The former governor rides on the back of a motorcycle before participating in the Rolling Thunder rally in Arlington, Va., on May 29, 2011. Her appearance kicked off her bus tour.
With the 2012 Republican field dominated by candidates who are professorial (Newt Gingrich), bland (Mitt Romney), or just plain boring (Tim Pawlenty), former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is casting himself as the cool contender. The outgoing ambassador to China has also been pictured riding around on his favorite Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Here, he tools around town in Shanghai on April 7.
AP Photo
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, leaves the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend on his motorcycle during a 2006 bike trip to promote motorcycle safety, awareness, and riding opportunities in the Hoosier State.
Joe Raymond / AP Photo
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker—then the Milwaukee County executive—sports a biker jacket (left) as he poses with former Wisconsin state senator Dave Zien (on bike), who had just finished a million-mile ride on his Harley, in 2009. Walker also rides a Harley, and the company is based in Milwaukee.
AP Photo
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) rides a Palm Beach County sheriff's bike in West Palm Beach, Fla., during his 2004 presidential campaign. Kerry owns several bikes and also rode one onto the set of Jay Leno’s show during his run.
Jeff Chiu / AP Photo
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrives at a meeting with Russian and Ukrainian bikers in 2010 aboard a Harley-Davidson. But Putin—who loves macho photo ops with tigers, guns, and horses—loses cool points for riding a trike.
Sergei Karpukhin, AFP / Getty Images
Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, not only loves guns—she’s also an avid motorcyclist and has attended the famous Sturgis Rally in South Dakota.
Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords / AP Photo
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, doesn’t just ride bikes in the movies. Here, he tools around Los Angeles on his Indian in 2010.
Jean Baptiste Lacroix, WireImage / Getty Images
Former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) poses with a motorcycle at San Diego’s Planet Hollywood in 1996.
Nick Ut / AP Photo
T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, was an avid biker whose career is a cautionary tale for politicians who ride. You may ride your bike to success in changing history, as Lawrence did in the Middle East, but it won’t protect you from fatal accidents like the one that killed Lawrence in 1935.
Bettmann / Corbis
Before he helped Fidel Castro rise to power in Cuba, famed leftist guerrilla Che Guevara (right) became radicalized during a series of bike trips around Latin American as a young man, which he recounted in his book The Motorcycle Diaries. The memoir formed the basis for the 2004 film of the same name starring Gael Garcia Bernal (left).
Everett Collection; Prensa Latina / AP Photo
Love him or hate him, you’ve got to give President George W. Bush props for not trying to look too hard to cop Easy Rider cool points during a 2006 tour of a Harley-Davidson factory in York, Pa.
Paul Kuehnel / AP Photo
Tommy Thompson, a Republican who served as Wisconsin governor and secretary of health and human services, rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle from the Badger State outside HHS headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 2006.
Stephen Jaffe, AFP / Getty Images
Thompson (right) pats fellow rider Max Baucus, a Democratic senator from Montana, on the back as they ride in Washington in 2006 during a push for Medicare-reform legislation.
Stephen Jaffe, AFP / Getty Images
