Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Allies and Rival Biker Gangs

There are many different types of biker gangs, same principle, yet different locales. Some of them are allies and some rivals. Being a worldwide organization that has power, influence and money there are always rival organizations looking to expand their territory and take over where the Hell’s Angels have dominated for years. When this happens, gang war inevitably follows. Just a few of these other biker gangs are The Grim Reapers, the King’s Crew, The Rebels, Rock Machine, Satan’s Choice, The Hessians, Vagos, the Mongols, the Outlaws, the Para-Dice Riders, the Bandidos, the Dirty Dozen, the Rockers and the Avengers.

In August 1996, a story broke about the Hell’s Angels expanding their territory into Arizona. The Dirty Dozen, was a motorcycle club in Arizona that was closely associated with the Hell’s Angels. When the Angels decided to take Arizona, the Dirty Dozen went through a "prospect" phase with the Angels (Brandel).

In March of last year there was a big rivalry in Canada. With the recruitment of more than 10 former Grim Reapers in Alberta in 1997, the Hell’s Angels had in 1998, 14 Canadian chapters and about 218 members. Another 13 Rebels bikers in Saskatchewan were probationary Hell’s Angels who had not graduated to full membership. At the same time, Quebec Angels had not settled a deadly struggle with rivals from the Rock Machine over what police say is a drug turf. An estimated 60 gang members and associates on both sides have died in the four year battle (Timberlake).

Outlaws, Satan’s Choice, Para-Dice Riders and other bikers all operate in Toronto but no club has control of criminal biker activity in the city. If the Hell’s Angels do not set up a formal chapter in Ontario, rival Bandidos, newly arrived in Canada, might beat them to it. The Bandidos, a Texas based motorcycle gang, had a probationary chapter in Kingston to complement two new trainee chapters in Quebec and Montreal. Some Rock Machine members have become members of Bandidos and the Outlaws have also aligned themselves with the newcomers. The Bandidos will represent in Canada an alternative for those who don’t share Hell’s Angels goals (Timberlake).

The Bandidos and Angels have fought with grenades and other weapons in Scandinavia, where the body count stands at about 14. Missiles stolen from a Swedish army depot in 1994 slammed into two Hell’s Angels clubhouses, signaling an intensified turf war against a rival gang. The first attack happened 20 miles southwest of Copenhagen and the second attack occurred at the clubhouse of the Avengers, an affiliate of the Hell’s Angels. The Bandidos are suspected to be behind these attacks. In Quebec City, snowmobile riders armed with AK-47 and .308-calibre rifles recently shot up the Bandidos’ clubhouse. The shooters in this attack are suspected of having Angels links (www.acsp.uic.edu).

misconceptions. origins biker code illegal media works cited