In the West, the idea that women can drive cars is so common it's not an idea so much as a given. But when it comes to two wheels, it's a different story.
A friend (female) and I went on a 3000 mile round trip across Europe on our motorbikes. We're used to being looked at, talked about. Two women on big, powerful motorcycles is an unusual sight, especially travelling as a pair, not part of a larger group (ie, travelling with men).
As a biker, I know a lot of women who ride their own machines, from scooters and mopeds to big V-twin cruisers and powerful Ducatis, Blackbirds, Ninjas. Within the biker community, there aren't many raised eyebrows at the fact the keys in my hand are to my own Harley, or that it's not just a show of participation in my boyfriend's hobby (hell, women like that ride pillion).
Half of all new motorcycle sales are to women. The stats on used bikes are probably the same but are harder to compute. Most of the big bike manufacturers, like Honda, are "watching the market" to see how strong this trend is, while a few other companies, like Harley, are targetting it. Harley's strategy involves redesigned models for the shorter, lighter rider and clothing designed for the riders seat rather than the pillion, with advertising campaigns to match.
But after days of getting the same stares in six countries, in all weather (especially driving rain) i have to wonder just how far we've really come and how far we still have to go, if even in the largely liberal, equal, democratic EU, a woman on her own two wheels is still looked at askance; because she's something wild, something free.
And it's disheartening that we still find something somehow strange and almost inappropriate in a woman's personal freedom and power to control her own ride, and choose her own road.
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