"And [Sampson] found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand Philistines therewith." - Judges 15:15

Full Throttle Hangover is a tactile metaphor for our time, an enduring chronicle of the cool philosophy of one man-Brother Jawbone. He founded the Night Riders in the late 80's with a vision, a quest, that is captured in part by the club's credo: "For the Philistine we seek to destroy is the spirit of unhappiness."

This work was commissioned by Jawbone, but the finished bronze was not accepted. It horrified his sweet wife, scared the grandchildren, and freaked out Rusty, the red heeler. I felt much like a biographer who had written about some sensitive family secret. The work was banned from the house.

So, the first casting hangs to this day behind the bar at the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis , South Dakota. Michael Ballard, the saloon owner loved it at first sight. The 2 nd casting now hangs at Rick Hatch's Hacienda Harley, in Scottsdale, Arizona . It's been two years from the first casting, and I am gratified to announce the 3rd casting is being delivered to its rightful patron, Brother Jawbone, in April 2006.

The technique is known as deep relief, which the Greeks and Romans used to depict great battles and historic events. It measures 38" x 48", weighs 240 lbs., was cast in 16 individual bronze sections and forged together. The work took some 1,400 labor hours to complete over a 2-year period.

Full Throttle is a statement of life's dual realities. What men are, versus what some men do to demand balance for their modern lives. In the Night Rider creed, the word destroy says it all: it has power and purpose. Jawbone's face in the bronze has a grin that few outsiders ever see. Think of Kiefer Sutherland in the movie, The Lost Boys, and you have it. Living life is what this bronze is all about-not to just sip, but rather to drink deeply of life. "We ride to be better people during the times we don't, it makes us fit to live around."

The man in the bronze fully experiences life, the road demon, however, represents the spirit of unhappiness or the cares and burdens of the modern world. The demon has suddenly broken through from an unseen dimension and is hell-bent on blinding Jawbone's vision of reality, thus trying desperately to end the worthy quest he is on.

Unhappiness is further represented by its sister, the word hangover, and the world's best can be purchased at the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota . Start with alcohol and drugs, add atomized burning rubber molecules, unburnt fuel 91 octane or better, massive amounts of carbon monoxide, cigar and cigarette smoke, ear splitting hard rock and Harley motors tacked to the limit and unhealthy levels of human bodily perspiration, and you truly have a raging, Full Throttle Philistine inside your skull.

The little Greek figures with their contrasting erect and wilted horns and smiles say much about the fleeting expectations in our lives, what then brings happiness?

Jawbone, we think you're onto something real cool with your Philistine thing. Thanks for your friendship and the road miles, it's been a real bitchen run.