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The Common Tread crew wishes you a happy Independence Day holiday, however you choose to celebrate, whether that's a long, solo motorcycle ride or grillin' and chillin' with the family. In case your day includes a few quiet moments where you'd appreciate some motorcycle reading, we decided to dig up a few past July 4 articles from the Common Tread archives to give them a little more time in the sun.
Here are three suggestions for holiday-themed entertainment, ranging from more to less serious.
The most infamous July 4 in motorcycling
In 2022, the holiday was the 75th anniversary of an infamous moment in motorcycling in the United States, one that was amplified (distorted?) by sensationalistic media coverage and arguably influenced the image of motorcycling and motorcyclists for years to come, even today. That holiday weekend in 1947, thousands of bikes converged on the town of Hollister, California. Wild though it was, the weekend would have been forgotten if not for a photo that appeared in the next issue of Life magazine, which at the time had a national audience far beyond what any publication could have today.
Life published the famous image above, taken by a local news photographer, and it gave the entire country an impression of motorcyclists. Common Tread contributor Jerry Smith dug deep into the history of the event and even tracked down the man standing in the background of that photo, who confirmed that the photo had been staged. Read Jerry's account of what happened in Hollister all those years ago.
Take a history-themed ride
Maybe the best way to observe the holiday and indulge our love of motorcycling is to take a ride to historic sites related to the Revolutionary War. Two years ago, our former colleague Jen Dunstan fired up her REVER app and planned four routes in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas and Virginia that connected historical landmarks and also included some good riding areas. See her proposed routes.
And, for something entirely less serious...
If history (either 20th century or 18th century) feels like too heavy reading for a holiday, well, here's some more recent and less weighty history.
Back in 2014, Common Tread was a newborn and, in terms of creating content, RevZilla was known for its videos, especially the monthly "deals" video that featured new products that had just arrived and items that were on sale. Of course, looking at some helmets, jackets, and boots can get boring quickly, so the video team went to some seriously unserious lengths to make it worth your time to watch every month.
And that's how the world got a July, 2014 video opening with RevZilla co-founder Anthony in stars-and-stripes boxing gloves and shorts and top hat and closing with sidekick Hi-Viz Brian wearing cutoffs and an eagle mask while doing a burnout on a Sportster. (See the photo at top or skip straight to the burnout scene in the video here, if that's more your idea of July 4 entertainment. You're welcome.)
Happy Independence Day, y'all.
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