T
o the western world, motorcycling and the
accompanied lifestyle was usually embraced
by those who wanted to "break free" from the
everyday; those who yearned for the freedom
brought upon by the wind in your hair and the open
road laid out before you. In post-WWI Great Britain,
the ton-up boys raced wildly between transport cafés,
wanting nothing more than to live to tell the tale
of hitting the mythical "ton" (100 mph). American
author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson wrote about
"the feeling" in his 1966 Hells Angels: The Strange
and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs:
"But with the throttle screwed on there is only the
barest margin, and no room at all for mistakes. It has
to be done right … and that's when the strange music
starts, when you stretch your luck so far that fear
becomes exhilaration and vibrates along your arms.
You can barely see at a hundred. The only sounds are
wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers."
BY TED CHRISTODULIDIS
V U E N J . C O M
123
VUE ON AUTO
