The One Percenter Code, by Dave Nichols, presents a life style that seems very contradictory.

I’m reading The One Percenter Code: How To Be An Outlaw In A World Gone Soft, by Dave Nichols. This is not a review of the book; I’ll put that up on Examiner.com when I’ve finished reading it. This is just me musing over the things I’ve been reading in this book that make me shake my head and wonder.

The main question is the one I already stated. Nichols, as well as other writers whose work I’ve seen, makes a big deal about how outlaw bikers give a big middle finger to authority. And yet the demands of the clubs themselves are so far stricter than anything society tries to impose. (Before I go any further, I want to make clear I have no first-hand knowledge of these things; I’m just going by what I read. If these writers are full of it your issue is with them, not me.)

So for instance, Nichols says that when the club goes on a ride all members are required to stay with the group at all times. That is so totally opposite of what I want to do when I ride. I’ll stay with the group, but if I want to do something other than what they group does, I’ll just say fine, I’ll meet up with you later. Don’t anybody try to tell me I’ve got to stay with the group!

And becoming a member! Oh man, it sounds like a military academy carried to an extreme. If you’re a prospect you are at the whim of every member who tells you what to do and you do it, period, or else. This is called showing your dedication and commitment. I call it a bunch of bull and I would never be party to any such arrangement. That’s part of the reason I never joined the army, never pledged a fraternity, any of that stuff. I don’t take that crap from anyone.

Then there’s the casual way that Nichols describes any number of ways to get your ass whipped by outlaw bikers if you don’t follow their rules of conduct. Never mind that “citizens,” as we non-club members are called, probably don’t have any idea these so-called “rules” exist. Nichols does note that in public places the club members do cut us citizens some slack, but hey, I don’t buy off on your rules. Don’t think you have some right to pound the crap out of me because I did something that annoyed you. And what’s with the freakin’ violence anyway? I’m not a big guy at all, so just because you can beat the crap out of me doesn’t make you good or right or better than me or anything, it just makes you a jerk.

Now to hear Nichols tell it, violence is a way of life for one percenters, but I suspect it’s not quite that extreme. I’m guessing there are plenty who are actually nice people and they get tarred by bad behavior of the minority. But there are two things that are absolutely clear here: I don’t want any part of the one-percenter life and no one-percenter club wants anything to do with me.

Hey, that works for me.

Biker Quote for Today

Prison is sometimes referred to as “The House of Bad Decisions.” In motorcycling, that’s the hospital. Don’t go there. — Brian Catterson