THE WILD ONE Movie Trailer

Marlon Brando

The 1947 Hollister Motorcycle Riot

A note for visitors here: These interviews were conducted in late

1998. All participants were eyewitnesses to the events which came to be known as the

Hollister 'motorcycle riot'. Excerpts of these interviews were published in Classic Bike, but the

full transcripts are presented here, in order to fully document this important event in

motorcycling history.

On July the 4th 1947, 4,000 'straightpipers' rode into Hollister. Their plan was to spend the

long weekend partying and watching the races, but the partying got a little out of control. Even

the local police admitted that the bikers "did more harm to themselves than they did to the

town" but the press blew the story out of proportion. When the events were dramatised by

Hollywood in 'The Wild One', America's image of motorcycling changed forever. Now you can

read what really happened, in the words of people who were really there.

At the end of World War II, the central California town of Hollister had a population of about

4,500. The gently rolling farmland surrounding the community was well-suited to motorcycle

riding; there were facilities for scrambles, hill climbs, and dirt-track racing at Bolado Park (about 10 miles away) and at Memorial Park, on the outskirts of town. Through the 1930's, Hollister had been the site of popular races sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association, and promoted by the Salinas Scramblers (correction - Salinas Ramblers). Spectators rode in on A.M.A. organised 'Gypsy Tours', and as attendances grew, the Memorial Day races became as important to Hollister as the livestock fair or the rodeo.

Racing was postponed after America's belated entrance into World War 2, When it was organised again for 1947, local merchants welcomed a major source of revenue back to the Hollister economy.

"TITTER YE NOT".

**********************

Paddy, Niall and Liam are

riding home from the pub on Paddy's motorbike when they're stopped by a traffic cop.

"This motorcycle is only licenced to carry two people," says the cop.

"There's three of you, so someone will have to get off and walk.

"Three of us?" says Paddy, turning to Liam.

"What the Feck happened

to Mick and Rory?"

*********************

A professor was lecturing about "Involuntary Muscle Contractions" when he

noticed no one was paying

attention.

Angrily, he asks a girl on the front row,

"Young lady, do you have

any idea what your asshole

is doing while you are having an orgasm"?

"Why yes", she answered.

"He is usually in the garage polishing his Harley".

**********************

RIDE SAFE STAY SAFE

The Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in

Southern California

When peace broke out, many American servicemen were demobilised in California, and settled there. As soldiers, they had earned regular pay, but found little to spend it on. In sunny California, with extra money on hand, they did the same thing any Classic Bike reader would do.

Then, when they were spent, they bought motorcycles with the dough left over.

The A.M.A. realized that the war had exposed many Americans to motorcycles; veterans came back with experiences of riding Harley Davidson's WA45.

Back home, shortages of metals and fuels had encouraged people to ride instead of drive.

Eager to keep these new riders, the A.M.A. sanctioned competitions and organized Gypsy Tours with renewed enthusiasm.

The army, however, is not a particularly good place to acquire social graces. The new motorcyclists drank harder, and were more rambunctious than the riders who had come to Hollister before the war.

Beginning Friday morning, thousands of motorcyclists poured into town. They came down from San Francisco, up from L.A. and San Diego, and from as far away as Florida and Connecticut. By evening, San Benito Street was choked with motorcycles.

Eager to prevent the locals from straying into the crowd, the seven man

Hollister Police Department set up roadblocks at either end of the main street. At first, the 21 bars and taverns in Hollister welcomed the bikers with open arms. It was a good joke when motorcycles were ridden right into several taverns. But the bar owners quickly realised that the crowd required no extra encouragement. Taking the advice of the police, bartenders agreed to close two hours earlier than normal. A half hearted attempt was made to stop serving beer, on the theory that the bikers probably couldn't afford hard liquor.

From late Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning, the overwhelmed Hollister police (and many bemused residents) watched the 'straight pipers' stage drunken drags; wheelie and burnout displays; and impromptu relay races right on the main street. Most of them ignored the sanctioned races going on at Memorial Park.

In total, 50-60 bikers were treated for injuries at the local hospital. About the same number were arrested. They were

charged with misdemeanours:

public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving. Most were held for only a few hours. No one was killed or raped; there was no destruction of property, no arson, or looting; in fact, no locals suffered any harm at all.

On Sunday, 40 California Highway Patrol officers arrived with a show of force and threats of tear gas. The bikers scattered, and returned to their jobs. The San Francisco Chronicle ran breathless accounts of Hollister's wild weekend. While they

didn't actually lie, the stories carried sensational headlines like "Havoc in Hollister", and "Riots... Cyclists Take Over Town". The A.M.A.'s public relations nightmare got even worse two weeks later when Life Magazine ran a full page photo of a

beefy drunkard, swaying on a Harley, with a beer in each hand.

"I Predict a Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs.

JIM Cameron Jim is still a motorcycle racer, riding a Jeff Smith

built BSA Gold Star in vintage motocross events. "Because of my

age," he laughs, "AHRMA will only let me compete in the 'Novice'

class!"

"I was a Boozefighter. The Boozefighters were formed a year or so

earlier. Wino Willie had been a member of the Compton

Roughriders. They had gone to an AMA race, a dirt track, in San

Diego.

In between heats, Wino Willie, he'd been drinking, of course, started

up his bike and rode a few laps around the track, just for laughs.

Eventually they got him flagged off. The Roughriders sort of kicked

him out of the club for that; they felt he had embarrassed them. Willie

decided that if they couldn't see the humour in that, he'd start his own

club.

Back then a bunch of us hung out at a bar in South L.A., called the All

American. Several clubs met there:

the 13 Rebels, the Yellow jackets,

anyway, Willie was talking to some other guy about what to name the club, and there was an old drunk listening in. This old drunk pipes up "Why don't you call yourselves the Boozefighters'. Willie thought that was funny as hell, so that was the name. The name Boozefighters was misleading, we didn't do any fighting at all. It was hard to get in; you had to come to five meetings, then there was a vote, and if you got one blackball, you were out. We wore green and white sweaters with a beer bottle on the front and 'Boozefighters' on the back. Back then, I was 23 or 24 I guess, I had just come out of the Air Force. I'd been in the Pacific, but Willie and some of the others had been paratroopers over in Europe. They'd had it pretty rough in the war.

I had an Indian Scout, and a Harley '45 that I used as a messenger. Back then, the AMA organised these 'Gypsy Tours'. One was going up to Hollister on the Independence Day weekend. That sounded good, so a bunch of us decided to ride up there. We left L.A. Thursday night, and rode through the night. I think my Scout only went about 55 miles an hour, so it took quite a while. I think we rode until we were exhausted, and stopped to sleep for a few hours in King City. It was about 6 a.m. when I woke up. It was pretty cold, and when the liquor store opened, I bought a bottle, which I drank to try to get warm. Then I rode on to Hollister.

It was about 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning when I arrived there. I was riding up the street, and I see this guy, another Boozefighter come out of a bar, and he yells 'Come on in!'. So I rode my bike right into the bar. The owner was there, and he didn't seem to mind at all. He could see I was already pretty drunk, so he wanted to take my keys; he didn't think I should go riding in my condition. The Indian didn't need a key to start it, but I left it there in the bar the whole weekend.

I don't think there were more than maybe 7 of us from the L.A. Boozefighters there. There were some guys from the 'Frisco Boozefighters, too. One of our guys had a 36 Cadillac. He used that to tow up our trailer. We had a trailer with maybe fifteen or sixteen bunks in it; stacked three high on both sides. Basically, we'd drink and party until we crapped out, then we'd go in there and sleep it off.

They claimed there were about 3,000 guys there. I think most of them went out to the dirt track races outside of town, but we didn't. We were having fun right there. The street was lined with motorcycles, and the cops had blocked it off. Basically, guys were just showing off; drag racing, doing power circles, seeing how many people they could put on one bike, and we were just watching and laughing.

The leader of the 'Frisco Boozefighters was a guy we called Kokomo. He was up in the second or third floor window of the hotel, where there was a telephone wire that went out across the street. He was wearing a crazy red uniform, like a circus clown, and he was standing in the window pretending like he was going to step out onto the wire, like a tightrope walker. It was funny as hell.

There were a couple of cops there, but they were playing it cool. Basically, they didn't arrest anybody unless they did something to deserve it. The one Boozefighter I can think of that got arrested was a 'Frisco guy. Some of them had come down in a Model T Ford. It was overheating, and while they were driving down the street, he was trying to piss into the radiator. Anyway, they arrested him, and Wino Willie went down to try to get him out; he was pretty drunk at the time, so they arrested him, too. But they let them both out after a few hours. Around Saturday night I started to sober up. After all, I had to ride home on Sunday. I guess I got my bike out of the bar and headed home at about 4pm on Sunday. It definitely wasn't as big a deal as the papers made it out to be.

Born Losers

is a 1968 action film,

the first of the Billy Jack movies

Catherine Dabo Catherine Dabo and her husband owned the best hotel in Hollister. When bikers were being demonized in the media, she always defended them. "My husband and I owned the hotel, which also had a restaurant and bar. It was the first big rally after the war. Our bar was forty feet long, and a biker rode in the door of the bar, all along the bar, and through the doors into the hotel lobby!"

We were totally booked. Every room was full, and we had people sleeping in the halls, in the lobby, but they were great people; we had more trouble on some regular weekends! I was never scared; if you like people, they like you. May be if you try telling them what to do, then look out! The motorcycles were parked on the streets like sardines! I couldn't believe how pretty some of them were. It was great for our business; it gave us the money we needed to pay our debts, and our taxes. They all paid for their rooms, their food, their drinks. They ( the press ) blew that up more than it was. I didn't even know anything had happened until I read the San Francisco papers. The town was small enough that if there had been a riot anywhere, I'd have known about it! I had three young children, we just lived a few blocks away, and I was never scared for them. I think the races were on again in '51. My husband and I always stood up for the bikers; they were good people.

Bob Yant Bob owned an appliance store on Hollister's main street. Back then, appliances were built to last, and so was

Bob:

He still works at the store every day. In 1947, I had just bought into my Dad's electrical contracting and appliance business. We had a store right on San Benito (street). There were motorcyclists everywhere; they were even sleeping in the orchards. Our store was open that Saturday. Guys were riding up and down Main Street, doing wheelies. The street was full of bikes, and the sidewalks were crowded with local people that had come down to look. Actually, it was bad for my business; my customers couldn't get to the store. It was so slow that I left early,

and let my employee lock up.

On Sunday, I went to the hospital, to visit a friend. There were a bunch of guys injured on gurneys in the hallway, but I think they were mostly racers. There must've been about 15 of them, it was a sight in such a small hospital.

There was no looting or anything; I was never afraid during the weekend. You know we had a few little hassles even when the motorcyclists weren't in town. I think

some guy rode a bike into 'Walt's Club' (a bar) or something, and somebody

panicked.

The day after everyone had left, near my store, there were two guys taking a

photograph. They brought a bunch of empty beer bottles out of a bar, and put them all round a motorcycle, and put a guy on it. I'm sure that's how it was taken,

because they wanted to get high up to take the shot, and they had borrowed a

ladder from me. That photo appeared on the cover of Life magazine. (Author's

note:

I do not have any evidence that Life ever ran the Hollister story) Not long

after that, they turned the little racetrack into a ballpark.

Hells Angels on Wheels is a 1967

American biker film directed by

Richard Rush and starring Adam Rourke,

Jack Nicholson, and Sabrina Scharf.

Gil Armas Gil Armas still rides a 1947 Harley 'Knucklehead'. He competed in dirt track events, and later sponsored a number of speedway riders.

Back then, I was a hod carrier; I worked for a plastering outfit in L.A.. I had a '36 Harley, and rode with the Boozefighters.

We used to hang out at the 'All American' bar at Firestone and Central. Lots of motorcycle clubs hung out there, including the 13 Rebels, and the Jackrabbits.

Basically, we just went out on rides. Some of us went racing, or did field

meets, where there events like relays, drags; there was an event called

'missing out' where you'd all start in a big circle, and if you got passed, you

were out. At first, most of our racing was 'outlaw' races that we organized

ourselves, but a few years later, a lot of us went professional, and raced in

(A.M.A. sanctioned) half miles and miles. I retired (from racing) in '53.

I just went out to Hollister for the ride. A couple of my friends were racing.

My bike was all apart, and I threw it on a trailer and towed it up there; I didn't

want to miss out on the fun. I ended up sleeping in the car.

We started partying. There were so many motorcycles there that the police

blocked off the road. In fact, they sort of joined in. There were four of them in

a jeep. We sort of had a tug of war, when somebody stole a cop's hat, but it

all blew over. There was racing in the street, some stuff like that, but the

cops had it under control.

Later on, the papers were telling stories like we broke a bunch of guys out of

jail, but nothing like that happened at all. There were a couple of arrests,

basically for drunk and disorderly; all we did was go down and bail them

out. In fact, a few of the clubs tried to force the papers to print a retraction.

They did write a retraction, but it was so small you'd never see it.

The bar owners were standing out front of the bars saying 'Bring your bike

in!'. They put mine right upon the bar. On Sunday, the cops came back with

riot guns, and told us all to pack up and leave. At first, we just sat on the

curb and laughed at them, because there was no riot going on, but we all left

anyway. In those days, if you rode a motorcycle, then anybody that rode a

motorcycle was your buddy. We (Boozefighters) were just into throwing

parties.

JOHNNY'S BAR HOLLISTER CA USA

August 'Gus' Deserpa Gus lived in Hollister. He is the smiling young man

seen in the background of the famous 'Life Magazine' photo. I was a projectionist by trade. I worked at the Granada Theatre, which was on the corner of Seventh and San Benito. I would have got of work around 11 p.m. My wife came to pick me up, and we decided to walk up Main Street to see what was going on.

I saw two guys scraping all these bottles together, that had been lying in the street. Then they positioned a motorcycle in the middle of the pile. After a while this drunk guy comes staggering out of the bar, and they got him to sit on the motorcycle, and started to take his picture.

I thought 'That isn't right', and I got around against the wall, where I'd be in the picture, thinking that they wouldn't take it if someone else was in there. But they did anyway. A few days later the papers came out and I was right there in the background. They weren't doing anything bad, just riding up and down whooping and a hollerin; not really doing any harm at all.

Marlon Brando's

iconic portrayal of a

motorcycle gang leader

Johnny Strabler

Marylou Williams Marylou Williams and her husband owned a drugstore

on Hollister's main street. "My husband and I owned the Hollister Pharmacy, which was right next door to Johnny's Bar, on Main Street". We went upstairs

in the Elks Building, to watch the goings on in the street. I remember that the

sidewalks were so crowded that we had to squeeze right along the wall of the building.

Up on the second floor of the Elks Building, they had some small balconies. They were too small to step out onto, but you could lean out and get a good view of the street. I brought my kids along; I had two daughters. They were about 8 and 4 at the time. It never occurred to me to be worried about their safety. We saw them riding up and down the street, but that was about all; when the rodeo was in town, the cowboys were as bad.

Bertis 'Bert' Lanning Bert Lanning was 37 years old when the '47 Gypsy tour rode

into Hollister. As a mechanic in a local garage, he had direct contact with many of the

bikers involved. "I worked in Hollister, at Bernie Sevenman's Tire Shop, right on the

main street". I had motorcycles myself, a Harley '45, and a Triumph. I'm 88 now and my

eyes aren't good enough to ride anymore, but I've still got a bike in my garage!

There was a mess of 'em. Back then, beer always came in bottles, and there were quite

few of them broken in the streets, so the bikers were getting flat tires. They'd bring them

into the shop, either to get them fixed, or they'd want to fix them themselves. Eventually

it got so crowded in and around the shop that guys were fixing tires out in the street,

running in and out to borrow tools. Maybe a couple of tools went missing.

Anyway, my boss got nervous and told me to close up the shop. I thought that was

great, because I wanted to get out there myself. "Main Street was packed, but it wasn't

nearly as bad as the papers said. There was a bunch of guys up on the second floor of

the hotel, throwing water balloons. I didn't see any fighting or anything like that. I

enjoyed it. Some people just don't like motorcycles, I guess."

HOLLISTER, California 2013. — Two Hells Angels bikers are wanted for attacking

a 23 year old man in a popular and historic bar during the 2013 Hollister Motorcycle

Rally. On the first day of the rally, a group of Hells Angels entered Johnny's Bar at

526 San Benito Street. One biker in the group walked up to a man who was hanging

out with friends and punched him in the face, police Captain Carlos Reynoso said.

"The victim fell to the ground from the unexpected punch. Then another man also

wearing a Hells Angel jacket approached the victim and kicked the man in the head,"

Reynoso said. "The two suspects pushed their way through security guards and fled

out the back gate of the bar," Reynoso said. The victim and witnesses said they had

no idea what motivated the attack. Hollister police asked for the public's help identifying the brawlin bikers. Police are also analyzing video surveillance that was provided by the owner of Johnny's Bar, Charisse Tyson. Despite the bar's rowdy history, Tyson said she is committed to making her patrons feel safe and welcome. Police said she has been working closely with them to find the victim's attackers.

Anyone with information on Saturday's attack can contact Hollister police. The first suspect was described as 5 foot 8 inches tall, heavy set, has a gray mustache, and was wearing a Hells Angels Patch. The second suspect was described as a white man, 6 foot 2 inches tall, weighs 250 pounds, has many tattoos, and was also wearing a Hells Angels jacket.

During the two-day rally, Hollister police arrested 12 drivers for DUI, arrested 30, and issued citations to 32. Most of the arrests were for public intoxication. There was also a hit-and-run collision on Saturday that damaged five motorcycles.

The Top Hatters Motorcycle Club (THMC) is based in Hollister California and is one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in the United States, established in 1947. Our club is exclusively Harley Davidson motorcycles, and will stay that way until the end of time.

The Top Hatters Motorcycle Club is a strong brotherhood of only serious motorcycle riders, and is not for everyone. We are not a social, weekender riding club, we are a brotherhood of bikers that take riding and flying our colours very serious. Membership can be a very long and demanding process, requiring pure dedication and loyalty. This is a process that not everyone can fulfil.

The Top Hatters Motorcycle Club spends a majority of our time doing club functions that

benefit our community. Riding and strengthening our brotherhood in the biker community is our number one priority. The Top Hatters Motorcycle Club also maintains a strong

regard for family, brotherhood and motorcycling. Our club members are bikers from the heart, and are proud to be members in the brotherhood of the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a world wide one

percenter motorcycle club whose members ride Harley Davidson

motorcycles. The organization is considered an organized crime

syndicate by the U.S. Department of Justice. In the United States and

Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels

Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the

"H.A.", "Red & White", and "81".

The Hells Angels were started on March 17, 1948 by the Bishop

family, American war immigrants in Fontana, California followed by an

amalgamation of former members from different motorcycle clubs,

such as the Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington. The Hells Angels'

website denies the suggestion, that any misfit or malcontent troops are

connected with the motorcycle club.

The website also notes that the name was suggested by Arvid Olsen,

an associate of the founders, who had served in the Flying Tigers'

"Hell's Angels" squadron in China during World War II. The name

"Hell's Angels" was inspired by the typical naming of American

squadrons, or other fighting groups, with a fierce, death defying title in

World Wars I and II, e.g., the Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group) in Burma and China fielded three squadrons of

P-40s and the third Squadron was called "Hell's Angels". In 1930, the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels displayed extraordinary and dangerous feats of aviation, and it is believed that the World War II groups who used that name based it on the film.

The Hells Angels are often depicted in semi mythical romantic fashion, like the 19th century James Younger Gang:

free spirited, iconic, bound by brotherhood and loyalty. At other times, such as in the 1966 Roger Corman film The Wild Angels, they are depicted as violent and nihilistic, little more than a violent criminal gang and a scourge on society.

"Angels Forever, Forever Angels"

"When we do right, nobody remembers.

When we do wrong, nobody forgets."

Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club (GGMC is a one percenter motorcycle club that began around a motorcycle racing team and friends based out Los Angeles,

California in the United States in 1942. The group was informal and not chartered until 1946. Soon after, the organisation spread out from southern California, establishing chapters in Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, Wyoming, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

Members of The Galloping Goose MC were at the 1947 Hollister Rally which was the basis for the 1954 film The Wild One. This led to the beginning of the highly visible and structured 1% or outlaw motorcycle clubs, along with the Boozefighters MC when the AMA forbade club members to participate in AMA events unless they took off their patches.

Original members of the club had a MC shop in Jacksonville and raced in numerous events including the Daytona race when it was still run on the beach. The club has a close relationship with El Forastero Motorcycle Club.

An expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs from Missouri State Highway Patrol said the Galloping Goose were expanding into territory formerly controlled by the Pharaohs motorcycle club during the 1980s and 1990s. He described them as a "one percenter club", which took over another club, the Midwest Drifters, and uses them to run errands and provide cash. He said Galloping Goose's rules of behavior sometimes include violent crimes.

"Often Tested, Always Faithful"

The Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington (POBOB) is a motorcycle club that, along with the Boozefighters and the Market Street Commandos, participated in the highly publicized Hollister riot (later immortalized on film as The Wild One). After the Hollister incident, a prominent Pissed Off Bastard named Otto Friedli (28 Jun 1931-17th of Mar 2008) split with the club and formed his own group on March the 17th, 1948 in Fontana, just west of San Bernardino. He called it the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

In 1954 Otto's new club merged with the Market Street Commandos to become the Hells Angels San Francisco Chapter. The POBOB were one of the earliest motorcycle and car clubs. A few miles south of San Bernardino, California, in the small town of Bloomington in 1945, a particular group of veterans and POBOB

founder Otto Friedli who was too young to have served in the war, found

civilian life to be too slow and set out to get more thrills by riding

motorcycles and hot rod cars.

Hollister, California where the American Motorcycle Association (AMA)

sanctioned the Gypsy Tour Run, the Boozefighters, POBOB and the Market

Street Commandos took over the town for nearly three days. The POBOB

members played an integral role in the Hollister riot, on which the movie The

Wild One was based, starring Marlon Brando.

Two months later, the same clubs went to Riverside, California for the Labor

Day weekend, another AMA-sanctioned event. The same thing happened

again as it did in Hollister.

Over four thousand people, bikers and citizens, took over the town's main

street. Riverside sheriff, Carl Rayburn, blamed a bunch of punk kids for

disrupting his town, saying "They're rebels, they're outlaws."

1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%1%

The Boozefighters Motorcycle Club (BFMC) is a motorcycle club, formed in

California just after World War II. Today, the BFMC has chapters across America with its

national headquarters located in Fort Worth, Texas. The first European Chapter was

founded in France in 2006. Other international chapters include Canada, Japan,

Philippines, South Korea, Italy, Germany, and Belgium.

The Boozefighters MC first gained notoriety at the Hollister riot in Hollister, California the

weekend of July the 3rd-6th, 1947, later portrayed in the movie The Wild One starring

Marlon Brando. Their mottoes are, "The Original Wild Ones" and "A drinking club with a

motorcycle problem."

An article featuring actor Robert Patrick, current charter holder of Boozefighters MC

Chapter 101, describes the club as "a non profit organisation that raises money to help

vets, children and the poor". The Boozefighters have chapters worldwide but claim no

territory, just history. The main focus that holds any motorcycle club together is the concept

of “love and respect.”

This concept comes right from the trenches of war when “love and respect”

for those fighting beside you means survival on physical and mental levels.

It also means a true brotherhood; when common feelings and emotions

become something so much more than just socialising they become a

shared way of life.

Wino Willie Forkner knew this in the core of his soul. That’s why the club

he founded has lasted for over six decades. The Boozefighters Motorcycle

Club is truly one of the elite organisations in the motorcycle community; with

proven longevity and a serious passion for this way of life.

The famous Boozefighters green and white patch the bottle with three stars

is a legend in itself. There has been a great deal of speculation as to the

origin but shortly before her death, Wino’s widow, Teri explained that the

design was based on the vintage Hennessy’s cognac bottle label:

“Willie

liked the looks of those three stars so much that he put them across the

barrel of the bottle.” The use of the bottle in the patch speaks for itself; he

wasn’t called Wino for nothing.

On my tombstone they will carve,

"IT NEVER GOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME.”

― Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear

Riding a motorcycle on today's highways, you have to ride in a very defensive manner. You have to be a good rider and you have to have both hands and both feet on the controls at all times.

Evel Knievel

Hells Angels Membership Requirements We could start off this article by saying that the Hells Angels Membership Requirements included needing to do 12 drug deals, commit 1 murder and then bludgeon 4 baby harp seals …but then we would be lying, that’s not how to become a Hells Angel. The membership requirements, at least officially, for the Hells

Angels MC as well as almost all other one percenter motorcycle clubs are relatively straight forward. Below is what you want to know if you one day wish to be on the list of the famous Hells Angels members.

We can safely start with saying that if you are interested in joining the Hells Angels MC, the Outlaws MC, the Bandidos MC or any other one percenter motorcycle club for that matter and you are really on Google to tell you how to do it, then you probably won’t be joining them any time soon. The first in the list of Hells Angels membership requirements is to have the right personality. You will have similar interests and therefore probably also friends in common. People with similar interests usually gravitate.

An important step if you want to learn how to join the Hells Angels, then the next in the list of Hells Angels membership requirements is a motorcycle, but not just any motorcycle. It should be a Harley Davidson motorcycle, however some other makes including Buell motorcycle (which is owned by Harley Davidson) may also be acceptable. In general, any of the major one percenter motorcycle clubs will not allow non American motorcycles. Some of the reasoning behind this links back to the period when many of the clubs were started, World War II was fresh on the mind and supporting the enemy nations was not high on the list of priorities. Riding American made bikes shows strong patriotism.

Next in the list of Hells Angels membership requirements is that you will need to ride, a lot. Don’t even think about buying a Harley Davidson fresh from the showroom floor, parking it out the front of a clubhouse and thinking that means you are a biker. Clubs including the Hells Angels MC go pretty much everywhere by motorcycle, they aren’t just the toy that comes out on the weekend if the sun has come out.

A fully patched member will have voting rights, of which they are expected to utilise. The Hells Angels MC has a number of meets throughout the year and it is expected that all members should attend whenever possible. If you start missing several of these meets then questions will be ask about your dedication to the club.

One last point to close out this article about Hells Angels membership requirements, is that you can’t leave the Hells Angels

Motorcycle Club easily. It’s much easier to complete the steps of how to join the Hells Angels than it is to leave without having major problems.

Committing to join the club should be thought of as a life commitment.

If you do try and escape the club then

you must hand your patches back, or they will be taken by force.

We are very patriotic & support the

US Military.

WHAT IF?

"During times of universal deceit,

telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

George Orwell

25 June 1903 –

21 January 1950

Fatherland is a best-selling 1992 thriller by the English writer

and journalist Robert Harris. It takes the form of a detective

story in an alternative history in which Nazi Germany won

World War II. The lead protagonist is an SS officer investigating

a murder of a Nazi government official who was one of the

participants at the Wannsee doing, he discovers a plot to

eliminate all attendees to help Germany gain better political

accommodations with the United States.

The novel was an immediate bestseller in the UK. It has sold

over three million copies and has been translated into 25

different languages.

The story begins in Nazi Germany in April 1964, in the week

leading up to Adolf Hitler's 75th birthday. The plot follows

detective Xavier March, an investigator working for the

Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), as he investigates the suspicious death

of a high-ranking Nazi, Josef Buhler, in the Havel on the outskirts of Berlin. As March uncovers details, he realises that he is tangled up in a political scandal involving senior Nazi Party officials, who are

apparently being systematically murdered under staged circumstances. In fact, as soon as the body is identified, the

Gestapo claims jurisdiction and orders the Kripo to close its investigation