Ladies, would you feel comfortable driving a motorcycle? Have you ever thought about getting one?

I had one when I was young. My husband has a Harley now. I decided that in my old age I’m happier riding on the back.

I’ve seen plenty of women with their own motorcycles. Personally, I’ll get a motorcycle when they outlaw cars.

I’ve always wanted one

I have a couple of female friends who own vintage, Honda cafe racers and I was tempted to get one for awhile. I think that everything about those and other small bikes is cool but I’ve worked in hospitals for far too long to really ever own one. I’ve seen even the most seasoned riders come in with blunt or fatal traumas after accidents, and if not that, back or leg injuries that they deal with for the rest of their lives. There’s a reason docs call them donorcycles. I’m all for other people owning them though, if they’re willing to take that risk.

I’ve enjoyed the times I’ve been a passenger on one, but I could never get one for myself. For starters, I’m much too small to handle a motorcycle.

@aprilsimnel how big do you have to be?

I’ve heard horrible stories about the accidents…one of my grade school friends was in an accident (he was in the side car, his mom was driving, and his sis was on the back). His mom was killed instantly, and he and his sister are permanently disabled physically. It’s so sad.

It’s fine if other people are willing to take the risk, but I am not.

I don’t see why a woman can’t drive one herself. Personally, I’m more of a boat person.

I’m only 5’1”. I couldn’t handle more than a Vespa off the lot, I’d reckon. My feet wouldn’t even touch the ground for most bikes, though the shortest rider I’ve heard of is about 4’9”, but needed all sorts of adjustments. I can’t be arsed to do all that.

Here’s more information for women riders by a woman motorcycle owner.

I have been riding for more years than I like to tell you. I have downsized to a Yamaha BeeWee scooter. It will do 100kph (bout 60mph) and it is just great, I love it and will ride until I drop. Lots of people get hurt riding bikes, but lots of people get hurt in cars as well, so I ride defensively and figure when my time is up…......

I am short so usually look for bikes I can at least tip toe touch on both sides but have ridden dirt bikes that I had to lean to one side when standing.

No, I wouldn’t feel comfortable. Motorcycles have always freaked me out because I’ve heard far too many horror stories, and personally known people that have crashed. Then I know of people through people that I know who have died on them.

Many years ago, I had a 250cc Honda.

I just got my motorcycle permit on Wednesday, and I’m taking the riding course next month!

I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle, and rode as a passenger with my ex-bf last year. I can’t afford a bike right now, but I still want to learn how to ride anyway.

I’ve ridden as a passenger a couple of times, for the thrill of it. To me they are in the same category as roller coasters, and I get my fill after one short ride.

Many, many years ago I tried riding a motorcycle. I laid it down in a patch of sand and, once my skin grew back, decided that I prefer at least one layer of metal between me and the pavement.

However, I have many friends who ride. One friend of mine is a woman who got her first motorcycle at age 55, a Yamaha Virago 250. As she became more comfortable at riding she moved up to larger engine sizes, and now rides a 750. She is a member of the Christian Motorcycle Association, does prison ministry, and holds religious services at Bandido and Gypsy rallies. She carries out at least one long road trip each year, riding with her husband, and has had several accounts published in Woman Rider magazine.

Of course, she is rather unusual in that she got married for the first time in her life at 52, having spent her career in the military police with a second career in teaching Tai Kwan Do.

Her husband was in one very bad accident (not his fault) that destroyed his Yamaha. Because the person who hit him “didn’t see him” (and left the scene of the accident) he now rides an enormous bright yellow Honda Goldwing. We tease him by telling him it’s a car with two wheels. The two of them are very careful riders, always wearing full leathers and a full face helmet. They have not had any additional accidents so far.

Another friend of theirs is a paraplegic who designed an entirely hand-controlled motorcycle/sidecar combination to carry his wheelchair as he rides. He makes a living building similar bikes as well as some trikes for other paraplegics. Of course, the reason why he is a paraplegic to begin with was because he had a motorcycle accident.

If you really want a bike, I suggest you go to the nearest large dealership and take a class in riding one. If you still enjoy it, then look into getting your license and buying one. I suggest you start with one of the smaller bikes until your skill and confidence increase.

Oh my god, I want a motorcycle so bad I can taste it. Not a crotch rocket, but a real bike. I know I’ll catch hell for that comment from the street bike fans, but hey, whatevs. I’m a pretty small person, but I sat on a Harley Sportster and I think it’s small enough I could handle it. I don’t care much for the body style, but hey, as long as I can ride it. Of course, this is something I’ll have to wait for because I can’t afford a bike right now. But a girl can dream, right?

Firstly, you don’t drive a motorcycle, you ride it, but that aside, they are much more enjoyable to own than a car. They have acceleration that exceeds any road car ever built (big bore bikes that is) with the possible exception of the 917 Porsche. They have a magic that you can never get from a car, the pleasure you get riding is both exhilarating and relaxing. when I am feeling tense, I’l go for a ride down a twisty bit of mountain back road and by the time I have finished throwing a big V-Twin through twenty or thirty kilometres of tight bends and sweeping curves I am fully relaxed.

Owning a bike is also a very social thing, there are all sort of clubs with weekend runs, BBQs etc. Not all clubs are like Outlaw Biker clubs, many have Doctors, lawyers, Police etc.

The downside is that the accident and death risk is much higher, up to twenty times as high if you listen to some statistics. The risk isn’t you doing something wrong, it is being hit by an inattentive motorist. You have to ride very defensively.

Some people are natural riders, some are an accident looking for a place to happen. You have to be attentive and alert at all times on a bike, you do not relax for a second when in traffic. You have to have an attitude similar to a soldier behind enemy lines, make one mistake and they’ll get you. Every car on the road is out to get you.

All new riders need to do a proper riding course, one that teaches defensive riding and gives experience on a racetrack. You need to learn the bikes limits in a safe environment. The worst rider, and the one most often killed are those who owned a bike when young, spent twenty or thirty not riding then bought another bike. We call them retreads, or Born again Bikers. They are dangerous. The think that they know how to ride, but tehy invariably don’t. A complete novice learning is generally safer.

I have ridden since the age of fourteen, and managed to go for more than thirty-two yeas without an accident – then in 2004 I went under a truck. More than sixty fractures, lots of skin bone grafts, several month in a wheelchair, a leg full of hardware, stainless steel and titanium, and I am back on my feet. A truck ahead of me, at highway speed, on a bend, lost its load, twenty feet in front of me. I was doing 110 KPH. I am a good rider, but the best that I could do was try for the least injury. This happened jsut after I was diagnosed with cancer. It was not a good year. :)

It is a great pastime, but it has risks.

@DarkScribe Can we see a picture of your bike?!

@essieness I’ll drag some out and put them on Flickr tomorrow.

@DarkScribe Cool!

I love motorcycles!!!!! I used to race motocross, back then they called us PowderPuffs. That was 30 some odd years ago… Although, these memories are just that, memories…
I’ve always wanted a Harley Softtail. Our neighbor has a Beautiful RoadKing and VStar that looks soo much like a FatBoy, it’s unbelievable. Well, except for the fact it’s water cooled. Yeah, the radiator kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.
Anyway, he knows of my love for Harleys. So recently he went and bought another, this time it being a Sportster 1200, but he tells me that he had the suspension soften so it rides like the softtail… Apparently, (so he says) it waiting for me in his garage. We have even started talking about putting a sidecar on it for WTF.
Wouldn’t that be awesome!! Hmmm, I wonder if I can talk WTF in to it, since my car was in an accident today, and he believes as well as our neighbor that it’s a total loss) Probably not….
PS: My grandfather & my dad restored an Indian for my brother. The day it was finished my grandfather asked my dad to test drive it. He came to the corner and while making a right turn a car blew through a stop sign and broadsided him…..

@DarkScribe, I know all about leg armor as I too, have an ankle made out of titanium as well as steel pins and rods in my leg… And 11 months in a cast. Lots of therapy(sp) All because of a woman who was not paying attention…

@sccrowell I was wearing amoured boots, an armoured jacket and Kevlar lined jeans when I came down, if not I would not have survived, or at least I would certainly have lost one leg. As it was they debated amputation. I was lucky enough to have a very skilled orthopedic surgeon visiting the hospital when I eventually arrived there and the admitting Doctor showed him my xrays. He regarded me as a challenge and took me on, stopping them amputating.

One thing that I learned from that accident was to always keep a phone on my person – it was in my saddlebags and I was off the bike, a few metres away. They moved the truck and the load without realising that I had gone over the edge into a gully. It was quite a few hours before someone found me.

I still walk with a cane, but am slowly getting back to full mobility. The only thing that I can’t do is run, and I used to be a runner. I need the cane for descending stairs, the rest of the time I am pretty well ok.

I still haven’t re-built my Softail, but I have a Virago 1100 with a 1200 kit fitted. It does for the moment. It is faster than the Softail ever was, handles better too, but doesn’t have the same charisma as the Harley.

Im gettign my motorcycle L in august actually and my dad is giving me his chopper because he is getttign a new one built.

I think they are one of the most comfortable things and plus they are tons of fun. :)

There is no reason why a woman should not ride a bike. I do and I really enjoy I lvoed @DarkScribe answer he sumed everything up. Make sure you do wear protection and always be on the look out for EVERYTHING! Have fun and enjoy cruising out on your bike!
BTW I ride a BMWF650 very comfortable and easy to ride :)