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Women in motorcycling
- Thread starter TK4
- Start date
Morrissey
Well-known member
A good read with a lot of valid points. No other industry in the world (with the exception of porn) ignores women the way motorcycling does. I can't figure out why bike manufacturers, especially Honda who understands how to market cars and suv's successfully to women haven't figured out how to do this.
Riceburner
Well-known member
They just need to market it. Some high powered "smaller" bikes are around or can be easily(relatively) put into production. Wish they would bring a modern FZR400 out. Once the experience is gained by women or shorter riders, they can take on taller bikes without as much trepidation.
hmmm...anyone know of an FZR400 with a blown engine kicking around? A YZF600 motor is supposed to fit nicely in it.
hmmm...anyone know of an FZR400 with a blown engine kicking around? A YZF600 motor is supposed to fit nicely in it.
Riceburner
Well-known member
Don't have to 'soften' it to market it to women. Just have to be inclusive.
Too true. Sometimes when we walk into a motorcycle dealership, the salesperson only talks to me and ignores my wife, even when it's obvious she's the one doing the shopping.
And all the while I'm thinking, "You just lost yourself a very expensive motorcycle sale..."
And all the while I'm thinking, "You just lost yourself a very expensive motorcycle sale..."
Sorry for the hijack but try sending your wife to Canadian Tire for a pair of heavy duty pliers because you're in a jam and can't go yourself. Regardless of what your wife asks for they point her to the cutesy little ones with pink handles.
Re the bikes. To a big extent the problem used to be technology but lighter materials, electric start etc can take care of that. It's mostly the desire of the manufacturer.
What comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do flocks of chick(en)s show up at the dealers with cash in hand saying make me a suitable bike or does the manufacturer lay a egg hoping the chick(en)s will show up and adopt?
Order a kid's meal at McDonald's and you will be asked if the toy is for a boy or a girl. The boy gets an action figure the girl gets a doll. We are still gender fast tracking. If this stopped today it will be decades before changes are seen in a woman's true self coming out. Mindsets are developed early in life.
If you surveyed 5000 males and 5000 females in the general population asking "Have you any interest in owning a motorcycle?" I'm pretty sure far more males would answer yes. Surveys taken in self absorbed special interest groups are usually too biased to be of any serious discussion.
In the words of Kevin O'Leary "Show me the money." Honda is in the business of making money not motorcycles. Motorcycles are just a way of making money. The shareholders would be just as happy if the dividend cheques came from making tofu.
Why would a manufacturer invest millions of dollars to make a bike that only interests say, 10% of the population when for the same outlay or less they could make one that interests say, 30% of the population?
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Morrissey
Well-known member
As a rider with stumpy legs (29"-30" inseam) and 20yrs experience I will say that you are right, to a point. Men more so than Women are willing to climb onto a machine that is simply too big for them and wrestle it ever ride because they want the performance etc that comes with that bike. However I will say that there is a point where I say that the stretch, reach etc is just too much to be worth the reward of the bike. For instance, I love the FJR, but every time I throw a leg over one, the seat height combined with the width of the seat is all wrong for me. I'm not going to be tippy-toeing around on a 600+lb bike, especially when the peg position locks my legs in so I can't adjust my foot when it's on the ground. I'm not willing to risk dropping a $20,000 bike because I couldn't get a leg down properly on it. Yes, you can modify bikes, put in lowering kits etc, but it seems excessive to have to mess with a bike's geometry just to get it to fit. Women are even less likely to be willing to tippy-toe or hang off the side of the bike to get a foot down just to ride a bike. There is no reason that companies couldn't build bikes with very good performance AND a 29 or 30 inch seat height. They did it for years. Now they claim that they need to raise the seat height on these bikes for cornering clearance reasons which I call BS! Aside from journalists scraping pegs up in the canyons of California, the average road rider will not have clearance issues on naked bikes/street bikes unless they are well in excess of the speed limit.
There is a large, untapped market waiting for whoever is willing to do the research and design great bikes for smaller riders. The trick to getting women interested is to avoid the old cliche of "shrink it and pink it". It fails to work in the case of most products unless the product is used primarily as an accessory. Hire women designers and engineers (they are out there) and get some focus groups going and I guarantee you could design and SELL some great motorcycles.
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bigpoppa
Well-known member
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Agreed, atleast with that part.
The reason manufacturers shouldnt market or make bikes exclusively targetting the female demographic, is the same reason hand bag makers dont bother marketing to men.
Its not worth it. Are there men interested in hand bags? Im sure some are. But the segment is so small, that to spend those kind of RD dollars, or marketing dollars, is not worth it.
That limited capital would be better spend on making more fun bikes, making them more reliable, etc etc.
GateKeeper
Well-known member
I never thought of a motorcycle being for one gender or another, same as for a car.....
either you want to ride a bike or you don't,
drive a car, truck, tractor, lawnmower, again I don't see these as gender specific, males or females will drive/ride if they want to, not because it's marketed as male or female...
any vehicle can be made to fit anyone one person, more or less.....hell even some bikes I can't ride due to the way they are made, so I get on those that I can.....and stay away from the one's I cannot....
friend of mine and his wife just got in to motorcycling, he got a cruiser style bike, his wife don't like cruiser bikes, she got a sport bike, I know she did not look for a bike that was made for a female, she wanted a sport bike.....
just my thoughts....
either you want to ride a bike or you don't,
drive a car, truck, tractor, lawnmower, again I don't see these as gender specific, males or females will drive/ride if they want to, not because it's marketed as male or female...
any vehicle can be made to fit anyone one person, more or less.....hell even some bikes I can't ride due to the way they are made, so I get on those that I can.....and stay away from the one's I cannot....
friend of mine and his wife just got in to motorcycling, he got a cruiser style bike, his wife don't like cruiser bikes, she got a sport bike, I know she did not look for a bike that was made for a female, she wanted a sport bike.....
just my thoughts....
I just want to be looked at and talked to with the same attention given to men in dealerships and shops. A lot of places just assume you are there to sit on bikes or look at colours etc. and generally talk down to you. I dont want special women's only crap. What I would like would be more selection of gear with the same protection levels as guys. I don't want to be special, I just want to be treated equal.
/rant
/rant
Numbers prove women are spending the money. they are just a bit too dense to realize it. which is my point.
Women may be gullible but they're not stupid. If they thought riding around on a motorcycle was the thing to do, they'd do it. Bikes aren't exactly safe or clean or comfortable. You can also add convenient to that list. Motorcycles haven't caught the imagination of most women and where they have you need to wash your eyes out with bleach. The ratio of women to men riding motorcycles is probably the same as women wearing stupid **** to women wearing sensible shoes. Who wants to teeter around on a jacked up motorcycle? Marketers have their work cut out for them, if women weren't so gullible I'd say it's a lost cause. Maybe start in the accessory dept.
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