The Galveston County Daily News

It’s been 40 years since Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda got their motors running in “Easy Rider.” It was 56 years ago that Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin tussled in “The Wild One.” Still, the lure of taking to the open road on a Harley-Davidson or a custom chopper is alive and well, especially in Galveston County.

Long gone are the days when those on the back of a Harley are neer-do-wells and outlaws. Today’s riders are lawyers, cops, stay-at-home moms, doctors, engineers and pastors.

The Motorcycle Industry Council, a trade group, said the number of American households that own motorcycles jumped 26 percent from 2003 to 2008. In 2008, the trade group estimated there were 10.4 million motorcycles on the road, compared to 6.6 million a decade earlier.

In 2003, Baby Boomer riders outnumbered Generation Y (that’s people in their 20s and early 30s) motorcyclists almost 4-to-1, the motorcycle council said. Since then Gen Y motorcycle ownership grew 62 percent, putting the current ratio at 2-to1.

A national survey of motorcycle owners showed that more riders are using their bikes for general transportation. Everyday transportation was No. 2 on the list for reasons people ride bikes, while recreation remained No. 1.

Amy Allen King, 35, is a League City stay-at-home mom who just loves to ride.

“I really started riding motorcycles when I was 6,” King said. She said she rode “the baddest minibike in the neighborhood, but as I outgrew it I went to three-wheelers.

“When I was little, it was cool to be like all the ‘other boys,’ but later it was to be around the things I like best, motorcycles and men.”

These days she rides with her husband, Johnny, on their 2004 Harley-Davidson Bagger FLHT. King’s 10-year-old daughter, Jordan, also loves to ride.

In the United States, 5.7 million women ride motorcycles. Women also account for 12.3 percent of the nation’s motorcycle owners, the Motorcycle Industry Council estimates.

It’s because of the growing acceptance among women that Annette and Don Nicholson went from riding bikes on the weekend to being co-owners of what could be considered a motorcycle-lifestyle mall in Bacliff.

Their company, Xtreme Texas Choppers, is a motorcycle dealer, clothing retailer, service department and custom motorcycle fabricator. The business also is the front for a biker bar called Mother’s and a tattoo parlor.

“It just happened,” Annette said. “We were looking to open a business, and we rode, mainly on weekends. We noticed that this area had a lot of bike clubs and a lot of riders, but you had to go all the way into Houston for a dealership, especially to find custom choppers or a certified Harley service shop.”

When the Nicholsons started the business six years ago, the motorcycle life was just catching on with women as a mainstream activity.

Because women were a growing client base, Annette and her husband moved their small shop from League City to a complex they built on state Highway 146 in Bacliff.

The showroom is stocked with $30,000 rides, mainly manufactured by Iron Horse and Ridley.

And with form-fitting tops by Twin Motorcycle Apparel and leather goods, including handbags, the store generates as much traffic for its apparel as it does for bike sales, Nicholson said.

Other popular biker fashions for women include selections from Sinful, Shirley of Hollywood and Laculture.

Harley-Davidson is heavy in the retail clothing business. In 2006, the motorcycle giant generated $66.6 million in apparel sales.

Still, denim jeans, a T-shirt and leather jacket remain the most popular items to wear while on the road.

The biker life wouldn’t be complete without a place to hang out, and Galveston County is never short of biker bars.

At the top of the list is the county’s oldest biker bar, Murphy’s on Main, on FM 518 near state Highway 146 in La Marque.

The classic bar has been catering to bikers since 1967 and hasn’t changed much since it opened.

It may be best known as the home of the annual Honda drop, a fundraiser where foreign-made motorcycles are dropped 40 feet from a crane.

Murphy’s recently expanded, adding a sister bar on state Highway 6 in Santa Fe named Murphy’s on 6. Other biker friendly bars in the county include Cruisers in Santa Fe, Ronnie’s Icehouse in Dickinson, the Scoreboard in Texas City, Woody’s in Galveston and just about every bar in San Leon or Bacliff.

The right bike, the right clothes and the right biker bar make for the quintessential biker life.

King has another way of describing it: “Freedom.”

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At A Glance

WHAT: Lone Star Rally

WHEN: Oct. 29 through Nov. 1 (Thursday through Sunday)

WHERE: Downtown Galveston

ONLINE: www.lonestarrally.com

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Know The Lingo

If you plan to hop on a Hog, it’s best you know the lingo of the road. Here are a few things every rider should know.

Brain bucket — A motorcycle helmet

Cherry tops — Police cars

Chopper — A radically customized motorcycle with a sweeping front end

Crotch rocket — A small sport bike with high horsepower, often with an aggressive riding posture

Cruiser — A low and long motorcycle

Eat asphalt — A crash

Fathead — The dual cam V-Twin manufactured since 1999

Flathead — V-Twin engine manufactured from 1929 to 1972

Fast riding award — A speeding ticket

Hog or hawg —A Harley-Davidson motorcycle; HOG is an acronym for Harley Owners Group

Jiffy — Side kickstand

Lane stealer — A car driver who tries to squeeze by a motorcycle rider in his lane, merges in too close to him or passes him in a no passing zone

Lay it down — A crash

Leathers — Motorcycle riding gear, including jacket, pants, gloves and boots

OTB — Acronym for Over The Bars, which is the rider going over the top of the handlebars in a crash

Pavement surfing — Sliding down the highway after laying down a bike

Pipes — Exhaust pipes

Ride captain — The leader of a group ride

Road rash — An abrasion that results from sliding along the ground after a motorcycle crash

Super slab — Large expanses of open road — highways, interstates and expressways

Source: www.motorcyclegiftshop.com