Living: Don't Shoot the Bull, Ride It

The mechanical bulls that tempt and toss the urban cowboy sell for $7,500 each, about $5,000 more than they cost Gilley's Bronco Shop Inc. in Houston to manufacture. The bionic beast is mounted on a pedestal and powered by a 5-h.p. electric motor that is operated by remote control. El Toro has graded levels of difficulty, working up from a bovine shimmy designated One to a shake-and-break Ten. The headless, vinyl-and-steel contraption was developed as a teaching aid for rodeo cowboys by New Mexico Inventor Joe Turner, who sold his patent to Saloonkeepers Mickey Gilley and Sherwood Cryer for $70-000 in 1979; it has since cleared at least $1 million profit for the partners, who have sold 400 of the critters.

Saloonkeepers who have installed El Toro claim that it can pay for itself in less than a year. Most places charge $2 a throw; a ride lasts 20 seconds at most. Urged an ad for one Manhattan club: DON'T SHOOT THE BULL—RIDE IT. As a spectator sport, according to Brian Wallace, owner of Boston's Celebration, watching a member of the opposite sex jounce and jiggle "has a very subtle erotic appeal." Bucking the bull is a macho experience for most males, whereas city cowgirls often compare it to dancing—or sex. Says Wallace: "All you need is five or six good-looking girls in tight jeans up on the bull and you've really got a good start on the evening."

Some C & W club owners refuse to install bullpits, in the belief that riding the bull will prove a passing fad. Others are leary of higher insurance rates and injury claims—even though in most places the machine is surrounded by hefty cushioning, and riders are required to sign waivers absolving the owners from responsibility for injury. The very prospect of danger can be a potent spur. Peter Szymanski, 26, a computer technician from Gardner, Mass., took such a bad fall at Boston's Celebration that he had to nurse twelve stitches under his cowboy hat. "It hasn't scared me," he shrugs, relishing his moment of glory. "I knew I was going to get hurt. It was only a question of where and when." Did he plan to ride again? "No problem."