According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 7.1 million motorcycles were registered in the United States as of 2008. The vast majority of motorcycle riders are law-abiding citizens who enjoy motorcycles as a hobby or form of transportation. Some enthusiasts even belong to clubs or groups devoted to motorcyclists; for example, an estimated 230,000 riders belong to the American Motorcyclist Association, one of the largest motorcycle clubs in the United States. What I will be talking about today is a small portion of motorcycle clubs that function as gangs and engage in a variety of deviant behavior and criminal activities. Individual members of such clubs proudly call themselves “One Percenters,” a nick name that originated from a comment made by the American Motorcycle Association that “99% of bikers follow the law.”!

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In an article; Leathers and Rolexs: The Symbolism and Values of the Motorcycle Club by! James F. Quinn and Craig J. Forsyth wrote “It is difficult to distinguish a modern one percenter from other bikers unless the patch is present. Further, the core traits of one percenters and their clubs are merely the extreme of a continuum that runs from law-abiding to crime immersed and from the countercultural gang member to the sophisticated subcultural entrepreneur.”!

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There are 4 distinct types of offending that can be observed with these groups:! Spontaneous expressive acts, which are typically violent crimes that arise between rivals in social settings and are committed by small numbers rather than the entire group, such as bar fights. Planned expressive acts, are usually committed against rivals and may be planned at a national or local level to represent the club’s mission or interests. An example of something that may provoke this type of crime would be to seek revenge of an action or remark that caused outrage via murder. Short term instrumental acts are those in which a small portion of members exploit a favorable situation to meet a goal for at least one member, such as stealing anothers property or participating in the prostitution of a bikers “Ol’ Lady.” Finally, Ongoing Instrumental enterprises generally consist of carefully planned criminal activities that demand a considerable amount of time and energy and are utilized to financially support the club such as the widespread selling of drugs.!

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Some of the most prominent know biker gangs are: Hells Angels, Outlaws, Bandidos and Mongols. Hells Angels, a is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles and is considered an organized crime cartel by the

U.S. Department of Justice. The Outlaws Motorcycle Club was formed in McCook, Illinois in 1935. Membership in the Outlaws is limited to men who own American-made motorcycles of a particular size, although in Europe motorcycles from any country are allowed so long as they are in the chopper style. Their main rivals are the Hells Angels. The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation is an organized crime cartel with a worldwide membership. The club was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its motto is "We are the people our parents warned us about.” The Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood. This club is headquartered in southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California, in 1969. Law enforcement officials estimate there are approximately 1000-1500 full-patched members and they also recently expanded into Australia in 2013.!

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Just like a democracy the biker gangs have leadership roles. There is a President, Vice President, Secretary of treasurer and then there are Prospects. For example in the Hells Angels Motorcycle Gang, it is stated in the book Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels By Jerry Langton that The process of becoming a Hells Angel is burdensome; only White individuals over the age of 21 may apply and must have an approved bike. After associating with the club from anywhere from three months to two years, applicants are considered a “hangaround” and are tasked with protecting clubhouses. After they are approved by everyone in a chapter, they are promoted to a “prospect,” a process in which individuals are on-call at all hours of the day and are at the mercy of other members. However, prospects are allowed to display the colors of the Hells Angels (red and white) as well as an incomplete set of 14 patches and are able to utilize clubhouses. Eventually, prospects are “patched in”, or initiated, and given a complete set of patches displaying the symbol of the Hells Angels known as the “death’s head.” According to Langton, Hells Angels treat their colors with great respect, as the colors are said to be more important to a Hells Angel than any other possession or woman. They cannot be touched by a non-member without punishment. To dishonor an Angel’s colors is said to be an offense punishable by death, even when done by other Angels.!

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To conclude things, you have learned that biker gangs are not at all as glamorous as it may seem on FX’s hit series “Sons of Anarchy,” though all of us ladies love watching Jax Teller, these

biker gangs known as the “One Percenters” are very dangerous and are real criminals that need to be taken off the street, because they “are they people our parents warned us about!”!