The Hollywood film „Beyond the Law“ from 1992, written by „Larry Ferguson“ explains it this way: „See this little 1%? This means you are a member of the totally zoned out, fucked up, badass, outlaw motorcycle brotherhood!“ Well, Larry, you suck! This has nothing to do with 1%. What it has to do with is selling tickets to your crappy „B“ movie.

To find the real answer, you have to go back to the beginning. We‘ll start with the founding of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) in 1924 and skip straight to the end of World war 2, when American soldiers returned home from the war they were finding it hard to adjust to the slower pace of peace and their civilian jobs. Many turned to motorcycles as a form of recreation, a little much needed excitement on the weekends.

At this point in time, just about all the motorcycle events in the US were sponsored or controlled by the AMA. Then came the 4th of July weekend 1947 and the AMA Gypsy Tour event in Hollister, California. Organized by the Salinas Ramblers MC (AMA club) and the Hollister Veterans Memorial Park Association. The events calendar called for a hill climb at the Lavignino Ranch on Friday the 4th. Saturday the 5th a slow race, digout race and plank ride. Prizes and trophies were given out and that night a dinner and dance at the Memorial Auditorium. On Sunday the 6th was the big AMA flat track race with a purse of 1.200,00 USD!

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 thousand bikers turned out for this event. That was a lot more than anyone had expected including the organizers of the event. Not enough of anything was the rule. The campgrounds were full on Thursday, so people just threw their sleeping bags wherever they could, this included the sidewalks. The trouble started on Saturday night when the dinner and dance was full. It was planned for only the expected AMA club members and not the 3 thousand extra that showed up. They were turned away at the door and told sorry, you‘re on your own! So the crowd headed for San Benito St., where all the bars and restaurants were.

OK, you put 3 thousand pissed off people together, pour on a lot of alcohol, no matter what, there‘s going to be trouble!
And there was…
Not bad, probably no worse than any modern bike event like Bikeweek in Daytona. It was just a big surprise, no one was ready for it. Anyway, the really bad part of the mess was a guy named C. I. Dourghty Jr.. He was a reporter from the „San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper“. This guy set up phony photos and pumped up every little incident into a major one. He together with the cops in charge staged the phony picture of the cop with the teargas launcher and of course the most famous one of all the pictures of the drunken biker on his bike with beer bottles ankle deep all around. And of course, the cops puffed themselves up into the saviors of the town.

OK, you put 3 thousand pissed off people together, pour on a lot of alcohol, no matter what, there‘s going to be trouble!
And there was…
Not bad, probably no worse than any modern bike event like Bikeweek in Daytona. It was just a big surprise, no one was ready for it. Anyway, the really bad part of the mess was a guy named C. I. Dourghty Jr.. He was a reporter from the „San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper“. This guy set up phony photos and pumped up every little incident into a major one. He together with the cops in charge staged the phony picture of the cop with the teargas launcher and of course the most famous one of all the pictures of the drunken biker on his bike with beer bottles ankle deep all around. And of course, the cops puffed themselves up into the saviors of the town.

In reality, what the cops did was pretty smart! They raided the AMA dance and grabbed the band. Hauled them down to San Benito St. on the back of a flat bed truck and had them play for the crowd. Then shut off the flow of alcohol. By the way, the bars stopped serving beer earlier, telling everyone they were out, so hard stuff only.

Were they really out, or was selling the more expensive hard liquor just more profitable?

The trouble ended almost instantly.

Well, it all hit the fan for the AMA when newspapers across the country ran the stories of hell night in Hollister. It even made „Life magazine“! The AMA leadership was stunned and in a panic. Bombarded with demands from the press for statements. The AMA held a press conference. They tried to repair the damage, but these guys weren‘t political spin doctors, just motorcyclists and screwed it up big. They started off with stating that the news reports from Hollister were greatly exaggerated, which was true, but this really pissed the press guys off right from the start.
When you want someone to be nice to you, never start with calling them liars! They rambled on for a while, trying to evade embarrassing questions. The memorable quote from all this and the important one is „The trouble was caused by the
„one percent“ deviant that tarnishes the public image of both, motorcycles and motorcyclists.
Anyway, none of that made any difference, the press still beat their brains out. They would have been much better off saying nothing.

 

The end of the story?
No, just the beginning!

The AMA continued to receive nothing but bad press. At every opportunity the press would kick their ass. So the AMA leadership decided to take positive action. But what? How do you stop the press when they got it out for you? Answer: You don‘t! So, who‘s to blame? Not themselves, no way! As it happens so often, it‘s the little guys fault, the smallest group, least equipped to defend themselves, that‘s who?

In this case the guys riding chopped or bobbed bikes.
The word went out to the local AMA club leaders all over the country. Try to get the members to not wear their old military clothes any more. No more bomber or field jackets (this was the most common bike wear of the day) and try to discourage those drunken bums on their chopped up bikes from attending AMA sanctioned events.
This translated into: People who rode stripped down or chopped bikes were not welcome. You were harassed and herded into a corner and made to feel as uncomfortable as possible. In some cases even denied entry into AMA events.

Now remember most of these guys were veterans, just finished fighting a war. To come home and be treated this way was unacceptable.

Whom ever thought it up, or whoever organized it, 1% patches were being given out at AMA events. The originals were hand made by the guys wives and girlfriends. Guys started sewing them on the left sleeve of their bomber and field jackets, where their old unit patch used to be.

The 1% patch was weared and numbers were growing. Even non chop riders were joining in, and why not. The weirdo‘s in the corner were having all the fun anyway. Of course, this pissed off the AMA leadership even more and they stepped up their policy of „discouragement“. It all came to a head at Riverside in 1948 where there was a near riot. The AMA finally backed off from their policy of harassment, but it was too late.
The riff between the chopper riders and the AMA has never healed and the 1% patch was here to stay.

So what‘s it means:
IT MEAS „I WONT BE SCREWED FOR WHAT I RIDE OR WHAT I WEAR!

If you read the papers or listen to the news, the media and law enforcement agents have redefined the term „1%er“.

Sometime during the 80’s law enforcement changed the meaning of the 1% to what they wanted it to represent. It didn’t matter that their meaning was incorrect, they just spoon fed it to the general public and the courts as they had so many other things.

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club movement is rich in history and tradition.

One of those traditions is the wearing of a 1% patch on our vests and referring to ourselves as a 1% club.

The 1% definition as we see it is one that explains our commitment to Biking and Brotherhood.

We ride our motorcycles every day rain or shine. We ride thousands of miles each year with our Brothers to attend parties, social events, funerals and just plain spending time together.
We work, have families and do all the things that our neighbors do. In addition to that we belong to a brotherhood that we are able to combine with our day to day lives.

To say that 1%er’s are criminals or people of a lesser moral code than the rest of society is a tainted opinion.

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club movement is not, and doesn´t want to be classed as a criminal organisation.

We have learned from the mistakes in our past and have worked quite hard to make us a leader in the efforts of many clubs and bikers to insure that the 1%er lifestyle will continue to grow and stay a part of tradition for the coming generations of those bikers that have the same commitment to biking and brotherhood that the past and present 1%er’s have left to them.

WE MAY NOT LIVE BY THE RULES OF SOCIETY, BUT WE DO LIVE BY IT`S LAWS!