Bikes gangs....are they really bad dudes or just enthusiasts

[turboman786]

As above

I grew up in Shipley, West Yorkshire and used to see Satans Slaves rolling around looking mean and moody.

having said that Ive never heard of them being involved in any crimes (or at least not getting caught for any crimes) so Ive always wondered what groups/clubs/gangs like this are all about

Sure, Ive heard and read about notorious gangs like Hells Angels who sound like folk to avoid, but what is the reality of the lesser gangs.......?(will I get shot for calling them lesser gangs!!)

[creampuff]

I think the UK ones are a bit lightweight. The Australian ones are a bit more hardcore. Just Google "Milperra massacre" or "Sydney Kingsford Smith bollard murder"

[SystemParanoia]

i thought they were all midlife crisis accountants and IT bods.

[shielsy]

There was a bike gang related shooting on the M40 some time ago...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwic...

[Spanglepants]

I used to work with one of the convicted, surprising as he wasn't remotely violent or interested in bikes.

shielsy said:

There was a bike gang related shooting on the M40 some time ago...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwic...

[bogie]

Theres a wide range of clubs out there and the majority are just enthusiasts like the rest of us, albeit some live the lifestyle more than others.

Its all in the back patch, and entry requirements....i.e. there is just a little bit of a difference between buying a Harley and joining its HOG club and joining the Hells Angels, Bandidos, Outlaws, mongols etc

1% or one percent clubs are the Outlaw MC gangs - the real thing and what people really associate with "bike gang"

Some US specific info here:

https://info.publicintelligence.net/LA-OutlawBiker...

plenty of books and info out there.....

[optimate]

turboman786 said:

As above

I grew up in Shipley, West Yorkshire and used to see Satans Slaves rolling around looking mean and moody.

having said that Ive never heard of them being involved in any crimes (or at least not getting caught for any crimes) so Ive always wondered what groups/clubs/gangs like this are all about

Sure, Ive heard and read about notorious gangs like Hells Angels who sound like folk to avoid, but what is the reality of the lesser gangs.......?(will I get shot for calling them lesser gangs!!)

Satans Slaves yes they are a 1% club I wont go into detail as i can be asked to type pages of exactly what a 1% mc is
but I would not recommenced winding up any 1% club member mate

you will often find that smaller clubs are affiliated with larger clubs ie angels or outlaws

most of the time they will walk away thinking your are a prat catch em wrong on wrong day wrong time you will seriously regret it

simple answer a 1% mc is about family and bikes and that's it not all about crime some Chapters will be some members will be but if a one member calls at 3am there all be there no mater what the reason and prepared to deal with what ever

they done a lot of work and dedicated there selfs to the club and worked hard for that patch if the club calls the they will be there the club comes before family work anything

Edited by optimate on Tuesday 9th May 00:49

[Loyly]

In America and Australia there are some criminal bike gangs. The vast majority are just normal people living the Sons of Anarchy fantasy, and do work for charity and stuff.

[Rick101]

I do find the whole patch club thing rather odd.

I have read the books and understand it's a very different thing in around the world. Here in the UK? Ijust don't see it. I quite imagine when they're not strutting round in their arseless chaps they're prob working marking the history homework or something.

[Berlin Mike]

The bike gangs in Berlin are a bit more like their American brothers. They come up in the tabloids here now and then for drugs or fighting each other or maybe calling a truce.

I used to take my Renault Espace to a former Renault garage to have it serviced. The Meister told me one time the Polizei had blocked off their yard to raid the Bandidos' clubhouse which backed onto their plot.

Here at least it's not just big bikes and leather jackets.

Interesting to note, maybe it's coincidence but I don't hear of any bike crime to speak of, particularly in comparison to London.

[aeropilot]

Rick101 said:

I do find the whole patch club thing rather odd.

I have read the books and understand it's a very different thing in around the world. Here in the UK? Ijust don't see it. I quite imagine when they're not strutting round in their arseless chaps they're prob working marking the history homework or something.

Again, you're not understanding the difference between a 1% club and....a non 1% organisation....and there's really no difference here in the UK with regard to a genuine 1% club, they generally just keep a lower profile here than elsewhere in the world.

I've known a few quite well going back 20 odd years ago, knew my place, when to say hello, and importantly, when not to say hello, and also seen first hand what happens when they are pissed off with people......
If you really think a real UK patched 1% member is someone who struts around in arseless chaps I really hope you don't piss one off one day.......!

[RemaL]

Off topic a bit but seem the scooter riders in london nicking stuff and assaulting people is getting serious from the sounds of it

[maxxy5]

There are definitely some 'bad dudes', they're heavily involved in drugs, at least they always were. This was a while ago but no reason to think much has changed - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8... - they don't just fight each other for fun, it's business. As the poster says above, the hardcore gangs are not something you turn up to every tuesday, it's pretty intense.

[wsn03]

I was talking to a guy in a pub where I was staying last night about this, first time I'd heard about the 1% club. He told of a story about someone who accidentally befriended a member of one of the gangs. When they told them about an old boy who was getting bullied by some bloke he'd let stay on his land for free, they promptly went round and sorted out the offender, as in properly, despite the protests from the guy who told them about it. Apparently the bad behaviour really upset them. This guy was convinced they have a high honour code between them.
He too talked about the M40 incident, seemingly when you stray into another's patch you should pay them the courtesy of letting them know.
No idea how much is true and how much is hearsay, beer talks, and so do random strangers.

Edited by wsn03 on Tuesday 9th May 12:00

[Rollin]

aeropilot said:

Rick101 said:

I do find the whole patch club thing rather odd.

I have read the books and understand it's a very different thing in around the world. Here in the UK? Ijust don't see it. I quite imagine when they're not strutting round in their arseless chaps they're prob working marking the history homework or something.

Again, you're not understanding the difference between a 1% club and....a non 1% organisation....and there's really no difference here in the UK with regard to a genuine 1% club, they generally just keep a lower profile here than elsewhere in the world.

I've known a few quite well going back 20 odd years ago, knew my place, when to say hello, and importantly, when not to say hello, and also seen first hand what happens when they are pissed off with people......
If you really think a real UK patched 1% member is someone who struts around in arseless chaps I really hope you don't piss one off one day.......!

This.

[CAPP0]

wsn03 said:

I was talking to a guy in a pub where I was staying last night about this, first time I'd heard about the 1% club. He told of a story about someone who accidentally befriended a member of one of the gangs. When they told them about an old boy who was getting bullied by some bloke he'd let stay on his land for free, they promptly went round and sorted out the offender, as in properly, despite the protests from the guy who told them about it. Apparently the bad behaviour really upset them. This guy was convinced they have a high honour code between them.
He too talked about the M40 incident, seemingly when you stray into another's patch you should pay them the courtesy of letting them know.
No idea how much is true and how much is hearsay, beer talks, and so do random strangers.

Edited by wsn03 on Tuesday 9th May 12:00

A quite good friend of mine is the president of a small club (is "1%" the correct term?). They are somehow affiliated to the Angels and do a lot of stuff with them.

If you met him on the street, other than that he almost always wears something with club insignia on it, you would not for one second imagine that he is involved in anything like this. He has told me many tales of how it's all set up, etc, what you can and can't do (when wearing patches), and what happens if you transgress.

So, if the Angels allow you to set up your patch club, then you can ride within the county you live in/they have granted permission in. If you want to ride into the adjacent county, wearing your patch, you need to inform the Angels in that county and get permission. If you ride in a county without permission and wearing patches, you are likely to get pulled by the Angels who may or may not seek physical retribution.

If you have a clubhouse and hold a party, you HAVE to invite the local Angels, who WILL send people. You cannot then leave until after the Angels have all left; they must be the first to leave, even if it's 5am.

You can't just rock up to a patch club and join. It almost sounds a bit like the Masons, you have to be proposed etc then go through a load of process before you are granted your patch.

There's loads more to it but that's a quick summary. It's not for me. I've got three or four mates I occasionally go on rides with, go to the pub with, go on bike holidays with, but we wear what we like and hence go where we like. Seems a little more straightforward!

Oh and the M40 thing - as it's been explained to me, that was an inter-gang thing and Gerry Whatsisname had failed to observe some of the rules, such as those above, and hence got popped.

[Biker's Nemesis]

I was in a gang at school. The New Romantics.

[Prof Prolapse]

Sounds like being an "outlaw" comes with a lot of rules and regulations.

Do they have an ombudsman?

[308mate]

They're pretty severe in Oz, that's my only experience of them. They bomb each other, shootings, organised crime, the tasks you have to execute to get each patch are usually vicious or fairly serious crimes. They are a big issue for Australia.

Names include God's Garbage, Club Deroes, Gypsy Jokers, Coffin Cheaters and that's JUST the ones that STARTED in Western Australia (population < 2million spread over an area larger than europe). At one stage they actually banded together to boot out the mongrel Mob (NZ street gang) who were trying to get established.

When they travel en masse, they have Police escorts front and rear of their 500m long train of double file Harleys. And they are largely untouchable thanks to the code of silence and fear of retribution.

That said, they're not all bad. But dheads with a good side are still ultimately dheads.

[wsn03]

Come to think of it I worked with a guy who has literally travelled the whole world on bikes (well most of it) - he contracts a year or two then spends his gains on world biking trips. Really top bloke, everyone warms to him. He ended up befriending the Head of a "Chapter" I think its called in the USA, this guy was the top man of one of the biggest gangs, and then he decided to drop out and retire. They met at Sturgess, its apparently THEE meeting place for all those gangs and the biking Harley public in general.

To date this ex top man still keeps in touch with my unassuming colleague, I think he's even talked about coming to visit him in England. Said colleague was fascinated at how down to earth the guy is now, knowing full well he hides a massive set of stories behind those steely eyes. I even recall him asking this chap for information for me to visit Daytona Speed Week - make sure I was shown a good time and all that if wanted. I never made it, met the missus shortly afterwards, and so my holiday of watching topless coleslaw wrestling whilst touting my "British" accent to the local ladies sadly never materialised. Damn.