More Women Riding Motorcycles

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  Posted by BikerNews September 26, 2011 - Filed in Motorcycle News - 1,955 views
  

  It doesn't seem all that long ago when it was an unusual site to see a woman riding her own motorcycle.  For the most part women rode on the back of their ol' man's bike... or if they did ride, they were typically seen on a smaller bike and limited their riding to local trips.
  

  Well times are a changing out there.  It has become common place to see women riding their own motorcycles and they are riding all types of bikes and can be found all over the highways taking long trips right there along with their male counter parts.  According to the Motorcycle Industry Council female motorcycle riders has grown by more than 50% over the last several years, with 1 out of 9 motorcycles now being owned by women*.  The MIC numbers indicate in 2009, there were 11 million motorcycles in the US, and women owned 1,155,000 of them*.

  I've talked to a number of women riders to understand the newly found love of riding and there were a large variety of different answers, with a few of the most common being.... 
  

  • I rode on the back forever and wanted to experience the thrill and freedom of riding my own
    
  • I split up with my old man and loved the biker lifestyle so I got my own bike
    
  • My old man made me get my own so we could carry more stuff when we went on trips
    
  • All my girlfriends were riding and I wanted to ride with them
    

  Another big part of it is the fact that the motorcycle manufacturers are doing more to attract women to the sport of motorcycling.  Most manufacturers now include one or more models in their product line that are geared toward the women rider.  Plus many of the dealers are holding events and seminars to introduce women to motorcycling and helping them to get to know their bikes.
  

  To me it doesn't matter what the reason, I just love to see more people - male & female - getting out there and riding!
  

  
  

  *note: the number of motorcycles owned by women may not actually reflect the number of women riders since many bikes are bought and registered by males for their spouse.  We are working on getting some updated numbers from the DMV on licensed riders and from the insurance industry on insured riders.