Sons of Anarchy. Is any of it real?

[jjr1]

Firstly on topic; do biker gangs exist in the US and what bikes do they ride? I am not really digging the Sons Of Anarchy bikes ! Maybe a little more orange or long handlebars or less plastic headlights...... I just find their bikes horrible and for that reason I am not signing up.

Secondly and off topic; if you were setting up a biker gang would a fast bike not be better for escaping or chasing your victims? Maybe a few sports bikes or supermoto's? Surely these sit back and beg bikes would be caught after they shoot up a bar and the local sheriff comes looking. "yeah mate he went that way about ten minutes ago but sit down and rest your little feet because your chevy, will catch his little skinny arse in 30 mins, not to mention his lack of ground clearance !"

[King Eric]

Biker gangs are very real!

Worth reading a book called Gangs by Tony Thompson. Touches on them in that. Eye opener (as it the other stuff!)

[jjr1]

simon1987 said:

lol sons of anarchy is so gay, they are all a bunch of pussies especially that one from aliens four.

It might be gay my sausage bandit friend but wtf is aliens four? assuming it might be a neighbours or home and away, for dole bandits.

Hey I am getting right into this biker bad ass ste

Fancy an ak47 up your Harley arse?

[3DP]

I think you need to watch the film 'Torque'. That's as real as it gets...

[AH33]

I dont even think Jax's beard is real

[sjg]

This was quite a good read, although I don't know how much was embellished for story or extra interest:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Angel-Undercover-Journe...

HAMC and other "clubs" have numerous convictions for all kinds of naughtiness. Kurt Sutter apparently did a lot of research - it's obviously fictionalised but lots of the club activities shown in SoA have happened before.

[spoodler]

Is "Sons" real - don't be daft it's a t.v. program...
Are bike gangs real? Yes. Think of them like the mafia not like your cuddly local "Soggy Willy M.C.C."
Are they violent and criminal? Well in the interests of protecting their "business" interests (drug running, prostitution etc.) they have been known to commit the odd murder and the like. Not just in the States but Cookham over here, the double murders with the bodies left outside the Rockers' Reunion, the missile attacks on the clubhouses in Scandinavia, the huge gun battle in a shopping centre in Sydney...
Do they jealously protect their image, their patch etc.? Yep.
As for the bikes - mainly historical and because they are American.

Other than that it's about as real as Big Brother...

[leighz]

fantastic read....

[jjr1]

Looks like some great reads linked to above. I shall add them to my bedtime story list.

Now though I am going to have fire up the old Netflix and start ep4 series 2.

[3DP]

jjr1 said:

Looks like some great reads linked to above. I shall add them to my bedtime story list.

Now though I am going to have fire up the old Netflix and start ep4 series 2.

The series where they are in Northern Ireland and Ireland is completely rubbish, other than the start and end episodes of the season. Luckily subsequent seasons are better.

[jjr1]

I have got the IRA in my series and they have to be the worst Irish accents in history. They make Brad Pitt seem like a leprechaun

[Richyboy]

Is it true that if you walk around with a sons of anarchy jacket your get grief from one of the biker gangs?

[bogie]

Richyboy said:

Is it true that if you walk around with a sons of anarchy jacket your get grief from one of the biker gangs?

if you wear a jacket with the 3 part MC patch (colours) then expect to get some attention from the local MC club in your area

http://www.brotherhoodmotorcycleclub.com/index_fil...

[RizzoTheRat]

I was quite suprised when on a bike trip in Northern Ireland last year that a local mate was going to go home and change his jacket and swap bikes over before going to a local bike show, as he would be in trouble if he turned up in his "colours". Kind of sad really.

[mph1977]

Richyboy said:

Is it true that if you walk around with a sons of anarchy jacket your get grief from one of the biker gangs?

for one of two (interchangable) reasons


1. you are a sad wannabe fractional wit

2. you believe you are part of a 'outlaw' MC/ 1%er 'gang' and are on the turf of another without permission ...

[bogie]

RizzoTheRat said:

I was quite suprised when on a bike trip in Northern Ireland last year that a local mate was going to go home and change his jacket and swap bikes over before going to a local bike show, as he would be in trouble if he turned up in his "colours". Kind of sad really.

yeah...its a whole different world...or "sub culture" as the press would call it...and wearing the colours where you are not allowed is going to get you in trouble... an old aquaintance I used to ride with joined an MC in the early 90s....never kept in touch with him though ..I moved away a few years later, dunno where he is now or if he still rides

I never got the logic...you ride a bike, and enjoy the freedom it brings .....so you join a club, pass tests, wear a uniform, and follow rules

...still the whole alternative "biker" culture thing became the biggest marketing tool in the history of Harley-Davidson when they created the whole "Harley Owners Group" thing....so you can pretend to be in bike "gang" if you dont want to be a Power Ranger wannabe racer

Edited by bogie on Friday 14th June 13:48

[Wedg1e]

Wild Hogs is more realistic.

[Dare2Fail]

jjr1 said:

Firstly on topic; do biker gangs exist in the US and what bikes do they ride? I am not really digging the Sons Of Anarchy bikes ! Maybe a little more orange or long handlebars or less plastic headlights...... I just find their bikes horrible and for that reason I am not signing up.

Secondly and off topic; if you were setting up a biker gang would a fast bike not be better for escaping or chasing your victims? Maybe a few sports bikes or supermoto's? Surely these sit back and beg bikes would be caught after they shoot up a bar and the local sheriff comes looking. "yeah mate he went that way about ten minutes ago but sit down and rest your little feet because your chevy, will catch his little skinny arse in 30 mins, not to mention his lack of ground clearance !"

Sonny Barger comments on the bike choice thing in his book. He says that if the Angels were starting out now they would be on Japanese bikes, but back when they started Japanese bikes were terrible and no one could see Anything being better than a Harley. I think the issue these days is that for many of the gangs everyone in the local chapter has to agree to you joining. If you rock up on an R1 the odds of everyone agreeing to you joining is very slim. If I remember rightly there was a similar argument about why there were (at the time the book was written) no black members of the Hells Angels.

As to the bikes in the show, I suspect they are probably a lot closer to reality than the image of ridiculous custom bikes and monkey bars that the mind likes to conjour up.

[Fort Jefferson]

David LaBrava who plays "Happy" in SOA, is a Hells Angel, and Ralph(sonny)Barger also played a role.

[bogie]

Dare2Fail said:

jjr1 said:

Firstly on topic; do biker gangs exist in the US and what bikes do they ride? I am not really digging the Sons Of Anarchy bikes ! Maybe a little more orange or long handlebars or less plastic headlights...... I just find their bikes horrible and for that reason I am not signing up.

Secondly and off topic; if you were setting up a biker gang would a fast bike not be better for escaping or chasing your victims? Maybe a few sports bikes or supermoto's? Surely these sit back and beg bikes would be caught after they shoot up a bar and the local sheriff comes looking. "yeah mate he went that way about ten minutes ago but sit down and rest your little feet because your chevy, will catch his little skinny arse in 30 mins, not to mention his lack of ground clearance !"

Sonny Barger comments on the bike choice thing in his book. He says that if the Angels were starting out now they would be on Japanese bikes, but back when they started Japanese bikes were terrible and no one could see Anything being better than a Harley. I think the issue these days is that for many of the gangs everyone in the local chapter has to agree to you joining. If you rock up on an R1 the odds of everyone agreeing to you joining is very slim. If I remember rightly there was a similar argument about why there were (at the time the book was written) no black members of the Hells Angels.

As to the bikes in the show, I suspect they are probably a lot closer to reality than the image of ridiculous custom bikes and monkey bars that the mind likes to conjour up.

Sonny Barger has been riding Victory bikes for quite a few years now so I guess they gained some more street cred when his books were published. I think that Triumphs were a HD alternative too for many bikers...after all, thats what Marlon Brando rode in the movies