Then Came Bronson

[Tri750]

It's said the pilot was filmed in Stockton. Here's the dealeo on him and the bike.

<<<Nick (Martin Sheen), a friend of Jim Bronson, commits suicide after asking Bronson to buy back his motorcycle from his soon-to-be widow Sheree North. Bronson had originally owned and customized the bike, then sold it to Nick when he became a reporter. Nick's tragedy makes Bronson think about the meaning of his life and soon decides to quit the "rat race." He then takes to the road on the motorcycle to discover what life would put in his path.>>>

If memory serves, the guy jumped off a bridge. Bronson was called to the bridge to talk him down, but no luck. After the guy jumps, Bronson gets on the bike and the story begins.

 

[ThumperX]

Never even heard of the show... watched the clip (short attention span!)... so basically, the guy sets off on a bike, no destination in mind, and then solves peoples' problems along the way?

Actually starts in Viet Nam. Bronson's buddy is dieing and Bronson promises to go see the kids's Mom. Kid has Sporty in the barn, Mom gives Bronson kid's Sporty with instructions to go live the kid's life, Bronson becomes Bronson. Something like that.

Hang in there, best line ever.

 

[Carlo]

[Not sure what the Yamaha A5 was. The first 350 twin was called the R5, and performance numbers for it weren't in the same class. March 1970: top speed 95.31 and 15.49@81mph./B]

The first Yam 350 wasn't the R5. It was the first R1. Ugly as a butt.
A guy I worked with had an early Sporty 1000. 74-75 I think. Right hand shift.
From zero to 60 was pretty awesome, long burnouts. But yeah, that's all it did. He let me use it when he was on weekend lockup a couple times. No corners, no brakes. No thanks.

That's a Yamaha 305 in that picture. My first bike was a Catalina 250, and a friend owned a 305. Identical bikes except for engine displacement.

 

[Bay Arean]

Used to love that show. My whole family watched it when I was a kid.
Later episodes got kind of weird when Michael Parks started getting deep and philosophical.

Worst was "The Forest Primeval" where he crashed the Sporty and spent the rest of the episode McGivering it to get him out of a ravine.

Best episodes were when he took odd jobs to make gas money and broke the heart of single, middle aged moms who did his laundry.

Worst sounds were the LP they released of him trying to sing. They sold 9 copies. My friend Kenny bought one at K Mart and likely still has it.

Stunts and props were terrible. They would take any motorcycle, mount an Orange peanut tank on it, wire a Sporty air cleaner cover on and poof! It was our hero entering a road race, trials competition, ice race, or as already mentioned the Widow Maker hill climb. We would wince and look past it.
It was the only motorcycle show on TV so we were happy.

Thanks for saving me the trouble. A lot of us watched it, because it was on. I can't say I loved it but it was likely more interesting than what was on the other channels.


In the days of three or four channels of tv, you have to comprehend that, whenever you view old shows.

It's genesis was a cleaned-up tv version of Easy Rider. To this day, tv still does that, finds a provocative and successful movie then comes up with a serialized, dumbed-down version, like MASH. I always kind of wonder if the writers of the original books and screenplays don't often ponder suicide by the time these tv versions come out, they are so far afield of the point they were making.

It was lame and I remain morbidly fascinated by the career of Michael Parks. Could barely act and certainly could barely sing. One of those guys who you sort of envy because they come to the table with so little yet succeed. That kind of self-belief has eluded me over the years.

Also, it always seemed sort of linked with the awful Billy Jack movies. The two stars reminded me of each other and both were 70s lame with all the wooden acting.

 

[WoodsChick]

Billy Jack! The Freedom School! I loved those movies





`70'sChick

 

[Bay Arean]

Billy Jack! The Freedom School! I loved those movies
`70'sChick

I know, but in a groany sorta way.....I loved Dragnet in a similar fashion.

Especially the drowned baby in a bathtub episode, showing the evils of marihuana..

 

[clutchslip]

Billy Jack! The Freedom School! I loved those movies
`70'sChick

Yeah, but, there is the following, so I don't know if your vote really counts.

My mom was in love with Bronson so we all watched it. Every guy that came to the house to see my single mom and 4 older sisters had a motorcycle. Those were the days...

Sorry that I missed this party ^. arty

Hang in there, best line ever.

When I first read this thread, I immediately thought of the following:
"Make my day."
"Do you feel lucky, punk?"
"A man's got to know his limitations."
And that is just from one S.F. based, Harry Callahan. So there.

 

[sanjuro]

One of my biggest complaints about Sons of Anarchy is that if you take away the bikes, you have Falcon Crest with drugs.

I think motorcycle riders have a spiritual side, even myself who primarily commutes. The mind games I run on myself while I ride, it is near-meditative to manage my fear and dispel distractions.

If you read Hell's Angels by Thompson, which the producers of this show must have, there is a reflective side to even the 1%ers.

 

[VicTim]

I remember this show when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I remember that I liked it but it's not really one of the shows I remember well. I do remember that the premis of Bronson traveling around by moto and solving everybodys problems was pretty cool.

 

[moto-rama]

That sounds like a little revisionist history. In 1969 the Honda 750-4 was on the market along with the Mach III, the Yamaha A5, and others. They were all better bikes than the AMF year Sportsters. The Sportster as sold was purely a street bike and with about 3 inches of travel, it didn't do many things well and definitely wasn't a jack of all trades...until you replaced the entire chassis. The Yamaha DT1 enduro and it's siblings were considered the all around bike of those years.

P.S. I still liked Michael Parks in the TV series.

Uh.... really....this is what a real bike was, in 1969.
http://www.motorstown.com/images/norton-commando-750-04.jpg

 

[vato_loco]

Route 66

Never even heard of the show... watched the clip (short attention span!)... so basically, the guys set off in a Corvette, no destination in mind, and then solves peoples' problems along the way?

Yup. And it was hella cool.

 

[protokultur]

Michael Parks said that Sportster was crap.

And...Thanks to the magic of movie making...
It wasn't a jack of all trades, like they lead you to believe.
The most outrageous lie, was his competing in the Widow Maker Hill climb.

The bike he did that on was a two-stroke dirt bike.

Was gonna post that - watch the Sporty transmogrify into what looks like an RD on a dirt frame:

[youtube]-k2ZI125DPk[/youtube]

 

[ramses355]

I always wondered how he kept that damn watchcap on riding everywhere . As a japanese kid growing up in Japantown in San Francisco, I thought it was a cool program. Maybe it lit the fire leading to owning 42 motorcycles through the years (counted and listed by my mom!), touring cross country multiple times, dirt bikes, adventure bikes, oddly though never a Harley. But hmmm it has crossed my mind lately.
None of the episodes are on you tube I heard a threat from Michael Parks is responsible. The forest primeval is on Daily Motion. I thought it was a good episode. But what did a twelve year old kid know

 

[sanjuro]

Was gonna post that - watch the Sporty transmogrify into what looks like an RD on a dirt frame:

[youtube]-k2ZI125DPk[/youtube]

That's a pretty cool scene. Except Malcolm Smith couldn't take a street bike with road tires and gearing and make it up a dirt climb!

 

[BillSmith]

There's more to life than YouTube...

OK, not YouTube, but the full episodes are out there if you turn a search page or two:

Daily Motion Link to aforementioned episode: http://dai.ly/xvd2hq

 

[flying_hun]

It's genesis was a cleaned-up tv version of Easy Rider.

Also, it always seemed sort of linked with the awful Billy Jack movies. The two stars reminded me of each other and both were 70s lame with all the wooden acting.

FWIW, Easy Rider and TCB both came out in 1969. It would have had to have been in development prior to the networks knowing whether or not Easy Rider was successful. Better explained as "Route 66 on a motorcycle"

As for Billy Jack, it came out after TCB was gone.

Billy Jack! The Freedom School! I loved those movies

`70'sChick

Me too! Still remember going to see Billy Jack in the theater and who I was with.

Was gonna post that - watch the Sporty transmogrify into what looks like an RD on a dirt frame:

[youtube]-k2ZI125DPk[/youtube]

Looks like a Suzuki Savage to me.

In some of the episodes the bikes were modified Harley Sprints:

Or Baja 100s

That's a pretty cool scene. Except Malcolm Smith couldn't take a street bike with road tires and gearing and make it up a dirt climb!

But could Bud Ekins?

 

[DataDan]

Better explained as "Route 66 on a motorcycle"

Both of which could be explained as "On the Road" without: a) Jack Kerouac; b) sex; and c) drugs.

The Bronson opening credits ran over footage of the Bixby Creek Bridge in Monterey County:



The first time I drove up 1, probably 1973, that was the highlight. GF called it "Bronson's Bridge".

It was lame and I remain morbidly fascinated by the career of Michael Parks. Could barely act and certainly could barely sing. One of those guys who you sort of envy because they come to the table with so little yet succeed. That kind of self-belief has eluded me over the years.

Tarantino cast him in both Death Proof and Kill Bill (two roles). Not challenging work, but I liked him in both.

And I'm reminded by an IMDB search that he was also in Twin Peaks.

 

[motopsyco59]

If you don't know the intersection the opening was shot, it's Portola, Clipper, and Burnet in San Francisco.

I grew up nearby in Glen Park.

Cheers!

 

[Wack]

That sounds like a little revisionist history. In 1969 the Honda 750-4 was on the market along with the Mach III, the Yamaha A5, and others. They were all better bikes than the AMF year Sportsters. The Sportster as sold was purely a street bike and with about 3 inches of travel, it didn't do many things well and definitely wasn't a jack of all trades...until you replaced the entire chassis. The Yamaha DT1 enduro and it's siblings were considered the all around bike of those years.

TCB opened in March of 1969. As such filming was done in 1968 and early 1969 so 750-4 and Mach 3 could not have been incorporated into the series. 3 inches of travel isn't much today but the Triumph desert sleds of yore had only 4". The DT1 was a great bike but an example of a niche bike being an enduro or dual sport. While AMF year HD's were pretty sad the Brit bikes were condemned to using Lucas electrics, the "Prince Of Darkness". Lots of great TCB trivia being posted. I was hoping for some more discussion on how ADV bikes like the 1190 Adventure, Tiger 800's, F800GS, Hyperstradas and others are a return to bikes that have full bandwidth.

WIKI
Then Came Bronson is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970, and was produced by MGM Television. The series, created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, began with a movie pilot on Monday, March 24, 1969. The series was approved for one year and began its first run on September 17, 1969. The pilot was also released in Europe as a feature film.
The show had obvious similarities to the early 1960s series Route 66 (in which Michael Parks guest-starred in one episode). It was also sometimes erroneously described as a knock-off of the movie Easy Rider, but it actually preceded the release of that movie.

 

[moto-rama]

According to Cycle World road tests, the 1972 1000cc Sportster (feb, 1972) topped out at 116 mph. The 1973 Z1 they tested in March 1973 topped out at 120 mph. Only 4 mph faster.
Interestingly, the Honda 750 they tested in August, 1969 topped out at 123 mph.


All these were done with a half mike run up.

1/4 mile times/speeds made the Kawasaki look a lot better.

Z1: 12.61 @ 106mph
Honda 750 Four: 13.38 @ 100mph
Sportster: 13.38 @ 98mph

Oh, the 1969 Mach III hit 112mph max, and did 13.2@100mph in the quarter. April 1969.
Not sure what the Yamaha A5 was. The first 350 twin was called the R5, and performance numbers for it weren't in the same class. March 1970: top speed 95.31 and 15.49@81mph.

One more; Kawasaki 750 Mach IV, March 1972, 120 mph, 12.72@104 mph
Name some others. They were all in the same ballpark for top speed and quarter mile performance.

That's all well and good, but a few years earlier, a real motorcycle was doing all that, and handling well, too.
What was that you may ask?

Of course you could never trust the people that rode them...