When motorcycles first appeared on public roads in the early 1900s, they were seen as a man’s machine. Women were expected to stay off them. A handful of women ignored that expectation entirely. In 1915, Effie Hotchkiss became the first woman to ride a motorcycle across the United States, traveling from New York to San Francisco. She did it on her own terms, on her own bike, and she opened a door that would never fully close again.
By the 1920s, motorcycles were cheaper to buy and easier to find. More women took to riding, not just for transport but for sport, community, and the sheer pleasure of speed. Women’s motorcycle clubs formed across Britain and the United States, offering a network of riders who organized their own events, rallies, and competitions. Women like Marjorie Cottle became well-known figures in British motorcycling, competing in endurance trials and earning respect in a sport dominated by men.
Formal competitions gave women a stage. The International Six Days Reliability Trial — a grueling event requiring riders to cover 200 miles of rough terrain daily — saw female entrants pushing machines and bodies to their limits. The ACU trials in Birmingham and ladies-only reliability trials in London drew crowds and proved that women could handle demanding technical riding just as well as men.
Motorcycles also wove themselves into the fabric of everyday life for women. Riders used their bikes for commuting, carrying passengers, and even hauling dogs. Sisters Nancy and Betty Debenham were well-known in British motorcycling circles, often photographed on their BSA bikes. Across the Atlantic, women posed proudly beside their Harley-Davidsons in California and Wisconsin, making clear that American women had claimed two wheels as their own.
The Wall of Death was one of the most dangerous motorcycle acts of the era. Riders circled the inside of a vertical wooden cylinder at high speed, defying gravity with no safety net. Marjorie Dare, whose real name was Doris Smith, performed the stunt hands-free at the Kursaal Amusement Park in Essex. Lillian La France was among the first and most popular female Wall of Death riders of the 1920s and 1930s. Cookie Crum performed the same act — including riding side saddle — drawing huge crowds at fairgrounds and amusement parks.
Women’s presence in motorcycling wasn’t limited to sport and performance. In 1925, the women of Achille Serre Ltd.’s private fire brigade rode motorcycles and sidecars to compete in London’s Private Fire Brigades’ Tournament. Sally Halterman made history in 1937 when she became the first woman granted a motorcycle operator’s license in Washington D.C. Every official permit, every competition entry, every licensing record was another crack in the wall of exclusion.
The motorcycle industry itself began paying attention to female riders. At the 18th Cycle and Motorcycle Show in London in 1933, women were photographed testing machines on the show floor. The 500 OEC Tinkler All-Weather model, designed for rough roads and cross-country riding, represented a growing interest in machines suited to practical, adventurous use — the kind of riding women had been doing for years.
Through the 1930s, women across Europe posed with motorcycles ranging from NSU combinations to BMW R11s. These weren’t professional racers — they were everyday riders who owned and rode machines that were, at the time, considered the domain of men. Their photographs, many taken in the German states of Württemberg and Bavaria or on country roads outside Vienna, document a quiet, persistent normalcy to women’s motorcycling long before it was widely celebrated.
During World War II, women on both sides of the Atlantic used motorcycles for essential military and civilian work. In Britain, women dispatched messages and delivered supplies by motorcycle for the Women’s Royal Naval Service. In the United States, the Women’s Army Corps used motorcycles for messenger duty. The Cushman scooter — a lightweight military utility vehicle — became one of the most practical tools of the war effort, operated by women across multiple branches of service.
The Motor Maids, founded in 1940, became one of the most enduring women’s motorcycle organizations in history. To join, a member had to own and ride her own motorcycle — not ride pillion. The club formalized what women had been doing informally for decades: building a riding culture that belonged to them. It remains active today, making it one of the oldest continuously operating women’s motorcycle clubs in the world.
Post-war photographs capture a lighter mood. Women posed with BMW R25s and NSU Konsuls in the West German countryside, ice cream cones in hand, dressed in fashionable coats and suede boots. A teenage girl sat astride an ancient motorcycle in a rural Greek olive grove. A young woman in a white sports coat straddled a Harley-Davidson WL 750 around 1948. These images show motorcycling as a natural part of women’s lives — not a statement, just a Saturday.
By the 1950s and 1960s, women began breaking into competitive motorcycle racing at the highest levels. Beryl Swain became the first woman to compete solo in the Isle of Man TT in 1962, finishing 22nd in the 50cc class. Maria Teresa de Filippis had already made her mark in motorsport during the late 1950s. These weren’t symbolic entries — they were competitive performances in events that ranked among the most dangerous racing in the world.
Across Germany, Austria, France, and the United States, women’s relationship with the motorcycle remained consistent decade after decade: practical, joyful, and unapologetic. Whether competing in an endurance trial, riding to work, performing on the Wall of Death, or simply posing with a prized machine on a dirt road outside Vienna, these women shared something in common. They rode.
