The leather jackets, roaring engines and club patches can make bikers look intimidating.

But for Ballito biker Tony Agrela, life on two wheels is about brotherhood, loyalty and helping others.

Agrela has ridden motorcycles since his youth in Johannesburg, although he gave up biking for about 10 years after losing a close friend in an accident.

After moving to Ballito in 2010, the pull of the open road proved too strong and he climbed back onto a bike.

Today, Agrela is the Crusaders Motorcycle Club regional president, overseeing 16 chapters from Pietermaritzburg to Richards Bay.

For him, the club is far removed from the stereotypical image of biker gangs.

“It’s respect, loyalty and honour. If you can’t have those three things within your club, then you don’t deserve to be part of us,” he said.

That brotherhood first attracted him to the Crusaders. Members look out for each other on the road and regularly support charities.

“The idea is to defend the vulnerable,” he said.

Away from motorcycles, Agrela has spent much of his life in business. He built and ran businesses in Johannesburg before moving to Ballito, where he became involved in the restaurant industry and owned two Mama G’s restaurants, which he has since sold.

He still has business interests in Johannesburg, where his daughter helps run a restaurant and padel courts at a golf course.

Despite his business commitments, motorcycles remain an important part of the 61-year-old’s life. He owns a Harley-Davidson Breakout and a BMW GS, although he jokes that his garage would probably be full of motorcycles if he had his way.

His biggest ambition, however, is to change how bikers are perceived.

That was part of the motivation for the recent Blessing of the Helmets event at Townsend Park, inspired by a similar gathering in Fátima, Portugal. Agrela hopes the local event will grow and bring riders from different clubs together.

“I want people to look at us and say, ‘Those are good people. They do a lot of good. Don’t mess with them. Respect them.’ And that’s my mission.”