Unity in the Motorcycle Community - the Flaming Knights Motorcycle Club ride without regard to race

American Visions, April, 2000 by Monica Anke Hahn-Koenig

It was early 1968, and a half-dozen friends and motorcycle enthusiasts hadn't been able to find a bike club that suited their needs. They were a diverse bunch--four of them were African American, one was Latino, one was white--but what mattered to them was riding, riding hard and riding far. They began to make regular road trips from their home base in New Haven, Conn., to Philadelphia, and by April 1968 the "Philly 6," as they had come to be known, had incorporated themselves officially as the Flaming Knights Motorcycle Club.

From the beginning, the Flaming Knights has been a long-distance traveling club with red-and-yellow insignia that practices a colorblind policy with regard to membership. Today it's a national club, with 14 "castles," as its chapters are known (see sidebar). Its literature cites the motto "Born to Wander" and the founding credo "Unity in the Motorcycle Community." Long-distance riding is the priority: Members log anywhere from a couple of thousand to over 20,000 miles on their bikes every year. Unity among motorcycle lovers, however, holds fast as the club's central tenet.

"We don't care about race, and anyone who is willing to abide by our rules is welcome to join," says Ken "Black Magic" Black. "We do things with no regard to color. Race is not an issue. We've never made a decision based on race." Black is 48 years old and the president of the Flaming Knights Mother Chapter, in Landover, Md., which oversees al Flaming Knights club activities.

Gary Higa, a 33-year-old Japanese American in the Los Angeles castle who goes by the handle "Mr. Gone," concurs: "There are no color lines. We're breaking the mold by having a wide variety of cultures in our group."

Higa's castlemate Roy "Little Dragon" Bolden, 39, eschews protracted discussions on race in favor of getting down to the business of riding. He owns four Harley-Davidsons, and he puts upward of 15,000 miles on them each year. The son of one of the original black members of the Philly 6, Bolden has been given the esteemed Flaming Knights "Lifer" title. "I'm a Flaming Knight through and through," he says with pride. "I had little colors on my back when I was 10 years old." When he turned 16 and earned his motorcycle license, the Flaming Knights bestowed on him provisional membership, so long as he kept his grades up and showed them his report cards. He became a full-fledged member at 18.

Now a legal processor, Bolden is president of the Los Angeles castle. Like most castles, his holds meetings twice a month and organizes rides several times each month. A typical scenic weekend ride is an all-day affair, beginning with a breakfast meeting. The group will ride until lunch, take a break and then head back home, traveling 150 to 200 miles by dinnertime. Castles plan longer vacation rides--perhaps taking off across the country for the National Roundup, a national social gathering of motorcycle clubs that takes place every August. This event, which will be held in Houston this year, attracts thousands of people.

The Flaming Knights also make appearances at get-togethers hosted by other motorcycle clubs. They show their support of all bikers, as long as they are nondiscriminatory riders. The Flaming Knights' penchant for embracing all who love to ride has posed challenges over the years. Some racially homogeneous clubs have challenged the Flaming Knights' integrity, demonstrating that a love for the road does not necessarily come first, especially for "outlaw clubs," whose motorcycle affiliation is often secondary to other, less licit activity.

In January, Flaming Knights castles from around the country rallied in Denver after the new castle there had begun having problems with an outlaw club that was worried that the Flaming Knights might encroach on its territory. With the Flaming Knights of Landover acting as mediators, the two groups met civilly. When the outlaw club had been reassured that the Flaming Knights of Denver posed no threat to it, both clubs got together and partied.

According to Petra "Sweet Pea" Duvall, president of the newly incorporated Denver castle, that sense of family and support permeates the club. Duvall started her chapter, whose members are all black women, last fall. A biker for 12 years, she was impressed by the Flaming Knights philosophy and the attitudes of "the brothers back East." Along with five women with whom she had already been riding, Duvall began this first all-female chapter.

Like other castles, the Denver chapter holds regular meetings and local rides, and it participates in national meetings and long-distance tours. Because they are all women, the Denver members draw attention when they hit the road. "A lot of people are shocked," says Duvall, a software engineer in her 30s. She prefers to wear a helmet with a full face shield so that her gender is not immediately apparent (though she's probably been giving herself away lately with her new Winnie-the-Pooh helmet).

When the Flaming Knights are not fending off outlaw clubs (which is not the norm), they are called upon to aid one another in matters of biking. "We're very committed to each other," says Conrad "Rock `n' Roll" Gordon, 57, who is the head of the New York City castle. "I've been able to share my experiences with the younger riders who are just starting out." Gordon gives the novices tips for cold-weather riding (he recommends wearing an electric suit and foot warmers) and gently reassures those who may be a bit unsure about the longer rides: "Don't look at it as 750 or 800 miles; look at it as one tank of gas."