They are the wild ones, the Cossacks of Russia.
And, like Peter Fonda and Marlon Brando before them, these wild ones love to see the gaping, open mouths of small-town cops and peasants as they roar past. They thrive on the wind whipping them along, to Rostov-on-Don, to the Caucasus, to the far reaches of the Soviet Union.These Cossacks are perhaps the first official motorcycle gang to surface in the new freedom of the Soviet Union.
And they have one purpose in life: "The most important thing is to become the first chapter of the Hells Angels in the Soviet Union," says Kim, their bearded, long-haired chieftain. "It's not a hobby to the Hells Angels. It's a way of life. To us, they are No. 1."
The problem for the eight members of the Cossacks, and a few more prospects, is that they have only one motorcycle - a World War II-era Harley-Davidson - among them. But such is the difficulty of being young rebels in a country where milk is almost impossible to find, let alone motorcycles.
The hardship has made the Cossacks tenacious, spirited and wilder still. Ranging in age from 19 to 28, they decline to give their last names to a Western reporter. "Half of our guys have criminal rec-ords," Kim explains.
But they consent to guide a reporter to the depths of an underground garage, where their maroon-colored Harley-Davidson with its 45-cubic-inch sidevalve engine is guarded jealously, a jewel beyond price.
"It was delivered from America in 1942, and we bought it from a very old man," Kim says, gently wiping off the city's dust from the handlebars. "It will run a whole life long."
Indeed, the Harley, in desperate need of parts, has been built and rebuilt. The Cossacks have managed to find authentic Harley parts, but they are still missing the proper handlebars and a battery.
"We would like to become first official Harley-Davidson dealers here . . . maybe have a business, a joint venture," Kim says. "In Denmark, the bikers have a Harley shop, called the American Motorcycle Shop. This kind of free enterprise I love."
They wear black leathers, tight-fitting pants that lace up the sides, and vests that are heavy with their own colors, in English on the back - "Cossacks MC, Russia" - all "made with our own hands," Kim says.
They have even hand-molded and cast their own massive silver rings, in the shapes of skulls and eagles, "based on copies from the West," Kim says. The rings are carried on every finger, an awesome display of metal that could pack the punch of a brass knuckle. ("I fight sometimes," Kim says warily.)
Somehow, they've also managed to come by Harley-Davidson T-shirts and belt buckles, and motorcycle boots.
These bikers dream of building upon the foundation of the Hells Angels. Not only do they know of the Oakland, Calif.-based group, but they idolize its members, particularly the group's leader, Ralph "Sonny" Barger. They have read everything, seen everything they could get their hands on, regarding the Angels.
"There are a lot of movies about them. In the Soviet press, there are articles about them," says Cossacks member Andrey. "But Sonny Barger . . . ," Andrey says, shaking his head in awe, represented a lifestyle of "true freedom."
Barger, who founded the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels in 1957, is currently serving time in prison on an explosives charge.
Someday, Andrey says, the Cossacks may be officially sanctioned by him, bikers in an international family.
In the meantime, the Cossacks abide by their own rules. Women "can never be members of the Cossacks and will never wear the group's colors, except, maybe, `Property of the Cossacks,' " Kim said.
Feminists don't bother them about this, and neither do the police, at least not in the big cities. "The police don't harass us," Kim says. "They don't want to deal with crazy people like us."
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service