The Life and Times of Bandit

Well here it is 2024. The years are flying by like the high line poles, to quote the late great Merle Haggard. I just turned 77. I finished building a classic style chopper for a young guy who thinks he wants to be part of the lifestyle. The bike came out nice and he loves

  AI illustrations by Wayfarer   Editor’s Note: I wrote this in response to the Bikeriders Movie. I wanted to show that all outlaw outcomes are not negative or bad. There’s way more to the biker world than drinking beer and fighting. I’m working on another piece, hang on!   Frankie’s folks beat him with fists

As usual, I don’t know where to start. The shop was finished and we experienced our first real winter in the Black Hills. The redhead slid off the driveway in her Subaru and it took two pickups, chains and an excavator to pull her back onto the concrete, and we don’t live on a hill…

This is going to be good, like the party of parties before the battle for freedom and America begins. I’ll stay between the white lines as I attempt to cover the rally and my first wild experience after relocating to the Black Hills and available for action every day. The constant hum of action prevailed

I’ve never been a fan of velocity stacks. One, I was just a hardworking sort and couldn’t afford top end jobs every year. I tried to build shit that was fast but would hang together. One time back in the ‘70s a brother called me and needed back up for a weed score in the

I’m trying to write something, but for the first time in my life I can’t get a solid story line rolling. I almost bought another chopper project yesterday. It would be my first build project in Deadwood. A buddy of mine came over yesterday. He’s from the old school Chicago streets and he’s a riddled

This is a strange one. I’ve been an outlaw most of my life and my drug of choice was women. I don’t know how to explain or if I can. I’m not proud to say, Laurie was one of the first episodes in a series of many. I’m reading a book by Dr. Pat Allen.

Sam picks for the Week October 27, 2020 This effort has forced me to think about all the bullshit in my past, the good and the bad. It makes me think about how and why I survived. I’m sure Sonny had to face the same demons when he started to write about his life. I

  Hey, This is a test with Sam’s Picks of the Week as a backdrop. I’ve been bugged about a book about my life. But my life is checkered with ups and down and violent does and don’ts. So, this is sort of an attempt at an outline or rough story line. There won’t be

This is going to be a tough one. Hell, this is one of the toughest years in a while. How the hell do you judge it. In a sense we don’t. We just deal with it and move on. That’s life. It’s always changing, whether we like it or not. I’ve studied Buddhism for a

Here’s some of the bikes I’ve had since the late ‘70s. There were several more, but they were just something to roll over and make a few bucks. I am currently buying a ‘98 1200 Sportster slightly wrecked for $1000. I’ll send pictures of what I am doing to it to make money to build

So, here is the story. After living in Boulder City, Nevada for eight years I decided I needed a change. I have a daughter in Oklahoma City and a son in Nashville. They both have homes with extra rooms for me. I have never really explored the east, so I packed up my old ‘86

I’ve known and worked with Gene Thomason at Bartels’ H-D in Marina Del Rey, California for about 35 years. He was always known for his Harley-Davidson and Marlboro Man bikes, but he worked with way more celebrities during his long history with Bartels. Gene has been with Bartels’ most of his adult life, for 35

This is a tough one. About five years ago, I turned 65 and my old lady of 14 years split. We would sit in bed with our first cup of coffee and kick around what was happening in our lives and the world. That sunny morning, she told me she couldn’t stand how my keys

I just watched the George Clooney and Evan McGregor film, “Men who Stare at Goats.” It made no sense, but about a decade before the Iraq war, maybe two, I owned goats and was a member of the Hells Angels. I lived on a half-acre in Sun Valley on the outskirts of the San Fernando

  This is a quirky story, but it’s all good. I met a guy named Steve Curran at a brisk Easyriders show in fog-strewn Seattle in the mid-90s where I met my Indian and Steve’s ’59 Panhead. A short squat but stand-up guy, we talked because of his love of martial arts and his bike.

This may be an epiphany and maybe not. Uncle Monkey explained 2016 at the year’s end. Too bad. I wish I knew this coming in. It might have helped. UNCLE MONKEY ON THIS YEAR–It has been an amazing year. It was one of those touchstone years that come every 16 years or so. 2000 was

I’m writing this in 2013 and life is scrambling. Bikernet has tripled in size, my girl left me, and we have two Bonneville projects rolling. We are more involved in the industry than ever before, and the projects in this old hotel never end. Plus, we are two weeks from Christmas 2013 and it’s Friday

The Wrong Arrest Or Was That The Wrong Girl? By Bandit Last issue I mentioned that I’d jump off the confessional and spring forth with violence, clubs, and action this issue. Since Laughlin just rocked the world, I’ll stay away from my history with patches and let the current dust settle. This issue, we’ll step

Asphalt Treks, Chrome Missions Bandit Reflects On Life In the Saddle By K. Randall Ball Hey, Someone told me recently that I have some fleeting knowledge of the bike industry, that what I have to say about the past, my bikes, and other shit might have some consequence. I tried to convince them that I

Jumped A Couple of Decades Tearin’ It Up On The Streets Of Sturgis By Bandit I don’t know why I leapt from the ’70s to the ’90s? Suppose it could have been the date, the first of August, when I would usually be cutting a hot dusty trail to Sturgis. The year in question was

My First Outlaw Learning About Motorcycle Geometry From The Seat Of My Pants By K. Randall Ball It was in 1970, and I didn’t know many riders and didn’t really care to. I suppose it was a personality flaw. I was recently released from the Navy after three tours in Vietnam, and I was taking