Once a male preserve, a growing number of women are now riding Harley-Davidsons - and are keen to encourage more to take up the hobby. Sarah Fosters meet the so-called Ladies of Harley

Helen Nicolson remembers the precise moment when she fell in love with Harley-Davidsons. She was in the Scottish Highlands when a figure on a sleek black bike pulled up alongside her. Surprised to see that it was a woman, she paused to take in the streamlined curves and masculine bulk of the machine, wondering how a female could master such a beast. Then the engine started, sending an electrifying hum right through Helen’s body. It was in that instant that she knew she just had to have a bike like it.

With a husband who owned racing replica bikes, Helen was used to riding pillion, but, until that point, had never considered being anything other than a passenger. She started lessons, and, within a year, had passed her test. The only thing remaining was to buy her dream bike – the exact model she had seen in Scotland – a Harley-Davidson Iron 883 Sportster. Since doing so, she has never looked back.

Helen is an enthusiastic member of the Ladies of Harley, a branch within the Geordie Chapter of the UK Harley Owners Group. The club meets at least once a month, going out on rides and generally sharing a love for Harley-Davidsons. Anyone can join and you don’t even have to ride independently – of 32 members, only nine choose to do this, although another two are learning.

The key thing is being part of a family and the sense of camaraderie that comes from riding as a group. This is something that men have long benefited from, but now an increasing number of women are loving it too.

“It’s the group thing,” says 50-year-old Helen. “It’s being out with the group and the sound thing and everybody waving at the side of the road.” “We ride in a big group and when we all go out together, it’s different to anything you can imagine,” adds branch officer Dawn Beattie. “In the past, bikers have predominantly been seen as male and we are taking over. We’ve had a Ladies of Harley within the Harley Owners Group for some years, but we’re just starting to try and heighten the profile. Because there are more ladies on board now we’re trying to get them together a bit more.”

Unlike Helen, who lives in Wallsend, Dawn, 53, began riding of necessity when she needed transport and a bike was cheaper than a car. She bought her first – a Yamaha 125 – in 1993 and progressed to a Yamaha 900, before finally being bitten by the Harley-Davidson bug. “I was dared to try one by one of the Harley salesmen at the dealership,” she explains. “Once you have a Harley, there’s no going back – there’s nothing better,” adds Helen.

Dawn’s current bike is a CVO Softail, a monster of a machine in black and gleaming chrome. It couldn’t be described as feminine – and there is a certain alpha maleness about riding a motorcycle – yet this doesn’t make either Dawn, a nurse, or Helen, who works in admin, less womanly.

They might wear leather and Harley-Davidson-branded T-shirts, but not all the time, and neither could, in any way, be described as butch. “I don’t think we’re unfeminine at all. I just think we’re us,” says Dawn, who lives in Glanton, near Alnwick. “It’s such a good feeling when you park your bike and take your helmet off and people realise it’s a woman.

“I was riding out of B&Q once with my husband Paul on the back and I asked if he wanted a burger from the burger van. I heard someone say, ‘God, look at that – a woman who rides a bike and tells her husband to have a burger’.”

Paul has problems with his spine, but also rides when he can. He feels there is a certain admiration for women bikers. “I think there’s respect from quite a few of the blokes,” he says. “There are a lot of men who would like to ride a bike and some of them haven’t got the confidence,” adds Helen. “They’re heavy bikes and I suppose you don’t expect people of our build to ride them,” says Dawn.

Among what Dawn sees as the misconceptions about motorcyclists is that they are addicted to speed and have little regard for safety. Neither she, nor any of the others in the group, would dream of going out without being properly dressed, and both she and Helen avoid taking unnecessary risks, like riding in bad weather. Despite this, Dawn has had an accident.

“About six or seven years ago, I hit diesel and came off,” she says. “It was my fault – I put the brake on when I shouldn’t have – but you learn from it. I was bruised and battered a bit, but I had everything on. My rain suit and helmet were ruined, but they kept me safe. It did knock my confidence, but everybody helped me with that and I didn’t want to give it up.”

As well as going out on trips – “As long as there’s somewhere to go to the toilet and have coffee and cake, we don’t care,” laughs Dawn – the group organises several charity rides throughout the year, including the Santa Run and the Pink Run. Wherever they go, it causes a stir, and they have even had the Duchess of Northumberland and popstar Nicole Scherzinger sitting on their bikes – the latter, when she was visiting Newcastle.

There is something special about a Harley-Davidson that gives it a powerful allure. For Helen, the magnetism lies in the distinctive sound, which Dawn describes as a “rumble”. “If a bike is behind you, you know it’s a Harley by the sound of it,” says Helen. For Dawn, it is more the all-round appeal. “It’s the passion and the thrill of being able to ride such a beautiful bike with people who have the same feelings about them,” she says.

  • The Harley Owners Group Geordie Chapter is hosting a family rally from July 31 to August 2 at Percy Park Rugby Club in North Shields. For details, visit heartandsoulrally.com geordiehog.com, e ladies-of-harley-officer@geordiehog.com