Considering that the approach of many companies trying to market products to women is to condescend to them, play on their insecurities, or slap a coat of pink paint on the product, it’s hella refreshing to see that the lengths to which Harley Davidson is going to capture the growing women-bikers market do not include any of the above:
American women are the fastest-growing part of the motorcycle business, buying more than 100,000 of them a year. Even though aging baby-boomer men, with money to spend and time on their hands, have played a big role in expanding the market in recent years, motorcycle companies are trying hard to woo women buyers.
“Fifty percent of the population is female and there is pent-up demand,” said James L. Ziemer, Harley-Davidson’s chief executive. “We need to remove barriers.”
So they are producing more motorcycles that are low to the ground — so women can plant their feet firmly at rest — with narrower seats and softer clutches, and adjusting handlebars and windshields to make bikes more comfortable for smaller riders.
One thing they are not doing, the company says, is making a less-powerful bike aimed at women. Which, thank God. Because who needs to drop $20 grand on a bike with an anemic engine? The company is pretty firm that women, provided they fit on the bikes, can operate any of the company’s present models. The adjustments are being made to ensure that more women can fit on more of the company’s models.
Harley-Davidson executives deny they have any such plans, saying women can now operate any of their motorcycles. Company officials say the changes they have made in size and shape of their products will help them win over more women. For years, women bought the Harley Sportster 883 Hugger because it was low to the ground, but many found the ride a bit rough. The company put rubber engine mounts on all of the Sportster models for the 2004 model year to reduce vibration and then replaced the Hugger with the Sportster 883 L the next year. The Sportster 883 L has become a favorite among beginner women riders looking for a low seat and a smooth ride.
Last year the company lowered the Sportster 883 L even more and also introduced the Sportster 1200 L, a low bike for smaller riders who want more power. Before women start considering which model to buy, Harley-Davidson has to stoke their dreams and eliminate their fears. That is what its garage parties are all about.
There are some “feminine” touches, mostly in the clothing line, and the ad campaign in women’s magazines does feature a woman checking her makeup in the chrome. But the company’s website for women riders and its approach to marketing are refreshingly educational and practical:
Few companies, though, are doing more than Harley in reaching out to this group. Its dealers hold frequent garage parties for women, to let them learn about bikes, including the best way to stand up a 750-pound motorcycle that has tipped over (crouch down, with the small of your back against the seat, and push up and back while holding onto the bike). . .
“This is your baby step,” Jeri Davis, the special event coordinator at the dealership in Grand Prairie, Tex., told a gathering of 50 women recently. “We want you to buy your first Harley-Davidson and not feel it’s your first rodeo.”
The women learned the fundamentals about motorcycles and priced the studded halters and leather jackets. There was a raffle for Texas Ranger baseball tickets, finger sandwiches and plenty of joking among the women, most of whom were middle-aged.
While it’s always a little uncomfortable praising a corporation for successfully figuring out how to get women to spend their money without condescending to them, or to be approving of the idea that some kind of consumer product is empowering, it’s hard to deny that getting more women to think about motorcycles as something they control, rather than just something they ride while their men control, is a positive thing.
And it’s worth praising companies that treat women as thoughtful consumers in their own right, rather than just adjuncts to some male decision-maker.
The Broadsheet post on the article was icky, and, I think, seriously missed the point.
So I should ride a motorcycle because a man thinks it’s “transgressive.” Who knew?
My motorcycle is the “chick model” for the company that makes it, and it’s called the “Virago.”
I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Actually, I’d wanted to get a larger motorcycle for longer distances, and I’ve found that most of the bikes are emulating the chopper look, including huge wide tank. I don’t mind sitting up a little higher, but having your legs splayed out because men want to pretend like their bike is a big fat cock is a little uncomfortable and doesn’t seem as safe to me. They’re harder to handle and steer in low gear. Plus, it’s not ladylike! :p Harley Davidson, for all of it’s over-pricedness (behold! I have invented a word!) does appear to have slimmer tanks and sleeker design.
What’s wrong with a pretty, pink Barbie bike? Besides it being hideous and tacky, that is.
Reading this made my day. I don’t have a whit of interest in motorcyles, but reading about Harley’s right-headed attempts to reach women buyers has just restored a tiny bit of my faith in humanity. It’s a good feeling.
I’m more of a Vespa girl, myself. What can I say — I’d rather cruise around town with big sunglasses and a fluttering scarf saying, “Ciao” like the Pope.
So that’s a 1941-ish WL, right?
Also, credit where it’s due. Months ago, I picked up American Iron to look at a bobber, my favorite of the US custom styles. There was another bike, super-low, built and ridden by a 5′2″ woman named Shorty. Now, there’s a very standard presentation for the bikes in those magazines: two big pictures, one of each side, one or two insets with details, and a picture of the bike with the owner or builder. But since the builder in this case was a woman who worked as a spokesmodel in the industry, with bottle-blond hair and huge surgically enhanced breasts, and since she had a lot of help from her friends to finish her first bike, they ignored the format and put up lots of splashy cheesecake of the builder while ignoring the bike, right?
Wrong. Standard layout: two big pics of each side and an inset, one small picture of Shorty with the bike.
The world is a shitty place full of sexism and misogyny, so when someone does something decent, I’m always a little surprised.
I wrote about my motorcycle a while ago. It’s so pretty. I also write general manners when talking to someone who’s gotten a motorcycle, and also some instructions on how to get a motorcycle if you’re interested.
MP, I think there is an exception to the “windshield rule” (From MP’s blog, that one becomes CHiPs with a windshield): small wind deflectors as part of British bikes made between 1948 and 1975, because they could reasonably be cafe racers, and some cafe racers had wind deflectors. Bikes made to go ton-up (100mph+) on a public motorway with drum brakes just don’t bring Erik Estrada to mind.
I have a few bike photos here