Louie McLean

Louie McLean (1900–1932) was a British motorcycle racer and trials rider. She was part of the team who won the Silver Vase at the 1927 International Six Days Trial: the only team of women to ever do so.

Early life

She was born Louie Ball in 1900 and her father was a bicycle and motorcycle agent in Birmingham. At 15, she was featured in an article in The Motor Cycle which reported that she sometimes helped her father pick up machines from the Scott Motorcycle factory some distant by driving him there in a sidecar so he could ride the new motorcycle back to Birmingham. The magazine also printed a photo spread of the teenager helping her father in the garage and riding a motorcycle around the city. Although the British women didn't place in the competition, the team returned in 1927 when the event was held in the Lake District. The team reunited to challenge for the vase again in 1929, and in the 1931 trial she won Best Lady Competitor. and first place at the 1928 Holoway Cup.

Death

McLean died in 1932 while giving birth to her second daughter.