10 women who made their mark on H-D history

Today, female riders represent the fastest growing segment of the motorcycle marketplace. But it wasn’t always that way. Here we celebrate 10 pioneering women who have carved out a distinct place in the motorcycle world

1. VIVIAN BALES

Vivian Bales was born in 1909 and purchased her first Harley-Davidson® motorcycle, a single-cylinder Model B, while still a teen, later trading it in for a 45 Twin D model. In 1929, 5-foot-2, 95-pound Vivian headed off on her famous 5,000-mile, 78-day journey from Albany, Georgia, to the Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee, meeting President Herbert Hoover in Washington along the way. Vivian became the first motorcycle cover girl, appearing on The Enthusiast® in May and November 1929. She took her last ride at age 86.

2. SUSAN LANG

Susan Lang and her family owned H-D dealerships in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island, where she learned to rebuild her bike’s engine. In 1915, she made the record for the longest motorcycle trip unaccompanied by a man – with her three children in the sidecar. In 1917, Susan was recognised as the most accomplished female motorcycle mechanic in the United States.

3 & 4 : EFFIE AND AVIS HOTCHKISS

In 1915, the adventurous Effie Hotchkiss of Brooklyn, New York, decided to hop on her brand-new Harley-Davidson Silent Gray Fellow and ride across the country to San Francisco and back. Her mother, Avis, wouldn’t hear of Effie venturing onto the rugged, dangerous and largely unpaved roadways alone, so Effie rigged up a sidecar for her mother, and the two women headed off together. A nation of curious onlookers gazed in disbelief at the sight of two courageous women riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle coast to coast.

5: BESSIE STRINGFIELD

Bessie Stringfield, a petite, outspoken African American, became known as the ‘Motorcycle Queen of Miami’. She started riding as a teen in the late 1920s and went on to own 27 Harley motorcycles. Her accomplishments include completing eight solo cross-country treks, serving as a dispatch rider in the U.S. Army and inspiring the AMA Bessie Stringfield Award, which recognises individuals who have introduced motorcycling to emerging markets. Bessie was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2002.

6. DOROTHY ‘DOT’ ROBINSON

Known as the ‘First Lady of Motorcycling’, Dot Robinson covered more than 1.5 million miles on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, competing in endurance runs in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. From 1935 to 1971, Dot and her husband, Earl, ran a Harley-Davidson dealership in Detroit, and in 1941 she founded the Motor Maids with fellow enthusiast Linda Dugeau. Dot died in 1999 and is still remembered for her custom-painted Harleys, specially equipped with her signature lipstick holder.

7. LINDA DUGEAU

Linda Allen Dugeau started riding in 1932 at age 19 on a Harley- Davidson Model JD. She went on to start a campaign to reach out to women motorcyclists, which culminated in the formation of the Motor Maids of America (now Motor Maids), the first all-women motorcycle club, in 1941. Linda was a motorcycle courier (on a Harley-Davidson, of course) from 1950 to 1975, worked in a Harley-Davidson dealership and hosted motorcycle tours of Southern California before hanging up her distinctive red motorcycle jacket and scarf for good at age 72.

8. LINDA ‘JO’ GIOVANNONI

Jo Giovannoni (above left) co-founded Harley Women magazine in 1985, serving as editor and publisher until 1997. She also co-founded the Harley Women Ladies Day Ride and Party in Sturgis in 1986 and was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1996 for her support of women in motorcycling. Jo followed this with a career in motorcycle media before becoming a motorcycle accident investigator. She passed away earlier this year.

9. CRISTINE ‘CRIS’ SOMMER-SIMMONS

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member Cris Sommer-Simmons is a modern-day champion of women in motorcycling. Cris co-founded Harley Women, the first magazine dedicated to female motorcyclists, with Jo Giovannoni – along with the Harley Women Ladies Day Ride and Party in Sturgis; she completed the inaugural 2010 Motorcycle Cannonball endurance race for vintage motorcycles on her 1915 Harley- Davidson named ‘Effie’ (after Effie Hotchkiss); and was instrumental in setting up Ladies of Harley®.

10. VALERIE THOMPSON

Valerie Thompson is the world’s fastest female motorcycle racer, holding the motorcycle land speed record twice from 2006 to 2008 and again from 2009 to 2010. Valerie started drag racing in 2005 on her Harley-Davidson Fat Boy® before taking it to the next level on a turbocharged V-Rod® Destroyer.

Valerie took the AMA World Land Speed record at Bonneville at 145.647mph on a 120-inch Harley-Davidson Panhead in 2006 and hit 328.467mph in the BUB 7 motorcycle streamliner in 2018.

---

Tags: