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| Women-only Harley garage parties, like this one in North Hampton, N.H., aim to put women at ease on motorcycles. Tracy Jackson
used to ride with her boyfriend, but now she wants her own bike. Nicole Hill |
Harley guns for the female motorcycle market
Garage parties give women a chance to do everything from falling off a bike in the safety of a dealer's carpeted showroom to finding the elusive ignition.
from the September 10, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
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In some ways, a woman on a Harley is old news. In 1915, 20-year-old Effie Hotchkiss hatched a plan to drive from New York to California on her three-speed Harley. Her mother forbade her to go alone – and so Ms. Hotchkiss bought a sidecar, and the two took off across the country. Twice. During World War II, Bessie Stringfield rode from Army base to Army base in the US as the only woman in the Army's motorcycle dispatch unit. A feisty African-American woman who owned 27 Harleys in her life, Ms. Stringfield was known to drop a penny on a US map and gun for the town it landed on.
Harley has been marketing to women since the turn of the 20th century, but these days, there are fewer barriers to break through. The profile of Harley riders in general has changed, riders say, making old stereotypes passé: Harley rallies aren't crowded with tattooed, pierced, leather-clad rebels – riders are just as often doctors, lawyers, accountants, and others who can afford a brand whose starter-bike price averages $8,000. Another abandoned cliché, according to Genevieve Schmitt, is about women bikers. "The old stereotype of women riders is that they were loose ... had tattoos, and were on drugs," says Ms. Schmitt, who runs womenridersnow.com. "That's definitely gone."
In part, that's because there are so many of them. Explanations vary – increasing gas prices, more disposable income or women's empowerment – but female motorcycle ownership grew at almost double the rate of general motorcycle ownership between 1998 and 2003, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. Women make up more than 18 percent of solo riders. They also make up 12 percent of Harley motorcycle sales – triple that of 1990. Meanwhile, the average age of riders has jumped to 41. If teenage boys aren't buying bikes in droves any more, middle-aged women, at least, could help plug any profit gap.
If the Seacoast garage party is any indication, this isn't a threatening group. These are professionals in business-casual jewelry, most of whom were introduced to bikes by husbands or boyfriends. Some want their own bike to ride alongside their man; others recently ditched, or were ditched by, their significant other, but the habit stuck.
Everyone in this showroom loves the mythologized open road. For feeling the wind, smelling the air, sensing a connection with the natural world, these women say, nothing is better than a bike. But there's one problem: "If you're going to buy a car, you know if you want a Ford or a Nissan, an SUV or a sports car," Jean Martori-Crum says. "How do you know which kind of bike to get?"
"First of all, there's only one kind of bike. It's called a Harley-Davidson," Ms. Isidorio responds with the knowing confidence of a rider ready to maneuver grips and gears with ease. She bought her used Sportster only this spring and she has no idea how to ride it. She reassures Ms. Martori-Crum: "I can only tell the difference between them by the names on the fender."
Dozens of things will be demystified this evening: Both sunglasses and windshields count as the eyewear required by state law. Boots with two-inch heels are not a rider's friend, even when they're sold in Harley's own gear shop, because the added height throws off a rider's balance. Operator instruction and safety classes are affordable, even if the Harley itself is not.
And never, ever, under any circumstances, try to yank a dropped bike up with your arms.
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