BMW Biker Scum From Hell
A Monday Morning Ride That Never Ended
Back in 1987, life was a little different.
There were no smartphones. No GPS. No Facebook groups. No internet forums.
If you wanted to go riding, you called your friends, met at the dealership, and pointed your motorcycles toward the horizon.
At the time, a group of us from the Santa Cruz BMW motorcycle community spent as much time riding together as we could. We were young, had more enthusiasm than money, and measured our weeks by the miles we put on our BMWs.
One Monday morning, four friends headed south on California Highway 1 toward Big Sur.
The riders were:
- Chris Canterbury on a BMW R75/5
- Bill Plam on a BMW R100RS
- Bob Grauer on a BMW R100S
- Steve Meyer on a BMW R100
The ride itself was nothing unusual for us. Beautiful roads, good friends, and BMW motorcycles doing what they were built to do.
The destination was breakfast.
Somewhere in Big Sur, sitting around a table with breakfast and a beer, the conversation turned to the image of BMW riders.
Back then BMW owners often had a reputation for being serious, conservative, and maybe a little too proper.
We found that pretty funny.
By the end of breakfast, somebody grabbed a paper plate and started sketching.
The drawing was a skull combined with a BMW boxer engine. The phrase "BMW Biker Scum From Hell" followed shortly after.
Everyone laughed.
The paper plate was passed around.
Another round of beer may have been involved.
What none of us knew at the time was that a simple joke among friends would still be around nearly forty years later.
Soon patches were made.
The patches found their way onto jackets, toolboxes, luggage, and workshop walls.
Motorcycles came and went.
People moved.
Life happened.
But somehow BMW Biker Scum From Hell survived.
Today a few of us still have the original patches.
Some are faded.
Some are worn.
Just like the motorcycles and the people who wore them.
Looking back, BMW Biker Scum From Hell was never a club.
It was never a business.
It was never about rules.
It was about friendship.
It was about motorcycles.
It was about taking the long road home.
It was about the people you meet and the stories you collect along the way.
The patch was just a reminder.
Nearly forty years later, when I look at the old photographs, the original patch, and the miles that followed, I'm reminded that some of the best things in life happen completely by accident.
Four friends.
Four BMW motorcycles.
A ride to Big Sur.
A sketch on a paper plate.
Not bad for a Monday morning ride.
— Chris Canterbury
Founder, Boxer Metal
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