Today 1% Biker club are more numerous than the american mafia at its peak,more violent and able to run lucrative rackets and don't fear the prison. Many italian prefer to joint the bikers (there is a photo of a biker with the "omerta" tatoo on the bald head).
The biggest clubs like Hells Angel,Outlaws,Bandidos are also internazional with many chapters across the world.

No offense, Furio, but I completely disagree.

Despite their numbers and all the other rhetoric, for the most part, "bikers" are mostly dirtbags who have little brains and even less guile. And if you referring to running drugs? Thats about the only thing they fully immerse themselves in. 95% of them have no finesse and little sophistication about them.

Despite the U.S. mob's depleted numbers and the dismal condition they find themselves in, for the most part, many of those still operating have the ability to conduct sophisticated scams, frauds and other rackets.

Generally speaking, bikers do not have those same opportunities or capabilities.

perhaps the case in the US nymafia, but in canada the hells angels are on the same level as the mafia and work in concert with them or in the case of mtl did. the mtl HA continue to actively fight the rizzuto-sollecito clan for control of sports gambling while also importing 100s of kgs of cocaine direct from mexico. the qc HA run sophisticated drug labs across the province. these are not trailer parks banging out cheap crank, these are usually nice looking homes in somewhat remote areas of the province in which the labs churn out; meth, ghb, fentanyl, counterfeit pills etc. as ive said before numerically as well the HA dominate any oc group once you add all the support clubs.

in ontario the HA were working with the figliomeni 'ndrine for a time, again in gambling and money laundering. platinum sb when first busted in 2013 had a gross bet total of something like $160 million, thats not chicken scratch. the HA had condos full of money from this waiting to launder it through ontario casinos and eventually investing it in expensive muskoka real estate...perhaps more on that later.

and what of the case of damon ryan. it is alleged he conspired with iranian intelligence to murder dissidents in the u.s. a really bizarre story that is continuing to develop.

all examples from up north i know, but the U.S. biker mcs have long been behind the curve of the more successful canadian HA chapters. perhaps with some time we will see some of the american bikies get into more sophisticated crimes. canadian bikers were once the cliched grimey tattoo riddled street level operators right off the page of dr gonzo. with time however it became more common to see full patch members in suits being driven around in black suvs with very little riding of harleys happening.

I agree with your assessment. From what limited stuff I've read and learned about the Canadian-based 1% outlaw bikers, they operate on a completely different level of volume, rackets and sophistication, than do outlaw bikers like the HA, Pagans, Bandidios, etc., in the United States.

The Hells Angels and other clubs do have very serious people with international connections. They will also look after their brothers an Hells Angel in Canada can go to Australia or Germany and they welcome him with open arms. A VERY powerful Australian fugitive HA for example lives in Europe in a pic he was wearing HAMC Belgium shirt.

Let's not forget that many patched member of 1% clubs are just regular guys with normal jobs and who don't do any crimes. A patched member doesn't have the status or power of a Made guy.

I've read many books about Federal agents infiltrating MCs in the US (HA, Outlaws, Bandidos, Vagos, Mongols) and it's hardly organized crime. It's just day to day criminality witH maybe some exceptions regarding drugs and arms smuggling. It's pretty easy to infiltrate the Mcs. Many undercover agents managed to become officers in their respective chapters. No undercover ever managed to get made in the Mob (Pistone and Garcia arguably came close).

There are some exception obviously starting with the HA in Montreal/Quebec which are definitely a proper OC crew, having similar power and activities as a strong Mafia Family.
The HA and Bandidos in Scandinavia and Germany are powerful too and are also on OC level. The Danish HA run the Christiania area in Copenhagen while the German HA run the red district in Hamburg for instance.

Thats an excellent point you bring out, Malavita. (and I agree with you on that concept)

One of the issue with 1% is that they attract a lot of guys from the police, firefighter, prison guard and military. Some of them have sensitive jobs and can use it to help the club.

This thread needs to decide if it is USA only, or everywhere except the USA. Major differences.

Which will it be?

Without choosing, it will be all over the place and nothing but wildly contradictory posts.

You're right alicecooper. Only bikers in United States.

Ok then. USA only. Clubs and chapters ebb and flow in criminality. Things go up and down over the last 70 years. There is no single answer. Many of them absolutely fear prison. As for violence--the mob can order guys to wack people.

Can bikers? Not usually. You're talking about cold blooded premeditated murder. The majority of guys simply won't do that. Remember a killing and cold blooded murder are not necessarily the same. We're talking about a hit. Have bikers done it? Absolutely. But to apply that across the board would be wildly inaccurate. Is the average 1% bike club member capable of killing someone in a fight? Fuck yeah. So are a lot of the riders who aren't even in 1% clubs.

You've got to remember that law enforcement has unlimited money and power to throw at these guys. They can only get so far out of control before it all comes crashing down. The 90's Outlaws are a well known example of that. And remember that was the old days when everything was still underground. That level will never be reached and maintained again.

The rackets: there are a few, mostly old examples of clubs getting involved in this stuff, but mafia for the win. Not even close.

Fact is, it's damn expensive to own a Harley and ride all over. A lot of guys can do it easier working a straight job than being a criminal. If you've never ridden a Harley, let me tell you, you're on this big loud motherfucker, you're exposed to the elements, dirty, wet maybe, every cocksucker in a car is driving like they get a million dollar reward if they murder you with their vehicle, cops will fuck with ya for no reason, assholes want to test you, usually 3 or 4 on 1, that's where the whole attitude comes from for the majority. Not because they will do hits, carry kilos of blow around or do all this other crazy shit.

The Mafia still has the finesse and cunning to worm their way into the upper crust of society, and other criminal organizations still seek Mafiosi for this ability as well as their money laundering capabilities. I would put Triads and Yakuza on their level before bikers in general. But yeah, when it comes to Canada and elsewhere in the world, you're dealing with a completely different breed of biker gangster. To me, all of this comparison trying to figure out who's the baddest between crime syndicates is asinine, because they all will collaborate on criminal ventures. Even street gangs work with the Mafia where there's a significant enough presence.

i have to say after googling around and the question being reframed a little, yes in the USA there is no comparison presently. what i found was alot of lower tier drug dealing, gun running, assault and the like across all biker groups; HA, outlaws, pagans etc the big ones at least.

but why is that? american chapters of say the hells angels were around longer, shared a border with mexico, expanded across the US from a small beginning. with longevity you would think this would have allowed over time for criminal alliances to form and have staying power. but i suppose with the bad press from 1950s on they became a bit of a heat score for other groups and stuck to themselves. i guess too that with such entrenched criminal groups already present (mafia) when the HA were on their rise say in 1960s and 70s they had to stay in their place in the criminal mix. we can also add here the tendency to fight/war with any and all other BIG biker mcs.

a good point from alicecooper above about not all members are criminals this is very true and i think more so in US than in canada, again using HA as an example.

Culturally, bike clubs did not originally exist to be criminal empires. They were just into a different lifestyle. Then throughout the 60s, some clubs grew to many chapters. Once drug culture came in, they were ripe to be hijacked because they had existing pipelines.

Plus you have to consider the rank and file. In the 60s and 70s these guys were beating up prospects, sometimes dumping piss on them, tug o wars where the loser gets pulled into a shit pit. I mean, you can only organize guys like this so much. Their interests only go so far. It was and still often is sex, drugs and violence in no particular order.

Yes guys have organized mini empires and had their runs, but they're surrounded by drugged out fuck ups. It can only go so far before it implodes. And on top of that a LOT just aren't criminals and don't really have any interest in that stuff.

I was speaking of Pandeli.

A top figure in Australia's large-scale drug trade, Hells Angel Angelo Pandeli, has been put on a plane from Dubai to Australia by the United Arab Emirates. According to Australian media, Pandeli left Australia in 2018 to settle in Dubai. There he is said to have made contacts with European criminals such as the Irish Kinahan clan and Ridouan Tagji's Italian contact, Raffaele Imperiale.

https://www.crimesite.nl/australische-topcrimineel-uitgezet-door-dubai-video/

Pandeli was arrested a few days before Pandeli was scheduled to travel to Cancun, Mexico for a major Hells Angels meeting.