Shortly after arriving at our new house on the Brookfield Estate, Mill Hill..I had started to notice a few motorcycles coming & going around that part of the estate. At the other end, about a half mile or so, were a gathering of scooter boys. So setting a scene common in those days of the middle sixties..Mods & Rockers!

The machines that were blasting up & down my road still evoke a tingling down the neck with names such as, Bonneville, Thunderbird, Road Rocket, Lightning & Dominator. The scooters at the time were mainly Lambretta TV175, GT200 or the Vespa GS 180.

I had my first ride on the back of a Dunstall tuned Dominator ridden by a chap named Haywood. He was in the same group of "Rockers" as my mates elder brother. One of them had a van & we used to go with them to the Ace Cafe or the Busy Bee Cafe..both well known in those days. The Ace is still going after being shut down for years, and is now completely refurbished with old B&W photos of those halcyon days. After that first experience on the Norton..I was completely hooked & still have a love of two wheels to this day. I gradually gave up bikes to pursue my main love...music, and it wasn't till the early 80's after playing at biker gigs that my interest in two wheels resurfaced.

 

Meanwhile over in the States..the already established outlaw type of biker club..ie, the Hells Angels,Satans Slaves among others..were starting to be copied over here. It was to be "Buttons", the first England President who had brought the official charter over from the states, which also started the famous "England Wars" between renegade or unofficial clubs wearing colours.
The last two clubs to hold out against England were Windsor & Wolverhampton..eventually joining in the 80's.

 

Scorpio motorcycle club were founded in about 1969 in Stevenage, just outside London. It was a few years after, that they then moved to Cornwall. Firstly to Penzance, then finally ending up in St. Austell.
It was whilst working in London that I had met one of its members, Budgie, who had taken some leave from the club to go back to Nth London. We were both working together & soon afterwards I went down to Cornwall, where I was to meet some of Budgies "brothers".
Over the years I got to know more of the club, and always looked forward to visiting or entertaining any club members if they came up to London. The club has had its fair share of notoriety..namely Operation Enmesh during the 80's.
You can find more information in Tony Thompson's book, Gangland Britain under the chapter..The 1% Crew.

The term 1%er, had came from an incident in 1948 in an American town called Hollister. After the war had ended, a new breed of motorcyclist had evolved looking for the same adrenaline rush, bomber missions over Germany had given them. They called themselves outrageous names such as The Galloping Gooses, The Pissed-Off Bastards & The Booze Fighters! They had stripped down bikes to lessen the weight, and created speed trials called "Flat-Tracking".
The term Chopper came from these "chopped-about" motorcycles.