UNDAUNTED, THEY RIDE FOR EQUALITY : WOMEN MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS STRIVE FOR ACCEPTANCE IN A MALE-DOMINATED SPORT.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer

Sometimes when Pepper Massey-Swan climbs off her Hog and walks into a grocery store dressed in motorcycle leathers and carrying her helmet, she sees other women snatch their children away.

Massey-Swan, who wears short hair and several pierced earrings, belongs to a club of San Fernando Valley women who ride Harley-Davidsons. Most of them are mothers or professionals or both.

``For some reason, the biker image frightens them. And they have no idea what kind of person I am or how I look in a business suit,'' she says.

President Buffy Aikens formed the Undaunted M.C. (motorcycle club) two years ago to ``promote and encourage women riders, set an example for other women riders, to show our commitment to riding and the lifestyle'' and to ``show our respect for men's motorcycle clubs by offering a riding alternative for women.''

That's according to the blue ``courtesy card'' that Aikens hands out.

``Some men think women shouldn't be on a motorcycle, let alone have their own club,'' Aikens says.

Aikens, who works at a travel agency in Glendale, says she used to ride with her husband's club until they decided that ``women couldn't ride with them anymore.''

Arriving for a meeting at a Ventura Boulevard hot dog stand, the club members favor turquoise, coral and silver Indian jewelry and wear denim vests covered with patches bearing the name of the club, their nicknames and, sometimes, the name of their husbands or sweethearts sewn on an inside patch. Buffy's nickname is ``Too Tuff Buff'' and her husband's nickname, according to the patch inside her vest, is ``Quiet Ron.''

After hitting on the idea of forming a riding club for women, Aikens says, ``I called all the girls I knew that rode, and they all showed up, and none of them knew each other. I thought, this is never gonna work, but let's try it.''

Of the 15 women who came to the initial meeting, nine are still active members. The club wants to attract new members, but that doesn't mean they'll take all comers.

``We want ladies that are respectable and that can ride their motorcycles,'' says Darlene Bish, an accountant for an entertainment industry payroll company who is recently married and just delivered her first baby. ``We enjoy a beer now and then, but we don't want any drunkards or druggies.''

As in most subcultures, gaining the respect of others is a prominent biker issue. Bish has been riding for 15 years, Massey-Swan for 13, and none of the women are newcomers to the lifestyle.

Canoga Park resident Linda Wright, a teacher for the L.A. Unified School District and the mother of two teen-agers, says she built her first Harley, piece by piece, over the course of three years. ``I'm not a mechanic, but once you know the bike and the engine, they're pretty easy to repair,'' she says.

``If we're on a run and a bike breaks down, one of us will know how to fix it,'' says Massey-Swan, a who is executive coordinator of an Encino-based legal aid organization called Aid to Injured Motorcyclists.

From 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, the Undaunted is hosting the club's first charity fund-raising event - a ``poker run'' to benefit a for home impoverished and disabled children in Sri Lanka. In a poker run, participants stop at five designated points along the route to draw a card until they have a complete poker hand. At the culmination of the run, prizes are awarded. In this case, the high hand wins a trip for two to Hawaii, including air fare and hotel, and the low hand wins a hotel stay for two in Las Vegas. Entry at Glendale College at the corner of Mountain Avenue and the Glendale Freeway (2), is $7 single and $12 per couple.

``Undaunted,'' according to the card Aikens hands out, means ``courageously resolute, especially in the face of long-term opposition.'' Aikens says she spent 2-1/2 years badgering men's motorcycle clubs to lend their support to the formation of a women's ``m.c.'' before tacit approval was given.

``It's not like they had to approve it, but it has made starting a new club an easier road to travel,'' Wright says.

Aikens says her husband has been supportive of the club, as have many other men.

Bish's husband, Bill, a dedicated biker who works as national director of the legal aid organization AIM, says, ``I think it's a big step for women to have a club in California. ``It's always been a male-dominated sport, but more women are starting to ride their own bikes instead of packing behind, and the next step is for them to form social groups so they can meet people who share their interests.''

The Undaunted members may have been new to each other two years ago, but by now they share a boisterous camaraderie.

``I ride with my husband a lot, and I still enjoy it,'' says Massey-Swan. ``But there's something about this - it's just people you can communicate with on a different level.''

``Sisterhood'' is how Bish describes it. ``You ride down a few roads together, you get to know each other,'' she says.

At least once a month, says Wright, the club organizes a weekend ride together, and when there's a big event such as the recent National Coalition of Motorcyclists, held in Albuquerque, N.M., in May, members can call each other and hit the road.

The women are quick to admit that biking has its hazards, including heat, cold, high winds, rain, bad roads, hostile auto drivers and bugs. Massey-Swan says she recently got smacked in the face by a large grasshopper, and Bish says she got hit by a bat on a road trip through Utah.

But ask them why they do it and bikers never hesitate.

``You see things differently, smell things differently; you're more alive and awake,'' says Massey-Swan. ``You're more exposed, so you have to be more alert. It's amazing. Even the bugs are worth it.''

``It gives you a complete sense of freedom with yourself and God and the world,'' says Wright. ``It's not like riding behind someone, where you have to trust the other person. There's an independence. You trust yourself and you are yourself.''

MEMO: For more information about the fund-raiser or the Undaunted, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Engines thundering and hair flying in the win d, the all-women's Undaunted motorcycle club heads out for a spin.

(2) Los Angeles' roads are a second home to the women of Undaunted.

(3) A member of the Undaunted wears the group's logo on the back of her motorcycle vest.

(4) Darlene Bish, wearing the headband at top right, says the women of Undaunted feel a sense of ``sisterhood.'' ``You ride down a few roads together, you get to know each other,'' she says. Since this photo was taken, she has delivered a baby girl, Rochelle.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News