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The 2017 Women's Motorcycle Show

A gallery of custom bikes built for and by women.

February 6, 2017

This 1976 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead, dubbed “Gloryhole” was built by Hogkillers, Inc. for Yuri Takeda.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Women and bikes. Seems to be all the rage now, with new ladies' riding groups popping up hither and thither, and new female-only motorcycle events spreading like wildfire. Women may "only" be 14% of motorcycle owners , but if any of these trends are an indication, the numbers are growing exponentially. Another sign of this growing segment in the motorcycling world was seen at the second annual Women's Motorcycle Show, presented by MotoLady. Held at Lucky Wheels, a DIY garage near the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles, the Women's Motorcycle Show featured custom bikes built by and for women. Here's a rundown of the creations we saw there, and the eclectic group of people in attendance.

Ellen Wright took three and a half years to rebuild her dad’s 1976 Honda CB550F. “This build has changed the way I think of myself and my capabilities.”Photo: Julia LaPalme

Ellen has clearly made her dad’s bike her own now, with pink Honda badging and pink rearview mirrors with black lace.Photo: Julia LaPalme

This “2015 Rat” was simply described as being “made of all things good.”Photo: Julia LaPalme

Alicia Elfving (right), better known as Moto Lady, created the Women’s Motorcycle Show to bring attention to the women participating in the custom bike world. Here, she enjoys conversation with a couple of the ladies attending the show.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Aside from her “Mrs. Frankenstein” bike, Amy Mulligan brought her black and pink BMW S1000RR.Photo: Julia LaPalme

The majority of bikes on display for the Women’s Motorcycle Show were arranged in the backyard of Lucky Wheels garage, lit by the warm glow of bare tungsten bulbs. Downtown Los Angeles lights up the horizon.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Christina “Gromstein”’s 2014 Honda Grom is her daily commuter. Wielding a whopping 8.9 horsepower, this Grom is described as “loud AF”, sporting a MNNTHBX exhaust.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Framed prints featuring the artwork of Inked Iron’s Matthew Allard were on display in the upstairs billiards lounge at Lucky Wheels garage.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Jessi Combs' custom Harley-Davidson shared garage space with Melissa Paris’ flat track bike and Alicia Elfving’s Ducati Monster.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Some notable faces in the crowd included Jessi Combs, host of Autoblog's video series The List: 1001 Car Things to do Before You Die, among many other accomplishments.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Motorcyclists mingled inside and out at Lucky Wheels, enjoying Texas barbeque served by Burnt To A Crisp, a nod to the home state of Lucky Wheels’ founders.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Matthew Allard (right), of Inked Iron, sells t-shirts and prints of his artwork to attendees of the Women’s Motorcycle Show at Lucky Wheels garage.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Attendees closely inspect Alicia Elfving’s Ducati Monster custom build, named “Pandora.” Alicia is the founder of the Women’s Motorcycle Show, and runs the Moto Lady website.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Theresa “T” Contreras’ 1997 Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportster was custom built with a Zero Engineering frame and a 1980 Husqvarna dirt bike tank.Photo: Julia LaPalme

You may recognize this Yamaha FZ-07, as it belongs to none other than Tiffani Burkett, seen behind the bike, conversing with her travelling companion, Dave "Hollywood" Hayward. She recently completed her motorcycle tour of the 48 contiguous US states. A self-proclaimed clutz, she did everything in her power to prep this bike for the beating it would endure on the road, including crash bars, homemade headlight grill, windscreen, hand guards, hard case panniers, riser plates, seat internals, and exhaust. Clocking over 60,000 miles on this FZ, no doubt this bike had the highest mileage of those on display that evening.Photo: Julia LaPalme

Amy Mulligan’s “Mrs. Frankenstein” got a lot of attention throughout the evening, which was apparent in its winning the People’s Choice Award.Photo: Julia LaPalme