The Road Raptors Motorcycle Club is a throwback to the one-percenter clubs of the 1950’s and 60’s. Just a bunch of guys who want to ride bikes and be left to live their lives the way they want to. Is that too much to ask? The original chapter was founded in Tacoma, Washington and the club has since grown to nine chapters throughout the western third of the United States with approximately two hundred members. Chapters are located in Albuquerque, Austin, Billings, Boise, Los Angeles, Reno, Roswell, Tacoma and Winslow with the Los Angeles chapter being the largest. They are not allied with any of the big four clubs—Devils Hand, Juaristas, Minotaurs or Sin Eaters—either as an affiliate club or associate club.
The Road Raptors MC pretty much flies under the major clubs radars as they don’t compete with them in any of their criminal endeavors. While not saints, Road Raptors have avoided any entanglements with organized crime or drug cartels. It is written in the chapter by-laws that the club will not run or push drugs. Individual brothers are allowed to do as they please to make money as long as they don’t entangle the club in a RICO or ensnare them in another club’s business. Likewise, individual drug use is ignored unless it becomes a problem. Pot, cocaine, bennies and alcohol are common while meth and heroin use is discouraged.
The Los Angeles Chapter of the Road Raptors MC was founded by Edward ‘The Buzzard’ Moss and Johnny Saunders. They met as cellmates while incarcerated in San Quentin Prison. Moss was serving a sentence for voluntary manslaughter and Saunders for grand theft auto, assault and armed criminal action. Moss was the former Sergeant at Arms for the Tacoma Chapter and convinced that the new president, Sir Drake, had set him up to take the fall for a fight that resulted in a death. He intended upon release to move to LA and open his own chapter.
Johnny Saunders, who was only eighteen, had never ridden a motorcycle in his life. But after listening to The Buzzard for night after night over the next several years, he knew he’d found his calling. Together they planned how to set up their chapter, the type of brothers they wanted and where to locate their clubhouse. Moss would be president and Saunders vice-president. When released from prison several months after Moss, Johnny rode his first motorcycle that day.
Johnny Saunders also met several of his new brothers that first day—Frank ‘Tiny’ Shea, Earl ‘Animal’ Hart, Daniel ‘Dirty Dan’ Smith, Claude ‘Moose’ Milton and Harold ‘Sinbad’ Hess. Johnny also recruited a childhood friend, Eugene ‘Magoo’ Buchholz. Johnny chose to stay with his first name rather than add a biker tag. Together they fought two nasty turf wars against the Devil Dogs MC and Kill Crew MC to get established. The second war nearly landed Johnny back in prison on a second-degree murder charge but the key witness failed to show up for the trial and the charges were dismissed. The witness, a member of Kill Crew, had decided to relocate south of the border for his health.
When The Buzzard was tragically killed a few years later by a hit and run vehicle, Johnny assumed the presidency. No one believed Moss’s death had been an accident, especially Johnny, but he was never able to identify who was behind the hit. He did have one challenger for the post of president, Ducky Dunston. Ducky quit the club after being bested by Johnny in a fight and went on to form his own club, Satans Kin MC. The two clubs became bitter enemies.
Alvin ‘Wild’ Dawson, the LA Chapters first prospect to earn a full-patch, was elected as Johnny’s vice-president. It was fitting in that Johnny had been Wild’s sponsor.
Johnny had found his true calling. The next several years were good ones for him as he settled into the routine and responsibilities of club president, a role he relished. He was on good terms with the rest of the chapters, all save Tacoma. Sir Drake resented LA’s growth in both brothers and stature. But none of the other chapters liked Drake either.
An artist with an air brush, Johnny became well known as a custom bike painter with many of his creations being featured in major biker magazines, often on the cover. He felt he had everything he wanted out of life.
Then he met Rebecca Spade.
