I read a column in a bike rag once where a guy was talking about your friends, and your motorcycle friends. You could be broke down 150 miles from home at 3 am and a really good friend ain't gonna help. But a motorcycle friend will have his pick up or van on the road no questions asked within 5 minutes.

There is a bond established over the motorcycle. It's part of what allows, in some instances various individuals to be part of what are deemed racist groups by the outside world. The common connection. Something more than just "a guy you know". If someone hasn't experienced it they can't understand. Probably similar to military bonds.

Imho it is this lack of understanding that causes so many of the governments cases to fall apart against clubs. They simply don't understand the people. Cases are misguided, screwed up, prosecuted wrong, etc. it makes for great fiction, these criminal biker gang hoardes (and certainly sometimes they are exactly that), but most of the time they are something different. It's part of what makes motorcycle culture it's own unique animal, and so when standards and practices from various types of law enforcement approaches to organized crime are applied to the clubs it just doesn't work.