Hamsters Logo on Fuel Tank
In the Andes, guinea pigs have a festival devoted to them, which includes contests for the biggest, fastest and best-dressed furry friend. A Hamster fest has yet to be founded, unless you’re thinking of the motorcycle group?!
The Hamsters’ Motorcycle Club (HMC) is an elite and somewhat secret group of motorcycle riders. Charter members were Arlen Ness, Dave Perewitz, Donnie Smith, Ed Kerr, Jim Leahy, Barry Cooney and Steve Allington. A who’s who of the motorcycle industry! It began in 1978 at Daytona Bike Week. As the story goes Jim “Jimmy” Leahy and others were in the Mystic Sea Hotel. They were taking a nap and when they woke up no one was around. No money, no food and peeved about being ditched Jimmy started calling them Hamsters. He drew pictures of Hamsters on a bunch of paper plates and wrote Hamsters M/C on each of them. Before placing them on doors he personalized the names of the charter members. The idea was it would aggravate his posse, but instead they all laughed about it and the name stuck. Jimmy went and had black shirts with white letters made up that said Hamsters M/C. Later the MC was dropped and they call themselves enthusiasts.
The rodent stuck as the mascot which graces bright yellow t-shirts. The club is selective about new members, but it includes blue collar workers to doctors. You don’t just join the club. You must ride with the group 6-7 years and then you’ll receive an invitation to join. There are now 240 members with chapters as far away as Italy, England and Japan. These days the Hamsters are about as opposite you can get from the outlaw bad guy clubs.
It takes three things to become a Hamsters member:
- Owning a custom bike
- Riding a custom bike to South Dakota’s Sturgis rally with the group, at least two years in a row
- Receiving an invitation to join by another member
The Hamsters have ridden to Sturgis for 25 consecutive years and never followed the same route. The Spearfish Holiday Inn has served as the Hamsters’ headquarters for several years although approximately 20+ Hamsters purchased townhouses behind the hotel known as Hamster Hill Lane. The annual dues are $100 and Hamsters who don’t attend at least one function each year are voted out. Some years there are no new members allowed into the club. Some years there are as many as seven. The average is two.
The Hamsters are famous for a lot things, but two notable items I wanted to bring to your attention is the Hulett Ham-n-Jam in the land of no overpasses (Wyoming on the way to Devil’s Tower) and their generosity and major fundraising for charitable functions. Many of the Hamsters are world-renowned motorcycle and motorcycle parts builders who donate items to be auctioned off at charity events. The group’s generosity and ability to raise funds/donations is staggering.
I would be negligent if I didn’t also mention the high profile and weird coincidence of Bruce Rossmeyer (Daytona H-D) and Clifton “Click” Baldwin (Carolina H-D). Both Harley-Davidson dealer owners, both on the way to the Sturgis Rally riding from dealer meetings, both members of the Hamsters Motorcycle Club/Group, both in deadly motorcycle accidents (Wyoming and Montana respectively) while passing a vehicle turning left on a two lane country highway. Both passed away one year apart, neither were wearing helmets and both accidents were reportedly misjudgments. It’s truly sad and a tremendous loss for the communities and families.
I’m reminded of the prophetic Marvin Gaye song “Brother, brother, brother…there’s far too many of you dying…” Let’s hope for better days ahead…
Photo of courtesy of Hamsters.
What an informative read! I had no idea of this. Great post.
Sounds like a pretty cool group. Can anyone answer a legit question I have? Why are these clubs dropping the MC? If they started with MC, why are they dropping it? I would just like to know and I’m not judging anyone…… call yourself a club, enthusiast, RC….. whatever you want. Why drop the MC?
Watching TravelHD today and there’s a Sturgis marathon on that featured the Hamsters on it, so I found this blog while googling them. Very cool!
As far as not using MC, that’s a Hells Angels thing (or any organized patched MC, I gather). It’s safer to use language that won’t piss them off. My husband and friends have toyed with starting an MC and they were warned by patched club friends that it’s not a good idea to use MC unless they want to answer to HA and/or their affiliates.
Better to be safe than sorry!
[…] Florida’s natural beauty just wasn’t in the cards. I did have a chance to do a drive-by at Bruce Rossmeyer’s old H-D dealer to scavenge for yet another unique black […]
[…] by the Sky Ranch for Boys and the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum. And finally were the Hamsters MC, who helped raise more than $257,000 for therapies and services at the Rapid City Children’s […]
Some of their members seem to do good charity work. However after watching a special about them one thing appears to stand out. All the members in this special were white, extremely wealthy and childish, I was waiting to see the secret club handshake. Every male in the club had to own a custom 50K+ motorcycle and the wives had to be bleach blonde and have no less than a DD set of implants. It was almost like watching the republican national convention on two wheels!!!
having rode with the Hamsters in their early days, I can attest to the picture of them that you are trying to draw couldn’t be more off base. My friend’s (wives of members) had dark hair and no DD’s there. They have hearts as large as their bank accounts and give generously. They always upheld the clean legal image. It is not a sin to be wealthy. Some of them have worked very hard to get there. They are a talented group of men and their families.
You sound like a sad little person. You must expect the world to be handed to you on a silver plater. Some people work hard for what they have and enjoy themselves with the money they’ve earned. As far as everyone being WHITE. Just reading that makes you sound like a racist to me.
where do i get a Hamsters support shirt?
These guys are actually really awesome, charitable guys. I have worked with them the past 3 years in the Black Hills of So Dak. They are very sweet and are not all white and childish, but like many bikers are wealthy. They work hard to be able to come to So Dak and have fun. They are polite and respectful and the best group to work with as far as the Sturgis Rally goes.
Please correct the sperling of Ed “Carr’s” name. It is Ed KERR. And for the record, after reading one of the “sour grape” posts… I’m only a “c-cup.”
Yes, please correct “spelling” of sperling… Before someone has something nasty to say… Thanks.
There are indeed wealthy members in this club. It’s very exclusive to be invited to join. It’s not just a bunch of guys with money to spend on custom bikes that get memberships. There are many members who have made life-long contributions to the motorcycle world. My father is a long-time member. He doesn’t even own a bike anymore due to his failing health. My dad was the best of the best custom bike painter/airbrush/pin stripping artist of his time. He was invited to join 25 years ago and has been an active member ever since. He’s not made of money and is the most honorable man I have ever met. My dad has painted custom bikes for superstars such as Clint Black, Asleep at the Wheel, Vince Gill, Herb Keller(CEO Southwest Airlines), Elvis Presley Estate on the commemorative Harley Davidson bike, Arlen Ness….and too many others to even mention. Before you judge the group, get the facts straight and not just an opinion because you cannot get in!
My husband and I just got back from Spearfish Holiday Inn and the Hamsters had just come in. Very nice people, respectful and we were wondering how we could join. We rode out on our Harley 2014 Ultra with a group of 8 bikes with people who were not really into the camaraderie of group riding. Indeed, not even wanting to go to Sturgis! But, somehow one of the guys with my husband talked them into it. Not really a great experience but we both love to ride and always looking for like minded people who are far from a Hog dealer group but with corporate or business backgrounds and a penchant for intelligent conversation coupled with a love of adventure and long distance rides. Would love to get more info or a possibility to join. We are not custom bike builders but bring so much enthusiasm and personality into a group! other things woufoeingUsthe
[…] of any notoriety in the motorcycle business. He belongs to a select group of riders called the Hamsters – originally co-founded by the grandfather of custom bike building, Arlen Ness. There are now […]