Women's Motorcycle Clubs: Options, Eligibility, and How to Connect

Women have ridden in organized clubs since the 1940s, and the number of women-led clubs in this directory keeps growing. The choices range from century-old national organizations to small local riding groups and women-only MCs with full prospecting. This guide lays out the options and what each expects.

National organizations

The Motor Maids, founded in 1940, are the oldest women's motorcycle organization in North America. Members must own and ride their own motorcycles, and the organization is known for its annual convention and its uniform of grey slacks, white gloves, and blue overblouses at events. Women On Wheels welcomes all women who ride or ride as passengers and runs chapters across the country with a family-friendly style. Both are open-membership organizations with dues rather than prospecting.

Women-only motorcycle clubs

Women-only MCs run the same way other traditional clubs do, with hang-around and prospect periods, elected officers, bylaws, and earned patches. Some wear three-piece patches and participate in the local council of clubs. Membership usually requires owning and riding your own motorcycle. These clubs offer the brotherhood structure of an MC without the gender dynamics of a mixed club, and several have decades of history.

Mixed clubs and brand chapters

Most riding clubs, brand chapters, veteran clubs, and ministries admit women as full members and many are led by women. The Harley Owners Group runs a Ladies of Harley program inside its chapters. A woman who wants to ride with a mixed group should ask the same questions any prospect asks, plus one more: how many women are full members, as opposed to associate members or passengers, and do they hold office.

Local riding groups

Informal women's riding groups organized on social media are common in larger cities and are often the easiest entry point for a new rider. They tend to run skills days, group rides at a relaxed pace, and gear swaps. Many women ride with one of these groups for a season and then move to a chartered club with more structure.

What a first ride looks like

Most women's clubs and riding groups post open rides for guests. Expect a short briefing, a pace set for the newest rider, and a stop for coffee or lunch where the talking happens. Nobody will ask you to prospect on a first ride. Come on your own bike if you have one, bring rain gear, and plan to stay for the meal, because that is where you learn whether the group is a fit. Women-only MCs handle first contact more formally and usually ask a guest to come to a public event before any ride.

Why women-led clubs matter

Women are the fastest-growing group of new riders in the country, and many learned to ride as adults without a family tradition behind them. A women-led club supplies what a parent or older sibling supplies elsewhere: a mentor who has made the same mistakes, honest gear advice, slow-speed practice without an audience, and a group that rides a pace that builds skill instead of punishing it. Riders who start in one of these clubs often move into mixed clubs and brand chapters later with far more confidence than riders who started alone.

Eligibility questions to ask

• Do I need to ride my own motorcycle, or are passengers eligible?
• Is there a minimum engine size or a brand requirement?
• Are men allowed as associate members, supporters, or guests at events?
• What is the time commitment, and is there a prospecting period?
• Does the club participate in the local council of clubs, and what does that involve?

Finding clubs near you

The state and city pages on this site label women's clubs by category. National organizations publish chapter locators. Women's riding events, skills clinics, and the women's sections of the big rallies are where the local clubs show up in person, and an independent motorcycle shop in your area will usually know which women's groups are active.