Riding A Harley To Ghost Towns USA

This short movie clip by independent filmmaker Scott Toepfer was chosen by corporate Harley-Davidson as example of the Harley culture in the 21st century. From Los Angeles to Reno, through Yosemite to San Francisco, and then south back home on the Pacific Coast Highway, and between stopping by ghost towns (the one featured is Bodie) Towns on which Western films were based on and where men made instant wealth only to squander it on the vices of their choosing, and move on. There is a violent truth to ghost towns where people struggled to survive with what they could make with their hands…

14 Responses to “Riding A Harley To Ghost Towns USA”


  1. 1 Hamilton Nov 4th, 2011 at 8:27 am

    Love the feel of this short clip. Great music too. Makes you want to ride and ride.

  2. 2 Doc Robinson Nov 4th, 2011 at 9:16 am

    Nice clip, good feel. And Bodie is well worth a visit; made two trips there and will ride there again I am sure.

  3. 3 CafeSportyTC Nov 4th, 2011 at 10:14 am

    bodie is a cool place , just right down highway 395 from us… bout an hour or so… really cool!!

  4. 4 Kroeter Nov 4th, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    Dang, I wanted to see what kind of fish they caught. Cool shot at the end, just hauling ass on the open road.

  5. 5 Richard Nov 4th, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    Yet another example of how well the Motor company understands it’s customers!

  6. 6 golfish Nov 4th, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    Bodie is a great stop. My son and I were there last month. The road is now paved for the first 10 miles, only 3 miles of washboard.

  7. 7 LORI MAULDIN Nov 4th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    WHAT A GREAT ADVENTURE THEY HAD GAVE ME A IDEA OF HOW MY RIDE ACROSS AMERICA FOR HEP C AWARENESS WILL BE AND ILL SAVE MONEY TO ! THANKS GUYS YOU SO ROCK

  8. 8 Michelle Mather Nov 4th, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    Nice to see young people having an adventure, living the dream. Don’t wait for the right time to do it, that time may never come. Carpe Diem!!
    Plan on doing something similar in Australia but will be doing it in comfort on an Ultra 🙂

  9. 9 Jason Nov 4th, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    Like.

  10. 10 Wiz Nov 5th, 2011 at 2:30 am

    That’s what it’s all about Baby!! Good vibe, cool video. Even if it’s sum yuppie pups ridin’ brand new, store-bought, Harleys. They’re discovering what I’ve been doin’ my whole life! God Love ’em! Wiz

  11. 11 A 1 CYCLES Nov 5th, 2011 at 8:06 am

    COOL VIDEO..IT JUST SEEMS THE YOUNGER CROWD…IS REALLY REACHING FOR THE NOSTALGIA LIKE THE BAD FITTING SILVER BELL HELMET? AND THE VINTAGE LEATHER JACKET. BUY A NEW ONE AND THE MILES YOU PUT ON WILL WEATHER IT…BUT GREAT ADVENTURE…DIDNT SEE A TENT ON THE BIKES OR A FISHING POLE…CAMERA CREW HAD A VAN FULL OF STUFF? SO I JUST DONT SEE THE ADVENTURE OF BEING FOLLOWED BY A VAN FULL OF STUFF? BUT BODIE LOOKS COOL

  12. 12 Scott Toepfer Nov 6th, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    @A1 Cycles… just want to clear a couple of things up. There is no need for assumption.

    I shot the video, stills, and wrote text for the article with Harley. I’ll tell you man…I shot everything from a bike, while riding it. Friction screw on the throttle allows me to shoot and ride. I’ll admit it isn’t the safest, but that’s the point…do what you can with what you have. No van..no gear. Everybody who was there was on a bike…4 people total. We collected wood, camped by a stream (rainbow trout…to the earlier post), 1 tent in the girl’s backpack. I slept with my bag in a bivy sack (nylon sleeve). Collapsable fishing pole was bought in Lee Vining the day of for 19.99 and a $14 2day license.

    The vintage helmet was a gift from a couple in Portland for Jesse, a $500 leather jacket isn’t exactly attainable for the younger folk, so used jackets are the only way to go for us. Curtis has put 20k miles in that jacket, I guarantee you that weathering is his. HD was kind enough to lend us a couple bikes to use from their fleet to make the shoot happen, hence the shine… if you take a look at the photos in the article http://www.harleydavidsonridebook.com you’ll see we got them plenty dirty.

    Thanks for posting the vid Cyril, we did it on a shoe string to make it possible with HD, happy to see that it has made the rounds. My full independent short film can be seen at http://www.itsbetterinthewind.com

    Best,
    Scott

  13. 13 Blue Nov 7th, 2011 at 8:42 am

    Thanks for that, Scott – that was interesting info to add to the film.

    And yes, Bodie is a pretty cool place. I was there three weeks ago for the third time.

  14. 14 Antone Nov 7th, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    Was just there,the washboard road just about shook my Road glide apart.

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Cyril Huze