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Bronson's Bike -
On the road drama THEN CAME BRONSON/NBC/1969-70,
Michael Parks starred as San Francisco obituary
writer Jim Bronson.
After the suicide of his close friend, Nick
Oresko [who jumped off a bridge in Jim’s
presence] Jim quits his job, buys back a red
motorcycle left at the jump site from Nick’s
widow, Gloria and then heads south toward Big
Sur looking for adventure and some meaning to
his life.
During his travels Jim drove a red
Harley Davidson Sportster 883cc motorcycle with
knobby tires [license: 723795]. The gas tank
sported a triangle with an image of an eye
[similar to the one the back of a dollar bill.]
On occasion, Jim’s ride broke down or got
banged up from all the wear and tear from its
many road races, hill climbs and highway
cruising. Some of the minor damages included the
time a gas station attendant accidentally put
weed killer into his gas tank; and when his rear
wheels seized up and he had to get a new drive
chain. Throughout his journey Jim wore his
trademark Navy blue watch cap and a leather
jacket.
A press release from MGM describing changes
to the "Bronson Bike" appeared in the February
1970 issue of Cycle magazine. It reads as
follows:
"For afficionados, the changes are as
follows. The front wheel was replaced with a 21"
aluminum rim carrying a 3.00 x 21 ribbed tire.
The front fender was changed to a chromeplated,
bobbed piece and the headlight nacelle, or
housing, was removed and a chrome sports light
replaced it. A Harley-Davidson CH gas tank
replaced the standard tank, and the oil tank and
rear shock springs were chrome plated. A
kickstarter was added although the Sportster
carries an electric starter. The seat was
replaced with a custom leather unit and a short
chrome hand-hold was mounted behind the
passenger seat. The chain guard cover and the
voltage regulator cover were chrome plated. The
rear fender was bobbed 5 inches and the tail
light replaced with an old style English light.
The motorcycle was repainted with a specially
mixed formula which is called, from this point
on, Bronson Red. The final touch was the
addition of the Bronson "Eye" insignia to the
gas tank."
Jim’s adventures began with a trip to the
farm of his widowed friend and mentor Papa Bear.
Along the way, he befriends a runaway bride
named Temple Brooks who elects to share his
wandering quest.
After she gets her act together and departs,
Jim’s odyssey continues as:
- He encounters an old girlfriend, Doris
Hanrahan, the daughter of a prominent
therapist; takes a job at a summer camp for
disturbed kids.
- Accepts aide from Alex, an old timer who
gives Jim tools to repair his bike [Alex
owns a 1937 Rudge Ulster racing bike that he
takes out of mothballs and tries to follow
Bronson]
- Works as a ranch hand for a widow and
her teenage daughter and enters an amateur
bronco-riding contest
- Discovers Hattie Calder who lived alone
in a ghost town and claimed to have been a
passenger on the Titanic
- Bikes to Colorado looking for his old
friend Bucky O’Neill, an ex-priest who is
tormented with the love for a woman
- Spends a night in Sheriff Binnes jail in
Olathe, Colorado
- Rides in a local bike-racing event;
dates a girl named Leona who had an
over-protective brother
- Drives in a demolition derby
- Works on an oil rig in Arizona
- Counsels Barbara Timmons, a nurse who
loves her patients but wants more out of
life
- Gets a job as a baseball-player worker
in Tempe, Arizona
- Visits his Indian friend Tony Wade who
is fasting to induce a vision and restore
his Indian spirit
- Is attracted to a girl named Sibyl who
believes she is a witch
- Teams with Billy Mulavey to win a
musical contest and a job at a roadhouse
called the Oasis Cocktail Lounge
- Hires out with painter Juan Longorio to
paint a barn red and gets in trouble when
Juan paints a nude figure of a woman on his
side of the barn
- Disrupts the quiet life of an Amish
family and a betrothed Amish boy by
introducing his motorcycle and worldliness
into the mix
- Visits his cousin Eva Bronson and her
fiancé, Len in Reno, Nevada
- Gets goaded into a break-neck cross
country motorcycle race
- Climbs a mountain with Wilson Ford, an
famous aging novelist who needs to prove
he’s still a man
- Helps a newspaper editor at the Pacific
Grove Press to save the locals waters from
industrial pollution in Monterey, California
- Gets trapped in the Los Padres National
Forest, in Big Sur after taking a tumble
down a slide area
- Hitches a ride with an elderly widower
traveling in a camper
- Helps his cousin Carl and Uncle Herman
repair and restore a fishing boat in
Monterey, California
- Takes a job on the yacht of a wealthy
guy named Gus Samos.
TRIVIA NOTE: On the episode “The Runner” Jim gives
his blue watch cap to a small autistic boy but,
then finds another one to wear for the rest of the
series.
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