EZY RYDERS: HISTORY & TRADITION, HEART & SOUL EXHIBIT

For this project, photojournalist Cate Dingley spent five years getting to know Black motorcyclists and clubs around the city. After her book was published in 2020, Dingley and the H-D Museum worked for 4 years to bring the project to Milwaukee where the exhibition opened in November of 2024.

Like the book, the H-D Museum represents the riders through their words and Dingely’s gorgeous and compelling photographs. From all walks of life and riding all kinds of machines, some of the riders come from motorcycling families, while others are recent adopters of the sport.

Many are members of motorcycle clubs (MCs), but some are independent. From revealing the source of their biker names to memories of how they came to riding and reasons for why they stay, the shared stories are funny, harrowing, inspiring, and surprising:

Interested in hot rods as a young man, Brown Sugar became a lifelong rider. He says, “back then, most of the clubs were older guys who rode dressers. And that wasn’t something I was into. Never was attracted to ‘em, always was attracted to choppers.”

Lady Diamond thought motorcyclists were like the stereotypes she saw on TV. She was introduced to an MC by friends and family, surprised to find her mother-in-law bartending when she first hesitantly walked into the clubhouse.

Preach remembers getting high-fived by motorcyclists in the Caribbean when he was a kid, or seeing riders zoom through devastated neighborhoods of the Bronx. His name comes from his passion for sharing the history of motorcycling: “He’s always preachin’.”

Introduced to motorcycles as a kid, Shifty “just always thought that it was a man’s thing.” As a teenager she went for a ride on the back of a friend’s bike and the experience was memorable, saying, “I instantly knew that being a passenger was not for me.” She went on to become the president of an all-female MC.

Independent, passionate, intimate, strong, surprising, honest. Made in what the photographer calls the “collaborative spirit of portraiture,” the exhibition is a unique opportunity to get to know a vibrant motorcycling community.

Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” will be on view at the Harley-Davidson Museum into 2027.