CONTENT WARNING: drugs and drug trafficking, violence, violence against women, gang and outlaw culture, and murder.

Now paging Charlie Hunnam...Charlie are you there? We need someone to take us on a motorcycle ride! On this episode we explore the history of motorcycles, motorcycle riders, and the original outlaw motorcycle gang (aka, the OMG!). Questions/comments/concerns/recommendations? Email us at: ragingromantics@nopl.org

Pics:

• Reitwagon
• Motorcycle ad
• Orient Motor Pacer
• Motodome
• Johnnie drinking coke
• Johnnie the pig
• Knucklehead
• Varsity riders club
• Hollister Riot

Books/authors we mention

• Tillie Cole
• Joanna Wylde
• Devil's Game by Joanna Wylde
• Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde
• Tm Frazier
• Kristin Ashley
• Christine Feehan
• Cate C Wells
• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
• The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball
• When the Moon Hatched by Sarah Parker

Sources

• "Bonds of Brotherhood: The Origin and Growth of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" (Hamilton, 2002)
• "Outlaw Motorcycle Club" (Wikipedia)
• "The Rough History of Biker Cuts" (Muzquiz, 2020)
• "Cut-off" (wikipedia)
• "Hollister Riot" (wikipedia)
• "American Masculinity After World War II" (national ww2 museum, 2021)
• "Counterculture as a Gendered Post-War Legacy: The Latent Case of Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs" (Hatta, 2020)
• "Motorcycle Club Culture: Embracing the Brotherhood & Exploring the Rich History" (Leather Face Gear, 2023)
• Commodification and Popular Imagery of the Biker in American Culture (Austin, 2010)
• A Brief History of the Motorcycle (Bellis, 2019)
• A Brief History of Motorcycles" (Windy City Motorcycle Company, 2023)
• "Motorcycle" (wikipedia)
• "History of Motorcycles in the United States" (Indian Motorcycle of Austin, 2022)
• THE MOTORDROME - BOARD TRACK MOTORCYCLE RACING (Panhead Jim, 2012)
• "Not Just a Knucklehead: The 1936 Model EL" (Harley Davidson Museum)
• "A Century of Motorcycling | The 1930s (Motorcyclist Staff, 2012)"
• "Davidson: There’s a Reason It’s Called a Hog "(Wells, 2024) - note that this website might not work correctly.
• "THE MOST RECOGNIZED PHOTO IN HARLEY-DAVIDSON® HISTORY: RAY, JOHNNIE AND THE HOG LEGACY" (Harley-Davidson, 2020)
• HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES (Online Museum.net, 2020)
• "Choppers" (wikipedia)
• What is it about choppers? (quora)
• What are some criticisms of Sons of Anarchy regarding its portrayal of biker culture? (quora)
• Longing and Belonging: Toward a Cultural History of Gay Motorcycle Clubs in the US (gurman, 2019)