Rockers - A Thing You Need to Know

It was recently brought to my attention of a possible conflict with some motorcycle clubs over the three piece rocker combo patches many of our Clamper brothers are using. So I googled it………………

The AMA” American Motorcycle Association” was started in 1924. For years the club was successful in promoting the sport of motorcycling. They gave out awards for the best decorated vests and jackets and eventually came up with a one piece club patch for their vests and jackets.

In 1968 the Club held an event in Hollister Ca. The meet was peaceful until some of the members got out of hand and it was quickly blown out of proportion by the media. As the result the AMA wrote an article in their magazines stating that 99% of their members were law-abiding citizens and only "1%" were outlaws. The trouble makers were kicked out of the club and not allowed to attend any more club functions. This then began what today is known as 1%'ers. These outlaw clubs were then and are still banned from all AMA events and functions.

The rejected members quickly started their own club. To designate their status as members of the new outlaw club of 1%ers they cut up their AMA patches into three pieces. This quickly became a tradition and today the three piece patch set with rockers designate the wearer as a full fledge member of one of these 1% clubs.

As you can imagine they are very protective of these patches. So much so that it is customary(to avoid trouble) for any club wishing to use rocker type patches, separated from the primary patch, to get permission from the closest predominate 1% club to do so. To avoid conflict many just use straight patches which apparently are OK.

Since these 1% clubs are made up of some pretty rough guys, protective of their turf , a great deal of discretion should be used in deciding when and where to wear a three piece rocker patch set. While Clamper Doin’s are probably OK , wearing them to the local biker bar is probably a real bad idea.

I don’t want to overreact and discontinue our line of rockers but I am planning on adding 10 and 12 inch straight patches as alternatives and will be working on additional one piece center patches . If you do order a custom rocker you should keep in mind that the 1%ers lower rocker designates their territory, town or a location. I recommend avoiding putting locations on these rockers.

This is all news to me so if anyone has more to add or if I have it wrong please e mail me and set me straight. Hawker Mike wrecknball72@aol.com