Louise Scherbyn | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | June 18, 2003 99) | (aged
Organization | Women's International Motorcycle Association |
Known for | Motorcyclist |
Louise Scherbyn (November 9, 1903 - June 18, 2003) was a motorcyclist and the founder of the Women's International Motorcycle Association (WIMA).
Louise Scherbyn was born on November 9, 1903 in Waterloo, a small town near Rochester, New York. [1] As an adult, she lived in Waterloo and worked for Kodak, and her husband George worked as a pipe coverer. [2]
Scherbyn started riding motorcycles in 1932, after years of riding in a sidecar and then as a pillion passenger. [3] Scherbyn's first motorcycle, purchased by her husband George as a gift, was a Hendee Indian Scout. [2] She was initially concerned what others might think but was supported by women from work and embraced riding. [4] She stayed loyal to the brand and became known for riding its bikes, which she often chose to paint white. [5] Her 1940 model Indian Scout is held by the Springfield Museum. [6]
Scherbyn became known as a stunt and endurance rider. She appeared in America's First All-Girl Motorcycle Show. She was recorded as the first woman to ride from the US into Canada and up as far as the Temagami Forest. [7] [8]
Scherbyn was also an assistant editor for The Motorcyclist magazine. [2]
Because she was one of the first women motorcyclists, she was a founder or charter member of every motorcycle club that she joined. [2] Scherbyn was a member of the American Motorcyclist Association, the Canadian Motorcycle Association, and the British Pathfinders Motor-Cycle Club. [7] She was a member of Motor Maids but disagreed about priorities with other leadership members of the group. She believed that they focused too much on appearance and too little on sharing riding and mechanical skills. [9]
After riding in various places in North America, Scherbyn had made contact with other women motorcyclists and formed WIMA in 1950. [10] [11] [12]
Scherbyn died on 18 June 2003. [13]
Scherbyn was inducted into the Indian Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame in 1988. [8] The museum also holds around 350 motorcycle toys that Scherbyn collected. [13]
Indian Motorcycle is an American brand of motorcycles owned and produced by American automotive manufacturer Polaris Inc.
An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a bikie gang, biker gang or motorcycle gang, is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.
A sport bike, sports motorcycle, or sports bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfort, fuel economy, safety, noise reduction and storage in comparison with other motorcycles.
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Laconia Motorcycle Week is an annual motorcycle rally held in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. The rally originated as a motorcycle Gypsy tour in 1916 as, the New Hampshire Lakes Region became a popular riding destination for early motorcycle enthusiasts from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal. The popularity of the rally led to the formation of the Loudon Classic motorcycle race in 1934 which, became one of the most prestigious races in American motorcycle racing, second only to the Daytona 200. The scheduled events included races, shows and a motorcycle hill climb competition. The rally traditionally takes place over nine days in June, always the 2nd and 3rd full weekend. The rally was the largest annual gathering of North American motorcyclists until it was overtaken by the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally during the 1970s.
A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at the end of the ride.
Bessie Stringfield, also known as the "Motorcycle Queen of Miami", was an American motorcyclist who was the first African-American woman to ride across the United States solo, and was one of the few civilian motorcycle dispatch riders for the US Army during World War II.
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Colors are the insignia, or "patches", worn by motorcycle club members on cut-off vests to identify membership of their club and territorial location. Club patches have been worn by many different groups since the 1960s. They are regarded by many to symbolize an elite amongst motorcyclists and the style has been widely copied by other subcultures and commercialized.
The wall of death, motordrome, velodrome or well of death is a carnival sideshow featuring a silo- or barrel-shaped wooden cylinder, typically ranging from 20 to 36 feet in diameter and made of wooden planks, inside which motorcyclists, or the drivers of miniature automobiles and tractors travel along the vertical wall and perform stunts, held in place by friction and centrifugal force. The original wall of death was in 1911 on Coney Island in the United States.
The following outline is provided as an overview of motorcycles and motorcycling:
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Augusta Van Buren and Adeline Van Buren, sisters, rode 5,500 miles in 60 days to cross the continental United States, each on their own motorcycle, completing on 8 September 1916. In so doing they became the second and third women to drive motorcycles across the entire continent, following Effie Hotchkiss, who had completed a Brooklyn-to-San Francisco route the year before with her mother, Avis, as a sidecar passenger.
The Women's International Motorcycle Association (WIMA) is a motorcycle club established by Louise Scherbyn in 1950 in the United States. Branches began in many countries, including Great Britain and Australia where the branch was started by Hazel Mayes. It was the first organization to recognize all women in the sport, and the first ever stand-alone women-led motorcycle association. Currently spanning 39 countries, it is purportedly the largest motorcycle association for women in the world. The group is known for organising annual "Pink Ribbon Rides" to raise awareness for breast cancer.
Theresa Wallach was an adventure motorcyclist, engineer, mechanic and author. In 1935 with another experienced motorcyclist named Florence Blenkiron, she rode a 600 cc single-cylinder Panther motorcycle complete with sidecar and trailer, from London to Cape Town, South Africa, crossing the Sahara desert, reportedly without a compass. Wallach was the first Vice President of the Women's International Motorcycle Association, and was inaugurated into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003.
Avis and Effie Hotchkiss, mother and daughter from Brooklyn, New York, were pioneering motorcyclists who completed a 9,000-mile (14,000 km) round trip ride from New York to San Francisco and back on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle-sidecar combination in 1915.
This is a glossary of motorcycling terms.
The Harley-Davidson KR or KR750 was a 45.125 cu in (739.47 cc) displacement V-twin engine racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson from 1953 through 1969 for flat track racing. It was also used in road racing in the KRTT faired version. When the KR was first introduced, it dominated motorcycle racing in the United States. In 1970 it was replaced by the long-lived and US race-winning Harley-Davidson XR-750.
Gloria Tramontin Struck is an American motorcyclist who was one of the early members of the Motor Maids women's motorcycle club, which she joined in 1946, at age 21. She is both a Sturgis Hall of Fame and Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee.