By: Andrew Cheng

Sonny Barger, the leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, an organization known for bullying, brawling, and rule infringement, died in Livermore, California at 83 on June 29th due to liver cancer.

During many decades of Mr. Barger’s life, he was known not only as a motorcycle club leader but also as a significant public figure of a nationwide counterculture tribe, who usually yelled down the open highways and crossroads town, shocking people with their behavior. Those who engaged in similar behaviors like Barger were called “road warriors.” These road warriors were a rowdy group known for their machismo, tattoos, winged death head insignia, booze, dope, rides on thundering Harley-Davidson hogs, and a lust for the unfettered freedom found on the open road. Barger also boastfully committed that he has done many illegal behaviors such as drugs and brawling. Surprisingly this outlaw man has urged a simple existence: “Discover your limits by exceeding them.”

The Hells Angels, a motorcycle organization that has a corporate entity with small groups from California to New York, has 16 members and hangers-on, got convictions in Carolina for drug distribution, gun running, money laundering, etc. Although Barger’s organization did not fit the status quo, it didn’t stop him from contributing to the biker movie by serving as a technical consultant. Although Barger might not be a “good person” that follows the law, he contributed to the production of classic biker movies such as the 1953 classic “The Wild One” and “Hells Angels on Wheels.”

Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/us/sonny-barger-dead-hells-angels.html