Putin rides in on a Harley video

The bikers used to head up to Bass Lake from Hollister and stop over and visit Los Banos, CA....... (Back in the day one of my closest friend's family had a cabin (second home) on the lake and we'd visit sometimes..... It is beautiful.)

Northfork, Ca. to Bass Lake pt.1 (camera on bike)

I have a friend who has lived in Bass Lake for many years and wouldn't move for anything... hmmmmmmm

Bass Lake in the 50s

Hollister, CA wikipedia
History
The Mutsun Ohlone Indians were the first known inhabitants of the Hollister region.

The town, then located in Monterey County, was founded November 19, 1868 originally as the San Justo Homestead Association, established by William Welles Hollister (1818–1886), a group that originally intended to name it San Justo. An association member, Napa vintner Henry Hagen, objected. Hagen argued that place names in California were dominated by Spanish saint names, and suggested that the state should have a town named after someone less holy. The City was incorporated on August 29, 1872. The western portion of San Benito County, including Hollister, was separated from Monterey County in 1874. The county was expanded eastward in 1887 to include portions taken from Merced and Fresno Counties!

How Hollywood and the media demonized Bikers after WWII.

'The Wild Ones' youtube

'Wild Ones' - Marlon Brando
EXCERPT:
Because of the controversial nature of the film, public screenings were banned in England by the British Board of Film Censors for fourteen years (until 1968) after its release. Even in America, it was feared that the shocking, 'Communist' movie glamorized a anti-social subculture in revolt, would set a bad example, and cause impressionable viewers to copy-cat its plot and incite deliquency and riots. In fact, it took many years for pacifist motorcyclists to overcome stereotypes and fabrications promoted by the film.

James Dean's disaffected, frustrated youth Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Elvis Presley's anti-hero character in Jailhouse Rock (1957), and even the significant counter-cultural Easy Rider (1969) - plus a spate of exploitation biker films (i.e., Roger Corman's trashy B-film classic The Wild Angels (1966) - owe their existence to this original, cult classic film. Although Marlon Brando portrays a stunning, brooding, nomadic character in one of his central and early roles (his fifth screen role), the film lacked Academy Award nominations.

Wild Ones in Hollister, California
EXCERPT:
The real "Wild Ones'
The 1947 Hollister Motorcycle Riot

A note for visitors to bikewriter.com: These interviews were conducted in late 1998. All participants were eyewitnesses to the events which came to be known as the Hollister 'motorcycle riot'. Excerpts of these interviews were published in Classic Bike, but the full transcripts are presented here, in order to fully document this important event in motorcycling history.

Summary/Lead:

On July 4 1947, 4,000 'straight-pipers' rode into Hollister. Their plan was to spend the long weekend partying and watching the races, but the partying got a little out of control. Even the local police admitted that the bikers "did more harm to themselves than they did to the town" but the press blew the story out of proportion. When the events were dramatized by Hollywood in 'The Wild One', America's image of motorcycling changed forever. Now you can read what really happened, in the words of people who were really there.

Introduction

At the end of World War II, the central California town of Hollister had a population of about 4,500. The gently rolling farmland surrounding the community was well-suited to motorcycle riding; there were facilities for scrambles, hillclimbs, and dirt-track racing at Bolado Park (about 10 miles away) and at Memorial Park, on the outskirts of town.

Through the 1930's, Hollister had been the site of popular races sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association, and promoted by the Salinas Scramblers (correction - Salinas Ramblers). Spectators rode in on A.M.A.-organized 'Gypsy Tours', and as attendances grew, the Memorial Day races became as important to Hollister as the livestock fair or the rodeo.

Racing was postponed after America's belated entrance into the war. When it was organized again for 1947, local merchants welcomed a major source of revenue back to the Hollister economy.

When peace broke out, many American servicemen were demobilized in California, and settled there. As soldiers, they had earned regular pay, but found little to spend it on. In sunny California, with extra money on hand, they did the same thing any Classic Bike reader would do. Then, when they were spent, they bought motorcycles with the dough left over.