Why Do Riders Hang Bells On Their Harley-Davidson? The Meaning Behind The Tradition

It's something that would appear out of place to anyone who's not a rider: a little bell hanging from a motorcycle, and clearly not part of the bike's original factory specifications. But even though you'd be unlikely to hear it while going full speed down the highway, the bells are part of a long tradition meant to keep motorcycle riders safe on the road.

Often known as gremlin bells, guardian bells, angel bells, or spirit bells, among other names, they're intended as a sort of good luck charm for motorcycle riders, protecting them from evil spirits looking to cause trouble while riding. There are numerous legends and origin stories as to the genesis of the tradition. Still, the general idea is that evil spirits, sometimes called gremlins, lurk on roads in an attempt to cling to motorcycles and cause mischief.

Where the bells come in is to capture the spirits in the hollow part of the bell and drive them mad with constant ringing until they hop off the bike in retreat and seek trouble elsewhere. It's not clear if this impacts bell-less cars.

[Featured image by Stockstill, Tiffany via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC 4.0 ]

There are as many types of motorcycle bells as there are origin stories for how the tradition began. The most ancient of them dates back to the Middle Ages in Europe when bells were occasionally baptized and rung during funerals as a means of warding off evil spirits.

Several hundred years later, we find our next theory sourced from Royal Air Force pilots around World War II, who spoke of evil gremlin creatures clinging to the aircraft and creating mechanical failures in the sky. Whether satiric hyperbole or hallucinations under extreme pressure, it nonetheless fostered a tradition in which they would hang bells in the cockpit to fend off the spirits, a practice that caught on with some U.S. pilots as well. Since numerous pilots rode motorcycles after the war, the tradition carried through.

But there's one more: It involves an old biker returning from Mexico, knocked off his bike by swarming gremlins, and toys meant for an orphanage sprawled about. One of those toys was a bell, which he rang vigorously to scare them off. It's not clear if it did, but a few nearby bikers heard the ringing and came to the rescue by chasing the gremlins away. As a token of his appreciation, the old biker gifted them bells and tied them to their motorcycles, imploring them to ring them if they needed aid.

Regardless of where tradition came from, it's become a ritual steeped in safety and comradery among bikers. But there are a few rules of etiquette. A motorcycle bell ideally should not be purchased oneself. They are supposed to be gifted from one rider to another in the spirit of luck and solidarity, as no gremlin will be scared by a bell unless it is gifted.

Along those lines, it's best for the person giving the bell to also hang it on the bike, which seems like a lot of work for someone buying a present. Ideally, it should be attached to the lower frame of the motorcycle where gremlins lurk most, and also because it's easier to attach here and out of the way, often using zip ties or leather cords or whatever's handy. A fallen bell will leave the rider unprotected and probably cause a bit of trouble for other vehicles on the road.