1975 Harley Davidson XLH Sportster "Bronson Bike"

NAME: Bill Weder
Age 61
Home: St. Jacob, IL
Occupation: Retired Pilot

I bought this bike new in 1975 because of the movie & TV show Then Came Bronson. As an impressionable 15 year old that show instilled the possibilities of unlimited adventure on two wheels. Jim Bronson's 1969 Harley-Davidson Sportster could do anything. Touring bike, hill climbs, desert racing and it occasionally rode to someone's rescue.

My first bike was a 1970 Harley Rapido (because of the show), then a Harley Baja, then a 450 Honda that I took on my first of many "Bronson Trips." I was 18 years old, was gone for eight days, rode 3,000 miles, camped all along the way at a total trip cost all of $125. It was great. When I was 21 I had finally saved up enough to buy a Sportster, and with $3,000 in my pocket I went to the nearest Harley dealer to buy one. But no one paid any attention to this short, skinny "kid" so I got mad and left. I learned that Thumbs Plocher, an old local rider who worked on motorcycles, had bought several new Harleys in damaged crates and I finally had a Sportster, which remains the only new vehicle I have ever bought.

To me the Sportster was the standard by which all motorcycles are rated. Other bikes were either bigger or smaller, smoother or rougher, louder or quieter, faster or slower. I rode it to a country airport for all my flying lessons and became a flight instructor, charter pilot, and corporate pilot over a 20 year career. My unofficial survey around airports showed that most pilots ride, or used to ride, motorcycles. I think every girlfriend I had rode on this bike. Over the years, I converted it to fit my needs as a commuter or touring bike with various seats, saddle bags, windshields, and fuel tanks and knobby tires. But I always looked at it as a Bronson Bike.

In 2009 I met a group of guys with the web site JimBronson.com and learned of their plans for the 40th anniversary of the famous TV show. With their help finding the correct parts, I rebuilt my old worn-out motorcycle into a Bronson Tribute Bike with Bronson Red paint, the Eye sticker on the tank, 21-inch front wheel, bobbed rear fender, chrome oil tank, BAR seat, similar handlebars and special sissy bar. I wanted this to be a "rider" so I kept the front disc brake and added solid-state ignition, a high-voltage coil, electronic voltage regulator, high-torque starter, low-compression pistons and up to date valves and the old style OEM exhaust system.

Since the rebuild it won "Best in Show" at a local swap meet, has been on display at the first anniversary of Harley Davidson's Museum, in Michael Lichter’s Icon Exhibit at Sturgis in 2009, and spent over a year in the Bronson Exhibit at the National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa. My other bikes are a 1992 Electra Glide with sidecar, 1965 Harley Sprint, and a 2004 Suzuki Burgman 650. Now, me and my bike get together each year with the Bronson Collectors Group in different parts of the country and visit the filming locations from the TV episodes, ride our Bronson Bikes, and relive the scenes from greatest motorcycle show ever.

When I bought it, I made a vow to someday be 85 years old and still have this bike, so far so good!