22 Amazing Vintage Photographs of Women on Motorcycles from the 1920s and 1930s

Forget the bikini-clad model showing off her motorcycles, because women love motorcycles! Ever since motorcycles were invented, there have been tough women who aren’t afraid to take the rides of their lives.

Marjorie Cottle (second from left), a famous motorcyclist, and friends in Germany, 1920.

Madge Saunders and her husband, British comedian Leslie Henson, 1920.

A woman on her BMW motorcycle, 1935.

Sally Halterman, the first woman to receive a motorcycle license in the District of Columbia, 1937.

A participant in a women-only reliability test in London, England, 1927.

Three women on motorcycles at the ACU Trials in Birmingham, England, 1923.

A woman on a motorcycle next to a woman on a horse in London, 1921.

Nancy and Betty Debenham, famous motorcyclists, on BSA motorcycles with their dog, 1925.

Marjorie Dare (Doris Smith) rides freehand through the sideshow “The Wall of Death” at the Kursaal amusement park in Essex, England, 1938.

Appearance of Marjorie Dare, 1938.

Children are pulled by a woman on a motorcycle in London, 1926.

A woman next to her Harley-Davidson in California, 1925.

A woman and a seal show in a circus, 1935.

Two women ready to play tennis on a BSA motorcycle, 1925.

A woman tries out a Douglas motorcycle exhibited at the 18th Cycle and Motorcycle Show in London in 1933.

Workers measure the positions of footrests and controls on half-finished motorcycles, 1933.

Miss E. Foley and Miss L. Ball, participants in the International Six Days Reliability Trials at Brooklands race track in England, 1925.

In 1934, Nancy sets off for a motorcycle rally in England.

A woman riding a 500 OEC Tinkler all-weather model, designed for use on bumpy roads and off-road, 1928.

A priest blesses the motorcycle of a woman learning to drive, 1938.

A female rider in the Six Days motorcycle race, in which competitors must cover 200 miles a day over rough terrain, 1933.

Women from the private fire brigade of Achille Serre Ltd. set off on their motorcycle with sidecar to the private fire brigade tournament in London, 1925.