Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The History of Outlaw motorcycle Clubs

Outlaw motorcycle clubs have existed approximately since the origin of motorcycles. approximately as soon as motorcycles began production in the early twentieth century, clubs began emerging around the United States, although the outlaw label would come about later. These clubs brought together motorcycle enthusiasts for rides and other events.

One of the first long chronic motorcycle clubs to emerge was the McCook Outlaws in 1936. The group would later be called the Chicago Outlaws and is now known as the Outlaws motorcycle Club. The group supposedly formed for long length touring and racing. Alcohol consumption and partying were secondary, but important, reasons as well.

California Sky Diving

With the end of World War Ii in 1945, young soldiers returned home finding for more adventure. Veterans often sought other war survivors out for companionship and comprehension and the lure of motorcycle riding became entwined in some of these relationships. The American motorcycle association or Ama sponsored many clubs while the post war years.

In the late 1940s, after a disturbance in the town of Hollister, California, some individuals responded to a Life narrative by stating that the disorder was due to only a small percentage of the motorcyclists there. The statements seemed to many to have come from the Ama and some biker clubs broke away from the organization. Clubs not linked with the Ama would come to be known as the One Percenters or outlaw clubs.

Outlaw motorcycle clubs started emerging all over the United States and included clubs like the Bandidos motorcycle Club, the Pagans motorcycle Club, and the Hell's Angels motorcycle Club. With the coming of the Vietnam War, the clubs experienced sharp increases in membership as disenfranchised veterans found acceptance and solace in the clubs.

The influx of Vietnam vets also brought drug culture into the clubs, as many soldiers had been introduced to illegal drugs in Asia. The clubs received negative labels from the surface and were often targeted by law officials. Hollywood presented a whole of movies that built on this negative, violent perception. A sub-culture advanced surrounding the groups. Many members of the outlaw clubs insist that illegal operation happens with only a small percentage of the members and shouldn't be used to label everyone.

While places like Canada have seen more violence and illegal drug activities in new years (in what is known as the Quebec Biker War), perception in the United States has seem to shift somewhat. Favorite television series, like Monster Garage, portray members of an outlaw motorcycle club in a more favorable light.

Outlaw motorcycle clubs have an important place in the history of the twentieth century. Although their image has not always been positive, the sub-culture of the clubs has influenced American culture.

The History of Outlaw motorcycle Clubs

Friday, September 23, 2011

A Brief History of Bmx Bikes

Bmx (bicycle motocross) racing has come a long way since it was first conceptualized. In fact, the humble origins of the sport are often cited as stemming from the motocross documentary, On Any Sunday, which opened in 1971. The chance scenes of that movie followed kids on their Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycles riding dirt tracks and imitating motocross riders.

Of course, those scenes were based on something that was already taking place. Ordinarily it is recognized that Bmx as a sport found its footing in California. The motorcycle races were predominantly composed of kids who had the desire to share in motocross but could not afford it. Instead, these riders would groom their own dirt courses and use their bikes. Today's Bmx racing tracks, with inline starts and expressive obstacles, trace back to this origin.

California Sky Diving

While ever since the invention of the motorcycle there have been those who attempted innovations and tricks, most bikes up until this point were designed primarily as a means of transportation. Schwinn's Sting-Ray changed that. The Sting-Ray was released in 1963 at a time when custom cars and motorbikes were becoming popular. It was custom-built for riding off-road at high speeds and landing jumps. These bikes became popular fast, and fast became one of the best-selling bikes in the country. Afterward, more manufacturers took note and began designing bicycles with similar custom features, such as twenty-inch wheels.

As custom bikes prolonged to grow in popularity and fabricate evolution, riders prolonged to test the limits of what they could do. As this trend prolonged into the 1980s, Bmx came to be about more than just racing. Riders began to achieve skateboard-style tricks, and this is how the freestyle agency of Bmx was born. As a result, new bikes were designed to contribute optimal conditions for performing increasingly difficult tricks.

By the 1990s, the sport was nearly ubiquitous. Bmx was featured as a major part of the X-Games on Espn. That trend has prolonged to the gift day, where Bmx racing is bigger than ever. The sport has grown to have its own international governing body, and Bmx races took place as an Olympic sport for the first time in 2008.

Along with the sport, the bikes themselves have prolonged to evolve. Anything curious in Bmx biking today has a high and diverse number of bikes available. Which bike is best for you depends on how you plan to ride.

In essence, Bmx bikes are naturally a type of mountain bike designed to excel on off-road surfaces. These bikes feature 18- to 24-inch wheels and are designed to be lightweight and durable. Their fabricate makes them particularly powerful for racing and tricks.

There are nothing else but three forms of Bmx racing, with specially designed bikes in each category; namely, racing, freestyle and jumping bikes. Either you want to race competitively or just have fun on homemade trails, these categories can still be helpful for determining which kind of bike is best for you.

Racing Bmx designs are made specifically with the idea of speed in mind. They are composed of lightweight frames and feature customized tires designed to excel on off-road surfaces.

Freestyle bikes are very sturdy, with thick frames and pavement-ready Bmx tires. These bikes are best for riding in skate parks, where you can learn and custom stunts and tricks.

Finally, jump bikes feature strong, sturdy frames, capable suspension systems and knobby tires. As the name suggests, they are meant to deal with jumps comfortably, Either that be as part of a circuit or a homemade jump in the backyard. These bikes are also good on trails.

If you are just starting out riding off-road at high speeds, then you may want to start with a racing Bmx, as these allow you to get out on the track and will have you studying the basics in no time. It is also never a bad idea to feel your local bike shop to get advice on which bike will work for your purposes and with your build.

In increasing to these categories, motorcycle customization is becoming more widely accessible. This allows you to tailor your bike to your definite racing and aesthetic desires. Either you want a bike you can occasionally take off-road at high speeds, or you are looking to come to be a devoted Bmx racer, today's Bmx rider has more biking options ready than ever before.

A Brief History of Bmx Bikes

Monday, August 15, 2011

Freebording - History of The Freebord

Extreme Athletes Conquer mom Nature With Technology!

Sometime in the mid 1990s when the X Games were just coming into their own and athletes were just beginning to go "extreme," a group of snowboarders and inventors got together under the direction of Steen shoreline and created the unique sport of Freebording. Essentially, shoreline wanted to combine the grace and ease of lateral movement (or "sliding") that snowboarding allows with the year-round fun of skateboarding. He knew that if he could recreate the appeal boarders loved on the slopes without the snow that he would have something spectacular.

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Freebording Started In a Garage...

Strand teamed up with Bayard Winthrop and the two began manufacturing prototypes in Strand's Garage. The first usable Freebords were essentially proper long boards with a pair of caster wheels bolted to the bottom just behind the trucks. These caster wheels simulate the gliding activity that a snowboard's base allows. eventually shoreline extended the hangers on those trucks so that the wheels stuck out past the edges of the Freebord in order to simulate the grabbing activity of a snowboard's steel edge.

Freebords appealed to riders, especially in those in the hidden skating/boarding scene in California (many of whom were featured in mid-90' skate documentaries like Concrete Powder, Science Friction, and Never Winter) and flourished.

Technology Improves the Ride

However radical those first Freebords were, they weren't exactly perfect. The caster wheels had a tendency to vomit ball bearings, the boards themselves were long and ungainly, and they lacked any sort of binding-relying solely on skateboard grip tape. Over the years, Freebording, the sport and the equipment itself, have undergone some basic changes.

On the technical side, the boards have shrunk to more manageable sizes and weights in expanding to losing their kick tails. The casters have undergone numerous redesigns, ending with a piece of machined hardware that keeps its ball bearings snug and tight. In addition, the trucks' base plates have been significantly widened for stability and strength. Also, the composites used in the building of the Freebord wheels have changed, allowing for greater variations in hardness which widens the styles of Freebording that riders can enjoy.

However, the most noticeable expanding to the Freebord's primary create is the adjustable S2 binding law which allows the Freebord rider a much great level of operate and stability in any situation. The bindings weren't nothing else but one of Strand's create elements. They were invented out of necessity by a California rider who lost a foot to cancer. The rider (whose name is Tim) rigged his own binding to keep his artificial limb from sliding off his Freebord, and when shoreline heard about this homemade rig he incorporated the bindings into the final design.

If you want to learn more about freebording, check out Freebordsite.com, your best online source for everything you need to know about freebords.

Freebording - History of The Freebord