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Reviews of Outlaw Machine : Harley-Davidson and the Search for the American Soul by Brock Yates
From Booklist , May 15, 1999
Probably the pivotal moment in Yates' loving tribute to the last remaining
American motorcycle comes late in the book, when he reveals that most
Harley riders are drawn in by the mystique: images of the Hells Angels,
Easy Rider, and black leather. Ironically, aside from the Hells Angels,
the
overwhelming majority of Harley enthusiasts are benign, mostly suburban,
males who feel owning the bike and dressing the part allow them to be
daring, macho, intimidating--if only when they're riding around the
subdivision. Yates maintains that much of the imagery built up around
motorcycles throughout the years is a result of Hollywood films and
television. The biker became the rebel, the outlaw, the man who didn't
have to answer to anyone. Is it any wonder suburban males were drawn
to Harleys like moths to a flame? Yates details the company's response
to the exploding Japanese market. His approach is straightforward
enough for the casual bike fan, but he delves enough into Harleyana to
keep even a Hell's Angel interested. Joe Collins
Copyright© 1999, American Library Association. All rights reserved
From Kirkus Reviews , May 7, 1999
One fan's breathless overview of the impact Harley-Davidson
motorcycles have had on individuals and popular culture. Yates, an
editor-at-large for Car and Driver magazine, has here shifted from his
career focuson cars (The Critical Path, 1996, etc.)to motorcycles. He
sets out to examine the peculiar role that Harley-Davidson has played in
the creation of the culture of motorcycles and ``hogs'' in particular.
The
emphasis is more on people than machines, although the history of the
company is a critical part of this undertaking. An early pioneer in
motorcycle manufacturing, Harley-Davidson developed some unique
technical concepts and survived numerous boom-and-bust cycles in the
countrys economy and its own industry. The fabled turnaround of this
enterprise in the 1980s is covered, yet there is not much explanation of
how it occurred. Most of the book deals with motorcycle enthusiasts,
including a long history of celebrity riders and especially ``bikers,''
scattered clumps of individualists who find Harley-Davidson motorcycles
the ideal symbols for vague ideas about rebellion and freedom.
Somewhere along the way, the company decided to promote this
antiestablishment symbolism rather than fight it, but in a carefully
controlled manner designed to appeal to would-be riders within the
establishment itself. Most of the corporate coverage is thin and lacks
substance. The author prefers to focus on the culture of Harley fans
rather than on the company. Yates does develop an appealing momentum
when talking about ownership of Harleys in foreign countries, including
Japan and Greece. Unfortunately, this information is too short and comes
at the end of the book. Although Yatess prose offers nothing in the way
of persuasive argument, it is colorful, as when aping the argot of bikers.
Referring to the competition from overseas, for instance, he lambasts
``rice burners'' and ``Jap scrap'' as machines that may represent
technological perfection but lack soul. Rambling, rarely insightful, and
ultimately disappointing. Generates little original analysis about the
Harley
phenomenon. (16 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus
Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Michael Wallis, author of Route 66: The Mother Road
"Brock Yates has written a book for the true believers - those who fear
no evil, live life full bore, and hold to the opinion that on the eigth
day
God created Harley-Davidson. For road warriors who realize that life
begins at the off-ramp, a copy of OUTLAW MACHINE needs to be
tucked into their saddlebag."
Hunter S. Thompson
"I first encountered Brock Yates about thirty years ago when he was
writing great stuff for the auto magazines, and I have been reading him
ever since. It got to be one of my Good Habits, and OUTLAW
MACHINE is a bitch of fine payoff. This is an extremely smart book. In
the business we have chosen Brock Yates is The Man."
Book Description ofOutlaw Machine : Harley-Davidson and the Search for
the American Soul by Brock Yates
In 1947, Americans opened thier Life magazines to find a chilling article
about a California town terrorized by gangs of motorcycle thugs.
Accompanied by a lurid full-page photo of a heavyset man on a bike
surrounded by empty beer bottles, the message was clear: motorcycles
were a menace to society. In reality, the motorcycle anarchy was nothing
more than a few drunken revealers at a Fourth of July bike convention -
a
small fraction of the four thousand or so riders who actually attended.
But
the damage was done: from that poitn on, motorcycles would forever be
associated with danger, rebellion, and violence. And as the loudest and
heaviest bike on the market, Harley-Davidsons were considered the
baddest of them all.
In OUTLAW MACHINE, noted automative writer, Brock Yates tells
the definitive history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their place in
American culture. From their relatively wholesome reputation before the
war (Clark Gable was a devoted Harley rider) to the rise of the Hells
Angels (originally a small club formed by disaffected World War II vets,
now a huge organization with a worldwide reputation) to the
couterculture classic Easy Rider, Yates looks at American history through
the lens of the Harley-Davidson.
This is also the success story of the company itself - a small family
business that became the industy leader, only to get clobbered by stiff
Japanese competition. In the 1980s, the company made a stunning
turnaround when white-collar suburbanites rediscovered the
Harley-sleek, menacing, and loud-as a true American classic. Now,
around the world from France to Japan (home of their biggest
competitors), Harleys have devoted following. Beginning with the first
hand-built Harley in 1903 and ending with today's enormous Sturgis
rallies, OUTLAW MACHINE is the remarkable story of a fascinating
cultural icon.
About the Author Outlaw Machine, Brock Yates
One of the most respected automotive journalists in the country, Brock
Yates is edtior at large for Car and Driver, a longtime commentator on
both network and cable television, and the author of several books. He
has written extensively for a number of magazines, including Sports
Illustrated, Life, Playboy, American Heritage, and Reader's Digest. He
lives in Wyoming, New York.\
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