Their names are a reference to Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid. The protagonists are two freewheeling hippies: Wyatt, nicknamed 'Captain America' (Peter Fonda), and Billy (Dennis Hopper). He gets them out and decides to join them on their trip to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras. They are arrested on some minor pretext by the local sheriff and thrown in jail where they meet George Hanson, a liberal alcoholic lawyer. When they arrive at a diner in a small town, they are insulted by the local rednecks as weirdo degenerates. The rancher they encounter and his Mexican wife are hard-pushed to make ends meet.

The gentle hippie community who thank God for 'a place to stand' are living their own unreal dream. However Wyatt and Billy also discover people attempting 'alternative lifestyles' who are resisting this narrow-mindedness, there is always a question mark over the future survival of these drop-out groups. On the journey they encounter bigotry and hatred from small-town communities who despise and fear their non-conformism. Two young 'hippie' bikers, Wyatt and Billy, sell some dope in Southern California, stash their money away in their gas-tank, and set off for a trip across America on their own personal odyssey looking for a way to lead their lives. Through it all, Wyatt in particular evaluates if the trip ends up being what he expects or wants for his life. But they will also ruffle some feathers just for being hippies, arguably in the fear not of them as people but what they represent. They will find that not all counter-culturalists have the exact same mindset, while they will also find the spiritual and practical connections to others in perhaps the most unlikely of places and people. While Wyatt is more easy going, believing in the karmic nature and practicality of helping others when they can and in turn asking for help when they need it, Billy is a little more suspicious of the people they encounter, especially in hiding their wad of cash that is stuffed into the gas tank of Wyatt's bike, that money their future. They don't plan to spend their proceeds on this trip - they saving that for a more carefree life in Florida after the fact - they sleeping in the great outdoors along the way.

Netting a hefty profit from their latest drug deal, hippies Wyatt and Billy decide to outfit themselves with among other things motorbikes - Wyatt complete in what they call his Captain America gear and similar motif on the bike - and chucking any structure in their lives beyond the want to get there for the event, cycle from their home base of Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in just over a week.

Toni basil easy rider