The second book by American author, entrepreneur, musician, and former Bandidos biker Edward Winterhalder, The Assimilation chronicles Quebec’s bloody biker wars of the 1990s. However, the book is less about the carnage – of  which there was a lot: 160 dead, scores more injured, arson aplenty – than about the frequent mergers and acquisitions of motorcycle clubs and the determination of one man to help the Bandidos “patch over” the Rock Machine.

In the end, contrary to the book’s subtitle, it was the police and politicians who managed to stop the flow of blood, thanks in large part to new anti-gang legislation and Project Amigo, a 15-month investigation that culminated in a series of co-ordinated raids on the Bandidos (formerly known as Rock Machine) in June 2002. Hells Angels had the authorities to thank for inheriting a monopoly in the outlaw biker world, the world of the “1%ers” (as opposed to the 99% of bikers who are law-abiding).

Winterhalder is a 1%er, but in a different way. Unlike most of his biking brethren, he’s managed, after 30 years in and around outlaw bikers, to avoid death, life-changing violence, drug addiction, and major prison time. Though he – with the help of co-writer Wil De Clercq – comes off as engaging, witty, and conversational, he is also self-serving, with what appears to be either a selective memory or an atypical sense of discretion. When it comes to the incompetence of cops, media, and Canadian immigration officials, the author is detailed in his accounts and generous with derisive commentary, but when it comes to the details of biker party life, he says only that he “never claimed to be a saint.”

Responding to claims that bikers are involved in everything from drugs and prostitution to money-laundering and murder, the author says the Bandidos were different, and puts all criticism down to media sensationalism. Though they may be 1%ers, outlaw bikers have bylaws and websites, do merchandising and public relations, and need to maintain member lists and make travel arrangements for regional, national, and international meetings, just like the “normal” world they claim to reject – an irony Winterhalder never remarks upon.