Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.... - l-o' 0.. -c clist HWhy do y o u race? " "Oh, man, I love it. Things are ch an ging and moving so f ast . in this country. You have to move with them - st ay tuned to th e beat. Then y ou know you're ge ttin g it all. " "Why moto cross? Wh y n o t - say ro adracin g?" "I want to try it if I ever get the chance, Bu t I've always h ad the idea that even th ough y o u're go in g fast er wh en yo u're ro adracing, things aren't happening as fast . So I don 't see how I could ge t th e sam e feeling of accomplishme n t. And a roadrace track is paved, but a motocross co urse is n atural. It 's the earth . " " Do yo u think y ou'l l eve r swing all th e w ay to gay , or all the way to st raig h t ?" HI have no idea, and I co uld care less. I ju st pl ay t he m like th ey 're d eal t, an d I dig it all. " Joe It was a bee r bar, The walls were p ain t ed bl ac k. T he o n ly ornamen tatio n was a lar ge Rivera-type d rawi ng o f a m ascu lar stud d ressed in boots, leath er p an ts an d vest, an d Harley hat. The fu rn ish ings co nsisted of a long ba r , a po ol table , and th ree banque ttes. joe and I sat in one of th e banque ttes. I was ge ttin g so m e puzzled side-glances from th e o the r c ust o m ers. I was we ari n g my leath er , bu t th ey were the wr o ng kind - an old fade d se t of t o u rin g lea th er s tie -dyed in pastel co lo rs. No leath erm an w ould drea m of wearin g anyt h ing but blac k. joe was d ressed co rrectly eve ry thing but t he Harl ey h at was bl ac k leather. At age 3 7 h e was in go o d shape, an d he lo o ked th e part. He stood 6 '2" a nd weigh ed abo u t 19 5 ; he was muscul ar and h e had a rou gh fa ce. He was saying, " On clu b n ights, th e p arkin g lot ou t bac k is jammed with bike s mostl y dr essers. " He stu d ied th e room. "I'd say there 's abou t 50 guys in here now , and there ' are five h ik es parked ou t side . The rest o f these guys don 't ca re anything ah out motorcycles; wh at th ey ?ig ~~ the im age - they 're leather fe tishis IS. " Why do bl ack leather a nd S&M go together?" HI don 't know for sure . . . I've rea d some th ings, but n one of th em m ade sense to me. " "But y o u 're into hikes too. " "Oh, yeah. I got into th e whole scene. During the day I wear a suit and play vice president at a small manufacturing company, and I'm just another citizen . At night I come home and put on my leathers. and I climb on my knucklehead. an d then I'm n ot one of the crowd. "I go where I please and do as I please. I don't go out of my way to bug anybody , and nobody gives me a hard time. I look evil, and if push ' comes -t o ' shove I know h ow to figh t. It 's great I'm kin g o f th e roost in ways I couldn' t touch if I were president of GM." " That rin g in yo u r left earlobe,j o e does th at mean you 're a sad ist?" " General ly. But for th e rig h t gu y I'll play bottom-man." " Why S&M ? Have y o u tri ed anything else? " " I've done i t all at one time or an other. I was married for eigh t years h ad two kids. And I was in to 'straigh t ' gay sex for a long tim e. But D&B. p ain ... yo u want to know something funny ? They all run ar o u nd wringing their hands, say ing, "Th at 's perverted!', but th ey don't know. " Whe n I'v e got so m e humpy number spreadeagled t o th e tie-rings on m y wall, and I'm striping his back and h is ass wi t h a wh ip, so meh ow I get righ t into his soul and h e ge ts in to m in e. You can' t ge t th at close to ano ther human bc ing a ny other way. I kn ow it sounds jus t th e opposi te o f every th ing y ou 've ever been taught . . . b u t in yo ur travels haven 't y ou found t hat t he real ity is oft en just the op posite of wha t y o u 'd heen t au gh t ?" "Let me change th e subject : you sai d you belon g to a gay motorcycle club ." "Ah, th ose cl u b runs. We h ave ab ou t 15 m embers, and when we 're o ut o n the hi ghway p recisio n-ridi ng , with the road ca ptain giving han d signals . , . that 's t he best part o f m y life, We are toge ther." " Do you ever m ix riding and sex?" " Sure . A co uple of our members own farms way o u t in t he rules. And th er e are so me dude ranches and m otels aro un d Ca lifornia whe re we ca n go on we e kends. Beer , booze. a cam p fire . An d some far-o ut sex ." "Ho w many gay mot orcy cle clu. 15 are ther e? " "Aro un d Lo s Ang eles? I'd say 13 or 20 ." " Are they al l in t o leather and S&M?" " Pre tty much . So me o f th e m emb ers are fri nge ty pes. a few are stra igh t gays . Some dr ess like motorcycle co ps withou t ba dges , a few go t he lev i-outl aw rou te . Most di g bl ack leather." "Do y o u get involved with the rest of the gay community ?" "N o, we don 't have mu ch in common with the limp-wrist set. Oc casionall y we 'll make the sce ne at a drag bar just for kicks - give th e TV (tra nsvestite ) qu eens a thrill." " Did you ever ge t in to gay lib ?" "Hell , no ! Why stir u p trouble? We 've go t plen ty of room to o pe rate . T he average person has no ide a wh at 's happening. and th at suits me fine. I wish th o se gay -libera t io n guys would all get lost. " "Doesn 't the d ouble ro le get o n y our nerves ?" "Occasionally sure. When everybody interesting is somewhere els e , a n d I haven't sco red for awh ile ." "Wbat about blackmail?" " O ne guy tried it once , but I know a lot of people, and I tracked him down. The possibility is always there, but I live with it. just lik e I live with a lot o f things." , • . I. Mot orcycles and people who ride th em have long been th e su bjec t of oarious ex claime rs who try to make a connec tion between th e chain-driue and the sex drive. If there were any truth,to th eir contentions. no one should be better able to discuss it than a homosexual m otorcyclist. With this fact in mind. we assigned our new In vestigative R eporter. Frank Connor to seek out members of this tiny min ority within m otorcycling and ask th e hard qu estions about their attitude toward the motorcycle as a masculine sy m bol (If indeed it is). . . Editor. 7

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