Maybe It Is Just A Club Afterall

Spend enough time in the Harley world and the topic of "motorcycle gangs" or more correctly, clubs is bound to come up. From cheesy B-movies (Quentin Tarantino's "Hell Ride" being a notably exception to a generally awful genre......it's deliberately campy, sexy, and it works, put it in the queue), the latest best selling "undercover" expose', high profile busts, rival club wars, to the local charity poker run, motorcycle clubs have played an integral role in American biker culture for over sixty years.



I'm thinking this is one bike you'd want to leave alone

 Whether many of us want to admit it or not, the mere sight of "outlaw" bikers is enough to evoke a multitude of sometimes conflicting emotions; fear, envy, loathing, and if we're really honest, on occasion, a desire to tell the man to #&$ off and join up ourselves. And why not? The "outlaw" biker is free, living life on his terms...........they don't bother conforming to the norms and conventions of the typical suburban square. They make their own rules........taking what they want, when they want, the rest of us be damned.

Respect. The "outlaw" biker's very existence demands it.........and we give it, if for no other reason than we know they won't abide by our overly PC notions of civility, so we may just be in for some trouble if we don't. Had one too many at the local watering hole, and want to test your sand.......while I wouldn't advise it, the gents with the colors over in the corner will oblige you every time. It's a very grown up version of the school playground, only these guys never back down. Show them respect, and you'll get it. Stay out of their business (and trust me, they're so not interested in the slightest in yours), and they'll stay clear of yours. It's as simple as that.

But here's the deal, where does a club end and a criminal gang begin? Are all club members, regardless of their individual records (and more often lack thereof) worthy of seemingly endless local and federal investigations, harassment,  and surveillance merely because they chose to join an organization a bit less benign than the Kiwanis  I'm not so sure. And I'll tell you why.
Simply put, the case against the clubs just doesn't add up for me, at least not all of it. For starters, if one were going to consistently engage in act of criminality, why wear a "uniform" that tells John Law just exactly who you are? Typical crooks like to be a bit more stealthy don't ya think? I can't recall members of the Mafia sporting "La Cosa Nostra" stick pins, or seeing them meeting in clubhouses with a giant logo over the door. I'm just saying. If our "outlaw" friends are all really criminals, they must not be too bright, which brings me to my next point.

Club members strolling on Virginia St. during Street Vibrations

Drug Money. Read any article about motorcycle "gangs" and inevitably you'll come across statistics of the amount of drug activity, prostitution, and extortion rackets they control, the figures are always in the tens of millions of dollars. In my home state of California, the biker clubs are high profile targets....... it's claimed that the clubs control over 75% of the meth trade! Wow, that seems like a lot (warning, on the topic of drugs, your humble scribe is waaay out of his depth, having never done any drug stronger than Advil), at least it would surely bring the club a ton of dough. Right!?

It doesn't seem so. During my years in the motorcycle business, I've had the opportunity to work and interact with more than a few members of the various clubs, both as customers of the business, and as promotional partners for various events. And here's the shocker, I've yet to meet a rich club member, as a matter of fact, all the ones I know have day jobs, some really difficult jobs, some well paying, but mostly blue collar. Never seen one driving a Bentley, none that I know live in tony neighborhoods, and most don't even have high dollar custom Harleys. That just doesn't conform to my ideal of drug kingpins that are knocking down millions of dollars a month!? Where's the beef...........when you're pulling down big money, it shows.......especially in the world of the average drug dealer. I know, I've seen Scarface, come on, not even a mansion!?

Lastly, it seems that no matter how extensive (which is code for damn, that cost the taxpayers a ton!) and sexy the undercover sting, it never really nets anything. You know, like actual convictions. A few guys get carted off to the joint, spend the night and are back out on the street.....waste of dough. Well, except for the book or movie deal the undercover cops manage to score, but that's another story. The fact is that in the vast majority of cases, the allegations are never proven out......unlike in other areas of organized crime investigations.

Boozefighters boogie at the Full Throttle

So what's the story, are all club members just misunderstood choir boys relentlessly hassled by the man? Hardly. No doubt there are individual members that do their share of criminal deeds, and let's face it, club culture is gonna be much more tolerant of such shenanigans.....these guys are not saints, and they'll tell you so. I'm just saying that the high visibility of the average club makes them by far an easier target for law enforcement "attention", more than their actual "crimes" would warrant. If this weren't the case, I think we'd see far more of the aforementioned stings resulting in major jail time.........seems logical.

Looks like the "truth' is once again occupying the middle of the road along with that white line and dead skunk. For the record, the average club member is one bad hombre, best to steer clear. You and I, no matter how romantic it may seem, will never be club member, and that's for the best. The very fact we're not means it wasn't the life for us.........and that's fine. But what it doesn't mean is that all those folks that willingly choose the "outlaw" biker lifestyle and join a club are criminals. Not by a long shot. Sometimes a club really is just a club...........