In the beginning there was The Indian Motorcycle Company, 1901 to be exact and the people saw that it was good. Ah but surly it could be better and two years later The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was formed. It would actually be many years before that was really be true. Not when it started but the being better part that’s my opinion. Anyway, one of the first Motorcycle clubs was the Federation of American Motorcyclists or FAM in 1903. FAM was mostly organized to improve the conditions in which they road their motorcycles. There were a half dozen motorcycle companies that were very successful between 1901 and 1920. Mostly because compared to the cars of the day motorcycles, which were just bicycles with motors, were inexpensive. Before the great depression a big-twin Harley Davidson model was roughly $375. After the great depression The Indian Motorcycle Company and The Harley-Davidson Motor Company were the only two major manufactures of motorcycles left.
One of the first Outlaw Motorcycle gangs appeared in 1936 and was the McCook Outlaws from Cook County Illinois which encompasses the city of Chicago. The McCook Outlaws became the Chicago Outlaws and are known today as The Outlaws. According to members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club the original members congregated for the purposes of long distance touring which was very exciting in the 1930’s on mostly dirt roads and racing on flat quarter-mile dirt tracks, and oval wooden board tracks. Even then the biker pastime of massive consumption of alcohol and rabblerousing was also a part of early biker life. On the back of their mechanics overalls was stenciled the club name and this predated the wearing of leather Jackets and Vests. If you read the Outlaws Motorcycle Club History webpage, the club’s organizational logo, who is called Charlie a skull centered over two crossed pistons and connecting rods, similar to a Jolly Roger pirate’s flag was heavily influenced by the attire worn by Marlon Brando’s character Johnny in the 1954 film The Wild One.
An all female motorcycle club has maintained an American Motorcyclist Association club charter for more than 60 years. They charter in 1940 and they may well be the oldest established motorcycle club in the world, older even than the world famous Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, which formed in 1947 but they get a lot less press.
World War II did two things for motorcycle clubs and gangs slowed or even stopped their growth then caused an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang explosion.
McCook Outlaws at a motorcycle rally Soldier Field Chicago from the 1940`s
