Today in motorcycle history, October 18, 1941

                                  

               

 

  The Motor Maids are officially recognized as the world's first women's motorcycle club when they're granted Charter #509 by the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association).

 

 

  Linda Dugeau's boyfriend hoarded pennies during the summer of 1930 so he could purchase a $15 motorcycle. "The minute I saw it I wanted to ride," said Dugeau.

  "Girl riders", as the motorcycle magazines called them, were scarce in those days.  As motorcycling became an obsession for Dugeau, she and her friend Dot Robinson sought to unite female motorcyclists in a club modeled after Amelia Earhart's sorority for women pilots called 'The 99ers'.

 

  Dugeau, Robinson and 39 other women met for the first time in 1940. They settled on the name 'Motor Maids of America', and established two rules: A Motor Maid must own her own motorcycle, and she must at all times conduct herself like a lady.  Indeed, its original colors were pink before, in 1944, changing to royal blue and silver gray at which the same time they adopted their shield logo.  White gloves were also part of the uniform.  

  Dot Robinson would be named the first president (a position she would hold for the next 25 years) and would become one of the most influential women in American motorcycling.

  A few things have changed. You can't get a bike for $15 anymore; the large touring models favored by Motor Maids cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.  The white gloves and ties that once distinguished club members are now donned only for parades.  The organization's name has been updated to 'Motor Maids Inc.', but the Motor Maids are still out to prove that "women who ride motorcycles can be above reproach."  Their four-page constitution and bylaws, revised in 1985, stipulate that members must be of good character and "at no time shall a member of the Motor Maids appear on her motorcycle in shorts or abbreviated costume."