Out in Bad Standings: Inside the Bandidos Motorcycle Club--The Making of a Worldwide Dynasty

I am a little more than halfway through the book, so this will be an intermediate review. As a biker chick, I know Bandidos and I understand from knowing them that not all are hardened criminals and meth heads. However, they take the oath and sew on that patch, knowing full well that the organization is a criminal organization. No one can be a hang around and later a probate without knowing the truth. Probably one of the smartest things Bandidos have done is to require that their members have a legitimate source of income. That blunts some suspicion. Some Bandidos are the nicest people you would ever want to meet and some you would never want to meet. Some are very intelligent and some are real knuckle draggers. But they all know what type of organization they belong to. Recently, in an article regarding the current prosecution of the Bandido leadership, it was revealed that the Presidente, Pike, instructed his second in command, Portillo, to raise dues to help pay for legal fees for those who are “doing things” that other members were not willing to do – such as meth production and distribution, motorcycle theft, murder for hire, gun running and many other of their criminal activities and to pay for the “war” with the encroaching Cossacks. Why would there be a war in the first place if the meth market and other criminal economies of the Bandidos were not being threatened by the Cossacks? This book has an undertone of victimization about how persecuted Bandidos are by law enforcement and the courts. It seems to want to make you think that courts and law enforcement have it all wrong – they are just a bunch of good time, good old boy riders who are a little wilder and freer than the rest of us. Well, I would agree with the term “freer.” Freer from normal moral and societal restraints that the rest of us follow, even though the restraints suck and we might chafe under them. This author describes an almost classic case of a sociopath, from an overly energetic, bored boy, to conduct disorder in his teens on to outright criminal behavior as an adult and joining with a criminal organization that might require him to steal, lie, murder, harm others. He writes of his crimes with no indication of the slightest regret for the pain he caused others. But, it does describe Bandido life and culture well. The rigid loyalty, how they recruit, the rigid rules, how they deal with outsiders . . . that is all pretty true to life, as are the myriad of personal relationship problems that occur as a direct result of the life and personality types who flock to the club. The tragedy is that many of them do not see the end until it is upon them, whether that be prison or death. Winterhalder, at least at the halfway point, does not recognize the great tragedy his life was and may still be. Almost a genius, clearly hardworking at whatever he does, legal or illegal, and apparently personable, he wasted a significant part of his life being a biker thug. I think he could have been anything. If anything, I think this book serves as a warning and example to others.

You have to be truly motivated to get through this book. Like others, I expected there to be some sort of point to the book and that there would be story construction, and editing, and a reasonable grasp of the English language by the author, and that I would be engaged and rip through it.Instead, I just kept telling myself "I am going to get through this thing if it kills me! Something must happen somewhere, maybe toward the end."Well, nothing happens, but I do have to admit that the end was a high point so I could put the thing down!That aside, there were some positive aspects to the book: 1) there are photos throughout and that certainly adds an element of richness. 2) you could make an argument that the extreme detail and resulting monotony makes for a more realistic look at what it's like to be in a 1% club. Every day is not about shooting it out with the feds or terrorizing central California towns.And, 3) if you read between the lines, you get an idea of what makes a good club member. Ed Winterhalder was about the most social person I have ever heard of, and the amount of time he spent on club business was impressive, given that on the other side of his life, he was amazingly industrious. That is a sacrifice that very few people are prepared to make.But there must be a less excruciating way to find out about the mundane details of club life. I think next time I want to find out such things, I will just waltz into one the local chapters' clubhouses and get beaten up. Then at least I will have learned something quickly, and probably with less pain.

I read the book and enjoyed it till the last 1/4 of reading. I was a member and enjoyed hearing about some of my old brothers. The (how great I'am) did get to me to. And the BS about the president wants me gone even if someone was to kill him. This was the first book of this nature I have read but I will be reading others The brotherhood is my next one. I contacted one of my old brothers and ask him if he had read it he said no. I told him he should till I got 3/4 of the way through it. I called him back and advised against it. There are so many of the older members who could of done a better job on this type of book. To bad I didn't keep notes when I was a member. But I was having way to much fun. I was a member when Don Chambers was president Ed is just lucky Don is not here anymore. Billy

The Good: This book provides insight into the Bandidos MC and the political infighting in their national chapter. It is also informative on support clubs and chapter creation and life in an outlaw mc. The Bad: It goes on and on and on over tedious and insignificant events in the author's life. By the last third of the book I was speed reading paragraphs because I just wanted the book to end. The Ugly: According to the author, everything he does is the best: he is the best motorcycle thief, he is the best builder, he is the best paralegal, etc. And, hardly anything that went wrong in the Bandido national chapter politics was his fault (according to him). I get the feeling from reading the book that there is a whole another story out there about the author's Bandido politics that tell an exact opposite story. Summary: I enjoyed the book but it does not move fast like Junior Ereckson's book about his life in the Mongols MC or David Spurgeon's book about his life in the Outlaws MC.

Descent book , left alot of key people out of the true event timeline that I know were around..

Not a bad book and quite well written. I'm sure the Bandidos will be quite surprised to hear how Mr Winterhalder was single handedly responsible for the rise and globalisation of the club but apart from the freestyle egotism not a bad read.

Very long winded version of accounts without an awful lot happening but gives an insight into the lifestyle of the outlaw biker.

good read but could have been put in one book instead of spread over two

Es el primer libro que puntúo tan bajo, y llevo puntuados unos cuantos. Sinceramente, no hay por dónde cogerlo. Para colmo, lo dividen en dos partes. He comprado, y leído, la primera parte, y, sinceramente, me niego a pagar por la segunda. Qué desastre de libro. Aburrido no: aburridísimo.

This book is the worst biker fluff in history