How to Start a Womens Motorcycle Riding Club

A step-by-step guide to forming your own female motorcycle riders group

By Alisa Clickenger
Feature Articles, Lifestyle /
Sharing the experience of riding with good friends is one of the most rewarding benefits for a motorcyclist. For women, especially, gathering together a few gal pals to ride and socialize with is an enriching and inspiring endeavor. If you’ve been thinking about starting your own motorcycle riding club, here are a few pointers to get your wheels rolling.

1. Define your club. What’s your vision? Do you want to take daylong and weekend rides through your local region? Do you want to focus on track-riding activities? Once you decide your focus, research other clubs in your area and find out what they are doing.

Ideally, you’re starting a club because there is a need in the riding community that’s not being met by existing clubs. To find out if thats the case, go online to research the events and gatherings in your community. Talk to the staff at your local motorcycle dealerships to find out what they know about other groups.

How to start a womens motorcycle club
Many womens riding groups are formed partly to raise money for charities. The Chrome Angels of Central Florida, an independent club, are shown here during a charitable presentation.

2. Refine your vision. Talk to your riding buddies and further refine your combined vision. Ask for firm commitments from volunteers to establish the sharing of duties and responsibilities. Be professional — establish club officers (president, secretary, treasurer, etc.) so that you can run organized meetings. The unwritten rule is that a minimum of six people is needed to start a club.


3.Decide on a name, logo and mission statement. Come up with a unique name, making sure it clearly states what your club is about but doesn’t duplicate any other club’s name or mission. Let the clubs in your area know your intentions to start a new organization. This is especially important in maintaining friendly relations between groups and avoiding stepping on any toes. Start working on a logo so that it can be incorporated into your newsletters, T-shirts and other marketing materials.
Next, develop a mission statement, and decide if you are going to be a charitable organization. The IRS has a special designation for not-for-profit clubs, called IRC 501(c)(7). It’s best to consult with an accountant on any potential tax liabilities.
How to start a womens motorcycle club lady riders
Decide if you want to start a group from scratch or form a chapter of an existing national group, as the group shown here did. The Ladies of Harley are part of the Old Town H.O.G. chapter in Brandon, Fla.

4. Determine your meeting schedule. Decide on a regular meeting place and time (monthly seems to work best for most clubs), and develop a dues structure. Make sure everyone pays the dues, even the president, treasurer and your best friend. It’s important for everyone in the club to feel equal, and it shows you are willing to invest in your own endeavor.

    5. Start promoting your club. Decide what best suits your goals in terms of marketing, be it a website, newsletter, or fliers to hang up at your local motorcycle shops. Local motorcycle shops are a really good resource, so develop a relationship with the sales people so they can steer new and existing riders to your club.

    A shop’s customer lounge can also be a potential meeting spot for your group. Ask about that. It’s a win-win for both — your group has a place to meet, and the shop has female customers browsing the store before and after the meeting. See if the shop will offer a discount just for club members.

    Other ways to promote your club include creating a Facebook page or establishing a MeetUp.com group. You can also reach out to women-focused businesses or organizations in your area to get the word out (health clubs, spas, nail salons, the local chamber of commerce, women’s professional organizations, etc.). Whatever avenues your club chooses, just make sure that the person dedicated to your club’s promotion has enough time to keep the airwaves updated. It is important to answer inquiries about club rides and events from potential new club members in a timely manner.


    6.Consider joining up with the AMA.Another consideration for your club is whether you want the club to be sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The charter fee with the AMA is $35 for a calendar year, and this is a good option for enthusiasts who ride together but arent really structured enough to host formal events. Event insurance coverage and some event promotion can be obtained through the AMA. Be sure to check their website (listed below under “Resources”) to see if this option is right for your club.

    Few things compare to gathering with like-minded people in pursuit of the same passion. Be proud of your ability to bring people together and your club’s shared dedication to making your vision a reality. Most importantly, have a great time riding with your friends.

      Visit WRN’s list of national and regional women’s motorcycle riding clubs here. This page can also be found through the “It’s All About You” link on the WRN navigation bar.

          Resources

          AMA registration for Motorcycle Riding Clubs

          24 thoughts on How to Start a Womens Motorcycle Riding Club

          1. Paul Arlukiewicz

            I just wanted to say I think it’s awesome that y’all have female motorcycle clubs. I love motorcycles and am friends with a lot of bikers. Just wanted to say hello and I support y’all. Glad to see women having your own clubs. Much respect to you.

          2. MyJo Lynn Fogg

            I found this article as I was searching for local female motorcycle clubs. I am a relatively new rider and I ride alone most of the time. As much as I enjoy being on my Harley, I long for somebody to ride with, a destination in hand. I want to ride with a group of women that enjoy riding as much as I do and I long for the friendship and camaraderie that would be present and grow in a female club. This article has provided me with the knowledge of how to begin the process of making it happen! Thank you.

          3. Terri

            We have a Meetup called FBGz (Fat Bottom Girlz) that grew to over 100 members just from Metro Atlanta. Over time, members have moved away and started their own Meetups of the same name in Jacksonville, FL, and informally in Richmond, VA, and Tulsa, OK. The group was started by one lady and over time another took the reins to meet and greet new members, organize rides, and host socials. She recently passed away suddenly and unexpectedly (health, not riding) so the group is trying to find new footing. One thing I know—they love to ride and they’re an awesome group to ride with. They will be riding again as soon as the weather cooperates.

          4. Trinette Mitchell

            This article gave me some really great insight on how to go about starting a motorcycle club. There is only one women’s club I know of in my county and that is the Buffalo Soldiers. Would they be the only club that I would need to speak to regarding starting my own club or would I also have to venture out into another county and speak to those clubs as well?

            1. Tricia Szulewski, Assistant Editor

              If you are looking to start a chapter of an existing club, you should speak to someone at the national organization about the requirements. Otherwise, if you’re starting your own club, it’s your club… you set your own requirements!Good luck!

          5. OhitekahWi Beautiful Bald Eagle

            I would love to start a Native American riding group for minorities being a female ironworker/welder, or have been in some kind of combative sport, i.e. boxing/kickboxing/MMA or even in the military for the Black Hills area — an all-female group. If there is one here in the Black Hills, can you please point me in the right direction. Thank you for this article. It gave me some ideas on what I would like to do.

          6. Lucy

            My partner and I are looking for any sportbike groups that get together for rides on the weekends. Does anyone know of any women-only groups in South Florida? We would love input. And if there aren’t any, we would definitely be open to starting a group! We would love to give back to the community as well. Ideas are welcomed. Thanks!

          7. Linda

            I am so glad that someone posted this on facebook for me to see. I am a member of a Law Enforcement MC right now and hope to move to a new County in the next 6 months. I joined since everyone that I knew that rode moved away. I am a founding member of the LEMC and LOVE them all to pieces but need to put mine and my husbands needs first in my life, hence the move. I will be looking into this more closely once the move is done. I would love to start an all woman’s riding club once I get settled. Even better to start it in the fall so that come spring we can hit the asphalt riding. Does anyone know of any Woman RC in the Calvert, Charles or PG Counties of MD?

          8. Becky Brown

            I am the founder of Women in the Wind and we have more than 100 chapters of great women riders and are always looking for new friends to ride with. Check us out at Womeninthewind.org.

          9. Becca

            I was wondering what opportunities lie out there for young female (college age) riders. As a college student I am looking into making a group with people like myself to have a good time and create a sense of camaraderie.

            1. Genevieve Schmitt, Editor

              Becca, You can start that kind of group as you using the tips in this article, that is just like you would any women’s motorcycle outside of a college setting. But actually, you’ll have better opportunities for spreading the word as college campuses have many ways to network with others. Put up a notice on a college community bulletin board that you want to start a riding group of like-minded college-age riding women. Visit your local motorcycle dealers so they can put the word out. Post a notice on any online campus forums. Set up a place to meet — maybe one of the dealerships will “host” your group — and see who shows up. Good luck.

          10. Becky

            I’m from Philadelphia. I ride a Harley and I’m looking for a woman’s club in Philly, or women who ride to start a club. Any suggestions?

          11. Kim

            Good Article! Back in June of this year (2012) a small group of us started a club. We used Meetup for several reasons. First it lets you pick a variety of interests your club focuses on, et al: Harleys, Suzukis, women riders, etc. That way when other women in your area are looking for a group to join on the internet, it will “hit” on the internet. Our group also pick meetup due to it’s ease of use. It practically guides you step by step how to use it. It does cost a little money to use meetup for those starting the group, but it is great! It gives folks a place to post rides and get togethers. We have a website, and Facebook, however they both direct you to our meetup site. We found that if there is Facebook, etc, too many people use too many places to communicate and conversations, postings, etc get lost to all members! We have been very successful! We started the first week in June and now ave 41 members! It’s August-so that is only two months! We live in Western NC — an awesome riding area! We live near Asheville, NC — and we are the Asphalt Sisters! It just doesn’t get any better than this! Go for it ladies!

          12. Lorraine

            I am either looking clubs up wrong or we really don’t have one here in NWI. I would love to join or start a group up in this area. I found your information to be very helpful. So far there are about 15 of us who would like to join a group or start one. We also have a few organizations in our area we would love to do charity work for. If anyone knows of something in our area that I am missing please let me know thank you.

            1. Genevieve Schmitt

              Lorraine,Please visit the WRN Forum (link under It’s All About You on left side of site) and look for a thread where you Connect With Others in your area, or start a thread by asking a question.

          13. Vickie

            Or start a Chapter in Women In The Wind! Womeninthewind.org. We have more than 90 Chapters in the US and Canada/ We just had our Summer Nationals in Maryville, Tenn. While starting a club is cool, why not be apart of something larger? It’s so awesome meeting and getting to know ladies from sea to shining sea, meet up a couple times a year and do what we do best… ride! Our longest one-way distance rider came in from Oregon, almost 3800 miles.

          14. Maurine Edwards

            This was a very informative article. Thank you very much for sharing.

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