Regular motorcycle clubs are dudes who like to hang out and ride motorcycles. Outlaw motorcycle clubs are like that, but also criminal gangs.
Wearing something that clearly identifies you as a member of a criminal gang when you’re not is a bad idea for several reasons. That’s assuming that the gang in question is nonfictional, though.
“Biker code” is short for: Code I made up with my friends that nobody else knows about so I can lord it over everyone else as though that makes me anything other than a jackass.
If a biker club feels the need to assault people for wearing a “fake” cut, then maybe they should skip the whole “biker” thing and go join a boxing club. Or, even better, maybe they should get some professional help.
Of course, whenever I see someone wearing a fake “Rushmore” shirt, they get a beatdown immediately.
I am so glad to hear you say this. Then I am sure you can agree that if it takes more than having similar colors or clothes or blackletter script tattoos to be identified as being in a urban drug gang, it should take more than a black vest with a large patch on the back to identified as being in a biker gang.
And again I acknowledged that if this guy was wearing a Hells Angels or one of the REAL MC groups, that it would be different. But a fictional group on the back of your vest should clearly indicate you aren’t in a biker gang and is just as legitimate as the hundreds of thousands of other people wearing non-criminal club vests.
Would you be willing to test your theory for us? Please put on a fake motorcycle club vest, go to your nearest motorcycle gang/club clubhouse/biker bar, and if anyone gives you a hard time, just explain to them why they’re wrong. Let us know what happens!
You’re having multiple arguments here, some being straw men you’ve made.
No one is stating that someone wearing a “Sons of Anarchy” costume cut is being mistaken for a actual member of a MC. It has been stated that they find people wearing these fake colors to be offensive and will react accordingly.
This is a different matter than your constructed straw man of “Someone is wearing fake colors and a biker thinks they are real and acts accordingly.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sonsofanarchy/comments/nkc6u/whats_your_take_on_wearing_soa_gear/
cheese it – it’s the tone police! everyone scram! 
darn missed the video, it was pulled.
it actually was. while Brides of March is a big, known thing in SF, it’s lesser-known here in Reno, and even more so 7 years ago or so when this happened. my friend who organizes our crawls never lets the bars or us know in advance where we’re going, and he always chooses a good blend of places. i personally would never have gone to this bar before – i’m much too obviously NOT a biker – and i just happened to be near the front as he directed us to the next stop. before i knew it, i was strolling through a bunch of bad looking dudes and their bikes out front, and headed into the bar. the place went dead silent for a few minutes until enough of us got inside and we said, “drinks for everyone on us!”
i ended up spending a lot of time talking with one dude who was trying to wrap his head around why we were all wearing wedding dresses, and whether it was a “gay” thing or not. we then had more beers while i explained to him that while i happened to be gay, most of the people in our group were straight, and this was just a fun way to shake up people’s day. in the end, i think he understood both GLBT people and fun crazy events like ours in general. we bonded over black leather wolverine boots, lol – he liked mine a lot. in the end the bikers were offering us rides on the back of their bikes, and i really regret not taking them up on it. pee wee herman would’ve been proud, haha
Dude… that sounds like an amazing bar crawl! I’d love to have seen that! And it’s cool that the bikers learned something and so did you guys, I’m sure.
Seems like all the pub/bar crawls I see are now “organized” and aren’t at all spontaneous like this one sounds.
Mirror here.
How about we just all agree “cuts” are stupid- that cow died for a reason, people, put as much of it between your skin and the blacktop as you can. You should also consider that putting rockers on just gives the cops something to identify when you’re speeding away.
yeah, we have super-organized crawls here literally every month, too (and they charge you to participate!). our group of friends is small enough (about 20) that we can get away with holding our own renegade crawls without any trouble. i’m holding my breath in fear that the organized one will get wind of the Brides idea and try to do their own, but we have two things going in our favor: (1) it happens too close to St. Patrick’s Day (and their crawl for that), and (2) while getting people in superhero costumes and the like is easy, getting them (especially guys) in dresses is a LOT harder.
Regarding your linked article: Forgive me if I don’t have an overwhelming amount of respect for the opinion of a person who uses racist terminology like “rice grinders” to berate people who ride motorcycles she or her family don’t approve of.
Just because THEY take this stuff seriously doesn’t mean that we have to take THEM seriously. Bullying people to enforce a “code” doesn’t make you any less a bully.
If a biker makes a double take, then a police officer or gang banger might do the same thing. I was shocked to see something similar in public until I realized Shinra was from Final Fantasy.
edit:
Also some people take a movie or tv show too far as if it is persuading them to live like that.
Who asked you to have respect for them? The idea is to point out their attitude.
Yes, it very much makes them bullies. That said, it doesn’t change the “asking for a beating” aspect of wearing colors.
I’m not sure what argument you’re having anymore, really? The point is that you’re asking for trouble if you dress up like a fake MC and ride around on a bike. If you’re young, or tough, or whatever and don’t care, great. Other people should ponder this before they do it though.
That you seem to be victim-blaming and downplaying some pretty inexcusable behavior? You even compared wearing a store-bought cut in public to impersonating a uniformed marine inside a military bar.
Ah, so it’s about me. I get it now.
I’m not excusing anyone’s behavior and haven’t. I’m recognizing the reality of the world we live in. You dress like a fake biker from a fictitious tv show club and real bikers can take offense (see video and post that started this conversation). That “offense” may involve violence (and has in the past). If you choose to wear that sort of thing, realize that there is a chance of this happening.
(Oh and it is not a “store bought cut,” again with the goal post moving. It is a “fake cut for a fictitious outlaw motorcycle club from a tv show.”)
I was addressing what appeared to be your argument. I know nothing about you personally.
It’s both of those things. Not sure how that’s “goal post moving.”
