lady riders

[Lee Rusty]

I forgot
20 years and thousands of rider is a fact I started training in 1983 and have over 3500 riders in my files.

I have found that this site has got worse and worse - people with nothing to contribute to anything who just answer all any damn near every post so that they can get their tally of replies up
That is an opinion

and probably the last one I will ever post.

[chic 'n' charge]

That is an opinion and probably the last one I will ever post.

Everyone on this website is free to their opinions. If you feel strongly about your opinions then you stick to them. Being a female bike rider (and racer) I definitely agree with you. The ladies that I ride with in Babes on Bikes are all very good riders. We take our time and don't let pressure of others worry us. It makes the trip so much better. Of course there are a few of us (me inclusive) that do ride a bit quicker but that is our choice.

Keep up the interesting comments.

Yours in riding......

[Ogri]

Si - I have to say that I found the female motorcyclists I encountered in the UK to be a bit on the timid side, and perhaps this contributes to the longer training/higher test failure rate in England?

An opinion from the Newbie -

I take exception to that - I've ridden bikes and driven cars in the UK (both north and south) for the last 20 years and I've never, NEVER (ok, maybe in France) seen worse driving than here in NZ. When I converted to the NZ licence in April of 2003, I thought they were taking the piss - multiple choice - what the feck is that all about?

[Jackrat]

Ogri,Thanks for saying that,I spent a number of years over sea,s working mostly as a driver.When I came back to NZ I was shocked at the poor driving skills of most of us Kiwi,s----Utter crap.
That applys to most NZ bikers as well,It seems to me that most NZ riders think that going fast equiats to being a good rider.But not to worry the vast majority of Kiwi riders are here today gone tomorrow anyway.
You will find on this site the constant theme that it is always the other guys fault.Kiwis in general don,t go much on this personal responsiblity thing.
But anyway back to this female rider thing.I fully agree with Lee on this,I have had the pleasure of working with quite a number of women in traditionly male jobs,They DO once given the chance,way out perform their male counter parts.This certainly rattles a few egos as can be clearly seen by some of the other replys on this thread.
Anyway mate keep your eyes open because when some guy traveling way over the speed limit T bones you,HE will claim it was your fault for pulling out on HIM.

[Ogri]

Hey Jackrat - I could rant on about Kiwi driving - what is it about the pulling out in front of you thing. You're whistling along, nothing behind you - you spot the Toyota Surf sitting in the driveway. They wait, they wait..............ah, you think - as there is nothing behind me, they are going to wait until I pass before pulling out. And then............ when you're about able to see him picking his snout, out he comes. And then, AND THEN he drives along the verge for the next half kilometre showering you with gravel and shit, etc. I don't know..... it really confuses me. Do they do it just to see if you're awake?
Also, I constantly thank the Gods for the empty roads and brilliant sunshine........but, there is a price to pay.............POTHOLES! Man, I've never seen anything like it. I was out for a quick blat the other day, not hooning, just cruising and I head off down through the Wainui Gorge. Come round a left hander doing about 95Ks and there is a dirty great hole right on the line. Could do nothing but sit there and hope that the Gods were smiling. The resulting weave (bordering on tank slapper) had me across the white line and gave me a bit of a shock, I can tell you. My little SV650 is fecking awesome. If I had been on my Elefant back home, I'm sure I would have been eating dirt.
Anyroad, that's my moan this morning.

[wkid_one]

Oh thank god someone else feels the same way about this site at times. I am still recovering from posting my opinion on this.

However - lately I must say the threads have been thoroughly interestly and worthwhile <--- the only opinion in this post.

My two cents: I don't think women are better or worse - just different. They are probably better at certain things on the road - whether riding or driving - and worse at others - it all evens out.

Case in point is that NO women are competing at MotoGp/SBK level - yet the sports are not restricted to males only. DOes this make them technically worse riders? DOes this mean that in order to ride a bike well and competitively on the RACETRACK you need a 'male brain'? DO you need 'male strength? Does this have any bearing at all?

It is an honest statistic that women drivers have less accidents than males per head of capita. This doesn't however factor in time on the road, miles travelled etc. It is only women at fault accidents/total women with licenses. Is this then an accurate statistic? Do men travel more miles than women and are therefore more susceptical to having accidents?

More questions - no answers. Just food for thought.....

All I know is that in all the time I have been riding - I have NEVER heard of a woman having a bike accident, but plenty of guys. May be a result of less woman riding, but it speaks for itself.

[SPman]

In twenty years of teaching new riders, I will make the statement that in my opinion women make better riders than men - they may not be as fast - but they are safe.
Can't ask for better than that

Would have to agree with you there.
In my opinion (can a post ever be otherwise?) younger riders are always going to let enthusiasm and bravado have more of an influence on their riding.Some younger women are like this, but not many. Most women riders, young and old, tend to temper their enthusiasm with a sense of real world survival ethic, whereas men, particularly in a group, nearly always seem to get into that competitive, my dick is bigger than yours, scenario and often end up riding like pillocks! (me included) I find women, generally, much more enjoyable and relaxing to ride with.
Also to work and socialise with! But.......

I have NEVER heard of a woman having a bike accident,

Nice if this were true for me too, but......, they just dont put themselves in quite the same situations that guys do, so the odds are better.

[Draco]

For those not getting their heckles up the consensus of opionion seems to be that men and women are just different neither one better than the other. I would have to agree with that. Men are driven by testosterone and women by eostrogen and as much as we try and change it that's the way it is, and it makes us operate differently. 12 years as a medic ive seen my fair share of crashes. In my experience the big ones involving serious injury or fatality always involve a male driver. They drive/ride faster and take more risks. The little ones involve women, they drive/ride slower and are more cautious, but when there's a problem they tend to hesitate. New to motorcycling (3yrs) ive mainly ridden with men as i come from up north and only a handful of women ride up there. Im now riding in auckland and get to ride with a mixed group of male/female and find that the most enjoyable too. There's less of the ego bullshit from men, and more of the comradeship, which is what it's all about to me. Bikers enjoying riding, and enjoying riding with others alike.
As for women not having accidents, im just recovering from a big one 12mnths ago. Broke my pelvis in 5 places, tore out my knee ligament, sprained a few other ligaments and removed half a km of skin, so there blows all our theories????!!!!

[Motoracer]

For those not getting their heckles up the consensus of opionion seems to be that men and women are just different neither one better than the other. I would have to agree with that. Men are driven by testosterone and women by eostrogen and as much as we try and change it that's the way it is, and it makes us operate differently. 12 years as a medic ive seen my fair share of crashes. In my experience the big ones involving serious injury or fatality always involve a male driver. They drive/ride faster and take more risks. The little ones involve women, they drive/ride slower and are more cautious, but when there's a problem they tend to hesitate. New to motorcycling (3yrs) ive mainly ridden with men as i come from up north and only a handful of women ride up there. Im now riding in auckland and get to ride with a mixed group of male/female and find that the most enjoyable too. There's less of the ego bullshit from men, and more of the comradeship, which is what it's all about to me. Bikers enjoying riding, and enjoying riding with others alike.
As for women not having accidents, im just recovering from a big one 12mnths ago. Broke my pelvis in 5 places, tore out my knee ligament, sprained a few other ligaments and removed half a km of skin, so there blows all our theories????!!!!

Finally! someone who agrees with my theory about the hormons

[KATWYN]

Would have to agree with you there.
In my opinion (can a post ever be otherwise?) younger riders are always going to let enthusiasm and bravado have more of an influence on their riding.Some younger women are like this, but not many. Most women riders, young and old, tend to temper their enthusiasm with a sense of real world survival ethic, whereas men, particularly in a group, nearly always seem to get into that competitive, my dick is bigger than yours, scenario and often end up riding like pillocks! (me included) I find women, generally, much more enjoyable and relaxing to ride with.
Also to work and socialise with! But.......

I have NEVER heard of a woman having a bike accident,

Nice if this were true for me too, but......, they just dont put themselves in quite the same situations that guys do, so the odds are better.

I have ridden with some woman that made my hair stand on end. Took more risks than a lot of men I had ridden with. There was a bit of competition happening thats for sure. Not my cup of tea at all.

[SPman]

I have ridden with some woman that made my hair stand on end.

Well...I did say most...not all! ...and women often ride scarily in ways guys dont think of...like passing a line of cars on the left hand side, at speed, including taking to the gravel verge!

[KATWYN]

Well...I did say most...not all! ...and women often ride scarily in ways guys dont think of...like passing a line of cars on the left hand side, at speed, including taking to the gravel verge!

I agree about the accident thing you said as well...or is it
that they have caused accidents but not actually been in their own one! hehe joke ; ( runs and ducks for cover)

[Ms Piggy]

Ogri,Thanks for saying that,I spent a number of years over sea,s working mostly as a driver.When I came back to NZ I was shocked at the poor driving skills of most of us Kiwi,s----Utter crap.
That applys to most NZ bikers as well,It seems to me that most NZ riders think that going fast equiats to being a good rider.But not to worry the vast majority of Kiwi riders are here today gone tomorrow anyway.
You will find on this site the constant theme that it is always the other guys fault.Kiwis in general don,t go much on this personal responsiblity thing.
But anyway back to this female rider thing.I fully agree with Lee on this,I have had the pleasure of working with quite a number of women in traditionly male jobs,They DO once given the chance,way out perform their male counter parts.This certainly rattles a few egos as can be clearly seen by some of the other replys on this thread.
Anyway mate keep your eyes open because when some guy traveling way over the speed limit T bones you,HE will claim it was your fault for pulling out on HIM.

Having worked in a male dominated work place myself, I found that different guys treated me differently, like some of them would watch their language & tone of speak around me and others didn't give a sh*t but they all treated me as an equal, like didn't give me a hard time for being on the job as long as I did the job.

My theory has always been that if I do my best then I deserve respect - not b/c I'm a woman doing "a man's job" but b/c I'm a person doing a good job! To me that theory should be the same with riding.

I would say all the guys I worked with were all pretty good but a couple members of the public took exception to me. I wasn't out to prove anything and the guys I worked with knew that so it wasn't an issue really and the same with riding, I'm just another person that loves riding my motorbike - to me my gender is irrelevant.

Incidentally I worked for a road gang.

[KATWYN]

Having worked in a male dominated work place myself, I found that different guys treated me differently, like some of them would watch their language & tone of speak around me and others didn't give a sh*t but they all treated me as an equal, like didn't give me a hard time for being on the job as long as I did the job.

My theory has always been that if I do my best then I deserve respect - not b/c I'm a woman doing "a man's job" but b/c I'm a person doing a good job! To me that theory should be the same with riding.

I would say all the guys I worked with were all pretty good but a couple members of the public took exception to me. I wasn't out to prove anything and the guys I worked with knew that so it wasn't an issue really and the same with riding, I'm just another person that loves riding my motorbike - to me my gender is irrelevant.

Incidentally I worked for a road gang.

Yea good on you, doing what you want to do. In the 80's I did a "non traditional" apprenticeship of car painting. I will never again put myself in that environment (another story). But as far as riding my motorcycle goes, sometimes I get comments especially from the "traditional" type person like for example recently when one person was looking at the bike I ride said "oh, so where are you going to put your children on your bike when you have them?" ...interesting question, to give a smart answer too (couldnt think of
one at the time, was taken back by a 1900's comment in the year 2000)

I was interested in your comment that public take exception to your job?? how come?

[Kickaha]

"oh, so where are you going to put your children on your bike when you have them?"

In the sidecar of course!