Hollister riot

The now infamous events at Hollister, a small town in California, on 4 July 1947. have become part of biking folklore. The 'riot' by '4,000 members of a motorcycle club' (Life magazine) was undoubtedly blown out of all proportion by the media. More to the point, for the purpose of our story, many (if not most) of the riders arrived on chopped Harleys and Indians. The reporting of this event actually helped kickstart the customizing movement, in which a stripped down. chopped Harley became a symbol of rebellion. It was the 'one percenters' image, which Harley-Davidson did its best to distance itself from over the succeeding 25 years, until it realized that the image (if not the reality) was actually good for business.