- Hardcover: 249 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; illustrated edition edition (4 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316967181
- ISBN-13: 978-0316967181
- Product Dimensions: 15.9 x 2.5 x 24.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 835,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
For decades, motorcycles have been the ultimate symbol of danger, rebellion, and freedom, and Harley-Davidson bikes have always been the baddest of them all. Now, with Outlaw Machine, noted automotive writer Brock Yates tells the definitive history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Motorcycle culture encompasses men and women, teenagers and retirees, gangs in leather jackets and riders in Brooks Brothers suits. Yates traces Harleys from their relatively wholesome prewar image (when Clark Gable was a devoted fan) to the birth of the Hells Angels, Easy Rider, and their current worldwide status as the ultimate in style and attitude.
He also tells the success story of the company itself -- a small family business that transformed itself into the industry leader, only to face bankruptcy after years of Japanese competition. In the 1980s, the company made a stunning turnaround, when white-collar suburbanites rediscovered the Harley -- sleek, menacing, and loud -- as a true American classic.
About the Author
Brock Yates is editor-at-large for CAR AND DRIVER, commentator for the Speedvision Cable Network, a screenwriter and the author of several books and writer for many magazines, including PLAYBOY and READER'S DIGEST.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The noise. The god-awful death rattle issuing from the bowels of his infernal machine. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The noise. The god-awful death rattle issuing from the bowels of his infernal machine. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a thinking man's guide to Harley Davidson, but moreover a thoughtful anaysis of what primeval forces are at work in the market place and in our psyches causing us to lust after such a machine. Brock Yates addresses such questions as: Why do respectable dentists and stock brokers long to be week-end outlaws; why does riding a Harley symbolize rebellion against an over-regulatory society; and why do the clueless Japanese continue to offer high tech versions of the Harley.
Personally, I never knew absolutely why I chose to ride a Harley or why I continue to cling to the nebulous Harley Davidson mystique, but after reading this book, I think I do. This book is a must read for the Harley enthusiast or even the non-enthusiast who simply wants to understand all the fuss!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In my opinion Brock Yates does one of the best jobs to date in relating the real ("non-corporate")Harley Davidson Factory story especially as it relates to the long standing conflict between the factory's desired clean cut "Harley Rider" image and the outlaw/1%er culture which has and continues to be one of the primary driving forces behind the current boom in American V-twin Motorcycles. It's well written and presents both sides in a fair and objective manner. Additionally, Yates really understands and accurately relates the underlying "In Your Face" attitude that most riders don't talk about, yet rides with them (us) every mile. This is a great book for anyone interested in the American V-twin lifestyle be they new to it or a long term patch holder. As a lifelong rider and advide collector of both biker books and movies, I classify "OUTLAW MACHINE" as a "must have" for anyone interested in the subject. It certainly contains information that was new to me. It's also especially good for newcomers in that it provides a very good overview while not becoming bogged down in the alphabet soup of model designations and biker jargon. GREAT JOB BROCK!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've read most of Brock's books and have enjoyed them immensely. Here he takes the reader on a historical tour of a timeless marque. He does it with his usual style, good humor and enlightened cynicism. He stands not in awe of the "Milwaukee monsters", but is a chronicler who dares to point out the pluses and minuses of a machine whose very existence is a minor miracle. They aren't high tech, can't compare in quality or performance with their Japanese competitors but enjoy a cache rarely afforded a product that falls short in so many areas.But Yates finds a way to explain this phenomena. He calls a spade a spade, but in doing so penetrates the veil of intense loyalty exhibited by the Harley Davidson trifosi. I own six Harleys and love them all! This is a fun book and a great read. Yates has another winner that deserves to be in the library of any Harley lover. Clint Allen- The Allen Vintage Motorcycle Museum.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Throwaway Book from a Good Writer
Yates is a fine writer who took an inherently fascinating topic - a social and corporate history of H-D, its near death in the 70's, and its revival in the '80s and '90s - and... Read more
Published on 10 July 1999
A dull book by a writer who didn't get it.
Brock Yates did some reading about Harley-Davidson motorcycles, collected some pictures, and wrote a book. Read more
Published on 7 July 1999
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