Motorcycle club members meet at a run in Australia in 2009.
An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture. It is generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.
In the United States, such motorcycle clubs
(MCs) are considered "outlaw" not necessarily because they engage in
criminal activity, but because they are not sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and do not adhere to the AMA's rules. Instead the clubs have their own set of bylaws reflecting the outlaw biker culture.
The U.S. Department of Justice
defines "outlaw motorcycle gangs" (OMG) as "organizations whose members
use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises".
Organization and leadership
The Hells Angels MC New York City clubhouse, with many security cameras and floodlights on the front of the building
While organizations may vary, the typical internal organization of a motorcycle club consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, road captain, and sergeant-at-arms (sometimes known as enforcer). Localized groups of a single, large MC are called chapters and the first chapter established for an MC is referred to as the mother chapter. The president of the mother chapter serves as the president of the entire MC, and sets club policy on a variety of issues.
Larger motorcycle clubs often acquire real estate for use as a clubhouse or private compound.
Membership
Some
"biker" clubs employ a process whereby members must pass several stages
such as "friend of the club", "hang-around", and "prospect", on their
way to becoming full-patch (see explanation of 'patching' below)
members.
The actual stages and membership process can and often do vary widely
from club to club. Often, an individual must pass a vote of the
membership and swear some level of allegiance to the club. Some clubs have a unique club patch (cut or top rocker) adorned with the term MC that are worn on the rider's vest, known as a kutte.
In these clubs, some amount of hazing
may occur during the early stages (i.e. hang-around, prospecting)
ranging from the mandatory performance of menial labor tasks for full
patch members to sophomoric pranks, and, in rare cases with some outlaw
motorcycle clubs, acts of violence.
During this time, the prospect may wear the club name on the back of
their vest, but not the full logo, though this practice may vary from
club to club. To become a full member, the prospect or probate must be
voted on by the rest of the full club members. Successful admission
usually requires more than a simple majority, and some clubs may reject a
prospect or a probate for a single dissenting vote. A formal induction
follows, in which the new member affirms his loyalty to the club and its
members. The final logo patch is then awarded. Full members are often
referred to as "full patch members" or "patchholders" and the step of
attaining full membership can be referred to as "being patched".
Biker culture
The
majority of members of outlaw motorcycle clubs have no serious criminal
record, and express their outlaw status on a social level, and equating
the word "outlaw" with disregard for the law of groups like the American Motorcyclist Association, not the laws of government.
There are also non-outlaw motorcycle clubs,
such as women's motorcycle clubs, who adopt similar insignia, colors,
organizational structure and trappings, such as leather outfits typical
of outlaw clubs, and, in the case of men, beards, making it difficult
for outsiders (especially police) to tell the difference between the
two. It has been said
that these other groups are attracted by the mystique of the outlaw
image while objecting to the suggestion that they are outlaws.
Charity events
Outlaw
clubs are often prominent at charity events, such as toy runs.
Charitable giving is frequently cited as evidence that these clubs do
not deserve their negative media image. Outlaw clubs have been accused
of using charity rides to mask their criminal nature.
The American Motorcyclist Association has frequently complained of the
bad publicity for motorcycling in general caused by outlaw clubs, and
they have said that the presence of outlaw clubs at charity events has
actually harmed the needy by driving down public participation and
reducing donations.
Events such as a 2005 shootout between rival outlaw clubs in the midst
of a charity toy drive in California have raised fears about the
participation of outlaw biker clubs in charity events.
Authorities have attempted to ban outlaw clubs from charity events, or
to restrict the wearing of colors at events in order to avert the sort
of inter-club violence that has happened at previous charity runs. In 2002, the Warlocks MC of Pennsylvania sued over their exclusion from a charity event.
Identification
Motorcycle club vest, Germany
The primary visual identification of a member of an outlaw motorcycle
club is the vest adorned with a large club-specific patch or patches,
predominantly located in the middle of the back. The patch(es) will
contain a club logo, the name of the club, and the letters MC, and a
possible state, province, or other chapter identification. This garment
and the patches themselves are referred to as the colors or cut
(a term taken from the early practice of cutting the collars and/or
sleeves from a denim or leather jacket). Many non-outlaw motorcycle
riding clubs such as the Harley Owners Group also wear patches on the back of their vests, without including the letters MC.
The club patches always remain property of the club itself, not
the member, and only members are allowed to wear the club's patches.
Hang-arounds and/or support clubs wear support patches with the club's
colors. A member must closely guard their colors, for allowing one's
colors to fall into the hands of an outsider is an act of disgrace and
may result in loss of membership in a club, or some other punishment.
One-, two-, and three-piece patches
The
colors worn by members of some motorcycle clubs will sometimes follow a
convention of using either a one-piece patch for nonconformist social
clubs, two-piece patch for clubs paying dues, a three-piece patch for outlaw clubs or side patches. The three-piece patch
consists of the club logo and the top and bottom patches, usually
crescent shaped, which are referred to as rockers. The number and
arrangement of patches is somewhat indicative of the nature of the club.
Though many motorcycle clubs wear the three-piece patch arrangement,
this is not necessarily an indication that a club is an outlaw
motorcycle club.
Law enforcement agencies have confiscated colors and other club paraphernalia
of these types of clubs when they raid a clubhouse or the home of a MC
member, and they often display these items at press conferences.
These items are then used at trial to support prosecution assertions
that MC members perform criminal acts on behalf of their club. Courts
have found that the probative value of such items is far outweighed by their unfairly prejudicial effects on the defence.
One percenter
"1%er" shown at the Clubhouse of the Bandidos MC, Chapter Berlin
Some outlaw motorcycle clubs can be distinguished by a "1%" patch worn on the colors. This is said to refer to a comment by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying the last one percent were outlaws.
The alleged AMA comment, supposedly a response to the Hollister riot in 1947, is denied by the AMA, who claim to have no record of such a statement to the press and that the story is a misquote.
In a 2018 interview with Fresh Out, notorious gangster,
biker and rapper Big Caz confirmed that the name did not come from the
American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). Instead he recalls the origin
of the name "1%er" as being from an interview in which an outlaw biker
was being asked sensitive questions and said: "Don't ask me any more
questions, I am 1% away of giving zero fucks".
The 1% diamond patch is often worn by the dominant outlaw club in
an area or territory. Wearing the 1% diamond patch while not being a
member of the dominant organization will draw their attention when seen.
Other patches
Other
patches may be worn by members, including phrases and symbols. The
style or meaning of these other patches can vary between clubs. Some,
such as a skull and crossbones patch, or the motto "Respect Few, Fear
None", are worn in some clubs by members who commit murder or other acts
of violence on behalf of the club.
There are also wings or biker's wings, which are earned something like jump wings or pilot's wings,
but with various color-coded meanings, e.g. in some clubs, it is said
that a member who has had sex with a woman with venereal disease can
wear green wings. It has also been suggested that these definitions are a hoax,
intended to make fools of those outside the outlaw biker world, and
also to serve the purpose of provoking outrage among conservative public
and authorities.
Frequently, additional patches may involve symbols, such as the use of Nazi swastikas or the SS Totenkopf.
These may not indicate Nazi sympathies, but serve to express the outlaw
biker's total rejection of social constraints, and desire for the shock
value among those who fail to understand the biker way.
Gender and race
A man and woman dressed in biker gear
Most outlaw motorcycle clubs do not allow women to become full-patch members. Rather, in some 1%er clubs, women have in the past been portrayed as submissive or victims to the men, treated as property, forced into prostitution or street-level drug trafficking, and often physically and sexually abused,
their roles as being those of obedient followers and their status as
objects. These women are claimed to pass over any pay they receive to
their partners or sometimes to the entire club. This appears to make these groups extremely gender-segregated. This has not always been the case, as during the 1950s and 1960s, some Hells Angels chapters had women members.
Academic research has criticized the methodology of such previous
studies as being "vague and hazy", and lacking in participant
demographics.
Such reports may have made clear statements and authoritative analyses
about the role of women associated with outlaw motorcycle clubs, but few
state how they have come to such conclusions; one admitting that,
"[his] interviews with biker women were limited lest [his] intentions
were misinterpreted" by their male companions
and that such views of women are mythic and "sexist research" in
itself, using deeply flawed methodologies and serve two highly political
purposes of maintaining a dominance myth of women by men and amplifying
the deviance of the male club members.
These myths about the women are: that they are subservient
working-class women, used as objects for club sexual rituals; are
hard-bitten, unattractive, and politically conservative; and that they
are 'money makers' for the biker men and clubs, i.e., prostitutes,
topless barmaids or strippers who are forced to hand over their money to
the club. A 1990 paper noted the changing role of women within outlaw motorcycle clubs
and a 2000 paper stated that they now have agency and political savvy,
and have reframed the narratives of their lives. "We did it. We showed
them we are real women dealing with real men. I'd much prefer to be
living with an OMC member than some dork who is a pawn in the system",
said one woman who felt she and her peers had "set the record straight".
One woman in 2001 described the previous work done by men about women
in the outlaw motorcycle club world by saying "the men that wrote that
must be meatheads".
They are part of the scene because they want to be and enjoy it. These
women have broken from society's stereotypically defined roles and find
freedom with the biker world.
Outlaw motorcycle clubs reflect their social roots and the demographics of motorcyclists in general. High-profile outlaw bikers have historically been white and their clubs are typically exclusively racially homogeneous.
Other sources state outright, that "With few exceptions, blacks are
excluded from membership or riding with one-percenter biker clubs." The average age for a club studied was 34.
There are black clubs, white clubs, and Mexican and other
Spanish-speaking clubs. Although race does not appear to be important as
a creed or philosophical orientation to them, virtually all of the
clubs are racially unmixed. Bikers in American prisons, as prisoners generally do, band together along racial lines. It is claimed that racial discrimination within clubs has led to creation of rival clubs in the past, such as the Mongols Motorcycle Club after members were rejected by the local Hells Angels chapter.
Some clubs or individual chapters are now multi-racial, but the number
of "white supremacist biker clubs are growing nationwide".
Outlaw motorcycle clubs and crime
Some members of outlaw motorcycle clubs engage in criminal activities and organized crime.
Despite their connection with motorcycles and the "one percenter"
subculture, law enforcement agencies perceive such individuals and
motorcycle clubs as being unique among criminal groups because they
maintain websites and businesses, identify themselves through patches
and tattoos, write and obey constitutions and bylaws, trademark their
club names and logos, and even hold publicity campaigns aimed at
improving their public image.
Outlaw motorcycle clubs as criminal enterprises
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have designated four MCs as "outlaw motorcycle gangs": the Hells Angels, the Pagans, the Outlaws, and the Bandidos, known as the "Big Four". These four have a large enough national impact to be prosecuted under the U.S. Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. The California Attorney General also lists the Mongols and the Vagos Motorcycle Club as outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The FBI asserts that Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) support themselves primarily through drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, and extortion, and that they fight over territory and the illegal drug trade and collect $1 billion in illegal income annually.
In 1985
a three-year, eleven-state FBI operation named Roughrider culminated in
the largest OMG bust in history, with the confiscation of $2 million
worth of illegal drugs, as well as an illegal arsenal of weapons, ranging from Uzi submachine guns to antitank weapons.
In October 2008, the FBI announced the end of a six-month undercover
operation by agents into the narcotics trafficking by the Mongols
Motorcycle Club. The bust went down with 160 search warrants and 110
arrest warrants.
Canada, especially, has in the late 20th century experienced a
significant upsurge in crime involving outlaw motorcycle clubs, most
notably in what has been dubbed the Quebec Biker War, which has involved more than 150 murders (plus a young bystander killed by an exploding car bomb), 84 bombings, and 130 cases of arson. The increased violence in Canada has been attributed to turf wars over the illegal drug trafficking business, specifically relating to access to the Port of Montreal,
but also as the Hells Angels have sought to obtain control of the
street level trade from other rival and/or independent gangs in various
regions of Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette, quoting from the Provincial Court of Manitoba,
defines these groups as: "Any group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have
voluntarily made a commitment to band together and abide by their
organizations' rigorous rules enforced by violence, who engage in
activities that bring them and their club into serious conflict with
society and the law".
Members and supporters of these clubs insist that illegal
activities are isolated occurrences and that they, as a whole, are not
criminal organizations. They often compare themselves to police
departments, wherein the occasional "bad cop" does not make a police
department a criminal organization and the Hells Angels sponsors
charitable events for Toys for Tots in an attempt to legitimize themselves with public opinion.
Contrary to other criminal organizations, OMGs operate on an
individual basis instead of top-down, which is how supporters can claim
that only some members are committing crimes. Belonging guarantees to
each member the option of running criminal activity, using other members
as support—the main characteristic of OMGs being "amoral
individualism", in contrast to the hierarchical orders and bonds of
"amoral familism" of other criminal organizations such as the Mafia. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent William Queen, who infiltrated the Mongols, wrote that what makes a group like them different from the Mafia
is that crime and violence are not used as expedients in pursuit of
profit, but that the priorities are reversed. Mayhem and lawlessness are
inherent in living "The Life" and the money they obtain by illegal
means is only wanted as a way to perpetuate that lifestyle.
Recently, authorities have tried tactics aimed at undermining the
gang identity and breaking up the membership. But in June 2011 the High Court of Australia overturned a law that outlawed crime-focused motorcycle clubs and required members to avoid contact with one another. In the U.S., a Federal judge rejected a prosecutor's request to seize ownership of the Mongols Motorcycle Club logo and name, saying the government had no right to the trademarks.
Federal prosecutors had requested, as part of a larger criminal
indictment, a court order giving the government ownership of the logo in
order to prevent members from wearing the club's colors.
Relationships between outlaw motorcycle clubs
Certain
large one-percent MCs have rivalries between each other and will fight
over territory and other issues. Sometimes smaller clubs are forced into
or willingly accept supportive roles for a larger one-percent club and
are sometimes required to wear a "support patch" on their vests that
shows their affiliation with the dominant regional club. Smaller clubs
are often allowed to form with the permission of the dominant regional
club. Clubs that resist have been forcibly disbanded by being told to
hand over their colours on threat of aggression.
In Australia and the United States, many MCs have established statewide MC coalitions.
These coalitions are composed of MCs who have chapters in the state,
and the occasional interested third party organization, and hold
periodic meetings on neutral ground where representatives from each club
meet in closed session to resolve disputes between clubs and discuss
issues of common interest. Local coalitions or confederations of clubs
have eliminated some of the inter-club rivalry and together they have
acted to hire legal and PR representation.
Cultural influence
Outlaw motorcyclists and their clubs have been frequently portrayed and parodied in movies and the media generally, giving rise to an "outlaw biker film" genre. It generally exists as a negative stereotype in the public's subconscious and yet has inspired fashion trends for both males and, as "biker babes", for females. The appearance has even been exploited by the fashion industry bringing it into legal conflict with some clubs and simultaneously encouraging a cultural specific fetishistic look that conveys sex, danger, rebelliousness, masculinity, and working class values.
The biker style has influenced the look of other sub-cultures such as punk, heavy metal, leather subculture and cybergoth fashion, and, initially an American subculture, has had an international influence. Bikers, their clothing, and motorcycles have become cultural icons
of mythic status, their portrayal generally exaggerating a criminal or
deviant association exploited by the media for their own often financial
interests.
In popular culture
Literature
- Winterhalder, Edward; De Clercq, Wil (2008), The Assimilation: Rock Machine Become Bandidos - Bikers United Against the Hells Angels, ECW Press, ISBN 1-55022-824-2
- Winterhalder, Edward (2006), Out in Bad Standings: Inside the Bandidos Motorcycle Club - the Making of a Worldwide Dynasty, Blockhead City Press, ISBN 0-9771747-0-0
- The outlaw biker film genre really took off in the mid-1960s, after the Hells Angels club became prominent in the media, in particular, after Hunter S. Thompson's book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1966) was published.
Television
- The mini-series The Last Chapter (2002) was set in Toronto and Montreal, and portrayed a fictional feud reminiscent of the Quebec Biker War in which The Triple Sixers MC attempted to establish a chapter in the province of Ontario. This show predated Sons of Anarchy by six years.
- Sons of Anarchy portrays a fictional outlaw motorcycle club, founded mainly by Vietnam War veterans, which is involved in various criminal activity and associated with underworld gangs. The show's creator thought it was too obvious to have them be methamphetamine dealers, and so instead they traffic illegal guns.
- Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms: The six-episode series dramatises the story of the Milperra massacre, when the Bandidos and the Comanchero motorcycle clubs went to war on Father's Day, Sunday 2 September 1984. The massacre had its beginnings after a group of Comancheros broke away and formed the first Bandidos Motorcycle Club chapter in Australia. This resulted in intense rivalry between the two chapters. At a public swap meet at the Viking Tavern at Milperra, New South Wales, a brief but violent battle ensued with seven people shot dead, including a 14-year-old innocent female bystander. A further 28 people were wounded with 20 requiring hospitalisation. Each episode starts with a quote stated by Justice Adrian Roden when the clubs went before the New South Wales Supreme Court; "As patriotism can lead to jingoism and mateship can lead to cronyism, so bikie club loyalty can lead to bikie club war."
- Gangland Undercover is an American dramatized series inspired by the true story of police informant Charles Falco, who infiltrated several bike clubs in the United States in the early 2000s.
- Mayans M.C. is a spin-off to Sons of Anarchy centered around the Sons rivals turned allies, the all Hispanic Mayans Motorcycle Club.
Video games
- Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned is the first of two episodic expansion packs developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was first released for the Xbox 360 on 17 February 2009 and on PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows on 13 April 2010. The protagonist of The Lost and Damned is Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City's biker club The Lost. Other fictional motorcycle clubs also appear in the DLC: the Angels of Death and the Uptown Riders.
- Grand Theft Auto 5, characters from the Lost and Damned appear in the video game after the Lost MC expanded into San Andreas after the events of the expansion pack. They are an antagonistic force towards Trevor Philips, one of the three protagonists.
- Grand Theft Auto Online received an outlaw biker-themed update known as GTA Online: Bikers, released on October 4, 2016. It brought back several vehicles, the ability to hit people off of bikes from The Lost and Damned, and introduced new weapons, clothing, tattoos, vehicles, properties, missions and other new mechanics and various bug fixes.
- Days Gone is a 2019 post-apocalyptic survival game set in Oregon where the protagonist, Deacon St. John, is a former member of an outlaw motorcycle club known as the Mongrels, and still wears colors.
