A nomad is a member of a motorcycle club (which may or may not be an outlaw motorcycle club) or similar club who is not a member of a specific charter of the group.
Some nomads live in geographical areas that have fewer than the required numbers to form a charter. [1] They may even have been sent to the area with a mandate to establish a chapter. Other nomads may have just chosen somewhat solitary lives.
While nomads are not members of a charter, they are respected and accepted widely by the club as full members. Whilst a nomad has the right to be hosted by any charter he appears at, he cannot direct a charter, as each one acts as an autonomous unit within the rules of the parent club. [2]
Most motorcycle club members wear a territorial rocker (i.e., the bottom patch on the back of the jacket) that signifies what city/locale, state, or province their charter is located in. A nomad's territorial rocker, however, will simply say "Nomad" or "Nomads".
There are clubs named "Nomads Motorcycle Club" in several countries, such as the Australian Nomads, [3] [4] [5] and clubs in South Africa [6] and Germany. [7]
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is an outlaw motorcycle club with a worldwide membership. Formed in San Leon, Texas in 1966, the Bandidos MC is estimated to have between 2,000 and 2,500 members and 303 chapters, located in 22 countries, making it the second-largest motorcycle club in the world behind the Hells Angels.
The Rock Machine Motorcycle Club (RMMC) or Rock Machine is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1986. It has twenty one Canadian chapters spread across seven provinces. It also has nine chapters in the United States and eleven chapters in Australia, with chapters also located in 24 other countries worldwide. It was formed in 1986, by Salvatore Cazzetta and his brother Giovanni Cazzetta. The Rock Machine competed with the Hells Angels for control of the street-level narcotics trade in Quebec. The Quebec Biker War saw the Rock Machine form an alliance with a number of other organizations to face the Hells Angels. The conflict occurred between 1994 and 2002 and resulted in over 160 deaths and over 300 injured. An additional 100+ have been imprisoned.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the "H.A.", "Red & White", "HAMC", and "81". With a membership between 3,000 and 3,600 and 467 chapters in 59 countries, the HAMC is one of the largest and most famous motorcycle clubs in the world.
The Blue Angels Motorcycle Club (BAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1963. The Blue Angels MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in Europe, and one of the largest and most powerful clubs in the United Kingdom. The club has chapters in Scotland, England, Belgium and Spain.
The Vagos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Green Nation, is a one percenter motorcycle club formed in 1965 in San Bernardino, California. The club's insignia is Loki, the Norse god of mischief, riding a motorcycle. Members typically wear green.
Colors are the insignia, or "patches", worn by motorcycle club members on cut-off vests to identify membership of their club and territorial location. Club patches have been worn by many different groups since the 1960s. They are regarded by many to symbolize an elite amongst motorcyclists and the style has been widely copied by other subcultures and commercialized.
The Rebels Motorcycle Club was an outlaw motorcycle club based in Western Canada that was founded in Red Deer, Alberta in 1968. It was one of the three dominant motorcycle clubs in the province of Alberta during the 1970s-1990s
Numerous police and international intelligence agencies classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, gunrunning, extortion, and prostitution operations. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the individuals who carried them out and not the club as a whole. Members of the club have been accused of crimes and/or convicted in many host nations.
Notorious is an 1% outlaw motorcycle club based in Germany. Its emblem is the split head of a gangster, one half a human face, the other half a skull, which symbolizes on one side the family life from the past, and on the other side loyalty to the death.
The Nomads Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club in Australia with a large number of chapters and members nationwide. It was founded in Newcastle in 1968. A number of countries have motorcycle clubs called "Nomads Motorcycle Club", e.g. Australia, South Africa and Germany, and there is a Nomads gang in New Zealand.
The Chicanos Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Pritzwalk, Germany on 23 August 2003. The Chicanos are a support club for the Bandidos.
The Trust Motorcycle Club, also called Trust Motorcycle Club Germany, are an outlaw motorcycle club based in Germany. It was founded in 1984 as a merging of several MCs. In addition to 33 German chapters, the club has seven chapters in Romania and one each in Belgium Thailand and Poland.
The Loners Motorcycle Club (LMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada in 1979. It has Sixteen chapters in Canada, ten chapters in Italy, nine in the United States and several chapters in other countries across the world. The club was established by two prominent Italian-Canadian bikers, Frank Lenti and Gennaro Raso.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is classified as a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries. While the club has denied being a criminal organization, Bandidos members have been convicted of partaking in criminal enterprises including theft, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder in various host nations.
The Kings Crew Motorcycle Club was an outlaw motorcycle club based in Western Canada and was founded in Calgary, Alberta in 1977. Where it would become one of the provinces most dominant clubs, participating in the Alberta Biker Conflict, until eventually joining the Hell's Angels in the late 1990s.
Numerous police and international intelligence and enforcement agencies classify the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, gunrunning, extortion, and prostitution operations. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the individuals who carried them out and not the club as a whole. Members of the club have been accused of crimes and/or convicted in many host nations.