“No MC member has ever tried to extort me, or tell me I have to join anything.”
I am guessing from that statement that you do not belong to a club. I have been discussing those that belong to clubs.
You are right, I have never belonged to any club. The only time I've been around MCs and 1%ers was at various bars we happened to be in at the same time. Never because I knew they were going to be their, I might add.
I have for the most part found them a bit of PITA. One time a member told me I had to get out the chair I was sitting in at a bar because "the President" wanted to sit there. I told him sorry, but I was comfortable and wasn't moving. Then I motioned to the bartender (I went in this place a lot) and said "Tiny, they say I have to move for the President, do I?" ... "No way man". As you would expect "Tiny" was about 6'6" and 300+lbs so nothing else was said, and they actually seemed to accept me after their little test.
They had awesome bikes.
This was a pretty small local club, not one of the Big Six outlaw clubs, but they did have attitude.
That's the worst experience I've had with bikers, but I don't have much exposure to them, as I said.
And growing up in Detroit both the Outlaws and the Highwaymen were not people you wanted to be around, even casually.
So, I'm not a closet MC/RC fellow.