Outlaw Machine

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Few people would dispute that Harley-Davidson motorcycles are sluggish, expensive gas-guzzlers, outperformed by their quicker, more up-to-date Japanese counterparts. How is it, then, that the antediluvian Harley is wildly popular, coveted and revered by hard-core riders and RUBs (Rich Urban Bikers) alike? Yates offers a detailed history-cum-explanation. William Harley, and brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson, operating out of a shed in the Davidsons' backyard in Milwaukee, were an early success. But the company spent decades struggling once it became clear that automobiles, not motorcycles, would be the transportation of the future. After WWII, the company's survival came at a price: media hype about gangs like the Hell's Angels, and a spate of exploitation movies culminating in Easy Rider, effectively defined the bike as the plaything of rebels and ruffians. Yet it is precisely this association, long scorned by management, that lies behind Harley-Davidson's current revival. The Harley--with its bulk, its propensity to break down, its V-twin design unchanged since 1909 and its thundering noise--has become an American icon. While this book covers all the major moments in the company's--and the bikes'--history, Yates's attempts to link social history with the rise and fall of the motorcycle's appeal are forced. The prose can be turgid: Harley riders "assume an attitude of bloated potency and importance embodied in the motorcycle itself." Ultimately, the players in this story--from the pioneers who created the legendary machine to the devotees who ride and adulate it--never come to life as fully as does the motorcycle itself. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In this compelling addition to the literature on the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, journalist and automotive writer Yates (The Critical Path, LJ 7/96) probes the history and culture of the Harley and offers what he sees as the essence of the thundering American motorcycle, which has inspired cultlike devotion. This is a history not of the motorcycle but of the company and the social forces that defined the machine as an image of dissidence and freedom, an image that ultimately saved the company from bankruptcy and elevated the Harley to its status as a cultural icon. For Yates, Harleys have come to symbolize many of the virtues of the American spirit, having overcome a history of mechanical woes, poor company decision-making, and association with outlaw bikers. This is well written and extensively researched; Yates excels at locating events within their broader social and historical context. Solidly recommended for public and academic libraries.--David B. Van De Streek, Pennsylvania State Univ. Libs., York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Dave Shifflet

All in all...Mr. Yates has written an interesting book, full of information, passion, and some pleasing swipes at the cultural conformity that is quickly reaching totalitarian strength.
— The Wall Street Journal

Kirkus Reviews

One fan's breathless overview of the impact Harley-Davidson motorcycles have had on individuals and popular culture. Yates, an editor-at-large for Car and Driver magazine, has here shifted from his career focus—on cars (The Critical Path, 1996, etc.)—to motorcycles. He sets out to examine the peculiar role that Harley-Davidson has played in the creation of the culture of motorcycles and "hogs" in particular. The emphasis is more on people than machines, although the history of the company is a critical part of this undertaking. An early pioneer in motorcycle manufacturing, Harley-Davidson developed some unique technical concepts and survived numerous boom-and-bust cycles in the country's economy and its own industry. The fabled turnaround of this enterprise in the 1980s is covered, yet there is not much explanation of how it occurred. Most of the book deals with motorcycle enthusiasts, including a long history of celebrity riders and especially "bikers," scattered clumps of individualists who find Harley-Davidson motorcycles the ideal symbols for vague ideas about rebellion and freedom. Somewhere along the way, the company decided to promote this antiestablishment symbolism rather than fight it, but in a carefully controlled manner designed to appeal to would-be riders within the establishment itself. Most of the corporate coverage is thin and lacks substance. The author prefers to focus on the culture of Harley fans rather than on the company. Yates does develop an appealing momentum when talking about ownership of Harleys in foreign countries, including Japan and Greece. Unfortunately, this information is too short and comes at the end of the book. Although Yates's proseoffers nothing in the way of persuasive argument, it is colorful, as when aping the argot of bikers. Referring to the competition from overseas, for instance, he lambasts "rice burners" and "Jap scrap" as machines that may represent technological perfection but lack soul. Rambling, rarely insightful, and ultimately disappointing. Generates little original analysis about the Harley phenomenon. (16 pages photos, not seen)