(Another quick note about our alphabetization here: We have included a few entries with “The” in front of club names because that’s the way they seem to have it on their patches and in other forms.)
THE BROTHERS - Three-piece patch out of Belgium that is pretty vehement about the use of their name: “We, The Brothers, are on the road since more than twenty-five years. We will not tolerate that any other club in Belgium uses the name ‘Brothers’ in their colours. This is NOT negotiable!”
THE END - I know, this should be the last listing in this encyclopedia with echoes of Jim Morrison haunting the background, but it’s not. The End here is a full diamond-patch 1% motorcycle club out of Hampshire, England.
THE JURY - A motorcycle club out of New York, bending the traditional display of the 1% patch just a tad. With them, it’s included on the “heavy” side of a scales of justice in their center patch.
ESTABLISHED: 1958
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Minnesota
FOUNDER(S): “Carl” and two of his friends
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Minnesota
CLUB COLORS: Red and Gold
MOTTO: MC does not mean My Car!
CLAIM TO FAME: Longest continuous motorcycle club in Minnesota
THEMADONES - Established in 1958 in Minnesota, this motorcycle club gets mid-twentieth century “pioneer” status. They also have a great motto: “MC does not mean My Car!” And they swam right into the law enforcement map in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes!
The name does have all the words purposely run together: THEMADONES!
ESTABLISHED: 1985
PLACE OF ORIGIN: England
FOUNDER(S): A lonely triker and a few “like-minded lost souls”
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Folkestone, Kent, in the Southeast of England
CLUB COLORS: Black and Gold
MOTTO: The Wheel MC; where blood is thicker than water. . .and colours are thicker than blood
CLAIM TO FAME: The club evolved from the Brotherhood of the Wheel.
THE WHEEL - A “1%, traditional, back patch motorcycle club” out of England, with roots back to 1985; evolving from the Brotherhood of the Wheel MC.
THROTTLELOCKERS - Another of the motorcycle clubs mentioned on one of the strangest (and never-ending) “anti-gang” websites in the universe, as an associate club of the HAMC in Canada.
THUNDER - Established in 1983, a German three-piece-patch club—not to be confused with a New Jersey law enforcement club (“No Justice, Just Us”).
THUNDERBIRD, THUNDERBIRDS - Both of these clubs have been flying for a long time. Thunderbird MC was established in 1967 in Minnesota and made it onto the law enforcement map up there. They are also friends with a German Thunderbirds MC, established in 1975. In 1985, the German ’Birds made essentially successful efforts to unify all of the Thunderbird MCs in Germany and Austria.
THUNDERGUARDS - This motorcycle club made the law enforcement map in Delaware. And made the news in 2009 as covered by The News Journal:
Wilmington city officials shut down the social hall of the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club. . .after a triple shooting nearby left one man dead and two injured shortly after 3:30 a.m.
THUNDERHEADS - A Bandidos support club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
THORS - Established in 1995, this three-piece-patch club out of Switzerland refers to their clubhouse as “Valhalla.”
TITANS - “Support the Madness” with this motorcycle club out of Baltimore, Maryland.
TOMBSTONE RATS - Established in 1981. A club out of Switzerland with a great center patch that features a skull, a cross, and, yes, their own special version of “Ben.”
ESTABLISHED: 1947
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Hollister, California
FOUNDER(S): Included Jess and Joe Bravo
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Three or four chapters in Northern California
CLUB COLORS: Black and Gold
CENTER PATCH: A skull wearing a top hat, with wings
CLAIM TO FAME: A true pioneer club that was in Hollister in 1947
TOP HATTERS - The Top Hatters have a “pioneer”-pairing similar to that of the Jackpine Gypsies. They, too, were founded right in the middle of sacred ground in the MC world. Established in 1947 in Hollister, California, in and at the “birthplace of the American biker.” The Bravo brothers, Jess and Joe, were two icons of the club—“originals” who were seen for years in their top hats and cuts at all of the Hollister Rallies (before the authorities up there decided that the celebrations of the “birthplace of the American biker” were more trouble than they were worth). When Jess passed away in 2010 at the age of eighty-nine, not only were the venerable brothers separated, but the entire biker brotherhood suffered the loss of one of its most esteemed pioneers. Oh, and yes, the club did make the law enforcement map in California. I’m sure Jess is looking down and chuckling!
Ruth Erickson
(There is also a Top Hats MC out of Wisconsin.)
THMC Chairman of the Board, “Hollywood,” has a few thoughts about what the one percent label just might be:
The Top Hatters Motorcycle Club is a community-oriented Brotherhood of Bikers who strive to strengthen their bond with all those in our areas. Although, we do not wear the 1% patch, our history shows us as non-conformists, with the AMA, dating back to 1947.
Today, the LEAs [law enforcement agencies] have put a very negative interpretation on the 1% patch, creating a chilling effect with the general public—an effect opposite to the way in which we all actually live.
We love to ride with our brothers and we love that freedom of the road that is so often talked about—freedom that so many of us have earned by putting our lives on the line. From the WWII vets who were around at the beginning to the veterans of today’s conflicts, we have all served our country with pride!
Perhaps, the 1% patch should really refer to the small percentage of us who have chosen to surround our lives with the brothers and sisters of our choice and to enjoy true “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!”
TORNADO - Established in 1992, this motorcycle club has been twisting for many years in Bulgaria.
TRAMPS - A three-piece-patch motorcycle club out of Germany.
TRIBE, TRIBES, TRIBESMEN - There are several organizations that have banded together under the variations of this name.
There is a family-oriented Tribe MC, established in 1992 in Ohio.
Another Tribe MC is “A Club of Jewish Bikers in the Washington D.C. Area.”
And there is a Tribes MC celebrating their thirty-fifth year nearby in Maryland. (My guess is that this is the club that made the law enforcement map in the Old Line State, even though the authorities listed it as “the Tribe.”) Somehow I can’t see the Jewish group with their annual Tribe Family Picnic (“We are also looking for people to bring charcoal and lighter, hamburgers and hot dogs and rolls, chips and various salads. We will also need soda, water, and ice”) getting law enforcement upset enough to make their “list.” But you never know. . .
There is also a Tribesmen MC in Maryland—a Black club, and a Tribesmen MC in Nebraska who made the law enforcement map there!
And The Tribesmen is a prominently Maori motorcycle club formed in the 1980s in Otara, New Zealand. It is connected to the Killerbeez youth street gang.
TRUE FEW - A Bandidos “sanctioned” motorcycle club out of Texas. Named for the “few” who split off from their former riding club, because they were the only ones willing to put forth the “work and effort necessary” to become who they are.
ESTABLISHED: Unknown
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Germany
FOUNDER(S): Unknown
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: All over Germany, Belgium, and Romania
CLUB COLORS: Black and White
CENTER PATCH: Iron cross with a fist
CLAIM TO FAME: Eine der gröβten! (One of the biggest!)
TRUST - Another heavyweight Euro one percent motorcycle club with chapters in Germany, Belgium, and Romania. Eine der gröβten!
TYRANTS - There are a couple of Tyrants ruling things around the motorcycle club world.
One is actually a club from New York that got some publicity back in the mid-1990s when they were mentioned in a lengthy appeal that centered on legal action against Thomas “Tom-Tom” LaDuca, a Pagans MC member who had been facing a number of charges. The appeal really read like a script for the Sons of Anarchy. Cue the Tyrants:
OCTOBER 1996 INCIDENT: SEARCHING FOR CYCLE LORDS IN THE CATSKILLS
. . .the Pagans were having “problems” with the Cycle Lords in the Catskills. To resolve the problems, the head of the Pagan’s Catskills chapter, a man known as “Timmy,” organized a raid on a bar where the president of the local Cycle Lords chapter was said to live. Forty or 50 Pagans and Tyrants, some with ax handles, knives and guns, took part in this raid. No Cycle Lords were found. Undaunted, Timmy scheduled a larger raid for the following weekend.
And the Tyrants in New Zealand are another of the clubs all over their law enforcement lists down there, based out of Pahiatua.
ESTABLISHED: 1970s
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Adelaide, Australia
FOUNDER(S): Members of mostly Italian descent
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Australia
CLAIM TO FAME: One of the early groups to come out of the now-massive Australian motorcycle club scene
UNDERTAKERS - Several clubs really dig this name!
One is an Outlaws MC support club in Lexington, Kentucky.
And then there was a club in Australia in the late 1970s called the Undertakers, according to author Arthur Veno, that had members of mostly Italian descent, based in Adelaide.
The Undertakers Scandinavia were right in the middle of the Great Nordic Biker Wars that changed their name from the Morticians to the Undertakers.
And amidst all of the macabre madness is a family-oriented club, established in 2008 in Connecticut (maybe deep down, they really have some of the Fisher family traits).
UNFORGIVEN - We’ll have to forgive these couple of motorcycle clubs for grabbing the same name (but we might not forgive the cops we mention at the end for what they did).
Our first Unforgiven MC is out of New York and they made the law enforcement map listing there.
There is an Unforgiven Motorcycle Brotherhood in Belgium.
But now we need to go on a weird journey into undercover land back in 1999 that had some ATF agents fabricating a club—in this case the Unforgiven—trying to entrap a real club into an altercation. The Denver Post, in a long article about feds’ attempts to indict the Sons of Silence on a variety of charges, sets up the drama:
One other case, in which [SOS] members Doug Luckett, 40, and Robert Bryant, 44, both of Colorado Springs, were charged with assaulting federal officers, was dropped and referred to the state for prosecution. Luckett and Bryant are charged with getting into a brawl in a Colorado Springs bar with three undercover ATF agents who came in wearing patches of a rival gang, The Unforgiven, which the ATF made up. Prosecutors said the case would be easier to try locally because of the number of witnesses.
UNIDOS - A motorcycle club out of Arizona with an enthralling motto: “Never Let Up, Never Let Down, Never Give In!”
UNITED - Established in 1978, a three-piece-patch club uniting in Denmark.
UNRULY - A club “not for the weekend motorcyclist” that made the law enforcement map listing in New Hampshire.
UNTAMED - This feral herd made the law enforcement map in Virginia and were yet another club included in that huge Alexandria, Virginia, Grand Jury June 2010 indictment of the Outlaws MC (See Desperados).
UNTAMED REBELS - A motorcycle club in North Carolina that didn’t make it onto the law enforcement map there, but did make it into an odd and random “gang awareness” flyer apparently generated by some kind of “public service” Tar-Heel safety-circle:
GANG ACTIVITY
Despite Eastern North Carolina’s relative low population density and rural nature, unwanted gang activity is alive and well. A neighborhood’s best protection against unwanted gang activity is knowledge of potential activity, a vigilant watch system, and prompt reporting of suspicious activities. To that end, the CPCW is publishing the following information, training the Block Captains, and assisting with reporting suspicious activity.
There are a number of known gangs and affiliate groups operating in the general vicinity.
1. The Pagans Motorcycle Club and an affiliate group called the Untamed Rebels are operating out of local bars in the Eastern Craven County area. The Pagans are considered extremely violent and can be recognized by their black vests (called colors) with the words “Pagans M.C.”
VAGABONDS - There’s a couple of Vagabonds drifting around out there.
One is a motorcycle club out of Belgium that is not a one percent club.
A club that was a one percent club was the Vagabonds out of Ontario, Canada, which were reportedly absorbed into the Hells Angels in 2000/2001.
But for a real pocketful of history involving the Vagabonds Motorcycle Club, we need to go back to The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a one-day, twelve-hour music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on September 13, 1969.
It was originally set up as kind of an “oldies” show with artists from the 1950s and 1960s, but the thing began to grow, and an appearance by John Lennon and Yoko Ono—as the Plastic Ono Band—was scheduled, along with a performance by The Doors.
Lennon and Yoko’s Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album came out of the show, as did the D.A. Pennebaker film, Sweet Toronto.
Okay, so where do the Vagabonds come in? The motorcycle club wound up being the escort into Toronto for both The Doors and John and Yoko, with forty bikes in front and forty bikes in back of the rockers’ limos.
Less than three months later, motorcycle club members and rock artists would interact again at Altamont.
The result would be much different than it was in Toronto.
Bartlomiej Magierowski/shutterstock.com
ESTABLISHED: 1966
PLACE OF ORIGIN: San Bernardino
FOUNDER(S): Thirteen friends
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: North America
CLUB COLORS: Green
CENTER PATCH: Loki, the Norse god of mischief
MOTTO: We give what we get!
CLAIM TO FAME: One of the early groups to come out of the now-massive Australian motorcycle club scene
VAGOS - Established in 1966 “on the corner of Eighth and Davidson in San Bernardino” by thirteen friends, the Vagos are definitely a “classic” club and one of the motorcycle clubs bubbling just under the Big Five, having made several of the “Top Ten” lists. They are international and getting bigger. Their center patch—the red Norse god of mischief, Loki—was suggested by “Lucky,” one of the thirteen originals, after he ran across a picture in LIFE magazine of a devil coming out of the ground in smoke with letters that said “Return From Hell.” Loki was also depicted in 1966 in one of the most famous/infamous paintings of the collaborative efforts of Dave Mann and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth—a piece centered around a Bakersfield run, which shows Loki overlooking a chaotic party that features some of the most recognizable vintage and “classic” patches ever!
And it was a few decades or so back when The Vagos instituted their million-dollar-winning lawsuit against the Hawthorne, California, police department over harassment issues. That sort of stuff isn’t new in the MC community, and the Vagos took a serious stand early on.
Their brotherhood was also serious early on—from the beginning. And for forty years or so, Vago “Dizzy” was there. We spent an afternoon at the clubhouse of his chapter, out in the high desert, in a free and remote atmosphere that made you forget about urban harassment and looks over your shoulder. It was kingdom-like, where the club had control and the outside was literally and figuratively locked out. It’s always a good feeling in a place like this. We talked amidst brothers and beer:
Our bylaws were simple. They were about brotherhood and respect.
When I came in, in ’68 or ’69, there was already about a dozen Vagos from San Bernardino. There was no other charters—nothing. Me and a homeboy from Norco were the first ones outside of Berdoo.
I was living in Corona, and me and my homeboy, we were just loners.
Then we met the Vagos. . .
The first time was when me and my homeboy were at this bar drinking. There was this bar out on this dirt road behind the house, a block from where I lived.
The bar was empty except for me and him, and we heard all kinds of scooters coming in. There were ten or twelve Vagos. We got together; we got to know each other. They talked us into going to Berdoo with them and I became a prospect that same night.
I was running back and forth from Corona, ’til I split up with my old lady and then I moved to Berdoo, and I lived in the clubhouse, a brother’s house, wherever I could. My high school sweetheart—I sent her down the road for the Vagos. And we’d been married just five years.
Then I was getting a divorce; it was just me and the bike.
Things have changed since then in a lot of ways. Prospecting now is a lot different. When I came in, we had guns; the sentries had guns. We were always at war. We did at least six months of hard prospecting.
The club was growing. Pluto was in charge. He lived on 16th Street right out of Mount Vernon; we used to line up in front of his house, twenty-five to thirty bikes, one chapter. Like everything else, the club has its peaks and it has its downfalls, but you always go back up.
I’ve been here forty years, and I’ve had no regrets. But I’ve been lucky, too.
At that time in San Bernardino, there were Amigos and there were Psychos. They were like low-riding biker clubs. And their members were related to some of our club brothers—blood-related cousins and brothers.
There was a guy named Hank; he was a Psycho. One time, we were barhopping, and we went to a bar at 5th street and Mt. Vernon, which is now a liquor store—there was about ten of us. We went in there, and they didn’t like me from the gate. I was the “outside” one. I wasn’t from Berdoo with all the other homeboys.
They told us to leave. Now, whenever we had to leave anyplace, I always made sure I was the last one to go. And that’s just what I did that time, too. I was pretty fucked up on tequila; we were all drinking—because we were barhopping! When everybody else left, they jumped on me. I’m on the floor next to the pool table; I’m just kicking.
Then they all backed off for some reason—a reason I’d soon find out. I just wanted to get the fuck out. So I got up and went out to the sidewalk and started my bike. Then I felt something really hot. So I walked over to another brother’s bike and that’s when we realized that I’d got stabbed! So he throws me into some car, and that’s the last thing I remember.
I woke up about two weeks later.
They took me to St. Bernadine’s in Berdoo. And that doctor told me, “You know what, I worked on you for fourteen hours. You were dead when you got here.” That was the Psychos!
It took us about two years to straighten all that out, because of all the blood relations amongst the clubs. That made it hard to get to people sometimes. They would say, “Oh man, it’s family. I’ll take care of it.”
We had a good time at all our runs. We’d go to the Indio Festival every year. That was a regular thing.
The way we expanded, we were looking for biker brothers: not if you were white, brown, black, or whatever. We were looking for righteous fucking brothers.
When I came into the club, there was already a guy called Deputy Paul; he was a Black guy.
And there was “Whitey,” a real good mechanic; he just died a little while back. He would do all of our wrenching. He would love to do it. He worked on dirt bikes and Harleys; he had to work on bikes—otherwise he wasn’t happy. That motherfucker taught me a lot about putting engines together. He says when all else fails, you have a hammer.
We all went to the L.A. Zoo one time, and Crazy Jack was fucking with this lion. Whitey walked up and punched the lion right in the nose. No wait, that was up at that big game preserve up off of the 14 in Aqua Dulce!
Another brother now joined the conversation: Knuckles. Like Dizzy, Knuckles has been around—he has been a proud Vago for a long time.
Knuckles: Whitey gave me my first Vagos tattoo and he pierced my ears.
Dizzy: That same weekend that CJ punched the lion, we were having those hill climbs, and a whole bunch of guys broke their legs. We were all trying to see who could get to the top of the hill. We had to put a lot of those bikes on trucks, because they broke up a lot of stuff.
Knuckles: I had an old knucklehead with a twenty-two-inch girder on it—you don’t see that anymore!
Dizzy: We would all go out to Lake Elsinore and race go-carts too. And Steve McQueen had a bar out there. And he would be out dirt racing all the time.
We never had a problem in Elsinore.
I was living in Chino. Every morning I would go to work at four or five o’clock in the morning, and in Chino it gets foggy like a bitch; you can’t even see in front of you. I noticed there was this bike sitting in front of these apartments. It had been there forever. It’s got leaves on it; full of dirt. I saw that thing for over a month. No one ever moved it.
I told my old lady, the next time it gets foggy, we ought to take that motherfucker. And I did.
We had a bar, The Shack, in Corona. We were coming back from there, and it was foggier than a motherfucker. And that bike was sittin’ there, and we were feeling pretty good. We were fucked up. About three o’clock in the morning and it was just me and her. We pulled up to it, and it was locked. I had to turn it to face the right way, toward the back of our pick-up truck.
You could only see maybe two blocks in that fog. But two blocks from there was the Chino Police Department, and we could see these guys going back and forth, these cops.
Me and her lifted the front of the bike onto the tailgate. Then we pulled it around the corner, where the cops couldn’t see us. She’s driving; I’m sitting back there holding onto the bike with the front tire on the tailgate. Around the corner, we muscled that thing all the way into the back of the pickup. It was a ’79 low-rider. I took it apart, fixed it, changed everything.
I rode that bike for two years.
And then me and my old lady were coming back on the I-10, and we got stopped by the highway patrol. I’ll never forget that officer’s name; his name was Talbot. He pulls me over. I got my patch on, my ol’ lady’s got her ol’ lady patch on. We’re on the side of the road. The bike was green. And this motherfucker cop—he’s about 6'5˝—he starts checking me out, checking numbers on the bike.
“Where’d you get this bike?” he asked.
I said, “Well you know what, I’m trying it out because I might want to buy it. Me and my ol’ lady got it for the weekend.”
The pink slip and the paperwork had an address in Lake Elsinore. I told the cop, “I gave the guy a deposit, so I’m riding it.” Well the cop didn’t question it but we’re sittin’ there and he’s still checking things out. Then he gets on the radio.
He comes back to me and says, “You know what—I don’t like the way the numbers are stamped on this bike.”
So he calls the tow truck to take the bike!
The cop dropped us at the next exit at a Denny’s. As we’re getting out he says to us, “That’s what I specialize in with the highway patrol: vehicle theft. Don’t feel so bad, I already took a boat today, and another motorcycle.”
He called me toward the end of the week and said, “If you have any interest in this bike, you need to come down and claim it.”
And I thought, This is a setup.
The address on the paperwork was an empty field, so I said, “They’re not gonna go for that!” So I had to just let it go.
Spike from the Hessians
VALHALLAS - Making the law enforcement map in the Cornhusker State, this motorcycle club is a supporter of the Red and White.
VALIANT’S - Making the law enforcement map in the Centennial State, “This Motorcycle Club is for Life. . .”
VALLEY COMMANDOS - A three-piece-patch club with chapters in west Wales and south Wales. An “affiliate” club to the Outlaws MC.
VANDALOS - Established in 1992 in Argentina—a three-piece-patch motorcycle club out of the Land of Perón.
VANGUARD - A three-piece-patch club in Deutschland with a “22” in their diamond.
VATOS LOCOS - Okay, as we near the end of this list we have learned many things. One of those glimmering gems of reality grasps is that the Bandidos have—I mean really have—a lot of Euro support clubs. So, as we begin to roll home, we are going to allow even more international savoring to enter into our list, especially when it comes to the sheer number of SYLB (Support Your Local Bandidos) clubs. So, with all that in mind, the Vatos Locos are a Deutsche Unterstützung Club für Bandidos Motorradclub!
VENGATOR - Ein weiterer Deutsche Unterstützung Club für Bandidos Motorradclub! (You get the idea!)
ESTABLISHED: Unknown
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Netherlands
FOUNDER(S): Unknown
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Netherlands
CLUB COLORS: Green and White
CENTER PATCH: Skull wearing a beret, in front of crossed swords
MOTTO: We give what we get!
CLAIM TO FAME: The only military motorcycle club in the Netherlands
VETERANS - A name and an honor that is close to the heart of most true bikers—whether they’ve been in the military or not. Echoes of the armed forces are all around this lifestyle; from the American WWII and Vietnam eras that produced so many of the “pioneer” and “classic” clubs to the current engagements throughout the world to the international veterans who have fought and died on every inch of this globe. There is a “toughness” bond and a freedom-lust camaraderie that brings the two continually together.
Our first Veterans MC is a three-piece, diamond-patch 1%er club in the Netherlands: “The Only Military MC in the Netherlands.”
There is a Veterans MC in Canada, established in 2006, with similar colors and with links to the Netherlands club.
There’s a Veterans MC, established in 1982, out of North Carolina that made the law enforcement map listing.
A Veterans Brotherhood VMC is in Alabama.
An Australian Veterans MC is pretty vehement about their impact and influence Down Under: Veterans MC Australia still believes that CASPER (the skull and slouch hat patch) should be available to all ex-servicemen. Significant changes to existing clubs need to be made to achieve this. This requires commitment and effort that may result in conflict. Unfortunately prospective members who are not “Vietnam Veterans” have been taking the soft and easy option of starting new breast patch clubs instead of forcing the change. In line with this, the Veterans MC has and will continue to stop any new or existing Military Motorcycle Clubs from operating in Western Australia. To date Western Australia is the only state running “Veterans MC” on the top rocker. V.F.F.V.
ESTABLISHED: 1984
PLACE OF ORIGIN: New York
FOUNDER(S): Brother Frenchie and a group of other Vietnam War veterans
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: U.S. (all 50 states), Canada, and Europe
CLUB COLORS: Red and Black
CENTER PATCH: An eagle flying over Vietnam, carrying in its beak the bomb that “we didn’t drop”
CLAIM TO FAME: Considered by some law enforcement sources to be the sixth largest one percent club! Membership strictly limited to those who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War era
CLUB ASSOCIATIONS: The Legacy Vets MC, a branch of the club founded to continue the VNVMC’s “principles, traditions, and vision” after all the Vietnam-era veterans have passed on
VIET NAM VETS - Everything that has been written about the Vietnam War; every movie and television production that has focused on it; all of the social commentary, laments, speculation, opinionating, condemnation, congratulating, and politicizing about our “police action” in Southeast Asia can’t even touch the emotional level that permeates this brotherhood—a brotherhood with a very special common bond. A bond that is a war and a period of social explosiveness unlike anything else ever experienced in American history.
Established in 1984, the VNVMC has chapters in all fifty states, Canada, and Europe. And they made the law enforcement map in most all of the states—and in fact, they are considered (on that particular list, at least) to be the sixth of the “Largest 1% Clubs.”
“Ringo,” the “P” of the VNVMC’s “F” Troop explains some of the emotion behind the founding of the club:
We came home from ’Nam and we were treated so poorly. We figured since we were being treated like that, we’d go ahead and establish our own family, our own brotherhood. The club started in many forms; it actually started off as a patch club that you could buy into, but then it turned into a regular motorcycle club back in ’84.
It’s definitely an outlaw club.
We enjoy each other’s company and all the other clubs’ company.
It’s a brotherhood—a tight brotherhood with many, many people involved worldwide and we look forward to being around for a lot longer. We also have a branch called the Legacy Vets now that’s going to take our club over when we’re all gone—and that’s happening a lot nowadays. When the Viet Nam Vets are gone the Legacy Vets will still be here running the Red & Black!
VIGILANTES - Established in 1967, “101%ers.” A high-profile, “classic,” and well-known motorcycle club out of Michigan.
VIKINGS - In his book, One Percenter: The Legend of the Outlaw Biker, Easyriders magazine editor Dave Nichols tethers the Vikings to bikers with some pretty thick leather:
Few groups spur the fearful imagination of the general public more than a tribe of screaming, axe-wielding Vikings. In fact, the modern image of the outlaw bikers shares many similarities with this famous group of hell raisers. Yes, the Vikings were seafaring warriors and robbers (making them pirates), but they were also farmers, traders, and craftspeople from countries that are today known as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. Their wild appearance and love of freedom are hallmarks of the outlaw biker.
And he’s right. Maybe that why the Vikings name is so popular.
Established in 1975 is the Vikings MC Ireland. “The 1% club with the right attitude!” Originally known as Vikings MC Nomads, the club’s bottom rocker was changed to “Ireland” in 1997 with colours of blue and white. The club is one of the oldest back patch clubs in Ireland and is proud to be members of the Alliance Ireland group of combined Irish one percent clubs “who are united to keep the Irish bike scene free of international biker politics.” They also have chapters in England.
There is a Vikings family club celebrating their thirty-eighth anniversary in Hayward, California.
And there is a long-running (established in 1983) AMA/racing-type Vikings MC also out of California.
VIOLATORS - A three-piece-patch motorcycle club out of Northern California.
VIP - Bandidos støtte klubben i Danmark!
VIPERS - Established in 1997, a three-piece-patch club coiling around Austria.
VITUSCANS - Made the law enforcement map in California! And in another of those off-beat little public documents that can be acquired with the right digging, it was noted that at a civic meeting of sorts in the NorCal community of Citrus Heights, the Vituscans were mentioned in conjunction with local “gang warnings:”
“Vituscan Riders MC – motorcycle club they are associated with Hells Angels.”
VORAI - Established in 1998, the Vorai (meaning “spiders”) is a diamond-patch 1% motorcycle club spinning its web in Lithuania.
WARHEADS - Deutsche Unterstützung Club für Bandidos Motorradclub!
WARHORSE BROTHERHOOD - Veterans three-piece-patch motorcycle club in South Carolina.
ESTABLISHED: Roots going back to 1967
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Orlando, Florida
FOUNDER(S): “Grub,” a sailor on the U.S.S. Shangri-La
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: U.S., England, and Germany
CLUB COLORS: Red and Gold
CENTER PATCH: A “blazing-style” eagle
MOTTO: To find us. . .you must be good. To catch us. . .you must be fast. To beat us. . .you must be kidding!
CLAIM TO FAME: Often mentioned in the “top lists” of motorcycle clubs
CLUB ASSOCIATIONS: Has its own support clubs
WARLOCKS - With roots going back to 1967, the Warlocks MC is included on many of the “top ten” motorcycle club lists (along with the Big Five and clubs like the Mongols, the Vagos, the Highwaymen, and Free Souls). This is also another club that began with the lucky number of thirteen originals. All were sailors on the U.S.S. Shangri-La. While all thirteen were behind the idea of forming a motorcycle club after their discharges, one guy in particular really took the commitment seriously. “Grub” from Lockhart, Florida, founded the mother chapter in Orlando, where it still remains. The club now has chapters in the U.S., England, and Germany.
As always, the best information and insight comes from within. Billy Warlock takes us inside:
The Warlocks MC, like a lot of the early motorcycle clubs, found its roots coming from the U.S. military. But unlike other MCs who were basically formed by returning servicemen, the creation of the Warlocks MC was actually developed while its founders were still in the military.
In February, 1967, an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Shangri-La, was cruising the Mediterranean Sea on an eight month deployment with the Navy’s entire 6th Fleet. The deployment was to show our country’s readiness to stand against the Russian Navy, as well as the new and escalating conflict in Vietnam. Aboard this carrier—which was like a floating city of over four thousand military personnel—were thirteen young sailors who had bonded together through their love for motorcycles. As their friendship grew, they decided they would create their own motorcycle club.
They chose a name, designed their patch, and using the “Shang’s” onboard post office, they ordered and received their new colors while still at sea.
Their original intentions were not to be just one chapter of the new club, but individual founders. Each of the thirteen were to return to their hometowns as each of their enlistments ended and establish their own chapters of Warlocks MC. Two of these original thirteen did form chapters—one in Jacksonville, Florida, in July 1967 and the other in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1970—but, for whatever the reasons, neither of these two chapters managed to survive for more than a few years.
In 1971, another of these Navy founders, Grub Freeland, after having returned home to Florida from his transferred tour to Vietnam, befriended and gathered together several new young bikers; most were transplants from various northern states. Many of these young men never had any intentions of becoming members of a motorcycle club. They simply enjoyed their new riding camaraderie in the Sunshine State. But when they were confronted by a club that was threatening to no longer allow them to ride together as a group, these young bikers—most barely out of their teens—refused to disband or be pushed around. Instead, following Grub‘s lead, they fought back by forming the Warlocks Motorcycle Club of Orlando, Florida.
Their defiant move certainly caused some issues—for the better part of two decades—but in the end, those original Orlando Warlocks not only managed to stand their ground, but have continued to grow in numbers and in chapters.
Today, that original mother chapter that Grub founded still rides proudly in Orlando. Through the decades, the chapter has evolved into an international motorcycle club, with chapters and nomad brothers scattered throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The Warlocks MC, who still pride themselves on their club’s original values and their undying love and respect for their brotherhood, can boast an ongoing membership of brothers still active from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, as well as the ’90s and the present-day millennium.
In spite of their violent past, today they manage to peacefully and respectfully co-exist with other major clubs in the world, including their former rivals. In fact, the only real hostilities they must face today are the same hostilities all the major one percent clubs are having to face—that of various law enforcement agencies who use their power and the media to try and paint all one percenter clubs as criminal organizations. Nonetheless, the Warlocks Motorcycle Club continues to support not only its own brothers in need, but also the communities where they live and organizations like the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the Shriner’s.
Florida brothers have raised tens of thousands of dollars over the last several years for charities. West Virginia’s Crabfeast Party has continued to put coats on needy children every winter. South Carolina’s benefit parties donate proceeds to a local children’s home.
The Warlocks still continue to love the life they live, and just want to live the life they love—as a respected one percenter motorcycle club that is pledged to their own brotherhood.
—Billy Warlock, Warlocks MC
WARLORDS - Diamond-patch, 1%, three-piece-patch motorcycle club out of Thailand. They also have chapters in Malaysia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. “Respect all, support none.”
Variations of the rare War Lords has been used by other clubs, as seen in the vintage cut below.
WARRIORS - There are many Warriors marauding around the world.
Established in 1999 in the middle of Harstad Fjordgata is a three-piece-patch club in Norway.
In Sweden, a Warriors MC was formed by the merger of No Clue MC and Stone MC. Their patch is a “symbiosis in which the skull from Stone Head MC donned No Clue MC’s Celtic war mask.”
There’s a three-piece-patch club out of the Czech Republic.
Also one in Portugal.
And a Warriors MC “social club” in Thailand.
WEEKEND MONSTERS - Established in 2003 in Zagreb, Croatia. This motorcycle club has a very cool, neo-modernish spider for a center patch.
WEREWOLVES - A hairy three-piece-patch club out of Russia. They call their clubhouse a “lair,” but this lair is a hotel, restaurant, concert hall, Harley museum, sauna, and more!
WEST COAST OG RIDERZ - Established in 2005 in Stockton, California, this motorcycle club made the law enforcement map in the Golden State.
WESTWALL - Deutsche Unterstützung Club für Bandidos Motorradclub!
ESTABLISHED: 1967
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
FOUNDER(S): Cliff English, T.K. Hall, Dino, Boneyard
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Nationwide U.S.
CLUB COLORS: Red and Black
CENTER PATCH: A wheel with wings.
MOTTO: God forgives, Wheels don’t
CLAIM TO FAME: Touted as “the only racially mixed 1% outlaw club in America”; the subject of the award-winning 2002 Wheels of Soul documentary
WHEELS OF SOUL - Established in 1967 in Philadelphia, this is without a doubt a “classic” club. The Wheels of Soul MC is touted as “the only racially mixed 1% outlaw club in America.” They were the subject of the 2002 film documentary Wheels of Soul, winner of Best Documentary at the Berlin Black International Cinema. And Wheels of Soul made the law enforcement map in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
WHEELS OF STEEL - Established in 1984, a three-piece-patch club in Bavaria.
WHISKEY DRIVERS - Established in 1989, a three-piece-patch club out of Opoeteren, Belgium.
WHITE BIKERS - A motorcycle club out of Clarksville, Tennessee. In 2007, the local authorities listed the club on their “Gangs in Clarksville” site: “White Bikers Motorcycle Club—Serves as a support group for the Outlaws.”
WILD BUNCH - The Wild Bunch MC out of Nevada made the law enforcement map there. There is also a Black co-ed Wild Bunch out of North Carolina.
WILD HEROES - Established in 1978, a heroisch three-piece-patch club in Coburg, Germany.
WILD HORDE - Established in 1994, another voln three-piece-patch motorcycle club of the Czech Republic.
WILD VIKINGS - Established in 2006 in Germany, this sehr groβe one percent club is a supporter of Born to be Wild MC.
ESTABLISHED: 1976
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Boscomantico, Italy
FOUNDER(S): A member of the Fort Lewis Freedom Riders
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Italy, Germany, and U.S.
CLUB COLORS: Black and White
CENTER PATCH: An eagle
MOTTO: Good times, good friends, fast bikes, and baaad women
WINGMEN - Established with roots back to 1976 “at the base of Boscomantico near Verona, Italy, the home of the Combat Support Company, 1st Battalion, of the 509th Airborne Combat Team.”
This motorcycle club spread its wings from its U.S. military origin in Italy to soar into a truly international motorcycle club.
WOLF BROTHERS - A three-piece-patch motorcycle club prowling around Moscow, Russia.
WOLFMEN - Established in 2008. A three-piece -patch club in Leutershausen, Germany, with their “23” in the diamond.
WOLF PACK, WOLFPACK - This den of wolves is getting just a little crowded.
There is a three-piece Wolf Pack MC in Florida with chapters throughout the state. And they are Warlocks MC supporters.
And a three-piece-patch Wolfpack in Germany “L.H.R.—Loyalty, Honor, Respect”
A Wolf Pack MC in the U.S. was established in 1994, with chapters in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Arkansas.
There’s an African-American Wolf Pack in Atlanta.
And a male-female, all-brands-of-bikes-accepted-into-the-pack group in California.
WOLVES - Established in 1995, a one percent motorcycle club in Germany with their “23” in the diamond.
WOLVERINES - Two Wolverines MCs are scratching around.
One, established in 2000, is a motorcycle club out of Rockwall, Texas.
The other, established in 1986, is a three-piece patch club out of Austria: “25 years on the road, respect all fear none.”
X-TEAM - The X-Team is a worldwide support club for the Bandidos—with chapters all over Europe and into Australia.
YANKTON - Established in 1985, this un pour cent club de moto is based out of Beauvais, France.
ESTABLISHED: 1938
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Gardena, California
FOUNDER(S): Unknown
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: California
CLUB COLORS: Yellow and Black
CENTER PATCH: A yellow-jacket bee
CLAIM TO FAME: A “pioneer” club with a true “original” left
CLUB ASSOCIATIONS: The founder of the Boozefighters MC, “Wino Willie” Forkner, flew Yellow Jackets colors when he was racing.
YELLOW JACKETS - Established in 1938 (some sources say even before) in Gardena, California, we have one of the last (alphabetically, of course) “pioneer” clubs—and it’s well worthy of the distinction. Like the rest of the California “pioneers,” the Yellow Jackets had their favorite “hang out” bar. In this case it was the Crash Inn. And they weren’t the only club to frequent the joint—over the years the Crash Inn served up hooch to Sharks, 13 Rebels, Boozefighters, Hounds, Hells Angels, Galloping Gooses, and more. And some founding chapter members of the Yellow Jackets were also in Hollister 1947.
The founder of the Boozefighters, “Wino Willie” Forkner, also flew Yellow Jackets colors when he was racing—the AMA didn’t want anything to do with the Boozefighters!
“We’d also set up a race course and every lap you had to swig down a beer and the last guy who could stand up was the winner. It was a real fun place!”
—Bob McMillen, one of the early Yellow Jackets
Felicia Morgan
ESTABLISHED: 1903
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Yonkers, New York
FOUNDER(S): George Eller
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: New York
CLUB COLORS: Blue and White
CENTER PATCH: A shield with “YMC”
MOTTO: I.Y.C.P.G.T.F.H.: If Ya Can’t Party, Go The Fuck Home!
CLAIM TO FAME: The Oldest Motorcycle Club in the World!
YONKERS - Established in 1903! Yes, here we are, near the end of this encyclopedic list and just now we introduce the “Oldest Motorcycle Club in the World”! The Yonkers MC was indeed born in the same year that Harley-Davidson started to produce a motorized conveyance that would also enjoy a certain degree of longevity. This pioneer-of-all-pioneer clubs was founded by George Eller when George decided to go modern and motorized by converting his Yonkers Bicycle Club to the Yonkers Motorcycle Club. In 1927 the club received AMA Charter #6.
Long after ol’ George passed away, another (and unfortunately also departed) brother in the club, “Joe Cool,” came up with a motto that really gets to the heart of just what it takes to have a long and happy existence: “If Ya Can’t Party, Go The Fuck Home!”
Amen!
Y-ROHIRRIN - Established in 1988, the “only independent Welch 1% MC”—with chapters in Abertawe, Dyfed, and Pen Y Bont.
ESTABLISHED: 1963
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Brazil
FOUNDER(S): Seven boys with bicycles and a political heart for their hero, Emiliano Zapata
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: Brazil
CLUB COLORS: Red and Gold
CENTER PATCH: A sombreroed Emiliano Zapata wearing a sarape
MOTTO: 101% 26 Hasta la Muerte!
CLAIM TO FAME: A motorcycle club that is dedicated to a political leader
ZAPATA - There are two motorcycle clubs that carry the name and cache of the Mexican revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata.
One is the last—alphabetically—in our extensive enumeration of German Bandidos support clubs, Zapata MC: Deutsche Unterstützung Club für Bandidos Motorradclub!
The second is a pretty damn cerebral bunch down in Brazil. This club was established in 1963 by seven boys with bicycles and a political heart for their hero, Emiliano Zapata. Their passion remained: “101% 26 Hasta la Muerte!”
ZEALOTS - Okay, I said I wasn’t going to do this, but now that we’re coming down to the end of this massive list of a super-sampling of the outlaw, three-piece, one percent motorcycle club world, I feel that I have to mention—just for the hell of it and maybe even a smile—that “Zealots MC” was reportedly one of the alternate titles suggested for the Sons of Anarchy series. . .
ZIG ZAG CREW - A legendary club out of Canada that was right there in the middle of the entire Rock Machine–HAMC “experience” and our final club—alphabetically—that is listed on that strange (and never-ending) “anti-gang” website, as an associate club of the HAMC in Canada (pretty much everyone from the Sisters of Mercy to the Jonas Brothers are in some way defamed on that list!).
ESTABLISHED: 1974
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Germany
FOUNDER(S): The “rowdies” in the Angels of Freedom MC and the “hardcore” of MC Neuremburg
CHAPTER LOCATIONS: NA
CLUB COLORS: Black and Gold
CENTER PATCH: A green zombie head, with a bolt of red lightning emblazoned on the forehead
ZOMBIES ELITE - A very colorful way to end this list is with Germany’s Zombies Elite MC and their zombie-head patch. The club goes back to 1969 with the “rowdies” that were in the Angels of Freedom MC. In 1974, the “hardcore” of MC Neuremberg would be the founders of Zombies Elite.
Okay.
That’s it.
Sort of.
Have we covered every motorcycle club on the planet? Every one percenter? Every outlaw? Every three-piece-patch, diamond-patch-wearing, bat-outta-hell MC that there is?
No.
Hell, no!
There are simply too many clubs, too many roads to roll down, and too many shadow towns where a few good ol’ boys can get together at their favorite bar, forge some sort of working relationship with the local power club, slap a patch on the back of their cuts, a support patch on the front, and call it a club—for a few years or so, anyway. And that happens in essentially every country on earth.
Ultimately, that’s good. The lifestyle stays alive, vibrant, and in constant motion.
But we have tried to cover all the big guns. The clubs that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The ones who have made a sledgehammer impact on their territory, on this entire way of life, and the world. And we have attempted to surround them with a pretty fair sampling of everyone else. Like the “pioneer” clubs that blasted out of the near-prehistoric, no-helmet, rigid frame, let ’er rip generations. And the “classic” clubs that powered out of the angry Vietnam War years and the years just before and after. Years that witnessed a damn serious build-up of three-piece-patch clubs that knew just how powerful this lifestyle is, was, and would become.
We tried to list “established dates” whenever we could. That’s important. How many clubs had “est. in 2000-something”? That proves just how alive, vibrant, and in motion “all of this” is. How many had “birth dates” in the 1950s and 1960s and even fifty years before that? There’s your longevity. There’s your impact. And there’s more proof. Proof that this whole biker thing—this whole badass, freedom-loving, high-caliber, FTW, we-push-back look at the other 99% means something.
And to all those on this list, it means everything.
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