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HISTORY OF WOMEN AND MOTORCYCLES
By Elizabeth West
The motorcycle didn't spring full-blown into this world. Rather,
it evolved from the earlier bicycle. Women loved bicycles for the
mobility and freedom they allowed. In fact, Susan B. Anthonysaid, "The
bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else
in the world."
In the 1880s, bicycles were a huge fad. Then, in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler
made one that had an engine. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a bicycle,
because it had four wheels instead of two. Two were safety wheels. This
bike went a magnificent and stately 12 miles per hour.
An idea was born, and soon other motorized bicycles were invented.
Perhaps the first true motorcycle was a charcoal fired two -wheeler
made in 1869 by Sylvester Roper of Massachusetts.
Within two decades, motorcycles were being mass-produced. The first
such bike was the Orient-Aster, which was made by the Metz Company of
Waltham, Massachusetts. This state clearly loved its bikes. Another
early cycle was the beloved Indian, made by the Hendee Manufacturing
Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Later, the company changed its
name to Indian Motorcycles.)
In 1902, Harley Davidson sold its first three motorcycles, and soon
there were dozens of manufacturers. They had names like Marvel,
Exelsior, and Henderson. The Depression killed off all but Indian and
Harley, and soon only Harley remained.
Women enjoyed the motorcycles as much as they had enjoyed bikes. After
all, they were economical and fun. They also didn't have the stigma
that they acquired later. Early riders were seen as adventuresome, not
as outlaws.
In 1915, Indian motorcycles offered front and rear shocks. Since these
cushioned the ride, people began to consider long-distance travel as a
real option. That year, a mother-daughter team, Avis and Effie
Hotchkiss, rode from New York to San Franciso. They didn't take the
direct route. Instead, they meandered about, covering 5,000 miles.
The next year, two society women in their 20s, sisters Adeline and
Augusta Van Buren bought a pair of Indian Powerplus Bikes. They were
the first people ever to climb up and down Pike's Peak. They, too,
completed a transcontinental ride. Their 3,300-mile trip took almost
two months, and they had to contend not only with many unpaved roads,
but also with social mores. Once they were arrested for publicly
wearing trousers.
In the 1920s, Harley published a magazine called The Enthusiast. It
sponsored Vivian Wales on a 5000 mile trip to a Harley factory. Another
early motorcycle heroine was Bessie Stringfield, a.k.a. the Motorcycle
Queen of Miami . She made 8 solo-cross country trips and was a
motorcycle dispatch rider.
Bessie had started out with two strikes against her: she was a woman
and she was African-American. At first, she couldn't even get a
motorcycle license in Miami, Florida. However, a police officer
interceded in her behalf.
Motorcycles were also used in wartime, which gave them a lot of public
exposure. About 20,000 Harleys were used during the WWI. They were
ridden by couriers, soldiers, and others.
As motorcycle popularity grew, it was only natural that some people
became highly skilled in its use. They showed off these skills in
motordromes, which had been around since the turn of the century but
grew in popularity during the 1930s. A motordrome often advertised
itself as "A Wall of Death."
Essentially, it was a giant barrel with a platform on top for viewers.
They could look down on motorcyclists, who sped around the inside of
the walls, held in place by centrifugal force. One of these early
daredevils was Margaret Gast, who billed herself as "The Mile a Minute
Gal." She was not the only woman daredevil. May Williams and Jean Perry
also performed on the walls.
By 1940, the United States had its first women's motorcyle club, The
Motormaids. Today, there are scores of such clubs. Anyone who wants
more information about the history of women and motorcycles may want to
check out the book Hear Me Roar: Women, Motorcycles, and the Rapture of
the Road. I haven't read it, but I've read several descriptions of it
and seen the table of contents. It looks like fun.
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Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:02 pm
"jim@..." <jim@...>
jimmmr1
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