MapMuse - Locate BMW Motorcycle Clubs Near You

...must pass a vote of the membership and swear some level of allegiance to the club. Each club has a unique club patch (or patches) adorned with the term "MC" that are worn on the riders vest, known as colors.

Membership in a MC is much different than membership in a motorcycle riding club, or any other club, for that matter. A motorcycle club is the pinnacle of the counterculture biker lifestyle, where riding a motorcycle is not just a pasttime or a hobby, but a way of life requiring a strong level of commitment to the club and ones fellow members. Membership is not automatic and may take more than a year to earn.

Motorcycle clubs are historically divided into two types: One-percenters, and everyone else (or 99-percenters). One-percent clubs were named in a famous statement by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), describing certain troublemakers as only one percent of motorcyclists. There are a great many clubs for motorcycle riders who refer to themselves generically as motorcycle clubs. Though they are grammatically correct, these clubs are not MCs in the strictest sense of the term, and members of MCs, that is, clubs who wear an MC patch, regard these other clubs as motorcycle riding clubs.

BMW began as an airplane engine manufacturer before World War I. With the Armistice, the Treaty of Versailles banned any German air force and thus need for aero engines, so the company turned first to making air brakes, agricultural machinery, toolboxes and office furniture. Dissatisfied with that they eventually turned to manufacturing motorcycles. 1923 saw the arrival of a complete motorcycle under the BMW name, the R32. BMW is a major manufacturer of regular commercial, leisure and emergency services motorcycles. It is also a major player in the sporting and luxury ends of the automotive market place.