Jul 02
By JUSTIN M. NORTON
Associated Press Writer
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/02/D8IJKHEO4.html

Street scene photo -
http://www.breitbart.com/images/2006/7/2/D8IJKHEO4/D8IJKHEO4_preview.jpg

HOLLISTER, Calif.
Thousands of bikers roared into the town made famous by Marlon
Brando's 1953 film "The Wild One" on Saturday, defying a city council
decision to cancel one of the country's most celebrated motorcycle
rallies.

The bikers cruised Hollister's streets on personalized choppers,
racing bikes and tricked-out Harley-Davidsons. One man rode with his
goggle-sporting dog in a sidecar.

"We're the taxpayers. We're not hoodlums," said Jack Stout, 51, of
Gilroy, who has logged more than 40,000 miles on his 2003 Harley-
Davidson Superglide.

The Hollister Independence Rally has been a summer destination for
bikers for decades, much like the Sturgis rally in South Dakota. But
earlier this year, the City Council voted to cancel the July Fourth
weekend event, saying it was too expensive and too dangerous.

Bikers showed up anyway, though in smaller numbers. Police Capt. Bob
Brooks estimated 5,000 people attended Saturday _ normally the most
popular day of the rally _ compared to 15,000 to 20,000 in previous
years.

"They'll never stop it. It's been going since the '40s," said Tony
Morris, 53, who rode in on his Harley-Davidson Road King from the San
Francisco area.

Hollister, about 50 miles south of San Jose, is normally a quiet city
home to boutiques and mom-and-pop restaurants. But this weekend it was
full of bikers riding custom cycles, many worth tens of thousands of
dollars.

City council member Monica Johnson said officials knew when they
canceled the event in February that bikers would come anyway, so they
devised a contingency plan. The city spent $150,000 on extra police
patrols this year, compared to the $700,000 it would've spent if it
sanctioned the event, she said.

"It wasn't about, we don't want them to be here at all. It was about,
the city couldn't afford to have a rally," Johnson said.

Bikers said they were disappointed the city didn't sanction the event,
but it wouldn't deter crowds. Hollister has attracted motorcyclists
since 1947, when Life magazine published an article on a brawl that is
credited with inspiring the Brando movie about a renegade biker gang
that invades a small town.

The city's decision angered business owners. Many hung signs in their
windows welcoming bikers and offering specials on bottled water, pizza
and beer.

Bikers were organizing a petition drive to make the rally a city-
sanctioned event. Johnson said the council would consider the idea for
next year.

"We want the public to see exactly what the biker community thinks of
this town and how nonviolent (the rally) is," said Marlon Moss,
executive director of the Hollister Rally Commission.

Moss said the rally should be legitimate because independent-minded
bikers would continue to attend out of tradition.

"Even though there's not an event," he said, "the biker community
knows the history and they show up."

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 Shrike! wrote:

Have one on me as you peruse my tale.

Rode over yesterday with George Pollard, we saw plenty of bikes on the
way. First stop was the Corbin factory, just to check out the vendors.
Not to buy, just to see who shows up. In previous years you'd see
Samson, along with various other parts manufacturers, although in the
last couple years I'd only seen small-time stuff not the big boys. There
were three vendors: A license-frame guy, a t-shirt guy, and (I think) a
food guy. There were as many bikes there as you'd normally see on this
weekend.

Continuing into downtown, we could see bikes filling in along the
street, and cops EVERYWHERE. There were very few cars parked, it was all
bikes. A note on this though, once the traffic started cruising up/down
the street it was a combination of bikes and some very nice classic
cars, I saw more classic cars there this weekend than I've ever seen in
Hollister, obviously due to the main street not being restricted.

We never made it off San Benito except to get to Mark's place, but the
few bars on that main street seemed to be doing a good business later in
the afternoon. Early in the day, George and I were able to walk right up
to the bar and order in Johnny's and converse with the barmaid. One
place was offering ice cold beer and pizza, and there were about eight
cops decided that would be a good place for them to stand outside and
observe the street. Not very good for that business.

We were worried about the 1-hour traffic enforcement on the side streets
so parked right away at Mark's, but later heard folks discussing the
parking situation and saying the cops wouldn't start enforcing unless
parking became a problem. We didn't see anybody getting cited for
parking and there were bikes parked all day long.

Cops were pulling over bikes, cars, and pedestrians, equal opportunity.
George and I saw a guy get ticketed for jaywalking, yet later we saw a
bunch of cops (8-10) cross at the middle of a block with no apparent
goal in sight.

There were no parts vendors anywhere. Just t-shirts, leather, pins, and
food. No outside food vendors, just the locals set up in their parking
lot, like vfw etc.

Very few patch-wearers. Saw a few HA and Vagos, but they may have been
at bars off the main street or at the Vault, which we didn't enter.

Small turnout at 7-11. Myself and George, Shovelhead Chuck, Tinman, JBJ
and his brother Don and Don's girlfriend Angel, Dave S.

Down at Mark's we added LCJay and Sherrie, Doc Zee, Smeg and Kathy, and
a couple more that I don't recall (somebody help me out here).

Great food, cold beer, nice to see everybody. Raised some money for
Eddie by hawking some MAMBM cigars.

George and I left about 4:30-5:00, got into heavy car traffic on 152 and
battled it all the way to I-5/580 split. Got home around 7:00 in Lodi.

Have another one if you made it this far. I'll let George tell you about
the horseshit.

Fins BS#221

 DM wrote:


Mark & Wendy, I believe.  


I got one o' them ceegars, but I won't be smokin' it.  I'm
"considering offers" for it.  


I left at 4:55, as you were gettin' ready to go.  Nice paint job
on that bike, by the way.  

I took Hy 156 and some newly-discovered (to me) back roads to
U.S. 101, then up to San Jose via a newly-improved Bailey Avenue
interchange, and home on more back roads, got home at 5:55 p.m.
I've been telling people I'm 45 mins from Hollister, I guess I
have to change that to one hour.  Still, pretty reasonable.  


Dave S.  

1996 FLHR-I Road King

BS#146, DOF#181, NEWT#4, KOTOR#1, SENS, CVNS G&W, DOF # 6021, ARSE

--  

dave6592 [at] accesscom [dot] com - http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592
Dave Schultheis, San José, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, CA, USA

 

I left a couple of min. before you. Took 25 to101 at55mph then101 to880 to
92 at
75-80mph and pulled into the driveway in HAYward at 6:05pm.
It was a fun party. Nice to see all the folks.
Hope to do more IRL's

Chuck
tsho
78FXE