Bruce Springsteen rescued by bikers at side of road

By
( )
published

Bruce Springsteen was helped by riders from the Freehold American Legion after his motorcycle broke down in New Jersey – and he bought them a round of drinks

Dan Barkalow with Bruce Springsteen
Dan Barkalow with Bruce Springsteen (Image credit: Ryan Bailey)

Bruce Springsteen was rescued by a group of bikers after his bike broke down at the side of the road in New Jersey.

A group from the Freehold American Legion were riding back from a Veterans Day event at Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Holmdel and they spotted a stranded biker near Allaire State Park in Wall Township. When they stopped to help, they realised it was The Boss.

Dan Barkalow tells Pollstar: “Bikers gotta stick together. I stopped to see if he needed help, and it was Bruce.”

When they found that his bike battery had died, he hopped on the back of Ryan Bailey’s bike and they headed to a local restaurant for a round of drinks while they waited for Springsteen to be picked up.

Barkalow says: “We sat there and shot the breeze for a half hour, 45 minutes till his ride showed up. Nice guy, real down to earth. Just talked about motorcycles and his old Freehold days.”

Bailey adds: “It was nice to help out. One Freehold person helping out another.”

But the Freehold American Legion later accused some followers of fuelling a “nauseating political altercation full of vitriol and insults” after the group shared their story online. Though they say they never discussed politics with Springsteen during their encounter, he publicly supported Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the presidential election.

Barkalow later tells CNN: “It’s pretty disgusting. All I know is, I’m a pretty humble guy. I just stopped to help someone out.”

Read their full statement below.

Springsteen launched an audio companion to his autobiography Born To Run last month in the shape of Chapter And Verse.

Bruce Springsteen Australia and New Zealand tour 2017

Jan 22: Perth Arena, Australia
Jan 25: Perth Arena, Australia
Jan 27: Perth Arena, Australia
Jan 30: Hindmarsh Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia
Feb 02: Melbourne AAMi park, Australia
Feb 04: Melbourne AAMi park, Australia
Feb 07: Sydney Olympic Park Qudos Bank Arena, Australia
Feb 09: Sydney Olympic Park Qudos Bank Arena, Australia
Feb 11: Mount Macedon Hanging Rock, Australia
Feb 14: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Australia
Feb 16: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Australia
Feb 21: Chritchurch Ami Stadium, New Zealand
Feb 25: Auckland Mt Smart Stadium, New Zealand

How Bruce Springsteen stood strong and helped America heal after 9/11

Christina O'Neill

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.