Defying Stereotypes: Not Your Average Bikers
If you asked most people to close their eyes and picture a motorcycle rider, the odds are pretty good they would imagine someone in a leather jacket, perhaps some facial hair and tattoos.
What rarely comes to mind are lawyers, surgeons, monks, ballerinas, and many other people with different professions that don’t fit the outdated image of the traditional outlaw motorcycle rider.
Regardless of their professional identity, many riders embrace the open road in order to feel alive, decompress, and explore the world in a unique, mindful way. Cycle Trader is giving you an inside look at some surprising professionals who ride, or rode, motorcycles, and they may surprise you.
Dr. Jay Grosse – Internal Medicine Physician
By day, Dr. Jay Grosse practices internal medicine. On the weekends, he’s a devoted motorcycle rider and card-carrying member of the Iron Butt Association. Grosse’s story is a perfect counterpoint to the notion that all doctors live sterile and stationary lives. He began riding early, on a Honda Trail 70 during college, but later embraced riding as a deeper passion. Dr. Grosse credits the mental reset that comes from riding with helping him face the stresses of patient care and long on-call hours. For Grosse, riding is medicine in motion.
Vivian Bales – Teacher, Dancer, & Seamstress
Most people today don’t know her name, but in the 1920s and 1930s, Vivian Bales made waves as a teacher, dance instructor, seamstress, and long distance motorcyclist. Raised in Georgia, Bales bought her first Harley-Davidson in 1926. She taught herself to ride, despite having no prior experience. In 1929, at 20-years-old, she set off on a solo, 5,000-mile, 78-day ride across the United States, eventually meeting President Herbert Hoover in Washington, D.C. Along the way, she became the first motorcycle “cover girl” for The Harley-Davidson Enthusiast magazine. At her funeral in 2001, dozens of Harley riders rode in procession in her honor. Her life is a beautiful lesson that someone can be a teacher, an artist, a professional, and still break major boundaries on two wheels.
Tina Turner – Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll
For those who only think of her as a legendary singer, here’s a fun twist: Tina Turner also had an affinity for motorcycles. She was often photographed with Harleys and was known to ride a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, which appeared in her music video for “What You Get is What You See.”
Biker Ballerina – @rideanddance on Instagram
Biker Ballerina is a fascinating woman who fuses two opposite worlds: classical ballet and dirt bike riding. She shares dance-inspired poses, images of adventures on her YZ125, and short anecdotes that display both grace and grit. Her tagline is “Be anything you want to be,” reinforcing the fact that your profession does not have to define the life you live and the hobbies you choose to enjoy.
Ven. Kusala Bhikshu — Buddhist Monk
Ven. Kusala Bhikshu (birth name Carl Kohlhoff) is an American-born Zen Buddhist monk who has integrated motorcycling into his spiritual practice. During an interview on This Motorcycle Life podcast, he spoke at length about the similarities between riding a motorcycle and meditation. His primary bike is a Suzuki Volusia, a cruiser-style bike that’s suitable for both city traffic and long-distance adventures. He rides regularly and uses the journey to cultivate presence, mindful awareness, focus, and what he refers to as “flow.”
Motorcycles don’t care what title you hold or what degree hangs on your wall. They level the playing field for everyone. The CEO and the teacher, the monk and the ballerina, are all chasing the same feeling of freedom that riding provides. These stories remind us that riding is about connection to the road, the self, and the present moment. The more we learn about the variety of people who ride, the more we realize motorcycling isn’t merely a stereotype. It’s a shared joy of passion, focus, and freedom that intersects with almost every profession and walk of life.
Shelby Ballou
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