Motorcycle riders bikers as a group have been stigmatized by society as renegades. They are looked upon as a subculture of nomadic vagabonds whose only purpose in life is to roam the highways at their leisure, party at the drop of a hat, and terrorize the communities they enter. The media has perpetuated that perception since the early days of motorcycling, and Hollywood has followed suit with a plethora of “Biker movies” that depict them in the worst light.
However, a closer look at the subculture of bikers will reveal something completely
different—a brotherhood and camaraderie that is parallel to that of a military unit. Many
individuals and groups use motorcycles Harley-Davidsons—as a fantastic mode of
transportation. It would be hard to find anyone who hasn’t witnessed bikers riding down the interstates, whether “on a fall outing, in a parade, making a statement, or raising money for charity” (Hog). The giving and generous nature of bikers disproves the myths created by their adversaries. Although they carry a negative stereotype and the majority of society commonly avoids them, bikers are the most charitable and most giving of the many subcultures that exist in the U.S.A.
In order to fully understand this subculture, its history will need to be learned. It all began with the invention of motorcycle. A look at transportation over the ages will show the parallel changes. In the era of the Roman Empire, transportation needs led to the development of the coach for a group of travelers and the chariot for an individual; in the days of the “Old West,” the prim and proper had wagons while the cowboys—the itinerants of the day—had
horses. The invention of motorized transportation in the late 1800s created the desire for individual transportation of a personal nature. The motorcycle became the first form of [individual] mechanized transportation and has evolved into the works of art seen today (Art).
Although an American named Sylvester Roper developed a steam-powered motorcycle in 1867, German inventor Gottlieb Daimler invented the true predecessor of today’s
motorcycle, a wooden bicycle retrofitted with a gas engine, in 1885. When engineer Nicolaus Otto invented the first four-Stroke Internal-Combustion engine, Daimler—then employed by Otto—built it into a motorcycle frame. William Harley and Arthur and Walter Davidson continued the efforts of Daimler and Roper after the latter went into the automotive field, and in 1903 they created the Harley-Davidson Motor Company in milwaukee, Wisconsin. Even though they intended for Harleys to be used as transportation vehicles, most were used as
racers and, with the quality Harley-Davidson engine, they did very well (Inventors).
