Bikers decked out for parade of Harleys

There was no marching band in Saturday's parade, but nobody could have heard one anyway.

The throaty sound of tuned Harleys was music enough for the thousands of HOG members astride their bikes. They were young turks and grannies, middle-aged men and babes with bare midriffs.

Main and Water streets from Broadway to Independence and part of Themis were closed to all non-motorcyle traffic Saturday and became a biker town for the evening. The air was lively with music, laughter, the occasional blue streak and motorcycles.

Hairdressers, mechanics, businessmen and bank tellers clad in denim, leather and Lycra were welcomed to the downtown business district after the parade. With lifestyles as diverse as their bikes, all were family under the carburetor.

Some Fat Boys carried just that: big ol' boys with grizzled, ZZ-Top beards and bellies that have been filled with their fair share of Budweiser.

Others carried sexy couples with well-toned backgrounds for their tattoos.

Most clung to the anonymity of first names, escaping their daily lives for the freedom offered by a biker's life, if only for a weekend.

Maggie, 66, a homemaker from Springfield, Mo., wore a helmet sticker that proclaimed "a woman's place is on the road!"

Her husband parked their pearlescent purple Ultra Glide next to a sleek, matte black T-sport.

Some bikes were airbrushed in styles with whimsical cartoon figures, animal totems and flames; others with jagged spikes and other emblems of danger like the grim reaper.

Ed, 54, a tattoo artist from Carbondale, said the idea behind skulls and crossbones on motorcyles is similar to theory behind Halloween masks -- "to scare away bad spirits or something," he said.

"Mostly it's to look cool, though."

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160