HARLEY WOMEN

As the decades progressed, individual women would stand out as great enthusiasts. Vivian Bales of Albany, Ga., drew attention for her 5,000-mile round trip journey from her home through the upper Midwest and back, including a visit to the Harley-Davidson factory on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wis. Bales would appear on two different covers of The Enthusiast, and was later dubbed "The Enthusiast Girl." Dorothy "Dot" Robinson, wife of dealer Earl Robinson, competed in endurance races through the Depression alongside men. Among Robinson's accomplishments were a 1940 victory in the punishing Jack Pine Enduro in Michigan and several high-placing finishes in other years.

The 1930s gave way to the founding of the Motor Maids, the world's first women's motorcycle club. Founded by Wellesley College graduate Linda Dugeau, the Motor Maids have been a club home to Dot Robinson and countless others into the present day. More modern times have witnessed the creation of the clubs Ladies of Harley, Women in the Wind, as well as Women on Wheels, all of which boasted many members with local chapters across North America.

Women's stories of enjoyment of Harley-Davidson motorcycles are too numerous to recount them all in a single place. The Archives highly recommends the book "Hear Me Roar" by Ann Ferrar (1996, Crown Trade Paperbacks) as an excellent historical source on women and motorcycling.
by Bill Jackson, Senior Archivist

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