In 1965, LIFE magazine photographer Bill Ray and writer Joe Bride spent several weeks with a gang that, to this day, serves as a living, brawling embodiment of our schizoid relationship with the rebel: the Hells Angels. This resulted in a collection of intimate images following the gang along great highways. Apart from capturing such a fascinating time and place, this series also chronicles the lives of biker ladies; with impeccable beehives, all black hipster get-ups and trademark sneers.

In never before published photographs Ray and Bride recall their days and nights with Buzzard, Hambone, Big D, and other Angels (and their “old ladies”) at a time when the roar of Harleys and the sight of long-haired bikers was still alien to the average law-abiding citizen.

All images courtesy of LIFE magazine