Women and Motorcycles

Let’s face it. Motorcycling is dominated by males. Sure, women riders are one of the fastest growing segments of the industry. I applaud and encourage women to ride. Heck, my daughter and wife both ride.

Regardless, if you look at industry statistics, the pastime is still dominated by men. Right or wrong, men make up well over 80% of all motorcycle riders. Talk to any magazine publisher, any motorcycle industry web site, anyone in the know, and THEY all know that the market is made up primarily of men.

And what do men like – other than motorcycles? Women. Yep. No big surprise there. Guys like to see sexy, scantily clad women on motorcycles. That is proven out by the thousands of photos you see of girls in tight fitting bikini’s and stripper heals posed next to a custom motorcycle. Heck I see it in my own web site statistics.

So as a photographer specializing in the motorcycle industry, it is pretty much required that you shoot scantily clad women with a motorcycle. Yea, tough gig, I know.

But for me that isn’t enough. Mind you, I certainly don’t mind shooting bikini clad playmates cavorting around a studio. But it just never was my style. I always thought women were more alluring when they were strong, empowered, and independent. I wanted to reflect that in my photography.

So when I had the option, I would always try to show women as the rider of the motorcycle, not some object that adorned a motorcycle. Even if my customer wanted the oft repeated girl on a bikini on a bike, I would keep the set up afterwards and do something that would represent my own style. And I think a lot of men think like I do, that a woman who can outride them is sexier than a bimbo who doesn’t know the throttle from the brake.

So that is what I try to do with my photographs – depict a women who can outride a guy in a sexy, alluring way. I also think authenticity is important, so I try to make sure we have proper riding gear – boots, not high heels. Unkempt hair like they just removed their helmet. A bit of dirt and grime from a long day on the road.

So tell me. Do you like your women faster than you, leaving you in the dust? Or do you prefer them to ride behind and let you do the manly thing and ride a bike.