Heavy Mettle: Photographs, Michael Lichter
36 images Created 27 Aug 2020
<p>I'm not sure why I bought a stripped-down Shovelhead in 1977, but I do know this purchase changed my life.With camera around my neck, I set out on several cross-country trips and, by 1980, was shooting events and custom bikes for Easyriders Magazine. Assignments eventually since resulted in more than 1,000 published features on the best customs, 39 Sturgis Bike Weeks, nearly the same of Daytona, and numerous other events around the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Europe. These assignments have made it possible for me to document the biker lifestyle for four decades. It also led to commercial work in the motorcycle industry, calendars, 11 coffee table books, and the series of limited-edition images from which the prints hanging here are examples. </p>
<p>Since I bought that first Harley, custom motorcycles have become immensely popular and evolved considerably, as has the culture surrounding them. It was once thought of as something for outlaws and renegades, but by the mid-1980s, perceptions changed, and it became not only socially acceptable to pull up all clad in leather looking tough on a big Harley, it became cool! Motorcycle gatherings grew in number and attendance, and for better or worse, they became more organized and commercial into the 2000s. The days when "we just pulled over to the side of the road, and after a little partying we'd sleep where we fell" as Sonny Barger, a past president of the Oakland Hells Angels wrote, seemed to disappear in seemingly direct correlation to the attention motorcycles received on television. </p>
<p>Year after year, motorcycling grew year after year until the 2008 crash. All bets were off. Both riders and the motorcycle industry suffered a big hit. The outlook seemed bleak, but thankfully, beneath the surface, a new generation was coming of age with a different set of interests, concerns, priorities, and ways of being. A revival is underway with less regard for what people ride and the accouterments of the culture, and more attention is given the things that count, like getting out to ride and sharing the experiences with friends.</p>
<p>Since I bought that first Harley, custom motorcycles have become immensely popular and evolved considerably, as has the culture surrounding them. It was once thought of as something for outlaws and renegades, but by the mid-1980s, perceptions changed, and it became not only socially acceptable to pull up all clad in leather looking tough on a big Harley, it became cool! Motorcycle gatherings grew in number and attendance, and for better or worse, they became more organized and commercial into the 2000s. The days when "we just pulled over to the side of the road, and after a little partying we'd sleep where we fell" as Sonny Barger, a past president of the Oakland Hells Angels wrote, seemed to disappear in seemingly direct correlation to the attention motorcycles received on television. </p>
<p>Year after year, motorcycling grew year after year until the 2008 crash. All bets were off. Both riders and the motorcycle industry suffered a big hit. The outlook seemed bleak, but thankfully, beneath the surface, a new generation was coming of age with a different set of interests, concerns, priorities, and ways of being. A revival is underway with less regard for what people ride and the accouterments of the culture, and more attention is given the things that count, like getting out to ride and sharing the experiences with friends.</p>
