The Original Wild Ones - by Bill Hayes (Paperback)

About the Book

This "raucous and heartfelt recounting of the early days of biker clubs" (Roadbike) gets to the reality behind the myth immortalized in Brando's "The Wild One."

Book Synopsis

Get an inside look at the real beginning of outlaw biker culture with this "raucous and heartfelt recounting of the early days of biker clubs" (Roadbike). The story starts one weekend in 1947, at a motorcycle race in Hollister, California. A few members of one club, the no-holds-barred "Boozefighters," got a little juiced up and took their racing to the street. Word of the fracas spread, and soon enough Life magazine was on hand to tell the world, with sensational (albeit posed) pictures of the outlaws. And then the "Hollister riot" made its way into the movies, immortalized in Marlon Brando's "The Wild One."

What was the reality behind the myth? Through interviews with the surviving members of the Boozefighters, current member Bill Hayes and club historian Jim "JQ" Quattlebaum take readers right into the fray for a firsthand account of what happened in Hollister, and the formation of the Boozefighters, where the outlaw biker culture truly began. The book, "with its great stories and entertaining real-life characters" (MotorcycleUSA.com), is "mandatory reading for anyone interested in American motorcycling history "(Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly).

From the Back Cover

"Read this captivating story and decide for yourself if the Boozefighters were really the outlaws depicted in "The Wild One""Born To Ride (September, 2005) "The original Boozefighters done it and they done it good. Readers are therefore at liberty to just open the book at any page and start reading, put it down and later repeat the same satisfying process."Thunder Press (September, 2005) The Boozefighter By-Laws of 19461: To become a Boozefighter a man must attend four meetings consecutively and be voted on by secret ballot by all members present and must not be opposed by three (3) or more members.2: Club is closed at twenty members.3: Initiation fee is two (2) dollars. Dues are 50 cents a week. When a member is voted in, he must pay the sum of $2.50.4: If a member misses three meetings consecutively without a substantial explanation, he will be voted upon again.5: Any member who is absent without a reasonable excuse from the club activities will automatically be dropped from the club.6: If a member misses a meeting without a reasonable excuse he will be fined $1.00.7: Officers will be elected every three months, if they are still living.8: There will be a fine of one dollar for any member not wearing his sweater to meetings, club activities, races, etc., without a reasonable excuse.9: Any member leaving or being voted out of the club will either remove the lettering from his sweater, or sell it back to the club.10: It is strictly against all club rules for any one member to bring more than one case of liquor or one keg of beer or wine to a meeting.11: There will "never" be any women in any way affiliated in any way shape or form with the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club or its subsidiaries.12: If any member of the Boozefighters, or its subsidiaries, is found guilty of crapping out on his back, having the club name where it can't be seen, or not having his sweater on when being crapped out, he will be fined $1.00.13: No member will be completely without a motor for more than six months. If he is, he will be automatically dropped from the club.

About the Author

Bill Hayes is one of those rare authors who abides by the age-old writing advice: "Write what you know." And for him, it works. His love for motorcycles--specifically the always-compelling biker culture--launched his writing success. His bestselling book, The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club, followed by American Biker (www.americanbikerthebook.com) and The One-Percenter Encyclopedia have all become classics within the genre. Hayes has served as the National Press and Publicity Officer for the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club (BFMC), continually striving to get the media to trade in their sensationalism for the truth.