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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125591
became the high-POint ot the leg1.slatlve ::: session and the Hell's Alliels _re the most popular visitors to reach the capltol ln a long time. For the remainder of the year the corr idors were allve with the quesUon, lB hopetully asked, "Wlll the Hell 's Aagels 0> be bac k?" Wherever we went In the long bours of tlnlsblng oU the helmet blll, we c.) were told that Sonny Barger was the best ""'4 witness ever to appear before the com- C '" mlttee. When told about this Sonny re:::s pUed, "I Just told the m they l\1dD't know ai what they were tal1dnc about; If l'm the .... best, they mus t have some pretty stupid people appear before those committees!" The Legend of Sonny Barger Anpls Paul ('Anima!" ) Hlbblh Itt!, and Ralph Sonny Bar,er I I they appeared al hll· m.1 law h.arln,s In Sacramonto. By Barbara Adams Dahms -' At the frayed end of a long afternoon, a weary Califo rnia Assembly Committee watched a young man r ise from his seat and stride to the lectern. He had long cur lln g halr and a fiowlng beard. His piercing dark eyes seemed to f111 his slender, al most gaunt face. His sUght s tature was obscured by the fr inged suede cutotl emblazoned across the back with a red and silver death' .I bead and the words "HELL'SANGELSCALIFORNIA" and on the front with a pirate' .I skulland-crossbones, a Playboy rabbit, a U.S. Special Services insignia sent to him by a Gr een Berets unit In Viet Nam and a bar patcb saying simply "Pres. oakland" . In his band he held a manila envel ope crammed with facts and staUstics gathered by the United Motorcycle Enthusiasts. Members of the committee who had not previously met him snickered and thumbed theIr lapels Uke schoolboys as be and Alliel Paul Hlbblts approached the testtmony platform. Calm, Factual, El ectrifyin~ In his deep, quiet voice which seems to weigh each work a moment before speakIng It, he Introduced himself, "I'm Ralph Barger and I'm a professional street rider" , and then presented the case for the freedom to choose riding apparel. The effect was electrifying. Throughout his testimony, which was calm, factual and authentic with experience and durilli the session of questions from the committee which he answered with the same directness, the crowded r oom was unmeving ; unwhlsperlng. The absolute quiet was so rare at a hearing as to be notlc eable. When he tlnlshed legislators and press crowded around him. Even those who knew him well were Impressed with the Incisive, not-a-word-wasted quallty of his tesUmony. A prominent san Francisco legislator told us later, " Your Sonny Barger got you your bill." And In that moment he was Indeed " our Sonny Barger". This Hell's Alliel President was speaking for the right of every motorcycle rider In California to do his own thing. That this should be so Is not surprising when Sonny speaks ot motorcycles. " 1 love motorcycles, " heexplalns. "My Ufe revolves around the motorcycl... Everything we do concerns motorcycles." The first Ume they went to the legisla ture (1967 , the tlrst batUe of the belmet law) they went on their motorcycles. That was the Ume they were the tlrst ones there and managed to get the blll postponed unUI the rest of us could catch up. After the capl tol recovered from the sh ock of seeing some forty color-fiylng Hell's Alliels ride Into the sedate seatot government, and after It became apparent that these Hell' .I Alliels were groovllIi with the power of words, the incident Of cour s e the people whoappear before those commit tees are tar from stupid, otten highly respected experts In their fields. But I mus t say from experience that I never heard a witness tellltllke It Is quite as simply and forcefully as Sonny Barger did. The leglslators who are themselves lawyers, businessmen, educators and professional people, college edllC&ted and degreed, recall him with wlsttul awe. Yet Sonny w11ltellyoureadlIy, " I never got past the ninth grade." And you want to check the records because hls natural ablUty makes It incredible. Such ts the legend of Ralph Barger, J r ., President of the Hell's Angels , oakland Chapter and In the words ot Hunter Thompson and Tom Wolte, " MaxImum Leader of all the Angels." He ts a former warebouseman who' .I been an Alliel since he's been old enough to be anything and who's ,been president for better than ten years. He's an Angel who rides a stock Harley-Davidson Sportster XLCH instead of a chopper because "It doesn't need cbopplng, It's fine the way It It." and Is copied by bundreds of riders. He drives a frequent new car (the current favorite Is a Corvette) and Uves quletly In the most pleasing bouse on earth. His home, uncluttered rustle with brick and Ivy-covered entrance Is tilled with Barger' .I personallty. Books and mem entos (be Is cOll5lanUy being given mementos) fiank the brick fireplace beneath an open beam ce1U.nlr. Many trophies from the drags and r oadSter sbows are on display. "We're not allowed In l.IIy AMA event ( Conti nued on page 41) 100 NOVICE CLASS · BARSTOW to VEGAS S ~G .V .M.C. HARE & HOUND · NOV. 30, 1968 sl ON THE NEW J IMCLANCY 100 TRAIL RIDING fOR B-D-R MOTORCYCLE SALES . IN AZUSA BRIDGESTONE JUST LIKE THE ONE YOU CAN GfT AT YOURNEAR ST E 1 1 N sf 00 OVICE T LBIKECLASS RAI BRIDGESTO NE DEALER fOR THE NAME Of YOUR NEAREST DEALER SO. CAL. McCUllOCH DIST. INC. (213) 112-2108 NO. CAL. COAST McCUllOCH (415) UN ' 3-5520