May 21, 1907 – “Pasadena has a large number of motorcyclists and last evening they formed an organization which will be known as the Pasadena Motorcycle Club. The members of the organization concluded their meeting by electing H.C. Folts as captain with Philip Senour as president; Alfred Wenger, vice… president; Edward Koudenclose, secretary, and Marshal Hayes, treasurer. The club is the third of its kind organized in the state, the only other two being in Los Angeles and San Francisco.” Los Angeles Herald, Volume 34, Number 233, 22 May 1907 [1]
Our History
Formed on Monday, May 20, 1907, in Pasadena, California, the Pasadena Motorcycle Club (PMC) is the third oldest motorcycle club in the United States and the oldest in Southern California. The older clubs are the Yonkers Motorcycle Club (est. 1903) in Yonkers, NY and California’s San Francisco Motorcycle Club (est. 1904).
The club's first home was on Green Street in Old Town Pasadena in the first decades of the 1900's. After World War I the club then moved in adjacent to a shipping warehouse in central Pasadena. The club's current clubhouse, a Pasadena Historic Landmark, is a World War II era Quonset Hut and was purchased by the PMC in 1948.
The Pasadena Motorcycle Club has had a prominent impact on the motorcycling community in Southern California and is a American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Historic Charter, being the fourteenth chartered by the AMA. The club is proud to have seven (7) members inducted in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.
The pride of the PMC is the historically significant Greenhorn (1937-present) ride which started as a nationally recognized, famously rough, 500+ mile enduro traversing the mountains and deserts of Southern California. With the passage of time and increasing environmental scrutiny the Greenhorn evolved into a popular 2-day road ride and rally (with a Dual Sport option for dirt riders), still organized and promoted by the PMC. The ride is open to the public and takes place each year in late spring or early summer. The route, traveling on spectacular less traveled roads, is always new and kept secret until the start of the event.
Our Mission
The Pasadena Motorcycle Club is first and foremost, a club of motorcycle enthusiasts. The continuing mission of the PMC is to foster passion for motorcycling, in all forms, now and in the future. The club is incorporated as a non-profit corporation and is a family club, not an outlaw motorcycle club.
PMC Members May 2023
Are you a Motorcycle Enthusiast?
The PMC meets every Monday* night at 8PM to discuss club business. Ride over and drop in sometime.
*Excluding Federal Holidays