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From: putt@telerama.lm.com
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles.harley
Subject: Re: Colors, outlaws and harassment of real bikers
Date: 21 Jul 1995 03:39:45 GMT
Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 73
Message-ID: <3un7i1$s6a@hudson.lm.com>
References: <3ul3mu$2dc@fileserv.aber.ac.uk> <espen.319.0010FAC0@itekiris.kjemi.unit.no> <Pine.A32.3.91.950720102619.25020F-100000@silver.sdsmt.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: putt.slip.lm.com

Penny Powers <ppowers@silver.sdsmt.edu> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 20 Jul 1995, Espen Olsen wrote:
> 
> > >My limited experience is that the true 1%ers are OK. It's the wannabes with 
> > >something to prove that have and cause the problmes..
> > 
> > Agreed!
> 
> Are you people fucking nuts? Are you uninformed, stupid, or
> just another example of people who only believe what they
> have seen with their own eyes? Is the world flat? Do viruses
> only exist in the minds of doctors?
> 
> Hey Putt! Tell these morons about 1%ers! Hey! All you 
> Californicators! Tell these morons about 1%ers!
> 
> Penny
> ASSHOLE #29

OK, Penny.
Been there, did that. Thanks to the FBI, BATF, Secret Service, 
the Treasury boys and several State Police agencies, the club I 
was affiliated with no longer officially exists.  I am officially 
retired.  The club I was with was an international club ranging 
through the north-east and as far west as Detroit and into Canada.
Drugs, guns, prostitution, strong-arm enforcement, hot cars and 
hot bikes were a way of life. Live hard, ride fast, die young and 
don't give a fuck for anyone except yourself and your brothers.  
A real glamorous life. Yea, right.  When you  live the life you 
live in a constant war zone.  You get so you can't trust anyone, 
even your own club brothers.  Paranoid? You have to be, and for 
good reason.  One club will send a  prospect in to prospect for 
another club. When the prospect brings back enough intel or sets 
up a member or two or three from the other club then the prospect 
gets their patch.  The guys that get  set up are lucky if they live.
Then you get the crazy gung-ho bastard that is always starting 
major fights and encourages the brothers to do off the wall shit 
they wouldn't normally do, like sell illegal stuff to strangers or 
even commit murder.  That gung-ho guy usually shows up at your 
trial, clean cut, with a three piece suit and a fed badge.

The only thing glamorous about the life is how it is perceived by 
citizens.  It isn't all bad, I personally made a lot of  life long 
friends, had a lot of good times.  But, I could have done that as 
a citizen as well.  I saw a lot of good people die needlessly.  
I saw a lot of things that make the citizens hate all motorcycle 
rides, especially Harley riders. There are some actions in life 
that no one can be proud of, and I have seen more than my fare 
share of them. 

On an individual basis people that are 1%ers aren't all bad.  
Hell, there are a lot of good people in those clubs.  But, get 
them in a group and quite often you will see a different mentality 
emerge.  A big part of the culture is protecting your brother's 
back.  So, take the worst member of any club and that is the 
personality the club supports when they are in a group.  
Even if an individual would rather walk away from a certain 
situation they will support their brother because the culture 
demands you cover your brother's back. You may kick his ass to 
hell and back afterwards, but you don't have that option in 
public. It is the loud mouthed trouble makers that set the tempo 
for a club in public.

So, what do I think about 1%ers?  The life style certainly isn't 
worth all the bandwidth it has received here. And, if you wear a 
patch on your back you can damn well bet that someone, 
somewhere at sometime is going to take it very personal 
for one reason or another.



Putt.... Asshole #19