Total Motorcycle Community Forums

When I was learning, I remember being afraid of tearing up the bike by not changing the gears correctly. The result was that I didn't want to take a gear to the top of the band. Someone commented earlier that some women have been put down so much they have been made to feel like they can't do things correctly. I do believe that is a problem with some women.
I remember reading a story one woman put on another site about how her biker boyfriend hollered at her in a mean way while she was learning and made her feel stupid. Sadly, I'm sure she's not the only woman that has happened to.
So, to help some women learn, (note that I did say "some"--many women have great self-esteem) I believe you might help to instill confidence in them by helping them get the basics down real good. I would find out if they are coming into it with preconcieved notions of a woman's incapability to ride too. It feels great to realize that you can overcome those things and be a good rider.
For example: My ex-husband, (the definitive word here is "EX" lol) and his family made a point of making a joke about what a bad driver I was. One of my sons remarked the other day after seeing me ride up on my bike, a Suzuki Intruder 800, that certain people were going to have to stop saying things about my driving ability. (I've also won safety awards as a medical transportationist.) I don't believe it will stop anyone though because a set mind that believes something because it wants to believe it regardless of the truth is not going to change. Plus, I don't have anything to prove to them anyway. I'm just enjoying the rides with my supportive biking husband!

Had our second one now and I want to share 1 interesting point. In our discussions we asked what speeds the ladies were comfortable at, some examples

Honda 250 Twister (never over 110kmh)
Honda Blade (never over 130 )
Valkyrie cruiser bike shakes over 120
Kawa KLR max ever done 120

We taped the clocks on all of the bikes and after teaching overcoming survival instincts and proper body positioning, we rode behind and kept pace to get an indication of speed

Twister flat out 140, entering corners at 130 coming out flat out
Blade, trainer clocked 180 behind her, cornering at The Pace was around 140 going in 160 going out
Cruiser, she just rode the straights and around corners at 150, no complaints about shakes
KLR, lost all fear of cornering, rode straight at 120 and then powered through the corners 140-150 then tapped of to 120 again (just like the Pace advocates)

All of the above with no visual indication of what speed they were doing, just working off "feel"

This tells us that information overload can hamper your mental riding faculty. Something that men do not suffer from, because we have no mental faculty to start with. HA HA

sapaul wrote:This tells us that information overload can hamper your mental riding faculty. Something that men do not suffer from, because we have no mental faculty to start with. HA HA

On the range, I get folks used to the idea of NOT looking at their speedometers. They tend to "optimistic" leaving a rider in danger of either road rage, or getting rear-ended.

I remember taping the speedo of my first bike to keep me from getting focused on that number.

P

Great technique works well

MZ33 wrote:I have noticed my fellow women have similar responses both to motorycles and power tools. We seem to have a keener understanding of what it means to get hurt. Big, vibrating, noisy machines with the capacity to move fast are scary. So, um, we often hang back a little more until we know more about how it works, what it does, what's the worst thing it can do, etc.

From a social perspective, women generally collaborate more, and feel less of a need to "master" the bike or the tool. We want to work with it, not be it's overlord. Don't mistake this! We want to be as smokin' proficient as any guy, and we can be quite competitive. But we do not expect to "win" over a bike or a power tool by wrestling it into submission.

I really like this I agree~!

Thanks for the comments, I read them all

One scribble (although I didnt read any other posts in this thread) is that I find women generally listen better than men. So if you give them straight information, quell there fears, given 'em supportive (verbal) feedback they seem to move right along in most cases. They (generally) do not have as many preconcieved notions about how things need to be done, which strangely even with men who come to schools, the guys listen less.

You dont need to get technical, just explain how things essentially work and then proceed to using one control or one test at a time... give 'em a feel for it.. them ask them to give you feedback on what they feel the bike is doing and follow through with some answers. It's always good to be able to find analogy's that aid people in understanding something new.

Also, another tidbit: throwing them on the back of your bike as a passenger for a quick demo works good too for some stuff. Ask them to watch whatever the essential bit you are teaching them is as you do it, then put 'em on the back briefly and voila... they can feel how it is while you do it and they are more able to focus learning rather than doing.

hardly a pennies worth of info today.. but that is often the way to go... one thing at a time before you can put 10-cents together and ride more comfortably at a new level.

Going back to the counter-steering bit: my instructors and manuals said "push" the handlebar with no further explanation. I would have figured it out a lot faster had someone said push down.

Something that my instructors never discussed was mindset. As women, we are not always encouraged to be as assertive as motorcycling needs us to be. It occurred to me, while puttering around town (Norfolk and Virginia Beach, at that time), that I am both predator and prey on my motorcycle. As predator: making snap decisions, fully committing to a chosen action, and taking what's mine. As prey: actively looking for danger and planning the best escape. The hyper awareness of both minds, and the assumption that everyone on the road is out to kill me, is what keeps me on my toes and very much alive.

I like those comments, makes a huge amount of sense.