Members who join or renew their AMA membership from Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021 are automatically entered to win one of these awesome motorcycling prizes!
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• Cardo Systems
Packtalk Bold Black JBL
• Aerostich R3 1 Piece Suit
• SHOEI Helmet of Choice
PERSPECTIVES
Editorial Director Mitch Boehm
6
AMA INSIDER 8
AMA Executive Assistant Donna Perry
UP TO SPEED
10
News, notes, sneak peeks and policy from the motorcycling universe
COVER: A SHARED PASSION
18
16-year-old Emmi Cupp and father Jeremy bond over custom builds
WOMEN RIDERS ROCK, 2021
28
Celebrating lady riders from all corners of the two-wheeled world
HALL OF FAMERS
30
Honoring women motorcyclists from the Big House
ADVOCATES
36
Lady riders and enthusiasts of the AMA
RACERS
40
Motorcycling women with a need for speed
TRAILBLAZERS
48
Celebrating some of the pioneers of our sport
EVENT CALENDAR
58
AMA-sanctioned rides, races and events you just can’t miss
MEMBER’S TAKE
65
AMA member Whitney Meza tells a long-distance story
ON THE COVER:
After featuring 80-year-old Malcolm Smith last month, it seemed fitting to have 16-year-old badass bike-builder Emmi Cupp on our May-edition cover to kick off our Women Riders Rock issue. And since we’re featuring 40-some ladies in this edition, it’s apropos that the cover was shot by a woman, too — 18-year-old Harleigh Cupp, Emmi’s sister. You go, girls!
May 2021 Volume 75, Number 5
COMMUNICATIONS
Mitch Boehm Editorial Director
Mark Lapid Creative Services Director
Joy Burgess Managing Editor
Dustin Goebel Senior Designer
Gina Gaston Web Developer
Kali Kotoski Editor-at-Large submissions@ama-cycle.org
Steve Gotoski Director of Industry Relations and Business Memberships (951) 491-1910, sgotoski@ama-cycle.org
Danielle Smith Human Resources Manager/Assistant to COO
RACING
Mike Pelletier Director of Racing
Bill Cumbow Director of International Competition
Michael Burkeen Deputy Director of Racing
Erek Kudla Off-Road Racing Manager
Ken Saillant Track Racing Manager
Alexandria Kovacs Program Manager
Connie Fleming Supercross/FIM Coordinator
Lakota Ashworth Racing Coordinator
Olivia Davis Racing Coordinator
MEMBER ACTIVITY
Heather Wilson Director of Member Activity
Joe Bromley Program Development Manager
Serena Van Dyke Recreational Riding Coordinator
Jennifer Finn Member Activity Coordinator
ACCOUNTING
Karen Esposito Accounting Manager
Deb D’Andrea Data Entry Representative
AMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Contact any member of the AMA Board of Directors at americanmotorcyclist.com/ama-board-of-directors
Russ Ehnes Chair
Great Falls, Mont.
Gary Pontius Vice Chair
Westfield, Ind.
Byron Snider Assistant Treasurer
Newbury Park, Calif.
Jerry Abboud Executive Committee Member
Thornton, Colo.
Paul Vitrano Executive Committee Member
Medina, Minn.
Brad Baumert
Louisville, Ky.
Hub Brennan E. Greenwhich, R.I.
Christopher Cox
Florence, S.C.
Mark Hosbach Franklin, Tenn.
OPERATIONS
Robert Pearce Amherst, Ohio
Jeff Skeen
San Diego, Calif.
Faisel Zaman Dallas, Texas
(800) AMA-JOIN (262-5646) (614) 856-1900
AmericanMotorcyclist.com
@AmericanMotorcyclist @ama_riding
Steve Austin Director of Operations
John Bricker Mailroom Manager
Rob Baughman Operations Specialist
Ed Madden System Support Specialist
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Michael Sayre Director of Government Relations
Nick Haris Western States Representative
Tiffany Cipoletti Government Relations Manager, On-Highway
Peter Stockus Government Relations Manager, Off-Highway
Erin Reda Grassroots Coordinator
MUSEUM
Daniel Clepper Collections Manager
Paula Schremser Program Specialist
Ricky Shultz Clerk
Von Kieber Clerk
MARKETING AND MEMBER SERVICES
Amanda Donchess Director of Membership
Marketing and Services
Tiffany Pound Member Services Manager
Stephanie McCormick Member Services Representative
Vickie Park Member Services Representative
Ellen Wenning Member Services Representative
American Motorcyclist magazine (ISSN 0277-9358) is published monthly (12 issues) by the American Motorcyclist Association, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147. Copyright by the American Motorcyclist Association/American Motorcyclist 2021. Printed in USA. Subscription rate: Magazine subscription fee of $19.95 covered in membership dues.
Postmaster: Mail form 3579 to 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147.
Periodical postage paid at Pickerington, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices.
ITHE FEMALE FACTOR
By Mitch Boehm
t’s true. Ladies have joined motorcycling in a big way over the last decade or so, and it’s a great thing. But for me, the female factor has been a factor for as long as I’ve been riding – and I’ve been riding for 50 years. (Sheesh… how did that happen?)
I remember those You Meet The Nicest People Honda ads in magazines back when I was just a wee lad in the 1960s. Plenty of ladies riding and passengering there. But it didn’t take long for a female much nearer and dearer – my late mother Elaine – to have a far larger and longer-lasting motorcycle-oriented impact.
When my dad mentioned sometime in 1971 that young Mitch should maybe have a minibike to ride on the trails and in the woods surrounding our Cleveland-suburb home, she obviously didn’t object, and a shiny red Honda SL70 in the garage on Christmas morning was the result.
When I began racing motocross on an XR75 in 1974 and ’75, she’d come along on occasion – and while too nervous to watch the starts, she packed a mean lunch and took care of all the little things my spoiled little persona felt it was too important to do.
that Concours, both of us totally exhausted. Such a trooper! RIP, mom. And Happy Mother’s Day.
My wife Susie has serious motorcycle-industry roots, too, having done scooter and motorcycle advertising for American Honda during the 1980s and ’90s. That’s where we met, as I worked in AH’s product planning department for a few years between gigs at Motorcyclist and Cycle World.
Since joining the AMA as Editorial Director in early February, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of women on staff here, as has Managing Editor Joy Burgess. “When I took the job I received lots of congratulations,” Joy told me recently, “but there were also plenty of comments like, ‘We’re so happy because [the AMA] has always seemed like the old guy’s club!’ I heard this from both older and younger women.”
“When I took up motocross again in 1983 during college, [Mom] and I probably did 75 percent of the races together – and had a total blast, packing, driving, racing and trekking home.”
When I took up motocross again in 1983 during college, she and I probably did 75 percent of the races together –and had a total blast, packing, driving, racing and trekking home. While I was working for Motorcyclist in the late 1980s, she and I rode to Willow Springs on a Kawasaki Concours for the WERA 24-hour West, which the team I was riding for – Vance & Hines – ended up winning. She stayed up all night, helped with scoring, watched me ride four or five stints, and then rode home with me the next day on
“But as I dove into my AMA work I realized it just wasn’t true,” Joy added, “as nearly a third of folks at the AMA are women. Every time I sit in on a meeting, women are well represented, and it’s just not like that around much of the industry today. That’s the primary reason I felt we had to write about some of the amazing ladies of the AMA in this Women Riders Rock issue!”
And that we have done, along with a long list of female Trailblazers, Racers, Builders and Hall of Famers. We were only able to cover a small sliver of significant ladies of our sport, but there’s always next year, right? Enjoy the issue!
Mitch Boehm is the Editorial Director of the AMA.
Texter-Bauman lets loose with the bubbly after a pair of powerfully rewarding wins at the Volusia Speedway AFT doubleheader opener during Bike Week in March.
TEXTER-BAUMAN BOUNCES BACK
After dramatic double wins on her birthday at the AFT opener, Shayna Texter-Bauman talks about winning again, redemption and getting hitched
By Mitch Boehm
Just as it wasn’t kind to the world, 2020 was not a good year for the winningest AFT Singles rider in history — Shayna Texter-Bauman.
After 2018 and 2019 campaigns in which the flat-track phenom won six races and scored 13 podiums on her way to a third and seventh overall, respectively, Texter-Bauman — who in the off-season married back-toback AFT SuperTwins champ Briar Bauman — struggled mightily in 2020, scoring just two podiums and zero wins. Souring things even more were social media know-it-alls who opined during the off-season that she was washed up and out of it.
All of that, of course, provided a rich backdrop for TexterBauman’s stunning double AFT Singles National wins at the AFT doubleheader opener at Florida’s Volusia Speedway on March 1213 during Bike Week. The wins were extra special given that STB celebrated her 30th birthday on March 12, the day of her first win that weekend.
We caught up with Texter-Bauman after her back-to-back victories to find out how she was feeling about her birthday performances, and how things had morphed for her over the last year or so.
American Motorcyclist: First off, how’s married life?
Shayna Texter-Bauman: For Briar and me, things are pretty much the same. We race together, train
together and travel together, so we’ve got that figured out. But it is a new chapter, and I’m getting used to having a new last name [laughs]! It’s funny…[AFT announcer] Scottie Deubler keeps forgetting, but he should know better, as he announced my first National win at Knoxville in 2011, where Briar and I were battling all race long…“It’s Texter and Bauman, Texter and Bauman!” So he should be used to it! [laughs]
AM: Your Volusia wins must have been awesome, given your 2020 season and the fact that it was your birthday.
ST: Wow…So good, and so rewarding! Honestly, Friday was one of the longest races of my career, mentally. I got a great start, which was nice for a change, but of course the red flag made it hard to settle in. So I really had to refocus. I got another good start, and got the halfway flag pretty quickly, but then the time clock at start/finish wasn’t working, so I had no clue how long we had left. I knew Dallas [Daniels,
reigning AFT Singles champ] was right there, so I was just trying to be consistent, but you’re out there spinning laps, over and over, without any clue how many are left. I was in my own head, thinking about leading and maybe winning on my birthday, and it was messing with my mind! Is this two-to-go, or what? It was pretty crazy, as was Saturday’s race.
AM: Tell us about last year.
ST: We just struggled, and it was a bunch of little things. An updated bike, new Dunlop tires, which everyone’s still trying to get used to, new suspension settings, the whole COVID thing limiting testing, the unique schedule, etc. The competition is tougher every year, too. We just seemed to be chasing a balanced setup all season long, and did a lot of experimenting, all without much luck. I’d worked super-hard over the off-season to be in the best shape possible, but just wasn’t comfortable on the bike a lot of the time. And it’s difficult to push or be aggressive when you’re
“ We were fast right out of the gate at Volusia, and it ended up being a dream weekend for us. As frustrating as the social media stuff was [during the off-season], it fueled my fire to win.”
UP TO SPEED
not comfortable. It was definitely one of the most frustrating seasons of my career, but there were a couple of high points: getting married and Briar’s second championship. The social media comments about me being too old or not focused enough didn’t help, either. The team and my family and my sponsors all knew what was going on, but no one from the outside did.
AM: And this year?
ST: Basically, we’ve worked through it, and have gone back to some older settings, and my 2019 suspension guy is at every race this year, and I feel more comfortable. The big thing is that the team and my family and our sponsors have all been super supportive and stuck by me, and now it’s paying off. We were fast right out of the gate at Volusia, and it ended up being a dream weekend for us. As
frustrating as the social media stuff was, it fueled my fire to win. These Volusia rounds have made racing fun again, and made the hard times last year worth it.
AM: Looking forward to the Atlanta Super TT on May 1?
ST: I am. I tend to struggle on TTs, but I’ve been training hard and riding a lot more moto, and I feel more comfortable. You never know who’s going to win the TTs — there are always a couple guys like Ryan Sipes who come in and keep us all on our toes.
AM: Do you think about riding a Twin these days?
ST: I always say I’d like to ride one again before I retire, and it’s interesting how the bikes have changed since I raced them years ago. Honestly, it’s kind of nice to compete in a class
separate from Briar; then there’s no worry about having to stuff your spouse into the hay bales! [Laughs] I’d enjoy riding a twin again someday, but if it doesn’t happen, that’s OK, too.
AM: Got a message for women riders and racers out there?
ST: I often talk about how I appreciate being known and treated as a motorcycle racer first and a woman second. But it’s awesome to be able to show women, and especially young girls, that if I can do it, they can do it…that they can be what they want to be, and to keep pushing towards their goals.
AM: Good luck the rest of the season. Final thoughts?
ST: I’m having fun riding a motorcycle again, and for me that’s the key to a good season. I’m stoked to see what’s next.
Texter-Bauman, leading reigning AFT Singles champion Dallas Daniels on Friday night at Volusia.
Scott Hunter
SUFFRAGISTS CENTENNIAL MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Celebrating the centennial of the signing of the 19th Amendment, giving the women the right to vote
The Suffragists Centennial Motorcycle Ride will take place from July 31 to Aug. 20, 2021, starting in Portland, Ore., and finishing in Arlington, Va. The AMA-sanctioned cross-country motorcycle ride — which was canceled last year due to COVID — will celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
Ride participants have several options for joining this historic ride, including choosing the fully-guided tour experience or taking on a more flexible, self-guided experience. While the ride kicks off in
Portland, it will gain momentum and pick up additional riders as it moves east. Some of the stops featured include dropping in at the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to enjoy the Biker Belles Celebration, a day spent in Yellowstone National Park and a citywide celebration in Knoxville, Tenn.
The ride ends in Arlington, Va. with the Women’s Motorcycle Conference, which runs Aug. 19-22. Hosted by Alisa Clickenger and Women’s Motorcycle Tours, the conference offers a full speaker and activity lineup featuring beautiful historic rides, professional development, connection sessions, education and inspiration.
“I’m incredible excited about hosting my first live Women’s Motorcycle Festival and Conference,” Clickenger said. “Before COVID-19, Tigra Tsujikawa and I traveled around the USA scouting and promoting the Centennial Ride, and talking to other female motorcyclists. The idea for a live Women’s Festival and Conference grew out of these conversations, and I am convinced that the need for community and connection has only gotten stronger over the past year.”
For more information on the Centennial Ride or the Women’s Motorcycle Conference, visit womensmotorcycletours.com
RACER-TURNED-ENTREPRENEUR STEFY BAU
Originally from Italy, Stefy Bau is one of those rare racing champions who’s transitioned successfully into the business world. Bau, a two-time AMA Women’s Motocross and Loretta Lynn’s champ and someone who held an AMA Pro motocross license, had a serious racing injury end her racing career, although that didn’t stop her from exceling in other areas.
Bau was the General Manager of the FIM Women World Motocross Championship, helped various OEs establish branches in Europe and the U.S., and most recently helped launch InIt Esports in the sports gaming world with two colleagues. As the official eSports championship organizer for the AMA, InIt Esports is poised to help grow the motorcycle industry via its upcoming esports tournaments.
“The AMA and our existing partners know traditional racing,” said AMA COO James Holter, “but we don’t know eSports, at least operationally. Stefy has been instrumental in opening our eyes to the reality that, without the framework and the behind-the-scenes rules of operation, then all you have is a game among friends.”
AMA SOUND METER PROGRAM OPEN FOR 2021
The American Motorcyclist Association’s Sound Test Kit Program is officially open for 2021 applications. The program is administered by the AMA’s Government Relations Department and provides kits to AMA Districts, clubs, race organizers and others who educate riders about sound levels. The kit contains a Type 2 sound meter, a tachometer, training materials, a spark-arrestor probe, personal protective equipment and a storage case. The goal of the sound meter project is to educate riders about acceptable sound levels according to the AMA’s guidelines, while being able to show quantitative data to complainants about levels that fall within acceptable legal ranges. With the AMA’s mission to keep offand on-road riding areas open to the public, the program aims to prevent the implementation of laws and regulations that specifically target riders. For more information on applying, contact Erin Reda, AMA Government Relations Grassroots Coordinator, at grassroots@ama-cycle.org.
West Virginia Senator Holds Conference on Motorized Tourism
On March 19, West Virginia State Senator Mark Maynard (R-Wayne) organized a Virtual Adventure Travel conference to discuss the economic benefits of motorized tourism for state and rural economies. Presenters included the AMA, MIC, Tread Lightly! and the BlueRibbon Coalition. Topics included trail construction, grant funding, job creation, and revitalizing rural economies. West Virginia has been a leader in motorized tourism and continues to examine how to best welcome additional motorized recreation.
curve to establish themselves as a premier motorized tourism destination,” said Peter Stockus, AMA Government Relations Manager for Off-Highway Issues during the conference. “Holding conversations such as these could be laying the groundwork to provide economic benefits across all communities in West Virginia.”
“With the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, and a slice of the Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route in place, West Virginia is already ahead of the
Senator Maynard was influential in opening the Cabwaylingo Trail and Ivy Branch Trail systems for recreational use earlier this year. The Cabwaylingo Trail is the first in the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System to be located within a state forest. Areas around those trail systems have seen an increase in hospitality investment to cater to tourists.
House Recreational Trails Act Aims to Boost Funding
The Recreational Trails Full Funding Act of 2021 (HR 1864), a bipartisan piece of legislation to greatly increase funding for Recreational Trails, has been introduced by Representatives Peter Welch (D-Vt.At Large) and John Curtis (R-Utah-3). The bill provides at least $250 million to support recreational trails and more than doubles the funding for the Recreational Trails Program, which currently stands at $84 million annually. The program is funded through taxes paid on gasoline for motorcycles and other recreational vehicles used off highway. The increase would bring the funding level more in line with the amount of gas tax attributable to these sources. The AMA’s Government Relations Department is actively working with stakeholders to pass the legislation in the House and working with the Coalition for Recreational Trails to introduce it to the Senate. If passed, the legislation would be a considerable victory in equitably allocating motorcyclist’s tax contribution while investing in off-road activities.
A Shared Passion
Sixteen-year-old Emmi Cupp’s Tiger Cub custom grabs a third-place trophy — and reignites her father’s passion for custom bike building
By Joy Burgess
“Sometimes in life there’s a special moment that surprises you,” said long-time AMA member, well-known bike builder and owner of LC Fabrications, Jeremy Cupp, “and this was one.”
“My then-15-year-old daughter Emmi has been a Beatles fan for years and took a shine to the British bikes I have,” he told American Motorcyclist, “so for Christmas in 2019 I bought her a little 1958 Triumph Tiger Cub basket case, hoping we’d get it running together and tear it up in the fields around our home. Frankly, I wasn’t sure she’d be interested.”
“But a day or two later,” he added, “Emmi brought me a sketch book full of ideas for how she wanted to build this bike. It was an eye-opener for me. I didn’t realize what I’d done in giving her that bike, but looking back, I’m sure glad I did.”
Prior to the Christmas Cub basket case, Emmi had encountered some bumps in her young road, as preteens and teens are bound to do.
“I decided it was time to pull her close,” Jeremy said, “and that’s tough to do when you’re running a business, so I started taking her to the shop with me. At first, we’d just be one another’s company, but then she started asking questions. Eventually, I’d take a few hours a day to teach her how to weld, run a mill and lathe…and frankly, she’s a natural. I’ve taught others, but no one who was able to grasp it so quickly.”
Little did Jeremy know that the basket case would turn into a full-fledged build, end up entered in Roland Sands’ 2020 Coronavirus Bike Build-Off, bring home a third-place trophy that now sits proudly in a trophy case among his own many bike-building awards, and rekindle his own passion for building, leading to a surprising father-daughter partnership.
Emmi and her father Jeremy in the family’s LC Fabrications shop. The 1958 Triumph Tiger Cub in the foreground was Emmi’s first build, which won third place in Roland Sands’ Coronavirus Bike Build-Off. Now, father and daughter are working together on the Big Chief Indian in the background.
“Honestly, my favorite part about this bike is how happy it’s making my Dad ... It’s not so much about the build as the time spent building it.”
Roots
“My dad’s been the main influence for me to enter the motorcycle world,” Emmi says, “and I’ve been around his bike buddies all my life, so it was hard not to take interest.”
According
to sister
Harleigh, “Every night before everybody heads home they have this ritual, where they just stare at the progress and dream and scheme about what to do tomorrow.”
But Jeremy’s love for bikes goes all the way back to when he was just a kid. “I bought a ’79 Honda XR80 when I was young,” he told us. “It was my friend and neighbor’s bike, and he broke his arm riding it, so his mom told him he had to sell it. I mowed lawns all summer to come up with that $80.”
But it wasn’t until around 2005 that he began building bikes. “I was riding a $400 Yamaha and dreaming of owning a Harley,” he says, “but there just wasn’t money for those things back then. I was working at a fabrication shop –Shickel Corporation – at the time, and one night while watching Bike Build Off on television I decided I should just build a bike instead.”
“My wife sent photos of my first build to the reader’s ride section in Chopper magazine,” he added, “and they wound up doing a full feature… that was the beginning of it all. That one article encouraged me to push ahead, always trying to top my previous work. And I achieved quite a
bit of recognition, including two-time Ultimate Builder National Champion, Artistry in Iron winner in 2015, AIM Expo Champ in 2015, and fifth and second place wins at the AMD World Championship in 2009 and 2012, respectively.”
Despite all that success, there came a point when he was no longer willing to jump through all the hoops that came with being a top-level bike builder, and he found out that caused some doors to close. But he had more important things to consider.
“That tiny amount of fame I’d found felt good,” he says, “and I was beginning to put the chase before everything else. But I had kids to raise, a wife to love and a business to run.”
That business is LC Fabrications, a firm he started back in 2007. “After my second bike was finished,” he remembers, “I started realizing that building bikes was an expensive hobby, so I either needed to stop or start making them pay for themselves. I’d pull a few custom pieces from each bike I built and reproduce them for sale. Two years ago, I went full-time in my own shop. I still do my own LC Fabrications-branded products, but now I also do product parts for many others in the motorcycle industry.”
“My dad’s been the main influence for me to enter the motorcycle world,” Emmi says, “and I’ve been around his bike buddies all my life, so it was hard not to take interest.”
Award-Winning Build
Emmi remembers well the moment she came down the stairs Christmas morning to find that tiny Triumph under the tree. “In all my drowsy glory,” she laughs, “I thought it was for my brother. I’m a very small person, and a tiny bike was just what I wanted. My dad gave me the option to either make it run as an old beater bike or build it for shows. Obviously, I chose the build. It was the project I’d been waiting for!”
Armed with ideas and sketches of how she wanted the Cub to look — sketches she calls “not so good” — Emmi was stoked to get started, but the journey of turning a rusted-out basket case into something rideable and beautiful wasn’t easy.
“Hammering out the oil and gas tanks and building the engine” she recalls, “those were the things that really tested my patience. For some reason I just didn’t understand how to make the metal move the way I wanted to, and I didn’t appreciate that much.”
But it was the learning, the mistakes and the challenges that taught her so much…about bike building and about life. “I learned more than I would have imagined during that build,” she told us, “not only in the skill fields, but also about life and how to carry on no matter what.”
While Emmi worked on the Tiger Cub all through early 2020, Roland Sands decided to put a positive spin on the devastating COVID pandemic that left so many individuals across the country at home by creating the Coronavirus Bike Build-Off. Builders, pros and amateurs from around the country entered the contest, done simply by using the hashtag #coronavirusbikebuildoff with their photos on Instagram.
Emmi entered the contest, but not on purpose. “One day I looked through my Instagram feed,” she remembers, “and I saw #coronavirusbikebuildoff showing up a lot. It seemed pretty cool, so I just started using it on all the photos of my build.”
Turns out, that was the first step to entering the online competition. At first, she was worried she’d end up being a joke on social media. But then they picked the top three bikes. “I couldn’t believe it when my build was in the top three,” she said after finding out the results. “I was grateful to Roland Sands Design for the opportunity and experience, and so excited to see my bike featured on their page.”
“I learned more than I would have imagined during that build,” she told us, “not only in the skill fields, but also about life and how to carry on no matter what.”
“Emmi is one of those people who can’t sit still very long,” says sister Harleigh, “and she practices her skateboard moves while the shop machines are running.”
Now they are building Dad a chopper on the side, Emmi doing the welding and detail work while Drake serves as the mechanic.
Family Affair
After her first successful build, Emmi was already excited to do another, and her enthusiasm through the process of transforming the Tiger Cub rubbed off on her father.
“I think my Dad remembered how much he loves it,” Emmi said after completing the Triumph, “and I believe we’re gonna be partners in crime going forward. He’s actually been asking me for advice and opinions.”
“What Emmi and that Cub did for me,” Jeremy weighed in, “was reignite that passion I’d lost. Motorcycles had become just another mundane job, no different from factory work for me. Seeing and helping and teaching Emmi — a new generation — reminded me of why I love working with tools and on bikes so much in the first place.”
The conclusion of her first build left Emmi feeling a little lost without the ambition and distraction. “Whenever I got bored or worried, I’d work on the bike,” she recalled. “Projects are a good way to keep yourself going mentally, so I knew I’d need to start another build.”
It was the perfect time for a new project for the father-daughter duo.
“A friend of mine who passed away left me a 1925 Big Chief Indian,” Jeremy told us. “He’d saved it for me because he said he knew I’d do something awesome with it. I sure hope he’s up there watching the progress and is pleased.”
“Dad was the only one he trusted to ‘take care’ of it,” Emmi continued, “And we’re making it into a Wall of Deathstyle ride.”
“Most of my bikes have started with an image of a vintage, antique performance or competition machine, bikes like board trackers, hillclimbers, etc.,” said Jeremy. “A good friend of mine that I respect greatly spends a lot of time on his Indian up on the Wall of Death, so for this bike, that style just seems to fit. But that’s all I’d like to say about that until the bike’s finished,” he laughed.
“Honestly,” Emmi noted thoughtfully, “my favorite part about this bike is how happy it’s making my Dad. We’re getting to work on something together again. It’s not so much about the build as the time spent building it.”
These days, even Emmi’s brother Drake has been helping out in the shop.
“Our brother, Drake” Emmi’s older sister and amateur photographer Harleigh mentioned, “started helping in the shop
and has become like the third wheel to a tricycle with those two. He and Emmi never got along until they found something they could work on and enjoy. Now they are building Dad a chopper on the side, Emmi doing the welding and detail work while Drake serves as the mechanic. Dad is really proud that his dream is coming true – to own a business and spend his days sharing his passion with his children.”
“It really kind of feels full circle,” said Jeremy. “Years ago, I had this dream that LC Fabrications would become a family business and that even after the kids move out, we’d still spend our days together. I doubt I’ll have a ton of money to leave behind, but if I can give them skills and a job so that they can take care of their family, then I’ve done okay as a dad.”
“At a bike show in Las Vegas,” he continued, “a builder had his wife and son along with him. Somehow, he and I got stuck on the subject of taking his boy to the shop, and he said it was too much of a distraction. That kind of stuck with me. Have my kids been a distraction in the shop? Sure. Do they cost me a fair amount of time? Sure. But what better way could I be investing my time?
“There’s nothing better I can think of!”
The Cupp family: (left to right) Harleigh, Jeremy, Lindsay (seated), Drake and Emmi.
WOMENRIDERS ROCK
Acentury ago, riding or racing a motorcycle wasn’t socially acceptable for women. Some, like now-96-year-old Gloria Tramontin Struck, were denied lodging and service; others were forced to hide their racing trophies; and some were deprived of victories merely because of their gender.
But times have changed, and in large part due to women who have pushed boundaries for the love of two wheels.
Today, women figure into motorcycling in a big way, making up around 20% of riders and continuing to blaze a trail as marketers, entrepreneurs, event coordinators, government liaisons, engineers, grassroots coordinators, racers, builders, mechanics and creators in this industry.
To celebrate women in motorcycling this month, we’ve put together a look at some of the movers and shakers in the industry, starting with our cover story about 16-year-old custom bike builder Emmi Cupp (see page 18) and ending with none other than the Grande Dame of motorcycling — Gloria Tramontin Struck (see Flashback, page 66).
The dynamic artwork right here by the late artist and illustrator Don Bradley (many thanks to daughter Veronica!) sets the stage nicely. We’ve got sections on Hall of Famers, Advocates, Racers and Trailblazers, which celebrate not only the incredible achievements of these ladies, but also the sisterhood and camaraderie that connect women who ride.
Enjoy their stories…we’re pretty sure you’ll be inspired! — Joy Burgess
Illustration by Don Bradley
HALL OF FAMERS
Augusta and Adeline Van Buren
Crossing the country to fight for equality
Inducted: 2002
During the run up to America’s inevitable involvement in World War 1, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren set out in 1916 to cross the country on Indian PowerPlus motorcycles to convince the United States Military that women were fit and capable to serve as dispatch riders.
As “socialites” and the descendants of President Martin Van Buren, the sisters’ trip was a norm-breaking endeavor to promote equality amid a growing suffragist movement that would lead to women gaining the right to vote in 1920.
Despite the military declining to enlist Adeline in the war effort, the sisters succeeded in proving that women could handle the difficulties of riding long
distances and in harsh conditions. Over 60 days the two rode 5,500 miles and became the first women to summit Pikes Peak on a motorized vehicle.
The journey was not without difficulties as the duo was arrested while crossing the Midwest because they were wearing leathers, which were only socially acceptable for men to wear.
After they finished their cross-country effort and rode into Los Angeles, the women returned to the East Coast where Adeline taught English and eventually received a law degree from New York University. Augusta, meanwhile, became a pilot and joined a group for female pilots created by Amelia Earhart.
Becky Brown
Founder of the international riding group Women in the Wind Inducted:
2002
For years, Becky Brown rode as a passenger on the back of motorcycles. But in the mid-1970s a coworker taught her how to ride, and soon after she bought a Harley-Davidson Sportster.
As she honed her riding skills, Brown quickly realized there were almost no riding groups for women.
So in 1979 she placed a small advertisement in a Toledo, Ohio newspaper, seeking other female riders. Surprisingly, the ad drew 10 responses, and soon they had their first group ride.
Women in the Wind (WITW) was formed shortly after, and the group expanded to over 70 chapters and 1400 members in the United States, England and Australia by the early 2000s.
In 1995, Brown was portrayed in the documentary She Lives to Ride by filmmaker Alice Stone. She was also featured in Ann Ferrar’s book Hear me Roar: Women, Motorcycles and the Rapture of the Road.
Brown’s contribution to the sport has been indelible, smoothing the road for female motorcyclists and encouraging acknowledgement of them in the industry.
Sharon Clayton
Co-Founder of Cycle
News
Inducted: 2000
Sharon Clayton and her husband Chuck founded Cycle News — an influential weekly newspaper that covers to this day almost every aspect of motorcycling.
Sharon served as publisher of Cycle News for nearly 30 years after it was established in 1965, and in 1989 helped form the Clayton Memorial Foundation with her husband.
Before Cycle News, Sharon and Chuck were both steeped in the motorcycle industry, with Sharon a business manager of motorcycle exhaust manufacturer J&R Engineering and Chuck as an editor at Cycle and Cycle World.
When the Claytons started Cycle News, Sharon’s income kept the magazine afloat as it struggled to take off. Sharon handled circulation and billing for the upstart publication and served as a reporter on the weekends covering events in Southern California.
The couple’s dedication eventually paid off as they grew circulation and took the publication national. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cycle News expanded into regional editions. The publication was also well-respected in the industry for diligently paying freelancers.
Chuck died in 1992, and Sharon continued to run the business until the mid1990s. After she retired, she oversaw the foundation and maintained a strong voice as the president of the Cycle News publishing company. Sharon passed in 2015.
Mona Ehnes
Champion of Off-Road Rights
Inducted: 2009
While running a motorcycle shop with her husband, Mona Ehnes entered the fight for motorcyclists’ rights in 1967 by opposing controversial legislation that aimed to restrict off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding opportunities in her home state of Montana.
After that first fight, Ehnes has served on the front lines of the OHV battle ever since through grassroots initiatives and behind-thescenes legislative wrangling, continuing to be a fierce advocate for trail riding.
member of the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association (MTVRA).
Ehnes — the mother of AMA Board of Directors Chairman Russ Ehnes — was instrumental in the development of Montana’s “On the Right Trail” ethics education program. She also held the position of executive assistant to the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council and received its Hall of Fame Award in 2009.
In 1984, Ehnes was one of the founding members of the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association, the largest and most active OHV club in Montana with over 600 members. She is also a founding
Debbie Evans First
woman to compete in FIM World Championship Trials event and motorcycle stunt rider Inducted: 2003
Debbie Evans, whose father was a trials rider, learned to ride at the age of 6 and entered her first trials event when she was 9 years old.
In the ’70s she was recognized as the best female rider in trials riding — the first woman to reach the rank of expert and the first to compete in FIM World Championship Trials. She earned a Yamaha sponsorship and went on to give exhibition shows at AMA Supercross and AMA Grand National events.
“Mona is a shining example of a quiet leader who has set the gold standard through her thousands of hours of volunteer work and dedication to protecting off-highway vehicle recreation,” said the AMA’s Kathy Van Kleeck during Ehnes’ AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction. “What Mona’s biography can’t convey is her relentless passion for the cause and her can-do spirit.”
Despite her success, Evans made little money until she got the opportunity to start doing stunt work for the movie industry.
“I enjoy the adrenaline rush of stunts,” Debbie said, “It thrills me to have the police blocking off the streets and I come down and do my thing — something I’d normally get thrown in jail for!” Evans won seven Taurus World Stunt Awards and was inducted into both the Hollywood Stuntman’s and AMA Motorcycle Halls of Fame. While she retired from full-time competition to concentrate on stunt work, Debbie came back to the sport at the age of 40 for the first Women’s Trials World Championship in 1998 and competed in the FIM Women’s World Trials Championship in 2002.
Scott Photography
Holly Carlyle
Sue Fish
Women’s National Motocross Champion 1976, 1977
Inducted: 2012
Some women break the glass ceiling without even intending to. And that’s certainly the case with Sue Fish, who won the Women’s National Motocross Championship way back in 1976 and 1977.
In addition to dominating the women’s ranks, Fish was one of the first female motocross racers to hold a professional racing license from the AMA and compete regularly against men.
Known as “The Flying Fish,” she raced in the AMA 125cc National Motocross Championship. She has also competed in the 1978 Subaru International Motorcycle Olympiad, a two-day event encompassing all types of off-road racing. Fish also competed in roadracing in the men’s expert ranks in 600cc classes.
Additionally, she used her talents on the silver screen as a Hollywood stuntwoman, performing in movies like Terminator and Footloose. Evel Knievel also saw her talents, and Fish traveled with his stunt show in Australia.
Fish’s illustrious career has inspired thousands of women to race motorcycles. She also helped pave the way and break boundaries for women to compete head-to-head against male competitors.
“I don’t really consider myself a pioneer,” she previously told the AMA. “I was just riding motorcycles. I never had an agenda. Yes, there was a lot of press, but for me it was never about proving a point. I just loved riding.”
Conrad Lim
Linda “Jo” Giovannoni
Motorcycle journalist and cofounder of Harley Women Inducted: 1996
Before Linda “Jo” Giovannoni helped establish Harley Women, she grew up in the Chicago area in the 1950s and 1960s and was a self-proclaimed “gearhead” from an early age.
When she took up motorcycling in the 1970s she got involved with ABATE, and in the early 1980s met Becky Brown, founder of Women in the Wind. In 1983, Giovannoni went on to help form the second chapter of the organization. Giovannoni wrote a newsletter for the local chapter of Women in the Wind and wanted to create a magazine catering to female riders.
In 1985, Giovannoni and her partner Cris Sommer-Simmons went to Milwaukee to pitch Harley-Davidson on the idea of backing the magazine. Harley allowed them a license to put out three issues using the name Harley Women. Giovannoni served as Editor and Publisher until November 1997.
Giovannoni became a spokesperson for women riders, and was featured on numerous local and national television
and radio programs. She was one of five women featured in a documentary titled She Lives to Ride by Alice Stone and was chosen to appear on one of the “HarleyDavidson People” Collector’s Edition motorcycle cards.
As the number of women riders continues to grow rapidly, Giovannoni has been heralded as a major influence fueling the trend.
Beginning in 1999, Giovannoni helped host Open Road Radio, a motorcycle talk radio program. In 2005, she became a regular contributing writer for the Daily Herald, Illinois’ third largest newspaper.
Hazel Kolb
Motorcycling Ambassador and first female AMA Trustee
Inducted: 1998
Hazel Kolb is known as the “Motorcycling Grandma” because she got involved in riding later in life while still making a tremendous impact on the sport with her highly publicized 1979, 15,000mile perimeter ride of the United States. Kolb was born in 1926 and grew up poor during the Great Depression, married young, birthed four children by the age of 22 and later divorced her oppressive husband.
It wasn’t until she remarried that she and her second husband became
Mary McGee
One of the first female motocross and road racers
Inducted: 2018
Mary McGee learned to ride motorcycles in 1957 on a 200cc Triumph Tiger Cub, and later took up motorcycle road racing to try to improve her carracing skills.
In 1963, she switched to dirt riding and rode her 1962 250cc Honda Scrambler in an AMA District 37 enduro. She started riding Baja events in 1967 and, in 1975, McGee rode the Baja 500 solo, which was one of her most memorable accomplishments as she finished ahead of several two-man teams.
Also in the 1970s, McGee worked for Motorcyclist magazine and joined a 24-hour endurance road race in Las Vegas, in which the magazine’s team changed riders every hour on a 650cc Suzuki.
Throughout her adult life, McGee has served as an ambassador for motorcycling, whether as a pioneering female competitor or through her speaking engagements that encourage women to try motorcycling and racing.
“I would like to see more
women — and more younger women — get involved. It’s not whether you finish first, second or last. It’s the struggle to finish. It is the journey of your life,” McGee is quoted as saying.
avid motorcyclists. After her second husband passed, she set out across the United States by motorcycle to honor his memory.
During the ride, Harley-Davidson helped Kolb secure newspaper and television interviews along the route. The TV appearances and newspaper features garnered enough publicity that Kolb graced the national spotlight with appearances on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America . Kolb’s tireless promotion of motorcycling fascinated millions of Americans and helped
break down negative stereotypes of motorcyclists because she was a funloving, down-to-earth country gal on two wheels.
Kolb became the first female member of the AMA Board of Trustees and helped guide the Association during a rapid period of growth. The AMA Brighter Image Award, created in 1987, was renamed as the AMA Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award to honor her accomplishments. It is the Association’s highest award for activities that promote the wholesomeness of motorcycling.
Bessie Stringfield
A “Motorcycle Queen” that broke down barriers for African American riders Inducted: 2002
In the segregated 1930s and 1940s, Bessie Stringfield took eight longdistance solo rides across the United States, even riding through the Deep South in an era when racial prejudice was a threat to her safety. As a woman of color, her courage and faith in Jesus Christ was never deterred despite the adversity she confronted.
“If you had black skin you couldn’t get a place to stay,” she told journalist Ann Ferar. “I knew the Lord would take care of me and He did. If I found black folks, I’d stay with them. If not, I’d sleep at filling stations on my motorcycle.”
During World War II, Stringfield worked for the army as a civilian motorcycle courier and completed difficult training maneuvers on her Harley-Davidson.
In the 1950s, Stringfield settled in
Miami, Florida and founded the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club. She also raced flat track and there were times when she was denied first-place prizes because of her race and gender. Nevertheless, her popularity earned her the nickname “Motorcycle Queen of Miami.”
When the AMA opened the Motorcycle Heritage Museum in 1990, Stringfield appeared in the inaugural exhibit on Women in Motorcycling. A decade later, the AMA began giving the Bessie Stringfield Award to women who are leaders in motorcycling.
In Stringfield’s older years, she defied doctor’s orders to quit riding despite suffering from a chronic heart condition. She died in 1993 at the age of 82 and was posthumously inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame.
Dot Robinson
AMA Enduro Champ, Motor Maids Co-Founder
Inducted: 1998
In 1941, Dot Robinson helped form the Motor Maids, an organization for women who enjoyed motorcycling. Robinson also opened doors for female riders in the competition arena as a regular competitor in endurance runs in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
But because of her norm-breaking racer status, Robinson came under attack and numerous attempts were made to prevent her from participating in the sport she loved. But she persevered and was allowed to compete, opening the door for women to race.
Robinson earned her first trophy in 1930 at the Flint 100 Endurance race and later made a record-setting transcontinental run with her husband. In 1935, Harley-Davidson asked her and her husband if they would like to run a dealership, which they ran in Detroit until 1971.
In 1940, Robinson won the famous Jack Pine Enduro race in the sidecar class, becoming the first woman to win in AMA national competition. She repeated the feat in 1946.
While attending the Laconia national in 1940, Robinson was approached by a New England rider about starting a women’s riding organization — and
Photo From The Collection Of Ann Ferrar
within a year the Motor Maids was established. The organization has been instrumental in convincing women to try motorcycling for themselves. Motor Maid activities were covered extensively with a monthly column for years in American Motorcyclist magazine.
In her later years, Robinson continued to travel extensively by motorcycle. When she passed in 1999 at age 87, she figured she had totaled a million and a half miles of riding.
Theresa Wallach
Explorer, Teacher, Mechanic and Military Veteran
Inducted: 2003
Theresa Wallach had an astounding life with motorcycles. Born in London in 1909, she learned to ride with friends and was taught by some of England’s top riders, making her a serious competitor, even if she struggled to gain notoriety in the maledominated British racing scene. (When she did compete — and win — in the 1920s, her parents made her hide her trophies, as female racers weren’t socially acceptable.)
In 1935, Wallach and her friend Florence Blenkiron embarked on an ambitious motorcycle journey on a 600cc single-cylinder Panther with a sidecar. The two rode from London to Cape Town, South Africa. Without any backup, they rode across the Sahara Desert and Equatorial Africa without even a compass.
Cris Sommer-Simmons
Founder of Harley Women, the first widely-distributed publication for women riders Inducted: 2003
Cris Sommer-Simmons has been actively promoting motorcycling through her roles as author, columnist, songwriter and motorcycle journalist.
At age 15, she already owned her own motorcycle and was riding and racing with the boys while defying norms and teaching her brothers how to ride.
In the early 1980s, Sommer-Simmons met Becky Brown, founder of Women in the Wind, and in 1983 helped organize the second chapter of the organization with a friend. She started producing a newsletter, which led to the idea of starting a magazine. Harley-Davidson backed the idea, and Harley Women was launched in 1985.
Traveling the country and attending rallies to sell subscriptions, SommerSimmons rode with luminaries such as Malcolm Forbes and Elizabeth Taylor. Eventually, she sold her interest in Harley Women and later met and married Pat Simmons of the Doobie Brothers.
Soon after she began working as a freelance motorcycle
journalist, writing extensively for prominent American publications as well as magazines in Japan, Spain and Australia, while continuing to advocate for female motorcyclists.
In 1988, she was awarded an Honorary Lifetime membership to Women in The Wind. In 1994, Sommer-Simmons wrote the award-winning children’s motorcycle book, Patrick Wants to Ride, for which she was honored with the AMA’s Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award. In 1996, she was featured in the documentary Biker Woman
Sommer-Simmons continues her advocacy work today and is regularly competing in the Motorcycle Cannonball and Cross Country Chase — two antique motorcycle riding competitions.
The trip made the women celebrities, and Wallach documented the journey in her book The Rugged Road
With her popularity, she was finally accepted into the British racing establishment and won the British Racing Club’s coveted Gold Star for circling the Brooklands circuit at over 100 mph — the first woman to earn that achievement.
During World War II she served as a dispatch rider for the British Army. After the war, Wallach road across America for two-and-a-half years, logging 32,000
miles. The American experience led her to move to Chicago and pursue a career as a mechanic. In 1959, she began her life as a motorcycle instructor.
In 1970, Wallach’s book Easy Motorcycle Riding was published and became a top seller. And with that came TV appearances and newspaper coverage. In 1973, she sold her shop and moved to Phoenix to open the Easy Riding Academy.
Wallach passed in 1999, and was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003.
ADVOCATES
Maggie McNally-Bradshaw
First woman to chair the AMA Board of Directors
Maggie McNally-Bradshaw started riding in 1981 in her home city of Albany, N.Y., when a friend said, “Girls can’t ride motorcycles.” She had her permit within a week.
In 1992, Maggie participated as a member of the local Women on Wheels chapter in a motorcycle training class. The class made a significant impact, and she was determined to become an MSF instructor, becoming a Rider Coach in 2007.
Due to her role in the InterMountain Area chapter of Women on Wheels, Maggie became highly active with AMA District 3, became the Road Division Chair, and later became an AMA Field Rep. In 2009, Maggie was accepted to fill an AMA Board of Directors vacancy for the Northeast Region, the third female ever
seated on the AMA Board. In February 2013, she became the first woman to chair the AMA’s Board of Directors, continuing in this role until 2020.
Maggie continues to promote the AMA and motorcycling as the AMA New York State chapter coordinator, a member of the AMA’s Recreational Riding Commission, and a participant in the specialty subcommission on women riders.
“I believe that female riders should embrace being considered riders that just happen to be female,” Maggie
Joe Grant
Tiffany Cipoletti
AMA Government Relations Manager for On-Highway Issues
Tiffany Cipoletti has been advocating for motorcycle rights long before she actually became a rider. After graduating college she began her 13-year-long career working for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, eventually handling legislative affairs for federal motorcycle issues. While at the MRF Cipoletti took a motorcycle training course, and as soon as her feet hit the pegs she knew she needed a bike.
After becoming an endorsed motorcycle rider she became active with the Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists, her local state motorcycle rights organization (SMRO). When the opportunity came to join AMA staff, she
felt it would allow her to help impact motorcycle issues on both the state and local level.
Some of the emerging issues she works on include autonomous vehicle and intelligent transportation systems, lane splitting, rider training and distracteddriving legislation.
Over the years, Cipoletti has watched as the female riding community has exploded, and hopes even more women will find empowerment through motorcycling.
“Motorcycles gave me independence, confidence, freedom and a love affair for the open-road that I am going to chase for the rest of my days,” she said.
Erin Reda
AMA Government Relations Grassroots Coordinator
As a longtime lover of motorcycles, Erin Reda has fond memories of riding to soccer games on the back of her father’s HarleyDavidson Fat Boy. When she started her own motorcycle journey in her junior year of undergraduate studies, she saved every penny she earned from her barista job to purchase a yellow Buell Blast.
After learning how to do basic maintenance on her bike, Erin developed a deep appreciation for Buells and upgraded to the XB9S Lightning that she’s riding today.
Erin is also the co-founder of MotoXmission, a service-focused motorcycle organization born out of a desire to help her community after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin has organized and lead solidarity rides, get-out-the vote events, community events and donation drives. Erin also serves as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative for Engines for Change.
Through her position as Grassroots Coordinator, Erin is the main point of contact for members seeking help from the AMA’s Government Relations Department.
“Being able to strengthen my passion for serving the motorcycle community through my role as the Grassroots Coordinator has been an incredible experience,” Erin said. “It’s inspiring to work with such accomplished riders and advocates every day!”
Erin graduated from The George Washington University where she studied international affairs with a concentration in global environmental policy.
Sandy Schaeffer
Heather Wilson
AMA Director of Member Activity
As Director of Member Activity, Heather Wilson and her team work with AMA-chartered organizers who host recreational riding events. They also coordinate the AMA’s volunteer programs, including recreational riding commissions and state chapters. Heather’s responsibilities additionally include overseeing the AMA National Adventure Riding Series, Beta AMA National Dual Sport Series, and AMA National Gypsy Tour.
Wilson grew up immersed in motorcycling, with her parents owning and operating a motorcycle dealership in central Ohio since 1977. Her childhood was spent with her family at enduros or camping and dirtbiking.
“Motorcycling is my passion,” she said, “I’m grateful that I get to spend my days working with AMA members, AMA-chartered organizers and other partners. I am committed to the continued progress of recreational riding, and enjoy helping AMA volunteers spread our mission.”
Heather currently rides a KTM Freeride 250R dirt bike and a KTM 690 Duke street bike. She is a chief trainer for Motorcycle Ohio, the state’s motorcycle safety program, as well as a Motorcycle Safety Foundationcertified instructor. She also volunteers with local motorcycle clubs.
Serena Van Dyke AMA
Recreational Riding Coordinator
Serena has been working for the AMA since 2000 and learned to ride shortly after that, despite wanting a motorcycle since the age of 16. In her position as Recreational Riding Coordinator she loves to engage with AMA members and clubs.
“It’s so wonderful to talk to such a diverse group of, literally, brothers and sisters who have a shared love and passion for motorcycles! No matter what our background is, where we came from, we can talk forever about motorcycles,” she said.
When working with clubs, Van Dyke especially likes helping to organize charity events that show the dedication motorcyclists have to their communities.
Serena admits that before she got into motorcycling, she held the typical stereotypes towards motorcyclists. Of course, they all wore leather and had tattoos.
“Once I started to research club history,” she said, “I found out that motorcycling was a family sport. Families were involved; mothers were involved. It was amazing to see the stereotypes in my head vanish.”
Serena has two children, Sarah and Adam. Her first bike was a Kawasaki Ninja and now she rides a Kawasaki KLR.
Ken Hill
being a bit unnerving, Kovacs already knew she needed a dirt bike of her own and purchased a little Honda XR100.
Not only had she discovered riding, but she was fascinated with the history of motorcycling after she visited the AMA Hall of Fame Museum — a place she didn’t know existed despite growing up some 15 miles away. After that experience she started working part-time on the weekends at the museum and jumped at the chance when the AMA had a position open in the racing department.
Racing was a perfect fit for her, as she naturally has a competitive streak and was determined to up her game and start competing.
“My first race was an AMA-sanctioned Full Gas Sprint Enduro,” she said, “which was super challenging, both physically and mentally. But it was a great first experience!” She has since participated in Grand Prix events and would one day like to complete in a Grand National Cross Country race.
“I am pressing forward, trying to go faster and faster and learn all I can,” she said. “It feels like such an accomplishment on every ride and race.”
When not competing she loves to trail ride through Ohio’s Wayne National Forest and Perry State Forest. She also loves to go antiquing with her husband — “treasure hunting” they call it — to decorate their 1873 Victorian home in nearby Marietta.
THE DREAM TEAM
Women continue to be an integral part of the AMA, not only as members but also on the administrative and operational sides. We greatly appreciate all that the ladies on our staff contribute to the AMA’s mission to protect the future of motorcycling and promote the motorcycle lifestyle. They bring expertise and professionalism to multiple areas of the organization. In addition to the women we’ve featured, we wanted to take the opportunity to recognize all of these wonderful ladies in this very special women-themed issue.
Lynette Cox Marketing Manager
Deb D’Andrea Data Entry Representative (working with the AMA since 1973)
Olivia Davis Racing Coordinator
Amanda Donchess Director of Membership Marketing and Services
Karen Esposito Accounting Manager
Connie Fleming Supercross/FIM Coordinator (celebrating 41 years with the AMA this year)
Gina Gaston Web Developer
Stephanie McCormick Member Services Representative
Vickie Park Member Services Representative
Tiffany Pound Member Services Manager
Paula Schremser Program Specialist
Danielle Smith Human Resources Manager/Assistant to COO
Ellen Wenning Member Services Representative
RACERS
Jody Perewitz
Custom painter, vintage racer, and the first female to top 200 mph on an American V-twin
It all started with a little Honda Z50 when Jody Perewitz was just a kid. “I was on it as soon as I could walk,” she told American Motorcyclist, “and I’ve been on two wheels ever since.”
After college, Jody started working for her father — Hall of Famer and renowned custom builder Dave Perewitz — who she calls her biggest supporter and inspiration, helping out at the shop. But everything changed when she gifted her father a trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
“He’d never been there” she said, “so I gave him the trip for Christmas that year. He said, ‘Well, we can’t go and not race,’ so I said I’d ride the bike. We had a bunch of good people and manufacturers behind us, built a bike, and got out there in 2011.”
“We don’t build race bikes,” she continued, “so this was a whole new ballgame for us. We were complete rookies to racing and the salt, but so many people helped us out. I still get
goosebumps talking about it. The salt flats are like no other place, but on our first try we set records and got in the 200-mph Club. I was the first female to go over 200 mph on an American V-twin… such a humbling experience.”
After that successful initiation she continued doing land-speed events, and now holds 16 records. She’s also tested her chops in endurance riding, becoming one of three women to complete all the miles on the Cross Country Chase and competing in the Motorcycle Cannonball aboard a 1936 Harley-Davidson. “The Cannonball was on my radar for some time, and I like challenges. It was female versus machine, and I did it!”
She’s also taken her love for old bikes to the track, racing vintage bikes at Sons
of Speed. “It’s is like boardtrack racing with no brakes and no gears,” she told us. “You’ve got to stay aware of the other racers and the bikes and banks and corners, and you’re on rickety 100-year-old motorcycles with no suspension going 70-75 mph.”
When she’s not setting records or taking off on cross-country endurance rides, she continues to work in her dad’s shop, helping with marketing but also doing her own paint work. “My dad’s been known for his paint, and I’ve started painting on my own,” Jody said. “My dad pushes me. He’s my biggest supporter, and I am his!” — Joy Burgess
When she’s not setting land-speed records or taking cross-country tips, Jody races vintage bikes in the Sons of Speed vintage series. Above, taking the checkers after a lap around the New Smyrna Speedway.
Michael
Keegan
Brian Helm
“You will never find a better feeling than racing a dirt bike,” Jordan told us.
Jordan Jarvis
Privateer motocross racer and 2018 AMA Female Rider of the Year
While Doreen Payne made it to an AMA National Motocross event back in 1983, that was at a time when Nationals were split into 125, 250 and 500cc classes, and timed qualifying didn’t exist. It would take 36 years for another female — Jordan Jarvis — to make the cut in an outdoor Pro Motocross event.
Arguably the most accomplished female motocrosser to-date, she’s won every 2019 and 2020 Supercross Futures Women’s race, is a nine-time AMA National Champion, and has raced her way to over 50 major event wins — including six AMA MX National Championships at Loretta Lynn’s — through her career.
The 2018 AMA Female Rider of the Year, who rides for the SGB Racing/ Maxxis/Babbitt’s Online Kawasaki team, didn’t spend her teens at a training
facility like many young racers do. The privateer went to a regular school, which meant she spent most of her teen years riding only on the weekends, which makes her achievements even more extraordinary.
“You will never find a better feeling than racing a dirt bike.”
Going from weekend warrior to fulltime racer, her goal was to do something that only one other woman had done in the past…race in the AMA Supercross 250SX class for 2021. She earned her Supercross license, but after a crash early this year that resulted in a head injury, she decided it was the safest decision to sit the season out and come back strong in 2022. And it’s a good bet she’ll be back.
Her love of racing quickly becomes obvious when you talk to her. “Riding is the best feeling in the world,” she said,
Along with breaking barriers in the sport, Jordan inspires and helps other young women hone their skills as an instructor at Camp Makeup2Mud.
“For the women or girls who want to ride or race,” she told American Motorcyclist, “I say go for it! Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t or can’t, because I promise you anything is possible. You’ll have to work for it, but it’ll be worth it. Fight for what you want, remember how awesome you are, and chase those dreams.” — Joy Burgess
David Lando David Lando
“The atmosphere in the racing community has always been my favorite part,” Tayla said. “You can head to the track and not know anyone, but by the end of the day you’ve made a bunch of new friendships.”
Tayla Jones
Off-road racer, three-time GNCC WXC champion and six-time ISDE Women’s World Cup champ
Originally from Australia, Tayla Jones started riding dirt bikes at age three and racing at age four. While she started out racing dirt track and motocross as a kid, she moved to off-road racing at the age of 16, becoming an off-road champion before moving to the United States.
“I grew up racing dirt bikes with my family,” Tayla told American Motorcyclist, “and the whole atmosphere in the racing community has always been my favorite part. You can head to the track and not know anyone, but by the end of the day you’ve made a bunch of new friendships that’ll probably last a lifetime.”
The 25-year-old moved to America in 2017 to race in the GNCC WXC series, and since then she’s won three GNCC WXC championships. She’s also racked up an additional four Full Gas Sprint Enduro championships, won the
National Enduro Championship twice, and was named the AMA Female Racer of the Year in 2017.
Tayla also won the first FIM North American eMTB Women’s class championship, which took place at Loretta Lynn’s. She beat her competitors by a full lap to land on the top podium step despite the carnage caused by extremely muddy conditions.
Currently riding for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, Tayla remembers when the WXC lineup at the GNCCs was fairly small, but she’s been excited to watch the ranks of women growing at the races. She’s constantly encouraging more women to get out there and give racing a try.
“My advice for any girls who want to race,” she said, “is don’t be afraid to get started. We all start somewhere, so jump
right in and do it! The community is there to help if you reach out. Dirt bikes can take you anywhere, and you’ll find that it’s an amazing experience no matter what level you are at.” — Joy Burgess
Darron Chapman
Jeff Guciardo
Becca Sheets
Two-time GNCC WXC Champion and 2019 ISDE Women’s World Cup champ
“I love racing my dirt bike,” Becca Sheets told American Motorcyclist, “and it’s the only thing in my life I’ve practiced consistently through every stage of my life.”
Becca grew up around bikes, watching her dad race motocross. She asked for a dirt bike of her own for her seventh birthday and has been racing ever since. While she started racing motocross, she transitioned to off-road racing in 2011, and the almost-28-year-old now has 21 years of racing under her belt.
“It’s my place of peace,” she said, “even though it has its consequences sometimes.” And while she’s made plenty of friendships and memories on dirt bikes, it wasn’t always easy.
At her first GNCC race after switching
to off-road racing, Becca remembers being lapped by KTM-supported rider Maria Forsberg, who dominated the women’s class at the time. “I wasn’t good at racing off-road,” she told GNCC Racing, “but I kept racing…and kept getting better each year.”
Finally, that hard work and determination paid off. In 2016, she won the GNCC WXC Championship, was named AMA Female Athlete of the Year and won the 2016 GNCC Bad Ass award. While the competition has only gotten fiercer in the class, she won the GNCC WXC Championship again in 2020.
The two-time ISDE gold medalist and 2019 ISDE Women’s World Cup champion loves seeing more women getting involved in off-road racing these
Along with taking home championship wins (below), Becca spends time helping other women who want to race, instructing at several of her own riding schools each year.
days. “I laugh in my head when I think about the professional level of women in off-road racing,” she said, “and how fast we ride these crazy, 230-pound machines through trees and other riders. We all must really love racing to be willing to take the risks we do. But I’m just thankful the Lord has allowed me to live a life in such a fun sport while I’m here!”
“If you want to race and be a pro racer in the off-road circuits,” she says to women, “GO for it! Be aware that it’s a rough and bumpy road, though, and you won’t get rich doing it, so you’ve got to love it and the people who help you along the way. It’s all about constantly improving, but there are no limits on what you can do!” — Joy Burgess
Mack
Faint
Erin Sills
25-time land-speed motorcycle record holder, and three-time Guinness World Book record holder
“Land-speed racing is the most extreme sport that very few people have heard of,” Erin Sills told American Motorcyclist. “Women and men race equally against one another, not to beat the person next to them on a track, but to beat history.”
And Erin has beat history multiple times, with more than 25 World and American National land-speed records to her name, as well as three Guinness World Book records. She’s also the owner of Hunter Sills Racing, which races 1000cc BMW motorcycles on the Bonneville Salt Flats and elsewhere around the globe. Erin and her team hold more records in the 1000cc class than any other team.
“Motorcycling gives me focus,” she said, “and brings my mind a clarity that is hard to find in an otherwise cluttered world. I think most clearly when I’m riding, and that makes the bike an incredibly peaceful place to be.”
That focus paid off for Erin, as she’s a member of the Bonneville and El Mirage 200-mph Clubs, as well as the Mojave 200-mph Club, where she recorded her fastest speed to date — 242 mph.
The 2014 AMA Female Racer of the Year has racked up plenty of accolades through her career, not just in the motorcycle industry but also in the business world. Erin serves on the AMA Specialist Sport
Land-speed racing, according to Erin, involves “men and women [racing] equally against one another, not to beat the person next to them on a track, but to beat history.” And she’s beaten history a whopping 25 times.
Commission, the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation board, and the FIM Women in Sports Commission.
An advocate for women in motorcycling, she’s the co-chairwoman of WomenRidersNow.com. Erin also founded the sheEmoto Scholarship designed to support women in this sport, which has awarded more than $25,000 to female recipients, working to grow the sport of land-speed racing.
With more than 300,000 miles of riding under her belt since she started seriously riding at the age of 35, she has plenty of advice for newer riders. “First, wear earplugs!” she says. “Reducing wind noise will have a calming effect on your riding. Second, choose the best bike for you, for now. You may outgrow it in six months, or never; but don’t buy something that’s over your head or current skill level. Last, ride your own ride…always!” — Joy Burgess
MKinderis Photography
Phil Hawkins
Kayla Yaakov
With over 370 wins under her belt, Kayla heads to MotoAmerica in 2021 and will have the honor of carrying Nicky Haden’s No. 69 as she races out of the World Superbike paddock in Europe.
With more than 370 wins, this soon-to-be-14-year-old is heading to MotoAmerica — and Europe — in 2021
It’s hard to believe that 13-going-on14-year-old Kayla Yaakov has been riding for nearly a decade and racing for almost nine years, taking on semi-pro and pro road racers by the age of 10. She got her start on a Suzuki 50, stumbled across some of her dad’s old racing videos, and then decided she wanted to try it herself. “I started at five,” she told me some time ago, “and I’ve loved it ever since.”
What does the Gettysburg, Penn., native love about racing? “I love the competition from the other riders,” she told American Motorcyclist, “and it keeps me focused daily on my long-term goals.”
A look at Kayla’s racing history might make you wonder what long-term goals this girl still has, as she’s already
accomplished more than many adults. She’s racked up 373 wins, won multiple national championships — four in 2020 alone, including the AMA Lightweight Superbike Grand National Championship — and now she’s got her focus on joining the Bartcon Racing team for the 2021 MotoAmerica season once she turns 14. Her first pro race will be the weekend of her birthday in July at the Ridge Motorsports Park near Seattle, and to say she’s stoked is an understatement. “I’m super pumped to have joined Bartcon Racing for the MotoAmerica season,” she said, and there’s more to be excited about.
Kayla also will be racing with the American Racing Team internationally
in Europe, racing out of the World Superbike Paddock at 12 races across six different European countries. She’ll be proudly carrying Nicky Hayden’s No. 69 on her bike, something that would be super-special for any racer.
“It’s a huge honor to represent America running Nicky’s number,” Kayla mentioned. “He was our last American World Champion, a great person, and his brother Roger has helped me so much with my riding. I’m grateful for this opportunity to race in Europe and for the support from John Hopkins.”
More than a year ago, Kayla told this author, “My goals are to race pro here in the United States [MotoAmerica] and, hopefully, get an opportunity to race in world events overseas.”
Those dreams are already coming true for her, and as one of the most dynamic young racers the world has seen in some time, it’s gonna be fun to see what Kayla achieves next! — Joy Burgess
Marty Matuszak
Jillian Deschenes
Flat track racer in Royal Enfield’s Build Train Race program
From the state of Minnesota, 31-yearold Jillian Deschenes — who’s mom to a feisty and independent 9-year-old daughter and spends her days working as a hospice nurse — started riding at the age of four when her dad brought home a vintage 50cc minibike. In no time she and it became inseparable.
“We had a makeshift mx track in the backyard most of my life,” Jillian told us, “and my family and I were participating in local motocross events in local District 23 until I was 12.”
After an 18-year break from motorsports, her now fiancé — Erik Moldenhauer — took her to a flat track race at the Cedar Lake Arena in Wisconsin. It didn’t take long until she was out there turning left.
In her second year of racing Jillian won the District 23 AMA Flat Track Women’s Championship, and it wasn’t long until Royal Enfield reached out to her, asking her to become part of its Build Train Race (BTR) program, which involves taking a production-
spec Royal Enfield Mark III INT 650 Twin, transforming it into a flat tracker on small budget, and then racing at American Flat Track exhibition races.
“When they presented the opportunity,” she told us, “I thought, ‘Are you sure?’ I had no bike-building experience, but decided there was nothing to lose. I was able to build myself a mean racing machine, and I had the chance to compete in events I never imagined possible.”
As part of the 2020 BTR program Jillian won three of the four AFT exhibition races. “When I took that first win,” she remembers, “I was excited for my build and all the sponsors behind me.
Jillian balances her flat track training and racing schedule with a nursing career and raising a “feisty and independent 9-year-old daughter.”
The bike didn’t just turn heads, it was a race bike that let me lay down serious lap times.”
“I love riding and racing motorcycles,” she continued, “because of the way it pushes and challenges me both physically and emotionally. As I get older I realize how important it is to have something in your life that sparks joy and happiness.”
For other women who want to learn to ride or race, she has one piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to go out and make a fool of yourself! We all start somewhere. Be brave enough to try something new.” — Joy Burgess
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Jessi Combs
Fastest woman on four wheels, metal fabricator, bike builder and two-wheel trailblazer
“I’m Jessi Combs and I do a lot of really rad stuff,” Jessi said in an uncut interview with Hoonigan released in full after her passing.
A lot of really rad stuff? That’s an understatement for the girl born in Rapid City, South Dakota who attended her first Sturgis Motorcycle Rally when she was a few days old. Ask women across the motorcycle industry who inspires them and you’ll hear Jessi’s name often.
“The first person I think of is Jessi Combs,” custom bike builder J. Shia told me. “She was a point person to talk to about my building career, and she’s one of the most important women in the motorcycle industry… in the women’s movement in general.”
Jessi dreamed of being a racer from the time she was small, and as an adult started her own metal fabrication shop building motorcycles, hot rods, race
“There are no limits for gender,” Jessi said, and she lived a life that backed that up, leading to a question that’s become popular with the Jessi Combs Foundation and women around the world: What would Jessi do?
vehicles and more. An accomplished welder who worked to teach more women how to weld and work on their own bikes (and cars), she developed an entire line of protective welding gear for women in 2008.
Jessi’s love for motorcycles was evident when she published her first children’s book, Joey and the Chopper Boys, a story about a young girl who rides motorcycles. She also became the first woman to be named Grand Marshal of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2017.
A well-known TV personality, Jessi appeared on shows like Overhaulin’, Mythbusters, and All Girls Garage, yet that fame never kept her from doing what she loved most, helping women. When asked what she got out of her projects with women, she once commented, “What I get out of this is I get to see other girls kick ass at life.”
“To know Jessi,” said Ride Wild founder Kelly Yazdi, “was to know a legend, a true trailblazer and dream walker. To be friends with her was like having a magical being of magnificent love by your side reminding you that the sky’s the limit.”
Jessi passed away on Aug. 27, 2019, while achieving her dream of setting a new overall women’s land speed record on four wheels, doing 522.783 mph. Just a few weeks later, The Jessi Combs Foundation was created with the mission to “educate, inspire and empower the next generation of female trailblazers and stereotype-breakers.”
“If I die today,” Jessi once said, “this is the testament I want made: there are no limits for gender!” — Joy Burgess
Porsche Taylor, who’s an Indian brand ambassador, and her custom Indian Challenger.
Porsche Taylor
Founder and publisher of Black Girls Ride magazine and Indian Motorcycle ambassador
“I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Porsche Taylor remembered when speaking about diving into the motorcycle industry and fostering community among women riders — specifically women of color — at a recent Women’s Motorcycle Conference. And it was that determined attitude that fueled her success in branding and event promotion in music and sports marketing, as well as her continued success in the motorcycle industry as the founder and publisher of Black Girls Ride
Born in Honolulu, raised in Los Angeles and educated at the UCLA, Porsche spent time working with A&M Records and then worked at Adidas as the entertainment marketing manager, making a name for herself in the industry by building relationships and promotional campaigns
with some of today’s hottest hip hop, pop and rock music stars.
In 2003, Porsche got the motorcycle bug after watching the movie Biker Boyz, deciding that being a passenger wasn’t enough for her. “I was struck by the power of the machines and the culture of riding itself…it was about community and connecting with others. Once I bought my first bike I knew my life would never be the same. I wanted more women — more Black women at that — to experience that same sense of adventure and independence.”
Since she first jumped on two wheels, she’s taken dozens of cross-country trips and has thousands of miles in her rearview mirror.
She went on to create Black Girls Ride in 2011, and notes that while the magazine
is an inclusive celebration of all women who live to ride, she started the magazine because she felt there were more women of color riding than the community admitted to and very little representation in mainstream media. The movement has become more than a publication, now hosting workshops, training classes and events like the Beautiful Bikers Conference and the Annual Black Girls Ride to Essence Fest.
Along with running Black Girls Ride, Porsche is also part of Polaris’ Empowersports Women’s Riding Council, serving as an ambassador for the company’s brands, including Polaris Adventure and Indian Motorcycle. There’s a good chance you’ve spotted her at some point in videos, TV appearances or commercials, but she’s often found riding coast-to-coast on epic journeys aboard her custom Indian Challenger. Her goal: “Live life unapologetically and always inspire women to ride outside of their comfort zone.” — Joy Burgess
Bree Poland
Royal Enfield Marketing Lead for the Americas Region and Global Brand Manager for the Continental GT Platform
Bree Poland has always been around motorcycles, riding motocross in her younger years. But her first step into the motorsports industry was at the age of 19 when she got involved in promotional modeling and joined what was then known as the American Road Racing series as an umbrella girl.
“I worked myself up through the paddock,” Bree said, “doing communications, managing hospitality and public relations.”
Later, she moved on to manage the GEICO RMR Road Racing program, and eventually owned her own race team, one of the only females in the history of roadracing to ever own a team. She then focused her attention on building motorcycle events and spent time
working with professional road racer
Melissa Paris as she raced overseas.
“Six years ago,” Bree told American Motorcyclist, “Royal Enfield made a significant investment into becoming a global brand, and that led to the first wholly-owned subsidiary being opened, which happened to be in North America. I was the fourth employee they brought on, and my journey with RE has been extremely rewarding professionally and personally.”
While she started working with RE on digital, events and public relations, Bree now is the Marketing Lead for the Americas Region, as well as the Global Brand Manager for the RE Continental GT Platform, one of the highest-ranking women working for an OEM these days.
As a part of leading the RE charge in the Americas, Bree is involved in the management of the Moto Anatomy/Royal Enfield flat track team, racing in the American Flat Track Production Twins class in 2021. She’s also heading up the Build Train Race flat track and road racing programs, which provide selected women with a Royal Enfield Mark III INT 650 Twin, gives them a stipend to customize the bike and some racing instruction. The BTR flat track program will have exhibition races at AFT events (as they did in 2020), while the BTR road racing program will race at select MotoAmerica events in 2021.
Bree has a lot on her plate. “Maybe 10 years from now I’m gonna need some sleep,” she laughs, “but at the beginning of the day and at the end I’m a motorcyclist, and I want to be a part of the best form of expression there is, keeping and bringing more people onto two wheels.” — Joy Burgess
Bree Poland (fourth from right) along with some of the Build Train Race crew in 2020.
Brandon Lajoie
Kelli Yazdi and Rachael Silver
Best friends overcome personal loss to promote motorsports and sisterhood through Ride Wild
Kelly Yazdi — event producer, brand ambassador, motorcycle stuntwoman and special projects manager — founded Wild Gypsy Tour in 2017, which started out as a women’s exclusive motorcycle festival and campout that took place at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip.
“What started as an annual event,” Kelly told American Motorcyclist , “turned into a movement focused on building the motorsports community, supporting women and providing opportunities for adventure.”
“In 2019,” she continued, “my best friend Rachael Silver — who previously spent three years at Red Bull in corporate finance — got on board and helped me out at Sturgis, and in 2020 we made it official. In the middle of a pandemic we put our heads together, decided to use that time to rebrand, and she was instrumental in helping me
turn Wild Gypsy Tour into Ride Wild. It’s really become a product of our friendship and sisterhood.”
Today, Ride Wild is a communitysupported series of powersports events and outdoor adventures that work to empower women and encourage community through adventure-lifestyle events that not only include plenty of riding, but also a complete ecosystem of experiences designed to promote wellness, philanthropy and camaraderie.
For Kelly and Rachael, the ideas of sisterhood and adventure go way back to when they were kids. “We both grew up in Minnesota,” Rachael mentioned, “and we’ve known each other since we were about 12. In the backdrop of our friendship, there’s always been this element of outdoor adventure. I learned to ride ATVs and Kelly got on them with me. That turned into dirt bikes and Kelly
Kelly Yazdi (below) and Rachael Silver (right) are best friends and partners in crime, and Ride Wild has become a product of their extraordinary friendship and sisterhood.
getting her motorcycle license at 18. We’ve just always shared our stories and our lives.”
Sharing each other’s stories and lives has meant being there for each other through personal loss. Both Kelly and Rachael lost their older sisters at different stages in their lives, something that’s perhaps subconsciously driven their efforts to create sisterhood for other women who ride.
“We’ve poured our hearts and experiences, subconsciously, into Ride Wild” Rachael said, “and that feeling of sisterhood is palpable when we’re at events helping other women along their journey. We’ve reflected on our relationships with our own sisters and tried to create a space that’s about unconditional love. In honoring the relationships we’ve had with our sisters as well as our own extraordinary friendship, I think that authenticity spills into our events.” — Joy Burgess
Ride Wild/Amanda
Rau
Ride
Wild
Marilyn Stemp
Author, Editor, Ambassador and Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall-of-Famer
When Marilyn Stemp and her late husband Dennis founded IronWorks magazine in 1989, the two had little experience in publishing. But what they did have was an entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to create a wholesome magazine that positively promoted motorcycling.
“In the late 1980s, there really weren’t V-twin-oriented magazines out there that we wanted to have in our home, or that we would be comfortable with our mothers seeing,” Marilyn told American Motorcyclist. “You didn’t need to be famous to be in IronWorks. We just appreciated authenticity and those who rode for the love of it.”
And the Stemps already had a perfect recipe for that. Marilyn had a journalism degree from Penn State and was adept with a camera, while Dennis had a deep understanding of the industry, was an artist and had a knack for design.
While the two shared a love for motorcycles, going on long rides aboard Dennis’ Harley-Davidson Panhead when they first started dating, Marilyn was unfamiliar with the subject matter — but knew how to capture the human element of motorcycling.
“Dennis dragged me kicking and screaming into the subject matter, but with my journalism background I knew I could write about anything as long as I was willing to learn,” Marilyn said. “Basic journalism training teaches you to dig a little deeper and learn the story behind the bike so that you grasp the more ephemeral concepts to tell the story properly.”
Over the next decade, IronWorks took off. And while it wasn’t the largest
V-Twin-oriented magazine in circulation, it stayed true to its mission of highlighting everyday readers, writers and builders.
When Dennis passed in 2000, Marilyn became the first female editor of a nationally-circulated, mainstream motorcycle magazine — a position she held for the next 14 years. While his passing was tragically premature, Marilyn had found a family in the motorcycling community, or as she put it, “my brothers and sisters of the road.”
In 2014, after the magazine stopped printing, Marilyn formed Iron Trader News online. Around that time she also started working for the Sturgis Buffalo Chip, putting out a daily newspaper for attendees of the rally and arranging some of the rally’s most prestigious bike shows.
In 2019 she became a National Ambassador for All Kids Bike, and also edited Gloria Tramontin Struck’s autobiography. — Kali Kotoski
Marilyn Stemp, always with a smile, checking out the recently restored Big Red — Evel Knievel’s 18-wheeler semi-trailer rig he lived and traveled in during stunt tours.
Mary Grothe
Motorcycle racing photographer, and a whole lot more
Few images in sports are more compelling than a great snap of a racing motorcycle doing its thing at speed. The very best shots communicate a race bike’s speed, power and visceral danger in a single click of the shutter, and one of the best clickers during the 1970s — the golden years of professional roadracing and dirttrack competition — was Mary Grothe of Virginia, who passed away Jan. 25 at the age of 75.
Grothe, who earned a nursing degree but found art and photography more interesting (she studied post-grad at the Corcoran School of Art), began photographing motorcycle road racing when husband Rolland and brother Scotty Seegers became involved in the sport in the late 1960s. She traveled the club scene, shot photos, did her darkroom magic between events and found plenty of
willing customers at the next race, though she charged very little for her prints. Sharing her images with the racers and seeing their excitement was much more important to Grothe than sales, as she knew most could barely afford gas and tires for their bikes.
By the early 1970s she was also photographing AMA nationals and contributing to Cycle News and other magazines, and quickly became one of the country’s top motorcycle photographers. She was also dearly loved by the east coast and Midwest roadracing establishment for her efforts.
“Mary Grothe is one of the finest people I’ve ever met,” says road racer, architect and Virginia resident Patrick Bodden, “as well as a talented and dedicated photographer. Mary didn’t just produce excellent photographs of racers;
One of Mary Grothe’s most popular photo subjects was Wes Cooley, shown here on a Kawasaki Z1 Superbike back in the early 1970s.
she saw value in — and documented — a type of vibrant racing we won’t see again… the east coast club-racing scene.”
Some of road racing’s most memorable shots came from Grothe’s cameras, including the famous Wes Cooley Wave image from Road Atlanta, but photography was not her only thing. Grothe was also an active conservationist for the rural lands spanning Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Clarke counties in Virginia, and volunteered for the Clarke County Historical Association in its efforts to preserve historical sites and natural habitats.
Fortunately, a large collection of Grothe’s work has been donated to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Ala., where it can be seen and preserved into perpetuity. And that’s fitting. — Mitch Boehm
Wendy Crockett
Long-distance rider, first woman to win an Iron Butt Rally, and winner
of the AMA’s 2020 Bessie Stringfield Award
Wendy Crockett started doing longdistance riding way before she even knew “long-distance riding” existed. “I was simply happiest when I was in the saddle,” she told American Motorcyclist, “and the destination was typically just an excuse. I’d ride as far as I could on a weekend before I had to turn around and be back at work on Monday, often with no plan beyond seeing how many new roads I could travel.”
The factory-certified powersports technician, who owned her own service center for a decade, has been riding for 25 years and has come close to racking up 750,000 miles on two wheels. It wasn’t until 2006 that she started her official long-distance riding career, doing an Iron
Butt Association 50CC Quest [which stands for a coast-to-coast run in 50 hours] aboard her Yamaha FZ1.
She caught the bug, going on to do her first endurance rally in 2009, and since then has completed 15 rallies and dozens of certified long-distance rides. In 13 of those rallies, she placed in the top ten, taking a podium spot in six.
Wendy’s completed more Iron Butt rallies than any other woman, and became the first woman to win an Iron Butt Rally in 2019, riding nearly 13,000 miles in 11 days.
In 2020, she was awarded the AMA’s 2020 Bessie Stringfield Award — an award commemorating the accomplishments of AMA Hall of Famer Bessie Stringfield
Wendy Crockett caught the longdistance riding bug and has completed 15 rallies and dozens of long-distance rides, and in 2019 became the first woman to win an Iron Butt Rally.
(also known for her distance riding) — in recognition of her efforts to introduce motorcycling to emerging markets.
While distance riding may not be for everyone, it’s something she encourages women — and men — to try. “It’s incredible how many people go from ‘I could never ride 1,000 miles in a day’ to total long-distance converts. Plan your own ride, sign up for a Grand Tour, or find a local rally knowing that you’ll find a fun, supportive group of riders happy to give you pointers and show you the ropes. And you just might find your next greatest passion.”
For her, rallying is her Zen…her release. “Rally riding is not for everyone,” Wendy reflects, “but it’s right for me. Any excuse to be out there leaning, twisting, seeing, feeling … any opportunity to be overwhelmed by the majesty of it all and thoroughly experience the precise splendor of that solitary moment … This is why I rally!” — Joy Burgess
“Sometimes our culture glorifies the ‘you only live once, take chances’ idea,” Brittany Morrow told American Motorcyclist, “but I’m sorta on the other side of that…the person who says, ‘here’s what happens when things go wrong.’ The poster child for bad decisions.”
“I was the 20-year-old girl who got on the back of a motorcycle with a guy I barely knew,” she continued, and the decision to jump on a bike without proper gear had consequences that would change her life.
In 2005, while cruising at speed on the highway, a rush of wind ripped Brittany off the back of her friend’s sport bike, resulting in a 522-foot tumble down the pavement. Wearing no protective gear but
a helmet, she was literally skinned alive, losing so much skin that she required multiple full-thickness skin grafts from the only two places on her body that hadn’t received abrasions — her thighs.
Despite pain so intense the thought of it still made her feel sick, just nine months later Brittany purchased her very first motorcycle, taking several motorcycle training classes within her first year as a rider.
In 2006, she told her story and it went viral, and since then she’s told her story again and again in an effort to help people make educated, safer gear decisions.
“I’m more than this story,” she told us, “but everything I’ve done is built off this foundation. I wanted to make wearing
safety apparel cool. At first, I wanted to save everyone, but I realized I don’t save lives, I only give people what I know from my own experience. It’s been rewarding to get emails from people who have read or heard my story, wore more gear, crashed, and walked away okay.”
Brittany was the director of the Women’s Sportbike Rally for five years. She’s changing things up for 2021 with the new Revvolution Rally, which will first be held at Deals Gap Sept. 9-12. These new rallies will focus on highlighting exciting destinations, supporting local businesses, and fueling mototourism.
Whether it’s teaching new riders, telling her story, or organizing events, Brittany always has a message for women: “We need to make decisions rooted in love and respect for ourselves and our families. We’re all worth making sure we ride in a way that gives us a chance if something goes wrong, which is why I will never stop telling my story!” — Joy Burgess
“At first I wanted to save everyone,” Brittany Morrow said, “but I realize I don’t save lives; I only give people what I know from my own experience.”
MAKE IT YOURS
The AMA offers a variety of card types and designs for members. In addition to our standard card, we offer a number of themed cards that identify you as belonging to a specific group or speak to your passion as a motorcyclist.
Call (800) AMA-JOIN (2625646) to request an affinity card at any time, at no additional cost.
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NORTH CAROLINA
Motocross: May 29-30. Henderson. Middle Atlantic Motocross Association, Inc. (302) 540-3849
Track Day: May 29-30. Garysburg. Ruts to Racelines. (410) 808-1541 rutstoracelines.com
Nov. 6-7. Howlin’ at the Moon. Prescott Valley, Ariz. Arizona Trail Riders. (602) 692-9382 arizonatrailriders.com
Nov. 26-27. L.A. - Barstow to Vegas. Palmdale, Calif. AMA District 37 Dual Sport. (626) 446-7386 labarstowvegas.com
AMA National Gypsy Tour. americanmotorcyclist.com/gypsytour Laconia Motorcycle Week. June 12-20. Laconia, N.H.
AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. July 23-25. Lexington, Ohio
AMA Grand Tours. americanmotorcyclist.com/grandtours
March 15 - November 15. Texas. Motorcycle Grand Tour Of Texas. (210) 777-1434 mcgttx.com
January 15 - November 30. California. California Adventure Series
Southern California Motorcycle Association. (818) 397-5738 sc-ma.com
January 15 - November 30. USA Four Corners Tour. Southern California Motorcycle Association. (805) 889-5220 sc-ma.com
January 15 - November 30. USA Best 15 US Roads Challenge. Southern California Motorcycle Association. sc-ma.com
HALL OF FAME EVENTS AND EXHIBITS
AMA Motorcycle Hall Of Fame. americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame is on the AMA campus in Pickerington, Ohio, and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Closed: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Main Hall: Now featuring the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees, the main floor celebrates the heroes of the track, road, trails and halls of government who have elevated the sport, business and lifestyle of motorcycling to new heights.
Founder’s Hall: Honoring the Hall of Fame’s generous contributors.
The Birth of a Hurricane: How Hall of Famer Craig
Vetter reimagined BSA for an American market. Sam Swope: Motorcycles that represent the generous, charitable giving of motorcyclist and philanthropist Sam Swope.
Lords of the Board Track: Board-track racing was one of the earliest formal motorcycleracing disciplines. It featured man and machine speeding around a simple wooden track while huge crowds cheered them on. Learn why this form of racing dropped from sight almost as quickly as it emerged. Learn about the racers who dared to compete in this exhilarating sport and watch a video of actual racing from 1921.
AMA Trademarks
The following represents active, registered trademarks, trademarks and service marks of American Motorcyclist Association, Inc. (AMA). Usage of any AMA trademark or registered trademark without our permission is prohibited. Please contact jholter@ ama-cycle.org for more information or assistance.
(800) AMA-JOIN® • AMA Dragbike® • AMA Endurocross®
AMA Motorhead® • AMA Pro Grand National Championship®
AMA Pro Racing® • AMA Race Center™ • AMA Racer®
AMA Racing® • AMA Racing Land Speed Grand Championships®
AMA Supermoto® • AMA Supercross® • AMA SX Lites®
AMA U.S. ISDE Team™ • AMA U.S. Jr. Motocross Team™
AMA U.S. Motocross Team™ • Amateur National Motocross Championships® • American Motorcyclist Association® Arenacross® • ATV Hare Scrambles National Championship Series® • ATV Motocross National Championship Series® Flat Track Grand Championships™ • Grand National Enduro Championship® • Gypsy Tour® Hare & Hound National Championship Series® • Hare Scrambles Championship Series® Hare Scrambles National Championship Series® • Kids Just Want To Ride® • Motorcycle Hall of Fame® • Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum® • Motorcyclist of the Year® • Motostars® • National Adventure Riding Series® • National Dual-Sport Series® National Enduro Championship Series® • Protect Your Right to Ride® • Protecting Your Right to Ride® • Ride Straight® Rights. Riding. Racing.® • Road Race Grand Championships® Vintage Grand Championships® • Vintage Motorcycle Days® Vote Like A Motorcyclist®
RA SADDLESORE ROOKIE NO MORE
By Whitney Meza
iding 1,000 miles in 24 hours — which the Iron Butt Association (ironbutt.com) calls a “SaddleSore 1000” — is no-biggie for a lot of AMA members, I’m sure. But for me, a complete long-distance-riding rookie, doing the IBA’s Lake Michigan 1,000 was a serious challenge — though the promise of some two-wheeled adventure had me thinking, “why not?”
Going in, I was pretty naïve about the whole thing, and had only my 2003 H-D 883 Sportster Custom, which goes maybe 125 miles on a tank of gas, to ride. Challenge number one, right there.
I’d done 500 and 600 miles in a day before around the rustic roads of Wisconsin, which is where I call home. What was another 400 miles? It shouldn’t take me too long, I figured. Challenge number two. Yep, I was super naïve!
Before taking off I went into full-scale nerd mode, watching every Iron Butt video I could, joining long-distance riding groups and forums, and searching the term “SaddleSore” to chat with people who’d done SaddleSore 1000s. I absorbed everything I could, then decided I’d do it in two weeks’ time.
I planned my route, laid out fuel stops and made a list of gear. Looking back, I ended up way overpacked, but I was ready for anything. I had a tent, a sleeping bag, a heated vest — didn’t really need that in the middle of June — tool kit and precautionary
tire kit (and a whole lot more).
While I wanted to set out at 5 am, dropping off my children at daycare had me starting the ride at a late 8 am. I had to do an entire circle loop around Lake Michigan, starting and ending in the same city. That late start cost me, making it take a lot longer than I’d anticipated.
By the time I hit my second gas stop I was feeling out of sorts. About a third of the way in I got into a rhythm, which was good since I ended up doing 16 gas stops in total. I wish I’d practiced my efficiency a bit more, cuz if you’re not moving, you’re wasting time.
Once I hit my groove, with radio on and the sun shining, I was loving it…until about 11 pm. By planning ahead, I knew most of my gas stops were 24-hour stations, but there was one I had to stop at that
wasn’t. There were no other close stations, so this was my only option and I had to get there before closing time or I’d be in trouble. I planned my route to arrive an hour before closing, but as time got eaten up, I managed to ride in just three minutes before they closed, barely scraping by.
At 1 am I was still going, exhausted, and I didn’t have enough gas to get to the next city. Thank goodness for the extra fuel canister I packed, though even with it I was nearly on fumes when I coasted into the next gas stop. This was the moment where I wondered, ‘why am I even doing this?’ At one point I got so tired I took a cat nap on a picnic table in Green Bay. I just had to close my eyes for a few minutes.
Most people complete these SaddleSore 1000 challenges in 17-18 hours, but it ended up taking me 23, finishing with just an hour to spare. I was so pumped, but also so exhausted that I had to find a hotel, where I zonked out for five hours. But when I woke up I didn’t go home. Instead, I rode all the way up to northern Wisconsin that day, doing another 600-700 miles!
I never figured I’d fall in love with distance riding, but suddenly I’m hooked, and currently planning to take on the Iron Butt 48-state challenge — 48 states in 10 days. Not everyone loves this sort of thing; the whole idea of iron butts and sore saddles isn’t overly appealing to most riders. But after my SaddleSore 1000 experience, I’d encourage you ladies (and you men, too!) to try it. You might hate it. But then again, you might catch the bug like I did.
Whitney Meza (@whitmeza on IG) is an AMA member, military wife, mother and motovlogger who hails from Wisconsin.
GO, GLORIA, GO!
At nearly 96, Gloria Tramontin Struck is still riding, still inspiring
By Mitch Boehm
When you’re talking motorcycling trailblazers, you’ve gotta talk about Gloria Tramontin Struck.
As I’ve written previously, the gal’s life is a literal window on the 20th century, and motorcycling’s unique place in it. From her birth in the 1920s, through the Depression and War years to the bike-crazy ’60s and ’70s and into the current era, Gloria has experienced a lot of stuff most of us only know from history books — and much of it from the saddle of her motorcycle.
“I’ve been very busy of late,” Gloria told us recently, “even as I’ve recovered from the broken leg of last year when I fell in church. [Struck had a rod inserted in her femur from knee to hip. -Ed.] But I’m still alive and kicking! I don’t know any 95-going-on-96year-old ladies who are as busy as me! [laughs]
“I’m really looking forward to my 100-year-old ride in about four years,” she added. “Everyone’s waiting for it, all my friends, and I’m hoping I make it that far. A lot of them want to come ride with me when it happens. I’ve healed up pretty well from the fall and surgery, but while I was in the hospital, someone ransacked my home and took a lot of my valuables.”
“I’ve still got books to sell and autograph,” Struck says of her book Gloria: A Lifetime Motorcyclist — 75 years on two wheels and still riding. “I’m happy to autograph them for folks; just order on my Facebook page and I’m happy to do it!”
Gloria Tramontin Struck is indeed motorcycling’s Grande Dame. She’s a trailblazer with a truly epic story, one that in many ways is the story of motorcycling’s amazing first century — and the greatest generation that lived it. Go, Gloria, Go!
