The Spartan Motorcycle Club of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC, Inc. was founded on April 3, 1968 by 15 motorcyclists. It was and remains a club for motorcycle owner/operators only and it continues to take an active role in the leather-levi club scene.
The club sponsors Marathon, a multi-day bike run; and annually, it’s anniversary celebration in April, monthly local rides from April through October, and social events during the winter months, including its holiday party in December. Spartans participate in courses and conduct on-going motorcycle education and safety seminars. The club is proud to number among its members MSF certified instructors, mechanics, and members. The club holds fund raising activities throughout the year. The members meet monthly to conduct all necessary business. In addition, many current and previous members have been active in the Baltimore – Washington gay community and communities beyond the metro area:
- Two members started the business known as the Leather Rack.
- Bob Irvin owned the former Cuir Plus in Montreal.
- Don Bruce owned the DC Eagle and the Spartans have a close history with the Eagle.
- Roy Towns co-founded the ShipMates Club of Baltimore.
- Two members helped the Pennsmen of Harrisburg form as a leather-levi club.
- Buddy Clark was a national spokesperson for Burroughs-Wellcome and was a Director of LifeLink.
- Tom Kiple owned the Baltimore Eagle and owned the Tampa Eagle & Suncoast Resort.
- Ray Engebretsen provided the community with a glimpse of living with AIDS through a series of articles in the Washington Blade and had a Whitman-Walker Clinic house named after him and now has the clinical trials program named after him.
- Dusty Cunningham was president of Whitman-Walker Clinic.
The Spartan MC sponsored the first gay motorcycle run on the East Coast in 1969: Marathon. Since then 21 other Marathons have been held. The club also sponsored the first two gay leather-levi in-town runs in 1968-69: Autumn Scrambles; that event was turned over to our companion club, the SMCLA, in 1970 and became that club’s premier event.