Image!

A Mate of mine was in the Police for quite some time; during this time he was involved in some sort of surveillance of an outlaw bikie gang some time ago.

He was telling me the story about how a Vietnamese (background) bloke wanted to join this gang; The stumbling block appeared to be that the candidate did not, in fact, own a Harley Davidson motorcycle. At this point the 1%er was mortified & when asked WHY; the candidate replied:

“Everyone knows that Asians DON’T ride Harley’s!!”

Silence… Then the 1%er said; "Err... Well, can you just go down the street & get your photo taken next to someone’s Harley, just for the application form…?"

Interesting, that membership of the 1%er gang required a fake Harley picture to “formalise” the application process. I can’t remember if the candidate was the rider of another type of bike, but it seemed odd that you’d have to have a dodgy picture to join!

So, be ready for a weird segway, BUT, stay with me… as I now talk about THE Australian Bikie Movie: Stone

VERY 70’s… Very raw… nonetheless Very Enjoyable! Remember my never ending love of tacky stuff!

It’s about the “Grave Diggers” a bikie gang of war veterans riding Japanese motorbikes & indulging in all things Oz/70’s/bikie… but not Cubby, or Vespa-ie!

This led me to look at a documentary on the making of Stone & the surprising thing for me, was that the “enemy” bikie gang were played by a lot of members of the Hells Angels.

When I went back & looked, the amount of Harley’s seen in the real bikie gang; very small; mostly Brit & Japanese bikes!

I wonder if these members had to do a dodgy photo near an acquaintance’s Harley to join!

This led me to thinking about fashions & the reason why we ride the bikes that we do.

How many 1%ers out there ride the Darley-Havidson brand of motorcycle because “that is what we 1%ers have always ridden”… despite the fact that they haven’t…image seems to be king (the stereotypical 1%er is a fashion after all, just the same way that Vesp riding neo-Mods, as are inner-city Goths, as are blue singleted Truckies & Akubra attired Farmers are!)

I have no problem with someone riding something that they like – Hey; I ride a Vintage Vietnamese Vespa, indeed, we got a vintage Lambretta for the same reason, but, don’t read more than the interest into the bike

Finally; I feel I should explain the interest in “Stone” – there is a Meagher Family connection to “Stone”. My uncle (Dave Meagher) was a grip on the movie; he also fabricated the camera mounts used to film some of the riding scene close-ups… (He even gets a mention at the end of the movie in the credits). He was “between jobs” & his uncle (Lex Merdith) was working for the Production Company & got his nephew the job on the set…

None of this has anything at all to do with the Love Cub, or The Silver Surfer!

So Mote it Be!                                                  

Leigh

By the way, you can watch Stone here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8UKaaJaUE0