The Highway 61 Motorcycle Club is an

outlaw motorcycle club An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of Cruiser (motorcycle), cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and chopper (motorcycle), choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate fre ...

based in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and also operating in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Committee on Gangs report of 1981 (known as the Comber Report) said they were one of the two largest of the 20 outlaw motorcycle gangs in New Zealand. In the 1990s they were the largest in the country. They were still the largest in 2010, even though their membership numbers had declined. As of 2019 they were considered one of the ten main gangs (including motorcycle gangs and ethnically based gangs) in the country. Their membership is largely people of Māori and Pacific Island ethnicities. Their colours are black and gold. Highwaymen NZ

History

The Highway 61 mc was formed in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1967 or 1968, and have since expanded across New Zealand and

. The Highway 61 patch consists of a skeleton holding onto ape hangers (handlebars) with the road, or highway, seen below the skull. In 1997, Highway 61 members were convicted of murdering a member of the

New Zealand Nomads The Nomads are a large organised Maori criminal gang based in Wellington, New Zealand. History The Nomads were originally members of the Black Power, known as the "Black Power Nomads", before a large portion of the gang split and formed their ...

. In 1993, Highway 61 members were convicted of theft, receiving cars valued at nearly $1,000,000. Senior ex-member Malcolm Rewa was convicted in 1998 of multiple charges of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

, and later convicted of murder, and is serving a life

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

sentence. In 2003, club president Kevin Weavers was accidentally killed by ex highway 61 member Kelly Robertson, which weakened and caused a rift within the gang. At the 1979 Nelson Mardi Gras event the

Lost Breed The Lost Breed Motorcycle Club was an outlaw motorcycle club in Nelson, New Zealand, formed in 1976. From that time on and up until their dissolution, they were essentially the only gang in the town and repelled attempts by other gangs (including ...

clashed with members of Highway 61 from Wellington. 4 were injured and 21 Lost Breed members and associates were arrested. They expanded into Australia in the 1980s, later setting up a chapter in Brisbane in 1998

References

Sources

* {{OutlawMotorcycleGroups Outlaw motorcycle clubs Gangs in Australia Gangs in New Zealand Motorcycle clubs in Australia Motorcycle clubs in New Zealand 1967 establishments in New Zealand

History

See also

References

Sources