Rebel Without Applause - Steve McQueen

 Steve McQueen was born in Beech Grove Indiana on March 24, 1930.  I'd like to think his father could take credit for Steve's epicness, unfortunately the stunt pilot of a flying circus left one day for a pack of smokes and never returned to his wife or son.  Like most of the rebels, Steve lived the hard life.  His rebellious alcoholic prostitute of a mother was wed 3 times by abusive assholes who not only beat her but also young Steve.  It seems as though many of the iconic riders of history were brought up on similar grounds.  When McQueen was nine, he could not take the abuse from his first step father any longer.  He ran away from home and became involved with a small time street gang.

After many years of street life and abuse from half assed father figures, Steve McQueen joined the Marine Corps in 1947.  His lack of enthusiasm for authority hindered his promotions and led to many demotions throughout his military career.  He even went AWOL after he was given a weeks leave and was found hiding out with his girlfriend at the time.  41 days in the brig was enough to turn the rebel around and he went on to be the guard for Harry Truman's yacht.  In 1950 he was honorably discharged.

Shortly after his military stay, Steve became an avid rider and a stunt man that even his biological father would have been proud of.  The acting soon followed with hit TV shows and blockbuster hits that numbered in the high forties.  McQueen's skill on a bike was unmatched by anyone at that time.  Maybe this is why he can be seen chasing himself on a motorcycle wearing a German uniform in the movie, The Great Escape. 

Like many of the actors and actresses in Hollywood at this time, Steve was a drug addict and a heavy drinker and smoker.  The mugshot at the top is from a DUI that he caught while in Alaska.  He was known to blow an insane amount of coke and smoke a ton of weed nearly everyday.  One would think that would have been what brought the man down...

In 1980 Steve McQueen died of mesothelioma.  He was in Chihuahua Mexico getting tumors removed from his neck and abdomen.  He did not recover from the operation.

Whenever you see a bad ass stunt in an action movie, or a crazy ass car / motorcycle chase scene, know this:  That shit would have been better if guys like Steve McQueen were still around acting and doing their own stunts!

- Doug

I could dream .....

- Doug

Salvador Dali on that chopper shit

- Doug

Rebel Without Applause - Bessie Stringfield

This week the Rebel is non other than The Negro Motorcycle Queen, Bessie Stringfield.  Born in Kingston Jamaica in 1911 Bessie and her family got hell bent on coming to America.  Shortly after their arrival, her parents died and Bessie was adopted by an Irish woman.

At the ripe age of 16, Bessie Stringfield taught herself how to ride on an Indian Scout.  By 19 she had traveled across the lower 48 and even made it to Europe, Brazil and Haiti for a romp on her scoot.  Her story becomes much more that epic when we find out how she made her money for gas and food...

Bessie was a stunt woman in any and all of the carnival shows she passed throughout her journey.  Speed maneuvers, long jumps, high jumps, you name it, she did it on her motorcycle.  Due to her skin color, she was not allowed to stay in any motels or inns of any kind.  She would pull over at a fill station and sleep on her bike when she needed to.  The struggles didn't stop there.  Bessie lived to ride.  She lived for speed.  Even though women were not allowed to enter flat track races, she would race and then be denied any recognition for her placements.  Her passion never let her quit.

When WWII broke out, Bessie found her place in the fight against those communist bastards by becoming a civilian mail courier for the military.  Within her 4 years delivering important info, she crossed the US 8 more times on a motorcycle.

In 1950 she moved to Miami and settled in, not down though.  The local coppers pulled her over when she was out riding and told her that, "Nigger women are not allowed to ride motorcycles."  So what did she do?  Bessie Stringfield started the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club and stuck it to the man!  This is around the time she was dubbed the "Negro Motorcycle Queen."  After a long run with the club she died due to a heart condition.  Bessie never stopped riding.

In 2000, the American Motorcycle Association created the Bessie Stringfield Memorial Award.  Two years later, she was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Rebel Without Applause - Hunter S. Thompson

Rebel Without Applause is a section that I'm starting, more for myself than anyone else.  I wanted to learn more about the pioneers and unsung heroes that made the motorcycle culture what it is today.  Well, maybe not what it is today, more of what it was in the golden ages of chopperdom.  The featured folks will be of old and new, male, female and some in between creatures I'm sure.  You may even say, "Well everyone knows about this guy!"  Then I'll say, fuck you.  Because I didn't.  I hope some of you guys learn a few things along my journey through motorcycle history.  If there is anyone you would like me to do a little diddy on, please email me @ newfrontier206@gmail.com.  So without further blabber, I give you Hunter S. Thompson.

Hunter Stockton Thompson was born in 1937.  He wasn't one of those privileged tit sucking kids.  At the age of 15 his dad died.  This event pushed Thompson and his family into the gutter.  Without any form of stable income, Hunter began his short life of crime to provide for his family.  I say "short life" because by the time he was 18 he was charged with abetting a robbery and sentenced to 60 days in the joint.  Not able to finish any sort of formal education, Hunter decided to enlist into the Air Force.  He began writing for a local paper in Florida but because of rules set by the Air Force, Thompson was not allowed to keep a job while he was enlisted.  As a result his name was never published under any of his columns.

After leaving the military with an honorable discharge Hunter S. Thompson traveled the states by hitchhiking.  He also spent some time in Puerto Rico where he wrote a short novel titled The Rum Diary.  In 1965 he was given another opportunity of a life time. An editor offered to have Thompson write a story based on the California based Hells Angels.  After riding with the Angels for over a year, writing and publishing their stories, Hunter was accused of exploiting the club and had the living shit stomped out of him by the club. 

Hunter's most recognizable work must be named, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  In 1971 this book was golden.  Uppers and downers, monsters and demons, creativity at it's finest.  This book turned into one of my all time favorite movies.  Go watch it.  Right now.

This amazing writer died on Feb. 20 2005 in his fortified compound.  He blew his creativity all over the walls while his family was in the next room.  He died in front of his typewriter with the imprinted date, Feb 22 05 and the word counselor following.  His funeral was star clad with politicians and actors of every kind.  His ashes where shot out of a cannon while Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" and Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" played in the background.

"We can't stop here, this is bat country!" 

Rebel without Applause

September 15, 1937. "First of fair sex to obtain motorcycle license in Capital. Although she weighs only 88 pounds -- one-third of the machine she rides, Mrs. Sally Halterman is the first woman to be granted a license to operate a motorcycle in the District of Columbia. She is 27 years old and 4 feet, 11 inches tall. Immediately after receiving her permit, Mrs. Halterman was initiated into the D.C. Motorcycle Club -- the only girl ever to be accorded this honor."


Note: Mike will be starting a weekly feature for those unsung hero's like Mrs Halterman above