I am a motorcycle rider. I have been a motorcycle rider for just 10 years. I took a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course when I was 43, after thinking about it for many years. I've now ridden almost 50,000 miles, touring Oregon, Washington state, Northern California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Western Montana, British Columbia, a bit of the Yukon and Southern Alberta.
I am regularly approached by women in their 40s and 50s who, when they see me in the parking lot of a convenience store or realize I am a motorcycle rider say, "I always wanted to ride a motorcycle!" And I do my best to be super encouraging. I strongly suggest to them that they take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, or whatever is available in the area, explain that they don't need to have their own motorcycle or helmet, that that's provided (they have NO idea), that they will NOT be the only woman in the class, and on and on. I try to tell them all the things I wish someone had told me years before I finally took the MSF course.
But I can't do all this convincing alone.
The market for new motorcycle riders is MASSIVE - among women specifically. But the motorcycle industry is just not reaching women. At a time when motorcycle sales are plummeting, the industry should be looking to expand into new markets among women - and, instead, they just keep trying to appeal to white men over 40. Women hold the key to expanding motorcycle sales, but motorcycle manufacturers just keep ignoring us. I do a better job in convenience store parking lots than you do in any of your advertising or sales pitches.
First of all, the best ads for motorcycle riding don't come from motorcycle manufacturers - they come from Geico, Progressive and Booking.com (the last one made me literally burst into tears, ya'll - I gasped and then I bawled). These commercials are about seeing beautiful places, feeding your soul, being with friends or enjoying being alone, and being more than your job or whatever role you need a break from. They are far more motivating than anything coming out of the motorcycle industry.
Motorcycle manufacturers and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation need to take a cue from these inspirational, fun commercials by non-motorcycle manufacturers and produce their own. And they need to come up with commercials specifically to encourage women:
- a woman in a typical office, open floor plan, pulled in various directions, getting passed up for a promotion, seeing a work plan she developed get shade thrown at it by Todd in IT, etc., and as she goes through her typical workday, she gets a secret smile and a far-away look - and we see what she's going to be doing this weekend: riding her motorcycle somewhere beautiful.
- a woman in her home, managing kids and her husband and a broken washer and driving kids to this and that and, as she goes through all these home duties, she gets a secret smile and a far-away look - and we see what she's going to be doing while the kids are at school: ride her motorcycle somewhere beautiful, meet other women for coffee, etc.
Remember that, just like among male riders, there are going to be very different ways women approach motorcycle riding: some are going to like cruising, some are going to like traveling and camping by motorcycle, some are going to want to do back-country discovery routes, some are going to want to ride alone, some are going to want to ride with others, and on and on. That means you are going to have to appeal to the different kinds of potential motorcycle riders.
Also, you need to retrain everyone working in your motorcycle dealerships: salespeople need to welcome every woman that comes through the door, whether she's alone or with a man. Assume she IS a rider, or wants to be one, and talk to her as such. I cannot count how many times I have been utterly ignored when walking into a motorcycle shop.
Other ways to inspire thousands of new motorcycle owners and riders among women:
- Dealerships need to have images of women riding motorcycles posted all-around their shops - not the greasy, almost naked women with boob jobs, but actual women riders - representing a range of economic levels, ages, body types and ethnicities. And they need to use more of these images in their own advertising.
- The Motorcycle Safety Foundation needs to have flyers at motorcycle sales shops and need to train salespeople on how to push them.
- The Motorcycle Safety Foundation needs to have a representative on particularly busy days at motorcycle dealers, and greet women with, "Hey there, are you a motorcycle rider? Do you want to be one?" and have lots of material to hand out about upcoming classes, be ready to talk in an encouraging way about attending classes and becoming a rider, etc.
- Dealerships need to have events like the Harley fantastic women-only "Garage Parties." I am NOT a Harley rider, but I went to their event in 2010 in Gladstone, Oregon and it was OUTSTANDING - and had way more attendees than they were expecting. It was staffed entirely by women (all-male staff left), because new women riders tend to be very self-conscious and self-deprecating, and there's nothing like watching a woman smaller than you pick up an 800-pound bike (362.87 kilos) and then tell you, "YOU can do this." There was great food, short demonstration stations, gift bags, and free t-shirts with I am not a backrest on the back that I still wear. And, of course, Harley doesn't have these events anymore, because why continue a wildly-popular event that, over time, will build momentum for more women to ride motorcycles?
- Exploit movie moments like Captain Marvel on a motorcycle. Right after I saw that movie, I went home and started Googling images of her riding her motorcycle. And I was stunned - they were EXTREMELY hard to find and weren't very good - certainly not anything I wanted to share online. Social media should have been FLOODED with her image on that bike! What a missed opportunity!
- Pay for product placement in TV shows and movies - pay to have some female characters to be motorcycle riders.
Two more things:
- not all women motorcycle riders want pink riding apparel. I have a pink mesh jacket ONLY because it was the only one available. I would have preferred gray or blue.
- having the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia showed me just how much a lot of people in the motorcycle industry think of women. #boycottdakar
