Editor's note: Hollister 2008 was reported by Down Under Bikernet correspondent Doc Robinson who travelled half way around the world to attend the 61st Anniversary of the infamous first Hollister weekend. His features are also due to be published in Heavy Duty magazine, the largest H-D mag in Australia.

“What are you rebelling against, Johnny?”

“What have you got?”

Two immortal lines from the movie that started it all, The Wild One, filmed in Hollister, California in 1954 and loosely – very loosely – based on an “invasion of cyclists” who were in town for the local motorcycle races in 1947. Well, in typical mainstream media style the event became distorted and exaggerated beyond belief with the faked photo of a drunken “biker” on his Harley being printed in newspapers and magazines all over the country. Now, truth is often stranger than fiction and out of that weekend, not only a movie, but a culture was spawned – the American Biker culture, which has become a world-wide common culture in countries as diverse as Japan, Australia, most European nation states and even the former Soviet Union.

The voice over at the start of the movie intones in dramatic fashion: “This is a story of shocking violence. It couldn't have happened in most American towns, but the fact that it happened in this one – in this way – is a stern warning that it must not happen again.”

Well here we are, back in Hollister, where tens of thousands of bikers have once again “invaded” the town, but this time as in previous years of the Rally, in a mellow mood and ready to spend money and have a somewhat “mild” rather than a “wild” time, not that there is much choice as, in contrast to the sole town cop in the movie, the police presence during the rally was as usual, way, way over the top given the profile of the typical “biker” these days who, rather than being a bad ass blue collar Joe looking to blow off steam with some wild behaviour is more likely to be an accountant, a dentist or librarian for whom a double-double decaf coffee is likely to be their biggest hit for the weekend.

In fact, if recent Hollister Rallies had spawned a movie it would probably be titled, “The Mild One” and star William H Macy who lamely played the mild mannered computer nerd Dudley in that latest “biker” exploitation flick Wild Hogs. Funnily enough Wild Hogs, as corny as it is, and it surely is, does demonstrate the transition that has taken place whereby the boisterous biker of old, ready to booze and fight at the drop of a hat has become so much more civilised as have today’s production motorcycles, for the most part anyway.

But nevertheless, despite the sea change in today’s biker profile, motorcycles are still the last vestige of freedom and devil may care living. The look in the eyes of cage drivers or passengers as you blast past them, or the envious looks that guys and gals at gas stations throw your way as you dismount to fill up, bedroll strapped to the sissy bar says it all.

Envy, admiration, jealousy – all these emotions and more are stirred in the hearts of non-bikers when they see freedom on two wheels blast past them. What Jerusalem is to Christians, and Mecca is to Muslims, Hollister is to bikers, and almost sacred place if we can use that word in a non-religious sense but in the sense that it stirs deep feelings for anyone with more than a few drops Harley-Davidson oil running in their veins.

Hollister has also been the home town of Mike Corbin since 1977, and the site for the factory which produce the world famous motorcycle seats and much, much more. During the rally there is open house at the impressive Corbin factory down on Technology Parkway, a short couple of miles from downtown.

Both the factory and the Wizard’s Café were extremely well patronised during the rally, with many bikers having seats made to their individual ergonomic needs, tall, short, thin or fat, the Corbin craftsmen can tailor a seat to fit just perfectly.

Corbin, a major sponsor of the rally, also conducted Open Road Motorcycle Tours for those wanting to ride and there and there Many major vendors were displaying their wares with the ATI ProCharger guys drawing a regular crowd to their display of supercharged bikes and staffer, and motorcycle racer Walt Sipp, showing potential customers the cut away models that demonstrate the class engineering of these fine performance products.

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