The U.S. Congress threatened to cut highway maintenance spending by 10% for any state that would not force its bikers to wear helmets. The bikers took on the challenge, and soon a whole biker tabor with roaring motorcycles settled near the California lawmakers' building. The nerves of the deputies couldn't stand it, and the "angels" got the opportunity to ride as they liked.
Sonny Barger's main achievement was the creation of a uniform style in the clothing and behavior of all the "angels" and, to a certain extent, all the bikers in general, as other clubs quickly began to copy the "angelic" habits. The undisputed Leader achieved that his comrades-in-arms identified themselves completely with the club and its "flowers". Hunter Thompson wrote: "Angels" play their role seven days a week: they wear their "colors" at home, outside and sometimes even at work, they drive their bikes to neighboring grocery stores for a quart of milk. An "angel" without his "flowers" feels naked and vulnerable like a knight without armor. Once a cop from Sacramento asked an "angel" 5.5 feet tall and 135 pounds in weight: "Why are you clinginging to all this? "Nobody bothers me as long as I'm racing in my flowers," he answered. "If I don't have flowers, I don't feel at ease.
Federal officials also noted the uniformity in the habits of "angels". "Perhaps, the main feature when determining the belonging to the number of "angels", - was reported in one official report, - should be considered their usual heinous behavior. Police officers in charge of the inquiry keep saying that these people, whether they are members of the club themselves or their girlfriends, could use a good wash. Fingerprints are very useful in establishing identity, as many Hell Angels have a solid criminal record.
Becoming carriers of their own unique style, simple and not too educated "angels" were on the crest of the American counterculture. The famous Ken Keesey - the author of the novel "Flying over the cuckoo's nest" - readily communicated with them. Keesey was the leader of a hippie group called "Pranksters", who experimented with LSD. Psychedelia fascinated the "angels", but not so much to forget about motorcycles and to indulge in meditation. As for Hunter Thompson, who wrote about the "angels" of the book, his biography was no less vivid than that of Sonny Barger. Thompson was prosecuted for robbery, served in the army and traveled to Latin America without a penny in his pocket. But his main merit was the invention of a new genre of journalism, when the reporter is in the center of the described events and turns from an outside observer to a newsmaker. I must say, "angels" after a year of joint travel realized that Thompson wants to earn money on a book about their club, and subjected the journalist to "trampling", that is, beaten to a pulp and thrown out of the gang. But readers appreciated his book with a long title - "Hell's Angels: a strange and terrible saga about illegal motorcycle gangs. Thompson eventually became a major figure in culture. What to say about the many stars and stars of rock 'n' roll, happy with any opportunity to be in the same company with bikers or in something like them.
It seemed logical if the authorities simply closed the club of "angels", declaring it a criminal organization, there were more than enough reasons. But already in the mid-1960s it became clear that the destruction of "angels" would cause a heavy blow to the national industry. The fact is that they considered themselves real patriots and therefore did not touch motorcycles made abroad. The main manufacturer of motorcycles in the U.S. remained Harley-Davidson, but it was actively crowded by Japanese and European competitors due to the low quality and high price of "Harleys". Sonny Barger himself admitted in one of the interviews: "Hell's Angels" began to ride the Harleys mainly because they did not have much choice. For "angels" it was always important to drive American cars. Speaking of quality, I personally don't feel sorry for Harleys. I drive them because I'm in a club, and that's part of the image, but if I could choose, I would drive a Honda or BMW. As I usually say, "Fucking Harley-Davidson!
The Harley-Davidson reserve only had old connections with the security forces - the army and police continued to buy from them - and bikers for whom the Harley-Davidson-based choppers were part of the image. Since it was "angels" who set the fashion in the biker world, Harley-class lobbyists simply couldn't allow anyone to encroach on the winged skull carriers.