What Is A 3-Percenter Motorcycle Club?

There are many kinds of motorcycle clubs, varying in purpose or orientation. They include riding clubs, owner's clubs, owner's groups, and moto groups. Generally, however, motorcycle clubs can be divided into two distinct types: the outlaw motorcycle gang and the motorcycle community club.

The outlaw motorcycle gang is what pften comes to mind when people think of motorcycle clubs. These are organized, with defined member hierarchy, and strict regulations, such as the one-percenter motorycle clubs, among which are the Big Four Outlaw MCs: Bandidos, Pagans, Outlaws, and Hells Angels. The one-percenters get that name from the idea that only 1% of motorcyclists are outlaws. 

Motorcycle community clubs, meanwhile, are less structured, may have looser regulations, and a less formal membership structure, with emphasis on the social aspect of motorcycle riding. Among these clubs is the Three Percenters Motorcycle Club. Founded in Britain in 1991, the club describes itself as friendly and informal, with most members based in the U.K., but with members worldwide. The name refers to the estimated percentage of addicts who stay clean and sober. One of its membership requirements is for applicants to be three months in recovery from their addiction, and surprisingly for a motorcycle club, it doesn't require members to own or ride a motorcycle. 

In the U.S., though, a "three-percenter" has a very different meaning. It's a meaning laden with political weight.

In the United States, the Three Percenters Movement is a right-wing anti-government militia that started in 2008. Taking its name from the belief that only 3% of Americans took part in the Revolutionary War – a belief the Southern Poverty Law Center says has never been proven — its members describe themselves as patriots and pledge to uphold the Constituion, especially their 2nd Amendment right to carry guns.

There are some U.S. Three Percent motorcycle clubs that adhere to this philosophy, and there are some Three-Percenter motorcycle patches. But writing on Insane Throttle Biker News, James "Hollywood" Macecari – a 25-year biker, columnist, and author of the book "New Age of Biking and Brotherhood" — says, "There isn't any such thing as a legit 3% motorcycle club. 3%ers are their own deal in a totally different world than motorcycle clubs." And he adds, "I can see it now, the Oath Keepers start up a motorcycle club and the next thing you know all bikers are that."

Because of the many groups or organizations that use the names 3 Percenter, 3%ers, or Three Percenter, it's easy to misidentify one from the other. Though there some motorcycle clubs use the name Three Percent, and integrate factional beliefs with motorcycle culture, the Three Percenters Movement in America is mostly a political faction, compared to the UK-based Three Percenters Motorcycle Club that's in line with traditional motorcycle clubs and culture.