Kilted with the Hell's Angels

[irmavep]

My buddy called me and told me there was going to be a benefit to help an 11 year old boy pay for his outrageous leukemia med bills, told me there would be food, beer, and loud music. I was IN. What he forgot to tell was that it was at a biker bar ran by the Hell' Angels(there were several surounding the entrance). I was wearing my leather kilt as I was expecting a big metal crowd. As I pulled up I was thinking of how, as of yet I haven't had a bad time wearing a kilt. But I said whatever, the worst that could happen is I would get beat up, so I went in anyway. I proud to tell you I still haven't had a bad time being kilted. When I walked in I heard several murmers, saw a little pointing, had some walk over and tell that they liked it. One women came over told me her whole Scot family tree. Another women walked over gave me a hug and told me I was very brave. I do have a Harley, but I am definitely NOT a biker. In my life I have talked to quite a few, and have always walked away thinking that they were really nice people. I am disappointed mostly in myself for judging them before I gave them a chance to show what they were really like.

[MDR-V300]

Okay, sure, you judged them before you got in there, but there are two big reasons for you to not be disappointed with yourself.
1. You thought the situation would be bad, but you went anyway and showed your commitment to the cause of the day, your confidence in yourself, and your willingness to try something, even if there is a cost. "The worst that could happen is that I would get beat up" is a great philosophy, in my opinion. People seem to always run from imagined negatives, but taking them as part of life and seeing them in context is admirable.

2. You're willing to admit that you were wrong about your ideas, and you actually felt bad about expecting the worst. The ability to change your perspective is just... civilised. You could have easily come to the conclusion that you 'just got lucky this time', but you didn't.

Did you guys end up raising enoug money that night?

[Jerry]

I've met quite a few bikers in my life (Not kilted back then) and I've yet to have a bad experience. It's been my experience that are mostly good people if you treat them with the same respect you want. And, if you ever want to get in a nice long conversation with a biker, compliment his bike. I don't do this to impress a biker, but they have some really nice pieces of iron, most of them customized by themselves, and involving long hours of hard work

[Graham]

well whatever the HA's are like, I still reckon you were a braveheart for going in there. Well done!

[bubba]

I know quite a few bikers and almost all of them are stand up people. You done good not letting a preconcieved image get in the way. When you're out in a kilt bikers are likely to be the first to smile and give you the thumbs up and least likely to ask the usual questions. Glad you had a great time and hope the benefit did well.

[Miah]

I don't own a bike but i tend to bridge the gap with "bikers" We usualy get into talks about tattoos or something and skip right over my Kilt.

[Jerry]

I don't own a bike but i tend to bridge the gap with "bikers" We usualy get into talks about tattoos or something and skip right over my Kilt.

Miah, I like the different signatures that you use. I was a squid during VietNam, but I had then, and still have a great deal of respect for the marines. This last signature is particularily true today.

[Rigged]

I've had big burly bikers come up to me on the street (as I stood gazing starry-eyed at their bikes) and ask where I got the kilt.

[Mr. Kilt]

Great story!
Having spent a large portion of my life hanging around with various types of bikers, I've found that most of them are pretty decent people. As mentioned before, if you show them some respect you'll get it back in return.
In August I wore my kilt at a "biker" event for the first time. Not HA type bikers, but Kawasaki Vulcan riders. Lots of interesting comments from people, and absolutely NO bad ones!

[Andrew]

Very nice to hear that the Kilt was worn with confidence to a biker event. I personally would have know problem wearing my kilt to any bike event, as most bikers like to live a little outside the box anyway.
I am a biker, not the chopper style bikes or the Harley, I ride some pretty fast and comfortable machines. I do know a few Hell Angles personally and yes they are pretty nice guys, but they can also be some of the most ruthlass guys I know. Bottom line is they are into organized crime,i.e. Drugs, prostitution, murder, weapons dealing and stuff like that. The nice guy part of these fellas stops when they start there buisness end of things. The small amount of good that the H/A do for society gets very overrun by the bad things they do.
One of the girls that I was in high school with ended up dating the wrong type of guy. He ended up Pimping her out as a whore. Eventually to settle an old debt he carried with the H/A he sold her to them like some piece of meat. They then put her to work big time as property of the Hell Angles. It took her family almost a full year after she went missing to find what city they had her working in. Her father had to beg and use any connection he could to try and get his daughter back. Can you imagen your daughter being a peice of sex meat sold to many differant men and then having to beg for the chance to buy her back off the Hell Angles. They sure do sound like nice guys hey? Anyway, last I heard Kim was safe at home and trying to lead a normal life, but that was a few years ago so thing might have changed. Her father probably still has a debt with the Hell Angles but hey atleast his daughter is not property anymore.
As for the Kilting around the Hell Angles, I would wouldn't worry about that. But getting invloved with these fella, I would stay well away. That's just my veiw on it all.