James Bronson is a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reporter whose best friend commits suicide under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  Jim buys his friend's Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle from the widow and hits the road to look for a more meaningful reason for being, his quest takes him down that long lonesome highway were he is bound for the mountains and the plains.  TCB was written by real life newspaper man Denne Bart Petitclerc turned Hollywood screen writer about one of his reporter buddies named Birney Jarvis.  Birney was and still is at 83, the real Jim Bronson.