Running Cool

A biker named Charles Benjamin "Bone" Keene and his friend Bear are rousted from their South Dakota haunts to help their friend Bill "Ironbutt" Garrott and his wife Melanie, who are living in the marshlands of Beaver, South Carolina. Ironbutt has been blown off of his motorcycle by a gunman named Bubba, as part of an increasingly violent plot devised by Blue Hogg to win the respect of his father, local businessman and town power-broker Calvin Hogg. Calvin wants Ironbutt's marshy homestead so he can drain it and plant soybeans, and he plans to foreclose on Ironbutt's unpaid $8,000 back-tax bill. Upsetting the locals -- especially Sheriff Tom, who usually does Calvin's bidding -- with their loud motorcycles and wild clothes, Bone and Bear plan a run to raise the money for Ironbutt. Bone also has a run-in with one of Blue's henchmen, a guy named Red -- the abusive local cafe owner -- who mistreats his waitress/daughter Michelle. When Michelle was a kid, Red crippled Michelle when Michelle tried to save her mother from one of Red's drunken rages. And Bone is not without tragedy in his own past. Years ago, Bone killed the drunk driver who killed Bone's wife and child. Now, Blue's numerous attacks on the bikers fail, and the town is slowly won over by Bone, including the love-struck Michelle, and even the initially terrified Hattie and Ada. Led by fellow biker Sprocket, the gala run brings in hundreds of area bikers for a peaceful celebration. In desperation, Blue kidnaps Bear. Bone beats up Bubba and forces Red to leave town. The bikers and Sheriff Tom, who has finally sided with Bone against Blue's violence, set out to rescue Bear. And as it turns out, Calvin is appalled by Blue's violence.