"Hell's Angels started riding Harley-Davidsons mostly because, unlike today,they didn't have much choice. In 1957, it was either ride a Harley or settle for a Triumph or BSA. They'd already stopped building Indians. It's always been important for Hell's Angels to ride American made machines. In terms of pure workmanship, personally I don't like Harleys. I ride them because I'm in the club, and that's the image, but if I could I would seriously consider riding a Honda ST1100 or a BMW. We really missed the boat not switching over tot he Japanese models when they began building bigger bikes. I'll usually say,'Fuck Harley-Davidson.' You can buy an ST1100 and the motherfucker will do 110 miles per hour right from the factory all day long. The newest 'ricerockets' can carry 140 horsepower to the rear wheel, and can easily do 180 miles per hour right out of the box. While it's probably too late to switch over now,it would have been a nice move, because Japanese bikes today are so much cheaper and better built. However, Japanese motorcycles don't have as much personality."
--From "Hell's Angel: The Life & Times of Sonny Barger & the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club", Morrow/Avon, © June 2000--
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