The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter motorcycle club with a worldwide membership. The club was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its slogan is We are the people your parents warned you about. It is estimated to have 2,400 members in 195 chapters, located in 14 countries and growing. The club considers itself to be an Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have chosen to use the more derogatory designation of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG).The club was formed in 1966 in Houston by Donald Eugene Chambers. Many people think after seeing a TV commercial with the Frito Bandito raising hell to sell Fritos corn chips, Chambers named his club the Bandidos. This is not true, as the cartoon came out in 1968 (although he did adopt an obese machete- and pistol-wielding Mexican Bandido as the center patch for the club's colors). After Chambers' presidency ended due to his conviction for murder in El Paso, Texas, Ronnie Hodge was elevated to president. Under the watch of Hodge, the Bandidos expanded internationally to become an even bigger motorcycle club (MC).The Bandidos, also called the Bandido Nation, is the fastest-growing outlaw motorcycle club in the world with over 90 chapters in the United States, 90 chapters in Europe, and another 17 in Australia and Southeast Asia. In the United States, the club is concentrated in Texas, but extends into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and several other states. The Rock Machine Motorcycle Club in Canada patched over to Bandidos in 2000, and there is a chapter in Toronto, Ontario.The Bandidos are also found in Australia; aside from the non-locale-specific Nomads chapter, the chapters are located in Adelaide, Ballarat, Brisbane City, Cairns, Sydney Downtown, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hunter Valley, Ipswich City, Mid North Coast, Mid State, Northside, Noosa, North Victoria, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, and Toowoomba, and were acquired with much bloodletting. In recent years the club has also expanded heavily into Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, France and the Channel Isles of Great Britain. Additionally, it is looking into setting up shop in Russia and Eastern Europe and also in the tiny island nation of Singapore, as well as Malaysia and Thailand. The Bandidos are organized by local chapters, with state and regional officers, as well as a national chapter made up of four regional vice presidents and a national president.

The Bandidos have also fathered other clubs as support groups who can be pointed out by "support patches" bearing Bandido colors. Of the many support groups the "DOGS" or LOS PERROS have been known to be a big supporter of the Bandidos and often will preceed a group of Bandidos as a form of scouting or looking out.

On July 29, 2007, during the Hells Angels 2007 USA motorcycle run, six members of the Hells Angels confronted six members of the Bandidos in the parking lot of a Eureka Springs, Arkansas antique shop. Two of the Bandidos escaped the parking lot to retrieve weapons, leaving the other four members to face the six Hells Angels. The remaining four Bandidos were stabbed with knives and beaten with baseball bats in the ensuing melee, leaving them critically injured. The men were all flown to area hospitals. Police arrested six members of the Hells Angels a short time later. Police speculate that the fight may have started over one of the Bandidos named Brent coming on to a Hells Angels girl. Since Arkansas is controlled by the Bandidos, Brent though he could come there.

In October, 2006, George Wegers, the Bandidos' international president, plead guilty and received a two-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder. Also, in November, 2006, Glenn Merritt of the Bellingham, Washington chapter was sentenced to four years in prison on pimping charges. A total of 32 members were indicted in the associated investigation, on charges including conspiracy, witness tampering, and various drug and gun violations. Eighteen of those plead guilty.