The Hollister Independence Day Rally was back in full force for the 60th Anniversary in this infamous Central Coast town, and it appears to be on track to regain its status as one of the country’s premier motorcycle runs.
This year the run was organized by Horsepower Promotions instead of the Hollister City Council and the changes from years past were evident. The cops were out, but nothing like last year, although the Department of Justice had its helicopter flying nonstop over the skies of Hollister and Bolado Park. Your author and many others took the liberty of showing their bird our “bird”, if you catch my drift.
We arrived in town Friday afternoon and went to set up camp in Bolado Park as a guest of the Boozefighters MC in their private camp area. There were chapters from all over CA and other points east. We settled in and then a couple of us took off on our bikes to Tres Pinos, a small town between Bolado Park and Hollister where we drank and smoked cigars outside on the front patio of the Cantina. Tres Pinos was a happening place to be, with hot women and good music, and lots of good looking motorcycles out front.
One biker pulled up on his Honda 750 chopper, and his buddy on a new Road King complained that the Honda stole the show everywhere they went. Honda or not, those 750 chops are definitely the definition of cool and deserve the attention they get.
We cruised back to Bolado definitely more buzzed than when we left, and spent the rest of the night bullshitting with old friends and watching the band. We finally got to bed around 2am.
The next day we were up and ready to head into downtown Hollister. The first thing that I noticed is that San Benito street was completely blocked off to 4 and 2 wheel traffic, and it was filled with vendors. Parking was a bitch to find, and we ended up parking 3 blocks from downtown. I have always felt that the focus of motorcycle rallies should be on bikes, and part of that is that bikes should be front and center. Instead there were a lot of vendors, most hawking the same t-shirts.
I am a vendor whore, but I was quickly bored seeing the same shit. There were some cool vendor booths; Matt Hotch was located in the Crime Inc. booth, and he had a couple of his bikes on display. His Vincent chopper that he built is un-fuckingbelievable in person and had a lot of cool details that really stood out.
Another vendor with a cool product was Ray C. Wheeler from W8LESS Brake Rotors. Ray makes a ceramic composite brake rotor that, compared to a stock Harley “boat anchor” (Ray’s words), feels like a feather. It is light, available in any color you want, and will last a long, long time. Ray said the less weight on your front end, the easier it is to keep your tire in contact with the road which results in better handling. These rotors will reduce your sprung weight and they will never get hot or warp. The W8LESS Rotor weighs 1.9lbs versus OEM at 4.9.
Johnny’s on San Benito street was packed tight with people, but somehow we got in and had a drink. There was definitely a cool vibe in this historic spot and it was great to see old friends and meet new ones. The new mural painted on the outside wall of Johnny’s is awesome, depicting Boozefighter legend and founder Wino Willie, and also Johnny from “The Wild One’s” movie.
After spending most of the day downtown, we started the hike back to our motorcycles. We saw about 15 flatbed tow trucks lined up towing bikes that parked in the wrong place on side streets. Those are going to be some unhappy dudes when they see that their bikes are gone. Parking was a definite problem this year, and one that I hope will be addressed for next year. There is something about being on San Benito Street and hearing that nonstop rumble of thousands of bikes.
Bolado Park saw a huge improvement from last year, but hasn’t quite returned back to its glory years of 1997-1998. Back then, Bolado had drag races, hill climbs, national entertainment, and lots of vendors. It was a wild party. As the Hollister Rally re-establishes itself, hopefully Hollister will become more of a weekend destination rally instead of a day ride, like it is for so many bikers from the Bay Area and Central Valley of California.
When we got back to camp, we drank, ate, and watched the BFMC bike show hosted by Snowman from Chapter 3. Michael Litcher was on hand taking pictures, and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Bob Macmillan from the Yellow Jackets MC Gardena Chapter. When Brown Dogg of the Boozefighters asked him if he needed anything, he replied that he just wanted to find more living members of the Yellow Jackets MC. If you have any information, contact me or Bandit and I will relay the information.
Hollister is the birthplace of the modern biker, and it still gives me chills when I roll into town for the rally. It was here that bikers were firmly implanted into American culture, and the dedication that people put forth to make this rally happen should not go unnoticed. It’s back to the grind for Rebelmark. I have a 2007 Road Glide to pick up and break in before Sturgis, and all the other shit that happens in between.
Ride Free!
