Motorcycle Club Glossary: Terms You Will Hear

Club culture has its own vocabulary, and using it wrong marks you as an outsider faster than anything you wear. These are the terms that come up in meetings, at events, and in the listings on this site.

People and membership

• Member, full patch, or patch holder: a rider who has completed prospecting and been voted in, entitled to wear the full colors.
• Prospect, probate, or probationary: a rider in the probationary period before the vote.
• Hang-around: a rider invited to attend open events before prospecting.
• Sponsor: the full member who vouches for a prospect and guides them through the process.
• Support or supporter: a non-member who backs a club, often wearing a support patch or shirt.
• Associate or auxiliary member: a non-riding or partial member, common in riding clubs, veteran clubs, and brand chapters.
• Nomad: a member not attached to a specific chapter, usually by seniority or role.
• Independent: a rider who belongs to no club. Not an insult.
• Citizen: a non-rider, in the usage of some traditional clubs.

Officers

• President, vice president, secretary, treasurer: the executive officers of a chapter.
• Sergeant at arms: keeps order and holds club property.
• Road captain: plans and leads rides.
• Enforcer: enforces club rules, in clubs that use the position.
• Tail gunner or sweep: rides last in the pack.
• Chaplain: leads prayers and handles funerals and crises, common in veteran and ministry clubs.

Insignia

• Cut, colors, or vest: the sleeveless vest or jacket that carries the patches.
• Patch: any sewn insignia; "the patch" means the club's main emblem.
• Rocker: a curved patch above or below the center patch carrying the club name or territory.
• Three-piece patch: top rocker, center patch, bottom rocker. One-piece and two-piece patches are the alternatives.
• MC cube: the small square patch reading MC that identifies a traditional club.
• Side rocker or tab: a small patch denoting office, chapter, years, or honors.
• Memorial patch: worn for a deceased member.
• Support patch: worn by non-members in support of a club.
• 1% or 1%er: the diamond patch worn by clubs that identify as outlaw clubs, meaning outside the American Motorcyclist Association.
• Property patch: a patch some traditional clubs issue to partners of members. Many clubs do not use it.

Organizations

• MC: motorcycle club, a traditional club with prospecting and earned colors.
• RC: riding club, open-membership and oriented toward rides rather than brotherhood structure.
• MM: motorcycle ministry, a faith-based club.
• LEMC: law enforcement motorcycle club.
• Mother chapter: the founding or governing chapter of a multi-chapter club.
• National: the governing body of a multi-chapter club.
• COC or confederation of clubs: a regional council where clubs coordinate and settle protocol.
• AMA: the American Motorcyclist Association, which charters clubs and sanctions events.
• ABATE: a state-level motorcyclists' rights organization; the letters stand for different phrases in different states.
• H.O.G.: the Harley Owners Group, the manufacturer-sponsored brand club.

Activities

• Church: the regular members' meeting of a traditional MC.
• Run: an organized ride, especially a multi-day one. A mandatory run is one all members must attend.
• Poker run: a charity ride scored by playing cards drawn at stops.
• Pack: the group riding in formation.
• Staggered: the standard pack formation, alternating left and right thirds of the lane.
• Blessing of the bikes: a season-opening event, usually in spring, often at a church.
• Toy run: a holiday charity ride collecting toys for children.
• Bike night: a weekly public gathering at a bar, restaurant, or dealership.
• Rally: a large multi-day event drawing riders from many clubs.
• Flag line: a row of riders holding flags at a funeral or ceremony.

Standing

• Good standing: a current member in compliance with the bylaws, or a former member who left properly.
• Bad standing: a member expelled or who left owing money or in a dispute.
• Out: no longer a member. "Out in good standing" and "out bad" are the two common forms.
• Pulled patch: colors taken back by the club as discipline or on expulsion.