It’s official, lady bikers are here to stay.

For too long the hairy, dominant males have sat astride their steeds, leathers creaking, stone washed jeans akimbo and flowing hair in need of a wash. For the average male biker, when it comes to motorcycling, the only use for a woman is as a bauble on the pillion during a cruise.

But as Dylan once said, “…times they are a-changin…”

Now the lady bikers are taking their place alongside their hairy counterparts.

Lady bikers used to be a rare sight, but its not only anecdotal evidence that suggests that they are making in-roads into yet another male bastion. First, only men would spend Friday and Saturday nights in the gutter outside their favourite watering hole, bringing up their stomach linings and that chilli extra donna kebab. Now, the women are in there as well, chucking up like true professionals.

Industry figures show that now around 15% of bikers are female.
And the genie is not going back into the bottle. Once a woman has donned the leathers and mounted a motorbike, she’s not likely to want to get off in a hurry. For too long they have sat patiently behind their sweating man, as he strives to put them into a ditch, or over a wall at 100 mph.

Now when motorcyclists congregate at such events as British Superbike race meets, track days and club events, there’s a fair sprinkling of women to be seen showing off their machines. Not for them the streaming blonde hair, silicone enhanced chests and bikinis – all to make the bloke look good.

Industry figures show that its not just changing cultural and social influences that cause women to take to motorbikes. Technology has leant a hand to, with smaller and lighter machines continually coming onto the market.

It used to be that to ride a motorbike you had to be built like a Russian shot-putter on testosterone. Bikes were built likes farmers ploughs and unless you wrestled grizzly bears, there was no way you could even get one off the stand. Then along came the Japanese with a philosophy that a bike could not only be considerably lighter – aiding the power to weight ration – but that it should also start with a button and not leak oil. This came as a revelation to many bikers, who had right legs like Arnold Schwarzenegger after years of trying to get the bl**dy* Triumph Trident to kick start.

They also thought that a river of oil was necessary under the sump, as though natural leakage was a sign of masculinity. Not for them the six-cylinder lithe beauties from the land of the rising sun that actually started first time and didn’t need a daily oil change. Of course, it didn’t take long for their bikes with names that no-one could pronounce, to make the likes of Norton and Triumph obsolete to all but a few die-hard enthusiasts.

But still, once bike technology took off, it was only a matter of time before the female form actually became their ideal occupant. Women are generally lighter and cause less wind resistance, so they make ideal riders. And what with more fine-tuned control around, that art of riding a bike is less to do with hanging on for dear life, than have a light touch and fast reflexes.

Current bikes out there that tend to suit the lady bikers are Aprilia RS125, Yamaha YZF-R6, Honda RVF NC35, Triumph 675, or the Suzuki GSX-R750 K6.

So, move over men, that fast bike getting larger in your mirror might just be being ridden by a bird. Now there’s progress for you

Tags: Aprilia RS125, Bennetts Bike Insurance, Bikers, Honda RVF NC35, Lady Bikers, Motorbikes, Suzuki GSX-R750 K6, Triumph 675, Yamaha YZF-R6