Baby boomers have never had the feeling their parents have had about the social stuff with motorcycles. Some of the old bike culture thinks itвЂ™s a bunch of rich guys taking over. But itвЂ™s different now because I can afford it better than I used to. вЂњI started riding again after my divorce. вЂњI rode bikes as a young guy, until I got married in my 20s,вЂќ he said. John Kaemmerling, a 50-year-old General Motors worker, is one of those sipping beer at PedroвЂ™s, dressed down in an old t-shirt and shorts. That might chip the paint job - or hurt the prospects for promotion.

Now, however, the wealthier crowd is making the bike scene - still looking for adventure as they fan out on the highway, but not rebellion. вЂњWhat are you rebelling against?вЂќ someone asks Brando. They were the tattooed outsiders, wearing leather pants and vests, scaring the normal little people in normal little towns. For half a century or more, since Marlon Brando and The Wild Ones in 1954, motorcyclists have carried the bad boy image. ItвЂ™s a trend thatвЂ™s gaining momentum around the country. At a Thursday night at RisckyвЂ™s on Camp Bowie, there might be a million dollarsвЂ™ worth of gleaming machines lined up in the parking lot, their riders spilling out into roped-off areas outside the doors, and enough vendors and hubbub to make it feel like a county fair. ThereвЂ™s plenty of power - and money - evident these days in Fort Worth wherever bikers gather. It gives you a sense of power, like youвЂ™re in control.вЂќ They get to an age where they can afford it. They get to that point where they think it might be fun to be a bad boy on the weekend. вЂњWhatвЂ™s really driving this thing,вЂќ says Fred Lockhart, a local new-car sales manager and chopper rider, вЂњis the lawyer or the doctor or whoever who works hard all day and for all these years.

Most of these bike riders drive cars and trucks to work, and the motorcycle is their choice on the weekends, not much different from people who take their boats out to the lake. WhatвЂ™s different about this crowd is that most of them are not вЂњbikersвЂќ in the old meaning of the term. ItвЂ™s not just that many of the people coming out to bike night are rich lawyers and doctors and accountants. The events are being sponsored by Ironhorse of Texas, a local dealer that is selling bikes to a group of people most wouldnвЂ™t think of as motorcycle folks. ItвЂ™s another Thursday night in Fort Worth, and another вЂњbike nightвЂќ at a local bar. But there is a bit of excitement in the air, as most of these riders are sitting with their heads upright, smiling into the wind - some with tattoos, some with American flag bandanas - most with jeans and black t-shirts, cruising on the fat back tire and tightly grasping the вЂњape hangerвЂќ raised handlebars. The bikes they are riding are custom-made choppers, the hottest trend in the motorcycle business, bikes that run between $25,000 and $40,000.ДЄs they pull into the parking lot for PedroвЂ™s Trailer Park, a restaurant that specializes in some high-end food and a pretend low-rent atmosphere, itвЂ™s hard to make conversation outside by the iced beer tub and the picnic tables. But these motorcycle riders arenвЂ™t out of their market when they cruise by the high-end car dealer. Fort Worth is breeding a new generation of not-so-scary bikers.ДЄbout 40 choppers are roaring down White Settlement Road, staying two-abreast, making lots of noise as they pass by the Autobahn Motorcars dealership, a business that specializes in BMWs and Land Rovers and Jaguars for those who can afford them.

Iron horse bike night