Dr Jarrod Gilbert Sociologist
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The Epitaph Riders are no more

1/11/2015

80 Comments

 
At one time the Epitaph Riders were perhaps the staunchest and most respected outlaw club in New Zealand, but they are no more. Last week their colours were burned and the club closed down. Here is the story of their early history. I wrote it for PATCHED as part of their remarkable war with the Devils Henchmen. RIFP.
___________________

The Epitaph Riders was formed in 1969 by a bunch of friends in a large house on Geraldine Street in Christchurch. Although there was a nominal president, Ross Jennings, initially there were few, if any, rules and no club structure. Like other outlaw motorcycle clubs in the South Island around this time (such as the Antarctic Angels of Invercargill and the Highwaymen of Timaru), and before they had significant contact with the more mature scene in the North Island, the Epitaph Riders took their cues largely from popular media. A member of the Riders recalled:

         That book Hell’s Angels that Hunter Thompson I think wrote – that was out and we just – it all just sort of happened             and we were all running around with this stuff [patches] on our back and um that’s how it started . . . We didn’t [know         what we were doing] we were just a bunch of young guys, mate, that just hung around. We’re all fuckin’ 17, 18, the              oldest would have been 21 probably. And it’s just the way it happened. We all used to meet on Friday nights and just          go drink piss – it just started from there . . . Drink piss and fuck women. There was nothing else in life – riding bikes.

By 1973, however, the Epitaph Riders had matured significantly. The group was now comprised of young men from working-class backgrounds aged in their late teens to mid-twenties, and boasted some 22 patched members, including an executive consisting of a president, two vice presidents and a sergeant at arms. By this time, rules were also in place to ensure the club was a significant part of its members’ lives.
            The increasing commitment to the club is reflected in a decision made in August 1973 making it compulsory for members to attend weekly meetings and a Sunday run as well as any parties the group decided to have. A rented flat was used as a clubhouse and weekly fees of two dollars were collected along with an additional one-dollar levy for beer on the Sunday rides. Fees were used for club expenses including subsidising major runs, helping members in trouble, and paying fines incurred during group activities. The communal behaviours of the group are, in substantial measure, a reflection of the wider social environment of the time. The club’s colours were also held in significant esteem. While colours were only compulsorily worn on runs, it was against club rules to deny being a member of the club. In the mid-1970s, one member even rode to teachers’ training college on his bike wearing his patch. It would be impossible to conceive of this occurring now without a public uproar, reflecting a dramatic change in attitudes toward such groups.
            Although the Epitaph Riders’ motorcycles were kept meticulously clean, members had adopted the ‘ridgies’ style, that was by this time standard within the gang scene. ‘Ridgies’ (derived from ‘originals’) is the set of original clothing a member was wearing when he was initiated into the gang and given his colours. These clothes were regarded as sacred and never washed so they soon became dirty and tatty. The custom may have come about initially as an inevitable outcome of members working on their machines and travelling and sleeping rough while on runs. It soon, however, became the desired look – a form of gang uniform. Yet ridgies were also more than a uniform. Grease from vehicle breakdowns, dirt from motorcycle trips around New Zealand, blood from fights and fluids from sexual encounters all mixed together to become part of a subcultural, or countercultural, style imbibed with symbolic meaning. As one Mongrel Mob member put it: ‘To wash them would be to wipe away the memory of our conquests and history.’ When ridgies fell apart, they were either patched up or a similar item of clothing was sewn underneath.
            As they were for all gangs, the clothes undoubtedly represented a visible expression of the Epitaph Riders’ antisocial stance, and many of the members had convictions for petty offences. In what is now a common – and important – refrain, the police were perceived as an enemy and many of the club’s members believed they were unfairly targeted and victimised. Fighting was a significant activity that demonstrated machismo as well as instilling group loyalty that the club actively fostered. With an ‘all for one, and one for all’ philosophy, if any member got into a fight, regardless of fault, other members were required to back him up. This fighting ethos was central to enhancing the group’s reputation and ensuring that people thought twice about confronting its members. In Christchurch, the Riders engaged in many conflicts with other fledgling gangs, and particularly budding outlaw clubs. Like other Biker Federation clubs, the Epitaph Riders had determined that they would be the only outlaw club in their city. In the early 1970s, at least three other groups – the Apostles, the Heaven’s Outcasts, and the Highwaymen – were beaten or intimidated by the Riders and had their colours taken. Vanquished, these groups disappeared and the Riders maintained a firm grip on Christchurch. By 1973, the Epitaph Riders were a well-established outlaw motorcycle club, and with their frequent travels around the country it is widely acknowledged by those in the scene at the time that they held a reputation as among the country’s staunchest, and consequently one of the most respected, groups within the biker – and indeed the entire gang – community. In biker parlance, they were class.

[References for the above can be found in PATCHED - likewise the story of their dramatic war with the Devils Henchmen].
80 Comments
Phyl
1/11/2015 06:52:06 pm

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bruce hobbs
1/11/2015 10:15:10 pm

sweet as I was riding then too . few times went on runs ...... good times ..

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Sarah link
25/7/2023 12:34:55 pm

Fun! Didn't they Rape girls. ?
What became of the Stephen William Alexander HOLLISS? Of 1968_1970.
And the NZ Papers Past article where he comments in Court that he's the Epitaph Riders President? 1966_1976

Ian Dalziel
2/11/2015 06:12:21 am

The intro needs a wee fix:
"At one time the Epitaph Riders were perhaps the stanchest..."

'staunchest' surely...

send in the epitaph writers or will it just be 'epithets' from here on in...
:- )

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Jarrod
2/11/2015 09:24:39 am

Ha! Thanks for that. Fixed!

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grant philpot
20/10/2016 02:20:15 pm

i agree ,pullcrap commentation epitaph are not staunch they are what is known to be how it is a tough life , hard life shichs now dont even get near what things did used to be and im proud to know that
some one who once knew epitaph a long time ago

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Steve
29/3/2024 05:23:00 pm

yes mate was sweet as i new a few of these guys, like all guys of our age back then it was just a time in history when a few guys bent the rules, was the Vietnam era and life and times were changing a bit and everyday was a ball looking back.

Steve
12/4/2024 08:03:05 pm

correct mate and we loved it

Chch born
2/11/2015 07:25:25 am

Have been told my father who passed away was a member. Is there any members reading this that may know...

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John
2/11/2015 03:03:06 pm

What was his name,it won't be hard to find out

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John warwood
21/9/2022 07:18:09 pm

My brother

missbehaviour
3/11/2015 01:15:55 am

tell me his name and i will ask my partner who waz a long time member and friend formost of the last 40 yrs

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Linda voc
1/2/2016 01:08:50 pm

Who was u dad I tell you

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Pete
2/11/2015 11:13:48 am

I was looking forward to an article re why they closed. But to my disappointment here was only something from your book.

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Jarrod
2/11/2015 01:18:32 pm

I'm sure you'll find the story on here sooner rather than later. But that's the story for now. Thanks for your interest. Best regards, Jarrod.

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Pete
15/6/2019 08:48:56 pm

Yep Jarrod, you were correct. And a sad story it is, but very familiar.

Anthony White link
4/7/2023 01:58:45 am

İ was a Devil's Henchmen before the name of our gang was given We were sitting around the house on Hillsborough Drive one day when one of the guys said, what about the Devil's Henchmen? And we all agreed. İ was beaten up by 6 Epitaph Riders when they bust into the house we were staying in during a party we were having one night. You could here the bikes approaching, the bark of the bates exhausts. Everyone jumped the fence, except me. İ went into one of the bedrooms,drunk as a skunk, and lay down in the bed. The Riders smashed open the front door, İ got up and opened the bedroom door and got punched in the face, and went back and lay on the bed. İ renner 6 Riders came back in dragged me off the bed and began to kick, punch, hit me with a stole and stick, yep, i sobered up quickly. İ lay still as they continued the beating, and then they left the room. İ rolled under the bed, a couple of them came back in, didn't see me, then they all climbed in their bikes and blasted off down the road. My body and head were covered in lumps but still managed to go to the double feature at the Sunday movies the next night. Our leader got stabbed and died not long after that İ deserve my patch, we didn't have any at the time. İ joined the Army 2 years later, at that time being a soldier was looked down on in NZ, that's why I joined.

Pushead link
5/1/2024 04:34:25 am

It’s probably better left alone and remember the club as it was in the glory days, I was told and it just bummed me out. I was 11 when I seen them in Kers rd , they where gods on bikes to me.

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Mrmc
24/10/2024 11:53:00 pm

@ Anthony white. What year was that? My father died with a DHMCpatch on his back in the 80s they were waring more with HW61 at that time.

Gutter link
2/11/2015 04:27:01 pm

Hi there were can I purchase a copy? keen to read it

Cheers
G
RMF

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Jarrod
2/11/2015 06:09:05 pm

Books store either have it on the shelf or will order it in for you. Online, this is a pretty good option
http://www.amazon.com/Patched-The-History-Gangs-Zealand/dp/1869407296
Thanks for your interest and I hope you enjoy it.
Best regards, Jarrod

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Brian Longley
2/11/2015 05:41:57 pm

Good bunch of blokes back in the early 80's. A few of the boys use to work for me. I was always made welcome at the club house in Lincoln Road. Long live the good memories. Cheers

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grant philpot
20/10/2016 02:22:40 pm

all hail lincoln green

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Sarah Abercrombie link
17/7/2023 05:49:37 pm

Any relation to Vic Longley at Palmerston North NZ. Apparently I had a cousin, that had been a Member of Epitaph Riders during the 1960'S_1970's ?

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Linda
2/11/2015 09:29:28 pm

I was the girlfriend, and then wife of an Epitaph Rider in the seventies. They were exciting times. The mass arrest for unlawful assembly at Kerrs Road. The Sunday runs were the highlight of the week. Drinking at the Ferrymead tavern.

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grant philpot
20/10/2016 02:26:06 pm

THEY NEVER FORGOT KERRS ROAD I FEEL I ONLY HEARD ABOUT IT BUT THEY ARE WHY BANDIDOS FOUGHT THE PIGS IN OZZIE

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Sarah link
25/7/2023 12:53:39 pm

Anthony White!?.
My daughter married a White, and I met a Devils Henchman Cohort, she claims to be the former girlfriend of one of their presidents? Lives in very Rural Western Australia.
The devils henchman boyfriend beat her up, she says.
Anyway, I don't get involved in all this bikie banter, Violence or abuse of people.
I was told in 1980, my cousin is or was one of them Epitaph Riders MC.
I'm interested to find out whom my mother's; sisters son was?
Where did he go after 1978.
He was in Sydney NSW for some time.
I always, wondered if those men, Epitaph Riders were involved with the Bandidos, Commanchero's . I see Epitaph Riders MC has become defunct, just as Former Magistrate Elizabeth Hamilton retired her seat in the little country community I once lived in.
I've since met Australian based relatives of that Epitaph Riders MC cousin.
But remarkably I've never met that Cousin Stephen Holliss, formerly of CHCH NZ.
But I have met his sister.
So what became of him?

Maxine
23/7/2017 10:11:34 pm

Hi Linda
Did you live in Hoon Hay, I use to babysit for someone that was a Epitaph Raider, her name was Linda, can't remember her husband's name?

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charlies ghost
2/11/2015 10:29:13 pm

fortifications going up at the clubhouse ??

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K
3/11/2015 12:11:49 pm

I was out with them one Friday night in 1977 or 1978 and called in to the Loin Tavern in Addington after a few drinks in the ground floor bar at Noah's. When Bubbles started a full on brawl in the public bar with some guy over a hat. lol Totalled the public and lounge bars moved into the car park then onto the road, everyone was going for it. Mike Mc had a full leg in plaster but it didn't stop him, and I got to mind is bike lol. Yes I agree Linda it was a very exciting time.

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Big G link
3/11/2015 01:51:59 pm

another great read, well done. As a Jap bike rider in the day "we" all knew we could be in the shit if "we" had a slow bike or were just out numbered.

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Dan T
29/12/2015 11:18:21 am

Patched over to the Head Hunters?

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Alan
1/6/2016 07:06:24 pm

So, there was no White Power influence. Teachers in training and future TV producers? Different times. 'Satan's Slaves' did not have bikes in sight, but would buy takeaways near The Press in the Square. I once raced a Kawasaki on my Solex along Colombo.

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GRANT PHILPOT
20/10/2016 02:28:24 pm

WHAT THERE WAS IS JUST ROCK MACHINE TRYING TO BUILD IN A HOLE OF THEIR OWN AND WONT SURVIVE

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DM
6/5/2017 06:42:25 pm

Another correction required. Highwaymen should read Hiwaymen.

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Hudson Easton link
11/5/2017 12:57:05 am

Very joyful post. I just stumble upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. Thanks for such post and please keep it up.

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Troy Cruz link
7/7/2017 02:15:22 am

I just like the valuable information you provide to your articles. I will bookmark your blog and take a look at again right here frequently.

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linda cox link
15/12/2017 02:19:17 am

the riders were names the bears before they re named them selves,, john ward was a founder ,, of then lol shit thats a few years ago to,, rip to charlie , mike , bear,,, and many more ,,,

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Speed link
13/4/2020 09:28:44 pm

John warwood, I think you find, not john ward, don't know if I've spelt it correctly ,know quite a few from my days in the 70,s and 80,s in Christchurch

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BLU
7/2/2018 04:53:57 pm

IT WAS THE GOOD OLD DAYS

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john kish link
29/3/2018 06:49:31 pm

yeah, remember.they good old days

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Brett
7/7/2018 08:39:42 pm

back in the late 70s a phalanx of eps on the way to the british in lyttelton escoted me on my crashed and bent ajs from the city to almost home. anybody out there remember that? i'd still like to say thanks

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michael francis edens
9/10/2018 10:25:44 pm

the heavens outcasts never had a patch taken the patch in the book patched is neil b's who became a ep . i was in the heavens outcasts

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Daisy
14/10/2018 08:54:12 am

I remember getting a letter from one of my mates who had moved to CHCH for a year from Canada, and he said he had met some epis and been on a run with them and had a great time. Could someone tell me what the RIFP on the patch means?

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Zane
10/7/2021 07:37:15 am

REST IN FUCKEN PEACE R.I.F.P

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Roni Rider(2003-05-06
16/3/2019 06:35:10 am

I was a prospect when the members at the time trumped up bullshit lies and made “in my eyes the last true old school member “ not to mention LIFE member hang in his colours ... y cause this member did not want p in the club in its purest form .. And I wonder y ?? 2nd longest standing club in New Zealand to full to meth nice job -G,B,L,A .,si u had no choice,, The club was my life I put the club b4 everything when I became a member A good man once told me if uve got enuff money in ur pocket for a pie and a drink ur winning... I will always remember that ,,Much love for u D.A. When he left the club died my heart was broken and I felt as tho we the “club” Had signed our own closure..yer I helped riddle it with p I thort I was doing Wht was needed aye “body” brothers till death . Yer rite brothers till meth .. I’ve got so much I want to tell as so much lies have been told and believed yet where the fuck is our Club ?? ERMC RIFP

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Speed link
13/4/2020 09:36:57 pm

P,s fucked many a club mate ,wasn't around when I was around the scene, bush mull, no hydro,no P, bit of daytura, few trips etc etc, few pill, many a good ride to governors bay pub , British hotel etc

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Kelvin. Sampson
2/5/2021 09:48:00 am

Good to hear you are still around speed I remember those days maybe we will catch up sometime

mickey lytt
30/5/2024 07:16:01 pm

ahhh the british, my home for years {upstairs} an absolute legend of a pub rifp

Bruce
31/3/2019 04:55:50 pm

In the 1970's i rode to ChCh a lot from Blenheim on a jap bike you'll be pleased to know HaHa. About a dozen of us stayed some where in ChCh with a mate. As we were getting on our bikes the next morning a car pulls up and two guys get out. One was saying something too us. i couldn't quiet hear. So innocent jap riding 17yr old walks toward them. Whoo!!!!! shot gun gets pulled up from beside his leg, gets cocked and pointed at me. Question time, who are you what are you doing blah,blah,blah. They left happy. It was weird because it never fazzed me.

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Jason
15/6/2019 08:07:37 pm

Hi, I worked with Alan Fagan, Ron Grossi and Glen Roebottom, years ago, awesome guys and a privilege to know. Cheers

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scott
26/6/2019 12:44:14 pm

i new them from 75 till the end.Who started them up from LYTTELTON were they'd drink at the Brit there Bonnies to Harleys. Sum of them ended up been barman there. It was a tight knit with them & the Seaman Union over there but thats a story of its own

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Gretchen Boyd
23/6/2020 11:51:31 pm

Trying to track down Gary, the tattoist. Would be around 70.

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TCM
9/12/2023 05:19:23 pm

I don’t know where he is but he was a great tattoo artist, he did my first two tattoos on the West Coast 27 years ago

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John (FAT BOY)
26/2/2024 09:45:25 pm

Hey there I'd like to know what Gary is doing now haven't seen him since 2010

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Jane Harper
15/2/2021 06:54:11 pm

I would like to know what happened to Dave Clark.

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Tony c
16/2/2022 09:22:31 pm

He's in Aussie for 20 years now

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SLUG
2/5/2021 03:12:21 pm

It would be interesting to know what happened to all the guys.

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Fatty
21/9/2021 02:40:31 pm

Well said Zane there were a couple of members like Gaty T only there to make money from the club not front up when trouble needed sorted but great club to be part of sad it not still going but we have memorys comrade good and bad wouldn't change a thing with that part of my life

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Deno
18/3/2022 01:08:03 am

I was there the night you got ya colours both times ,hope your well fatty

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Toni
21/12/2021 10:02:38 pm

What happened to Ross Jennings

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Kevin Chalmers
9/8/2022 10:36:00 pm

Hi I am looking to see if anyone remembers or knew Anton Eagan, I was advised he was a member of the club, we were in St Joseph’s orphanage together and we were great friends, lost contact with him when I left in 1967, found his grave in Christchurch died young

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Laura
22/8/2022 02:48:38 am

Anyone know Benny?

Rider Lincoln road

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Pushead link
5/3/2023 01:32:22 am

I was around 11 when they were in kers rd.after seeing them all going out on rides all i wanted to be was a bikie. It did come at the age of 34 ,i was lucky enough to get my colours with the best club in nz .TFFT. thanks for the inspiration John ward .

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Shakes
28/5/2023 02:53:31 pm

Hey just wondering if anyone has any photos of my uncle Geoff Aitken/Evans if yea please fb me Ad Eichmann

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Sarah
25/7/2023 02:26:23 pm

Well that's what Stephen Holliss [ knick _Name, if any? Unknown].
Did too, returned to NZ even went on the electrol Roll and Voted whilst back in NZ.
Sounds quite intrequiging that this club was created by a now well known TV producer.
In Western Australia, just having "Stephen" as a First Cousin, literally got me targeted by Dumb WA Police members.
In a small regional town.
Then the Dodgy family I married into, former Hubs brother hangs out with Mothers MC.
We had no relationship with any gangs, just lived amongst them.
So anyway "Mills", went insane with it all. ALL THOSE SKELETON'S, that fell out of Amanda's Wardrobe. LOL.
Since 2007 March 9, this very unusual dirty Tactics family and WA Police Officers used VRO ABUSE against me when I began to investigate these unusual bikies.
Well educated, famous and...respected apparently.
When My Fisrt Cousin, attended court aged 20/21 in 1970 I was in my first year at school. Aged five.

You say some of these people were school Teachers, accountant's, and a TV Producer WOW!.
This Web Page makes interesting reading.
In 1978: I was 13 years old.
At that time I didn't even know who Stephen William Alexander HOLLISS was.
Just a scruffy looking bush haired Chap in a group photo of the Holliss Family. May 1972.

Alas My My My Chris Dale Hone has some explaining to do [1982]
NZ_AU



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Barbara graham
15/9/2023 02:41:40 pm

My brother was in the Epitaph riders in the 70s
Bryan was his name in there for years. He’s pasted away now

Rip bro

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Slug
15/9/2023 03:24:43 pm

Sorry to hear.

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Steve
6/7/2024 05:03:06 pm

hey fella I knew a few of these blokes have some fun stories

John C
19/1/2024 06:16:21 pm

Enjoyed Patched, and the blog. I worked at NZR in the 80's with some of the founder Antarctic Angels. Roy Reed the original leader lived over our back fence, he waskilled in a crash in 1971. Had dealings with the Timaru Devils Henchmen, Templeton Riders and Invercargill's Damned too.
I never met any of the Epitaph Riders, but I own John Ward's '69 Bonnie according to someone who would know such things.

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Warwick
20/4/2024 02:11:37 am

Do you know who started Templeton mc by any chance?

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Jason Ching link
10/2/2024 04:45:49 pm

I want to know what happened between hells angels and the epitaph riders, and associates... wtf

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Steve
12/4/2024 07:59:18 pm

remember Al when he had that bloody fall

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Emma Cook
12/5/2024 01:46:10 am

Hi everyone how awesome to stumble across this I was searching the net for info on the Epitaph riders. My Dad is Michael Cook he's just turned 70 he was a part of the club since the beginning and I'd love to make contact with anyone who knows him, thanks Emma: [email protected]

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Ms j Harris
13/11/2024 12:18:30 pm

I love u my best friend si
always love u from Jolene you were so good to me hope u forgive me, ur so cool. Ur like my brother I never had.
Love u always my sidos
4 my best friend Epitaph all day every day every dam day !

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Johnny B
20/11/2024 05:01:43 pm

What a hoot, just found this site. I originally rented the Kerrs road pad & lived there with me girlfriend. After I hooked up with Howard & little jesus they came around a lot with their girlfriends to party up & drop a tab or 2. None of us were patch members at that time, that came later. I think little jesus had been one before the 2 earlier groups joined up. Bob lived with us for a while, a real scary ex Vietnam bloke, he became our sergeant at arms. I'd lost me license so sold my new triumph 650 & built a chopper in the living room. Later some fucker stole it & my girlfriend took off with a patch member I'd become close to. I left the flat after this & he took it over Kerrs road flat & it became an Epitaph pad. I eventually got patched & Howard later became president. I've been meaning to write about those wild days & the bloody Kerrs road raid for a while. When the cops shut down a big new years party there they eventually turfed in a couple of tear gas canisters. They then formed up in 2 lines down the driveway. As we fled the gas filled flat & down the driveway between them they gave some of us a good hiding, I was one of them. Still got scars today. Funny though, the arsehole cop called Tate who'd been after us for yonks got everything wrong, as the new unlawful assembly bill came into force the next day. Yep he shot his bolt to early so we all got off. The early days before the war were great as were the runs & meetings with other gangs. But the war put a damper on things. It was at time brutal, no fun sleeping with a cut down shotgun under the bed & looking over your shoulder all the time. We stuck together though, saw it through, but unfortunately a few went to prison & a couple ended up with life long injuries to contend with. It's been great over the years catching up with me old comrades. For me it was kinda like what old soldiers must have felt like when catching up at the RSA. Sadly many of my old bikie mates have passed away, no idea while I'm still hanging on?

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Slug.
20/11/2024 05:17:27 pm

Good to hear from you John.

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