Outlaws: Inside the Violent World of Biker Gangs
Page 30
Charlie – the affectionate name for the Outlaws back patch, inspired by the design worn by the Black Rebels Motorcycle Gang in the iconic biker movie The Wild One, and featuring a skull and crossed pistons.
Chopper – a customised motorcycle, usually with extended front forks and raised handlebars among other modifications.
Church – the name given to the weekly mandatory meeting of all chapter members. Missing church without good reason will result in a fine.
Citizens – non-club members.
Cleaning House – an outlaw biker metaphor for killing members of one’s own club.
Clubhouse – the HQ of a chapter. Many are heavily fortified and fitted with CCTV cameras. The centre of activities for most club members.
Colours – see ‘Patches’.
Crash Truck – a van which follows club runs and picks up broken-down bikes. May also be used to carry booze, weapons and other supplies.
Cut – see ‘Patches’.
Daytona Beach Bike Week – a major biker festival and rally held in Florida each March which attracts up to half a million visitors. The location has traditionally been a stronghold for the Outlaws MC.
Death’s Head – the name of the logo of the Hell’s Angels. Taken from the insignia of the 85th Fighter Squadron of the US Air Force.
Filthy Few – a patch supposedly awarded to Hell’s Angels who have killed or attempted to kill on behalf of the club. This is denied by Sonny Barger, who insists the patch is merely awarded to those who are first to arrive at a party and last to leave.
Fly Colours – to ride on a motorcycle wearing one’s patches.
FTW – Fuck the World, a common tattoo among outlaw bikers.
The Fort – the nickname of the sprawling detached property that forms the clubhouse of the Wolverhampton chapter of the Hell’s Angels.
Good Standings – a member who leaves in good standings is allowed to maintain some level of contact with members, though they are no longer privy to club business.
GBNF – Gone But Not Forgotten, commonly used in memorials to bikers who have passed away.
HA – Hell’s Angels.
HAMC – Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club.
Hangaround – a potential prospect who is allowed to hang around the clubhouse so that club members can get to know them.
Harley Davidson – the motorcycle of choice for OMGs, although the legendary Sonny Barger is quoted as saying, ‘Harleys are junk, technology wise. If I was not a Hell’s Angel I would probably be riding an ST1100, a BMW or a Triumph’.
Hells Angels/Hell’s Angels – I have included the apostrophe in Hell’s Angels throughout this book. The seamstress who sewed the first ever back patch for the club forgot to leave space for one, and it has been officially omitted ever since. But in his autobiography Hell’s Angel (2000), Sonny Barger states: ‘the apostrophe is used in the name of the club and the corporation, but not on the patch’ – hence its appearance here.
Hog – a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Ink – tattoo.
Ink and Iron – a major custom bike and tattoo show, which takes place in Birmingham each year and is organised by the UK chapter of the Outlaws MC.
Jugs – cylinders.
Knucklehead – a Harley Davidson engine produced during the World War Two.
LL&R – Love, Loyalty & Respect/Live Long & Ride, a common sign-off on outlaw biker internet forums.
Lounge Lizards – imprisoned members of the Outlaws MC. Some former inmates have the initials LL tattooed on their bodies.
Mama – a woman who is sexually available to all members of a club.
MC – Motorcycle Club. Outlaw bikers wear these initials on a square cloth patch on the right side of their colours.
Mother Chapter – the chapter responsible for issuing and approving new charters. Usually the original founding chapter of the club.
Nike Bikies – term used to describe a new generation of Australian motorcycle gangs whose members wear designer jeans, and trainers instead of traditional biker boots.
OFFO – Outlaws Forever, Forever Outlaws, a common tattoo. Variations of this are used by virtually every outlaw club in the world, substituting the letters to fit their own club name.
Old lady – the wife or steady girlfriend of an MC member.
OMG – Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Used to designate all one percenter clubs, not just the Outlaws MC.
Pasta Rockets – derogatory term for Italian sports bikes.
Patches (also known as ‘colours’ or ‘cut’) – the collective name given to the insignias and logos worn on a leather or denim cut-off by all outlaw bikers, denoting the name of their club and its location. Patches are considered absolutely sacred. Losing a set in the wrong circumstances can get you kicked out of the club.
Patch holder – a full member of an MC. Members must be male, should usually be at least twenty-one-years-old and own a motorcycle over 750cc.
President – the head of a chapter. The president is usually required to attend regular national meetings with other chapter presidents.
Property Patch/Property Belt – an item of clothing worn by an old lady to show that she belongs to either an individual club member or to the club as a whole. Although considered demeaning, some women are happy to wear them as it prevents them being approached by bikers who want to know if they are available.
Prospect – probationary members of an MC. They are required to carry out menial tasks for the club, often for a year or more, to prove their worthiness. They require a one hundred per cent vote to be awarded their full patches.
Puppet Club (also known as ‘support club’) – a smaller MC, overseen by the major clubs, it acts on behalf of the larger club and is used as a source of potential recruits. The official Outlaws puppet club is known as the Black Pistons. The Hell’s Angels have designated numerous small MCs as support clubs.
Red and White – a nickname for the Hell’s Angels. The club’s official colours are red letters on a white background.
Rice Burner – derogatory term used by outlaw bikers for any Japanese motorcycle. Also known as ‘Jap Crap’.
RICO – the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act. A federal statute passed by the US Congress in 1970 to deal with organised racketeering activity. RICO law is specifically directed at individuals or organisations involved in systematic, long-term illegal activities. It increases criminal penalties and allows civil claims to be pursued against individuals, businesses or groups for actions taken as part of a criminal organisation.
Riding Season – in those parts of the world where the weather does not allow year-round biking, club members are required to have their bikes in full working order during the riding season or risk expulsion. In the UK the season runs from 1st April to 30th September.
Rock and Blues – a large motorcycle festival organised by the Outlaws MC in the UK each summer. The Outlaws equivalent of the Bulldog Bash.
Rocker – a curved cloth strip worn as part of the patches. The top rocker contains the club’s name; the bottom rocker contains the location of the chapter. Together with the central logo, the two rockers comprise the three-piece patch of a full member of an outlaw motorcycle club.
Run – a club outing for members and associates, often lasting an entire weekend and usually involving a long ride in tight formation. Some runs are mandatory and will often involve other chapters or clubs, creating convoys of more than one hundred bikes.
Secretary – the title of the elected chapter officer who is responsible for general administration. He will keep minutes of all church meetings and send them to the mother chapter on a regular basis.
Sergeant-at-arms – the officer responsible for club discipline and issuing weapons. An elected position, only the sergeant-at-arms is allowed to strike members of the club.
SS – awarded to Outlaws who have killed or attempted to kill on behalf of the club (and equivalent to the Hell’s Angels Filthy Few), the patch features two li
ghtning bolts on the inner arm, a reference to the insignia of the Nazi Schutzstaffel.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – a major biker event that takes place in Sturgis, South Dakota, during the first full week of August.
Support Club – see ‘Puppet Club’.
Treasurer – the elected officer responsible for club finance within a chapter.
Vice-president – the elected officer of a chapter who deputises for the president in his absence.
War Fund – a money drive among club members that takes place during times of conflict. The funds raised are used to purchase weapons.
War Wagon – a vehicle used to transport the club’s arsenal during an outing when trouble is expected from rival clubs.
World Run – an annual rally that all club members are required to attend. The location changes each year.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Heartfelt thanks to Boone for sharing his story with me, and to Sally for supporting him while he did so; as for the other members of the Outlaws MC, both past and present, who assisted with the research for this book despite being told not to do so, you know who you are and I am deeply grateful.
Thanks also to everyone at United Agents, particularly the dynamic duo of Caroline Dawnay and Olivia Hunt. Last but not least, enormous thanks to Rupert Lancaster, a young man back when this book was first commissioned, and to Zelda Turner.
PICTURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos: 1 above. Press Association Images: 1 centre right and below left to right, 2 above right, 5, 7 above left and below right, 8 above. Reuters/Steven Siewert: 8 centre right. Rex Features: 3 above, 6, 7 below left. Courtesy of Warwickshire Constabulary: 4. Additional sources: D. Boone, Private Collections.
Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders, but if there are any errors or omissions, Hodder & Stoughton will be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent printings or editions.
INDEX
666 Undertakers (Denmark)
Aalborg, Denmark
ABC: 20/20 news magazine show
Aintree, Liverpool
Air India
Alexander, Sandy
Alice (Boone’s girlfriend)
Aliens Motorcycle Club
Allen, William ‘Waterhead’
Alliance Ireland
Altoona, Pennsylvania
American Motorcycle Association
American Outlaw Association (AOA) and the Australian Outlaws
Boone’s view of UK as part of AOA
Costa Blanca chapter
Dink Dawson as first European President
first national UK president
membership
mother chapter in Chicago
patch (‘Charlie’)
relationship with Midland Outlaws
rules over patches
Taco wants Midland Outlaws to patch over
Amsterdam
Anderton, Richard ‘Stitch’
Andytown, Florida
Animals MC
Ankerich, Alex ‘Dirt’
AOA see American Outlaw Association
Armagh
Armstrong, Keith ‘Flipper’
Arts Centre, Theatre, London
Ashfield Hell’s Angels
Australia
Bandidos expand into
biker wars
drug trade
fake driving licences
illegal trade in exotic animals
Mackay nightclub incident
Milperra Massacre (1984)
Australia 2000 Pact
Australian Outlaws
Back Street Heroes magazine
‘bad standings’
Bandidos MC
agreement with HA over Scandinavia
appearance
Comancheros party with
cultivation of positive public image
in Denmark
drug dealing
European chapters
execution of some Sheddon, Ontario members
expansion
in Finland
and HA
Helsingborg chapter
Hispanics in
logo
Marseilles chapter
membership
Milperra massacre
Morbids join Bandidos
in Norway
and the Outlaws
parties with Midland Outlaws
and Paul Ricard Circuit party
presence in Australia ‘protected’ colour combination and designs of patches
relations with the AOA
in Sweden
vindicated for Texas shootings
Barger, Ralph ‘Sonny’
‘Battle of Kilmeaden, The’ (epic poem)
Belfast
Benfield, Bridgette ‘Midget’
Benfield, Sue
Berlin
Berriman, Marcus
Betwys y Coed, Wales
Birmingham
Birmingham Airport riot
Birmingham Crown Court
Black Uhlans MC
Blackhills Bike Show
Blockers Arms pub, Hightown Road, Luton
Bones MC (Germany)
Bono
Boone, Daniel ‘Snake Dog’
Amsterdam episode (2010)
arrested in London
attack on Brackley farm
in Australia
breaks his code of silence
and Brewer
Daytona Bike Week
and death of friend Rabbi
decision to leave the MC
in Denmark
drug trade
from Winson Green to Shrewsbury
girlfriends
gun trade
and Hell’s Angels
in hiding in London after Rabbi murder
injured in fight at Kilmeaden show
and meeting with Hell’s Angels
and motorcycle theft
Paul Ricard Circuit event
pride in his patches
in prison
prospect for the Pagans
and Ratae attack on the Pagan clubhouse
in revenge raiding party against Ratae
rituals to avoid being shot
scale of his activities
security
sets off the Great Nordic Biker War
starts to question his commitment to the MC world
survives numerous attempts on his life
in Sweden
and Taco’s paranoia
under siege in Canada
unwittingly insults Florida club’s president
visit to Canada
bosozoku (violent running tribes)
Bowman, Harry ‘Taco’
Boyle, Patrick ‘Baby Rat’
Brackley, Northamptonshire
Brando, Marlon
Brasserie Joey, Montreal
Bremen Mongols
‘Brewer’ see Tessaro, Bruno ‘Brewer’
Brighton-Le-Sands
British Motorcycle Club swap meet
British Rail Red Star service
Britt, John ‘Bilbo’
Bromley-Martin, Michael, QC
Brother Speed MC
Brothers of the Third Wheel (BTW)
Buffalo Wally
Bull, Malcolm
Bulldog Bash (previously Long Marson festival)
Bullshit MC
Burel, Michael ‘Bubu’