Rebel riders: on the road with a 1960s biker gang – in pictures

As The Bikeriders hits cinemas, photographer Danny Lyon – whose book about joining the Chicago Outlaws inspired it – talks us through some of his wildest images

Main image: ‘Amazing and often drunk’ … Funny Sonny packing with Zipco, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965. Photograph: Magnum Photos

  • Crossing the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, 1966

    In the early 1960s, photographer Danny Lyon took his camera on the road and became part of the bike-riding community he was portraying. His subsequent book The Bikeriders captured a rebellious subculture, shining a light on the reckless spirit that defined their world. A new publication of his memoirs is out, featuring previously unseen images, alongside a feature film based on his story. The Bikeriders is online via Magnum Photos until 18 August 2024. This Is My Life I’m Talking About is published by Damiani. All photographs copyright of Danny Lyon
    Crossing The Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, USA 1966

  • Outside the Clubhouse of the Chicago Outlaws

    Lyon’s images offer a glimpse of the thrill, the danger, and the gritty reality of life on the open road
    Outside The ClubhouseIn his original book ‘The Bikeriders’ Lyon captured the essence of this rebellious subculture, shining a light on the reckless spirit that defined their world.

  • Danny’s Triumph, Broken Gearbox Spring, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1965

    One afternoon in 1965, Lyon asked the mechanic working on his 440lb British-made Triumph, ‘Do you know any gangs I can photograph?’ Later that week, Lyon was at a diner in Chicago photographing the Outlaws when he was invited to join the club as a permanent member
    My Triumph, broken gearbox spring. New Orleans, Louisiana 1965My Triumph, broken gearbox spring.

  • Route 12, Wisconsin, 1963

    ‘In early 1963, we went to a motorcycle race in Wisconsin. Skip drove his Volkswagen Bug and I sat in the front seat with my Nikon F nestled in my lap. When a small group of riders passed our car I told Skip to keep up with them. Looking through my 105mm lens, it wasn’t that hard to position the five bikes speeding away, and push the shutter button, which went off like a small guillotine, a thsssippp sound you could hear across a room’
    Route 12, Wisconsin 1963’In early 1963, we went to a motorcycle race in Wisconsin. Skip drove his Volkswagen Bug and I sat in the front seat with my Nikon F nestled in my lap. When a small group of riders passed our car I told Skip to keep up with them. They rose up before us, as Route 12 climbed across a bridge over a railroad. Looking through my 105 mm lens, it wasn’t that hard to position the four bikes, speeding away, and push the shutter button, which went off like a small guillotine, a thsssippp sound you could hear across a room.’

  • The Real Benny Bauer

    The 19-year-old Chicago Outlaw played by Austin Butler in Jeff Nichol’s film The Bikeriders
    The real Benny BauerThe nineteen year old Chicago Outlaw that Kathy married.

  • Kathy Bauer

    Kathy, a 25-year-old mother of three children, was the wife of the Outlaw Benny. Warm-hearted and a brilliant storyteller in the original book The Bikeriders, Kathy is played by Jodie Comer in the current film of the same name
    Kathy BauerKathy, a twenty-five-year-old mother of three children, was the wife of the Outlaw Benny. Warm-hearted and a brilliant storyteller in the original book The Bikeriders, Kathy is played by Jodie Comer in the current film of the same name.

  • Funny Sonny packing with Zipco, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965

    ‘Zipco, the amazing and often drunk Milwaukee Outlaw who was born in Latvia, with Funny Sonny riding behind him wearing his Hells Angels colours. Zipco was run over and killed walking across the street one afternoon in Florida’
    Funny Sonny packing with Zipco, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1965The bikeriders project contains a diverse cast of characters, ranging from the devoted racers of McHenry, Illinois, to Zipco, Cockroach, and Cowboy, members of the Chicago Outlaws—the renegade motorcycle club Lyon rode with from 1965 to 1967.

  • Danny Lyon, USA, 1967

    ‘I spent my senior year riding around on my Triumph. My riding buddy was Skip Richheimer, who usually wore a worn brown leather jacket with metal-rimmed glasses tinted a faint green. Once he was sitting behind me on my Triumph at night as we approached some flashing police lights at a roadblock on the Midway. I stopped for the cops at the roadblock, nothing happened, and as we passed Skip leaned forward and reached into my jacket pocket. I turned my head to ask what was up. Just prior to the roadblock he had put all the pot he was carrying into my pocket’
    Danny Lyon, USA 1967 ‘I spent my senior year riding around on my Triumph. My riding buddy was Skip Richheimer, who usually wore a worn brown leather jacket, with met- al-rimmed glasses tinted a faint green. Once he was sitting behind me on my Triumph at night as we approached some flashing police lights at a roadblock on the Midway. I stopped for the cops at the roadblock, nothing happened, and as we passed Skip leaned forward and reached into my jacket pocket. I turned my head to ask what was up. Just prior to the roadblock he had put all the pot he was carrying into my pocket.’

  • Memorial Day Run, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965

    The Outlaws had undergone significant transformations since its formation in the early 50s, with Johnny Davis, a transit truck driver, retaining the club colours after a leadership conflict. The club Lyon joined was defined by the thrill it found on the open road and the camaraderie of their shared rebellion
    Memorial Day Run, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1965The Outlaws had undergone significant transformations since its formation in the early 50s, with Johnny Davis, a transit truck driver, retaining the club colours after a leadership conflict. The club Lyon joined was defined by the thrill it found on the open road and the camaraderie of their shared rebellion.

  • Sparky and Cowboy (Gary Rogues) Schererville, Indiana, 1965

    ‘Rebels and rebellion are one of the saving graces of America’
    Sparky and Cowboy (Gary Rogues) Schererville, Indiana 1965’Rebels and rebellion are one of the saving graces of America’

  • Cal with Little Barbara

    ‘Cal, born in Canada as Arthur Dion, was a former Hells Angel from San Bernadino. He was my best friend in the Outlaws. In my Hyde Park apartment, he narrated many of the stories that became the text of the book. A housepainter, Cal fell off a ladder and died in the 1980s’
    Cal With Little Barbara’Cal, born in Canada as Arthur Dion, riding with Little Barbara. Cal, a former Hells Angel from San Bernadino, was my best friend in the Outlaws. In my Hyde Park apartment, he narrated many of the stories that became the text of the book. A housepainter, Cal fell off a ladder and died in the 1980s.

  • Brucie Walver and Danny Lyon

    ‘Brucie Walver and I during the Outlaw run to Springfield. I am resting the Nikon F on Brucie’s shoulder to keep it steady. Brucie was Johnny’s right-hand man. Most of the bikeriders I knew are dead. Now and then I hear from their children, often asking about parents that I knew, and they didn’t.’ For more information visit Danny Lyon’s website bleakbeauty.com
    ‘Most of the bikeriders I knew are dead. Now and then I hear from their children, often asking about parents that I knew, and they didn’t.’
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