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Whatever it takes:
Rebels - Ulysses riders remove patches
By David McLennan Police Reporter
Friday, 11 March
2005
A Canberra-based outlaw motorcycle club has
warned that it will do "whatever it takes" to enforce its demands that members
of a visiting social motorcycle group for veteran riders do not wear badging
that offends them.
Ulysses Club members visiting Canberra for their annual general meeting this
week have told of being confronted, intimidated, and threatened to be bashed and
their bikes destroyed by members of the Rebels Motorcycle Club if they did not
remove the cloth patches, known as "rockers".
In a bid to avoid violent incidents, Ulysses' national committee has instructed
its 5000 members attending the Canberra rally to remove the rockers from their
riding apparel. Rockers generally give a rider's name or nickname, and where
they come from.
Canberra Rebels president Martin Stefancic confirmed yesterday that he did not
want to see other motorcycle clubs wearing rockers and pretending to be part of
an outlaw club.
"They can't be both a social club and an outlaw club," he said.
"... No outlaw club likes people pretending to be anything. Outlaw clubs aren't
about pretending."
When asked if Rebels had threatened Ulysses members with violence, he said
"Whatever - that's what they say."
"Whatever it takes mate. If you want to play the game you want to be in shape to
play it, don't you."
There have been several incidents in which Ulysses members claim to have been
threatened with violence unless they removed the rockers from their clothing. In
one incident a 60-year-old female member was allegedly forced on to a roadside
and made to remove strips from her jacket, otherwise she would be bashed and her
bike destroyed.
ACT's acting Chief Police Officer, Steve Lancaster, said that police would
investigate any reported threat of violence. However, Ulysses members said that
they were reluctant to officially alert police for fear of reprisals.
"Police have spoken to both the Ulysses and Rebels motorcycle groups, both of
whom are aware of our expectations the law will be upheld, and where needs be,
it will be enforced," he said.
"Police are proactively patrolling the Ulysses gathering as well as other areas
of Canberra to ensure a continuing trouble-free event."
In motorcycle gang culture, the wearing of "colours" or rockers by non-outlaw
club members is regarded as an insult and not tolerated.
Members of outlaw motorcycle gangs have to "earn" their colours and rockers.
Colours refer to the club's emblem and name typically worn on the back of a
motorcyclist's jacket.
Ulysses national president Rick Bedford, who said that the wearing of rockers
had been a simmering issue for 20 years, had urged all members to remove the
offending badging.
Ulysses executives had met with Rebels leaders on Wednesday and agreed to ban
wearing rockers near the club's trademark old man "Growing Old Disgracefully"
emblem.
The club did not want to antagonise the Rebels and respected them and their
traditions.
"We understand where they are coming from. That is their lifestyle choice," he
said.
"... To get their colour patches they have to be accepted as a prospect and over
a year or a couple of years they are assessed by all the members as to whether
they are appropriate and in order to earn their colours they have to complete a
number of tasks."
