Editing Ed Roth (section)

==Roth and bikers==
Roth had his shop, that he started in early 1959, at 4616 Slauson Avenue in [[Maywood, California|Maywood]], California (about 8 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles). He ran an ad in ''Car Craft'' magazine that year announcing the new address of his shop.

During the mid 1960s, Roth associated with various [[outlaw motorcycle club]]s who congregated at his shop as a lot of bikers were then living in [[Lynwood, California|Lynwood]] and Maywood. Musicians, police officers, [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents and various people involved in Hollywood would visit as well, providing an environment for one of Ed Roth's most creative periods, and an important time in Kustom Kulture.

Roth incorporated the [[biker cross|Iron Cross]] into his artwork (surfers had previously been using the iron cross as a symbol of youthful, carefree rebellion).<ref name="Ganahl2011"/>  Roth did not own a bike at the time, so he bought a brand-new [[Harley-Davidson Sportster]] and then proceeded to paint its gas tank a flat black color.  Roth painted white lettering on one side of the tank that said: "Love is Hate"; and on the reverse side: "Hate is Love".<ref name="Ganah113">Ganahl, p. 113.</ref>

Roth had taken black and white photos of different bikers. He made posters, with titles like "Beautiful Buzzard", or "Gray Cat" out of these photos, and sold them at car shows. Roth would periodically give these bikers small amounts of money, but soon some of the bikers started to feel that Roth was "getting rich" off of them and they wanted a larger cut. Despite Roth's agreement, rumors began to circulate that a certain club intended to attack Roth's shop. The gang arrived at the shop with guns drawn, but Roth's crew defended themselves. Roth challenged the head biker to a one-on-one fist fight to settle matters in the middle of the shop. Eventually Roth gained the upper hand and "just started to beat the living crap out of the guy".<ref name= Ganahl2011 />

After this incident, Roth burned his biker posters, leaving the lifestyle behind.  Things started winding down at the shop in the late 1960s, and in 1970 the shop closed.<ref name="Ganah130" >Ganahl, p. 130.</ref>