Hot Bikes, Hot Babes and News from Sturgis
The adventure of riding and building custom bikes has never been better. That wasn’t always the case. Hell, before cars it was tough to get 30 miles at less than 4 miles an hour. Hell, if outlaws or Indians attacked, who could you call. That’s right, you couldn’t call. Then cars and motorcycles came along and they weren’t that reliable. You better know your machine or don’t leave town.
Jillian Deschenes, Lana MacNaughton and Melissa Paris complete first training session
After a long hiatus, the female participants of Royal Enfield’s BUILD TRAIN RACE (BTR) program spent two days working closely with American Flat Track racer Johnny Lewis in Viola, WI earlier this month. Three out of the four builders/riders attended the training session to prepare for their American Flat Track debut in October. During this session each rider received one-on-one coaching from Lewis spinning laps on the FT411 training motorcycles based on the Royal Enfield Himalayan and their custom-built INT 650 flat trackers.
Jillian Deschenes, Lana MacNaughton and Melissa Paris were in attendance during the training session, which took place at S&S Cycle’s Speed Ranch track. The Speed Ranch is groomed and maintained oval dirt track which S&S Cycle uses for training, special events and product development purposes. Due to current travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada, the fourth participant, Andrea Lothrop was unable to attend. However, Andrea will be performing a virtual training session with Lewis in the coming weeks.
“It was great to finally meet the ladies of the BUILD TRAIN RACE program and we had an awesome time in Viola,” said Lewis. “Seeing the dedication and attention to detail that they put into their INT 650 builds was impressive. What was more impressive was their willingness to learn and eagerness to go fast right from the get go. By the end of day two each rider was using the techniques we discussed and pushing themselves faster and faster, which is ultimately my goal as a teacher.”
Lewis provided both on-track and off-track instruction to the ladies, using many principles and concepts taught in the Royal Enfield Slide School by Moto Anatomy program. Lewis focused on body position, riding mechanics and vision with ladies for two days. With the FT411 motorcycles, the women were able to familiarize themselves with the track conditions and received vital feedback from Lewis on their riding technique. Eventually, they transitioned to the larger and more powerful INT 650 builds on day two. Lewis was also able to shakedown each individual’s motorcycle and provided input regarding setup adjustments to improve ride-ability and performance.
“It was great to spend time with the BTR ladies at the track and see their progression,” said Breeann Poland, marketing lead of the Americas. “Having a partner like Johnny to provide coaching and insight has been a great addition to the program. Seeing him work with each rider and develop their confidence and skills over the two day session is exciting. I’m looking forward to the next time we’re all on track together again.”
Using SENA communication devices on day two, also a component of Royal Enfield’s Slide School program, Lewis provided coaching to the riders while at speed, giving precise direction on braking, cornering and more as they completed laps. After the conclusion of the two day training, all three ladies were comfortable riding aggressively at speed on their INT 650s, setting the stage for close racing when they line up for the first time in October.
The first exhibition for the BUILD TRAIN RACE ladies will be on track is on October 2-3 at Dixie Speedway as part of the American Flat Track program. Following that event, they will then race at Daytona Beach Flat Track on October 15-16.
To learn more about the riders and the BTR program, visit https://www.royalenfieldna.com/build-train-race/.
It’s all action, treachery, denial and rage
By Gearhead with photos from Barry Green
This is a special story. The young woman’s name is Lolita, and she is a professional dancer. This is not her dream but just for now her profession. This young woman has dreams and aspirations of a better work life for herself.
We find a Lolita, Candice, Daniel, Trish or just pick a professional name in any gentlemen’s clubs across this country. A lot of these women work right here near L.A.X.
Why you ask? The reason is L.A.X. is one of the last West Coast stops after leaving Las Vegas. L.A. is also big on adult entertainment like Vegas.
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by Faith Ikade from http://venturesafrica.com/
Mobility for Africa is empowering women in rural Zimbabwe with new electric powered motorcycles that can be used as a source of income generation.
The electric motorbikes known as “Hamba” gives women the opportunity to transport and sell their goods, while saving time and effort usually spent walking to pick up household goods for their families around the district of Wedza.
Shantha Bloemen, Mobility for Africa Director said the initiative is centred on women, following research done by the organization which shows that men always get priority on transport. “These are women that never thought they would drive anything. The whole intent was to focus on where the burden is greatest, but also the lowest rural women are on the lowest peg of the pyramid,” she said.
Assembled in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare with parts made in China, Hamba is powered by a solar-charged lithium-ion battery and can travel up to around 60 miles per ride. Mobility for Africa is now in the second phase of the pilot project before it can go commercial.
The project was an adaptation to a similar bike used in China and was an important tool used to reduce poverty in the country. Several households and women could use the bike to transport items from their farm to a local market.
Hamba will be sold for $1,500 USD and changing the batteries at a solar-powered station costs between 50 cents and $1. However, Mobility for Africa is currently leasing the bikes to groups of up to five women for the equivalent of $15 a month, thereby making it affordable for poor women in Zimbabwe.
Women in Zimbabwe can now carry farm produce to markets further away from home, offer transportation services to villagers and use the motorcycle for domestic chores.
Small business owners like Mary Mhuka, who is leasing the Hamba with her daughter-in-law and a neighbour, can now sell vegetables at a business centre 15 km away for more money than she would get locally. “We used to carry firewood on our heads for very long distances but now it’s much easier as this motorcycle has taken away that burden,” she told Reuters
According to Fadzai Mavhuna, the Hamba pilot coordinator since February 2019, “Some of the women have increased their income because they have embarked on projects like baking, tailoring and horticulture.”
Hamba is also helping women in the health sector. Pamhidzai Mutunya, a farm health worker, said before the arrival of Hamba, many women gave birth at home while others had to walk 12 km to the nearest clinic because there was no transport.
More so, Hamba has proved to be an essential in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in Zimbabwe. It allows healthcare workers transport patients more easily, and helps rural communities receive essential supplies during a country-wide lockdown.
Although Zimbabwe has not recorded a large number of confirmed COVID-19 confirmed, the lockdown has affected people’s income, especially in the informal sector, which is commonly dominated by women.
Nevertheless, Hamba has given women in Zimbabwe an opportunity to earn and be empowered in a country faced with several sanctions alongside an economy which runs at a declining speed.
from https://medicinehatnews.com
International Female Ride Day was scheduled for this Saturday, and while COVID-19 has pushed the date all the way back to Aug. 22, the local Ladies of Harley motorcycle group will still be celebrating this weekend with a safely-distanced ladies’ ride.
The trip is scheduled to begin at Badlands Harley Davidson at noon and will take roughly two hours with a socially-distanced pit stop planned for Echo Dale Park.
Anyone attending is encouraged to park at least six feet away from other bikes.
from https://www.ksro.com
BMW(NEW YORK) — Trudy Hardy is no stranger to motorcycles.
Hardy, a licensed street rider for 20 years and former executive at British carmaker MINI, now sells the “2-wheeled side of life” as vice president of Motorrad of the Americas, BMW’s motorcycle division. Her position puts her in charge of motorcycle operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil and she oversees the brand’s 150 U.S. stores.
Few women hold high-level executive roles in the motorcycle industry even as the number of female riders has jumped to 19% in 2018 up from 10% a decade ago.
Hardy, who was appointed to the position last July, views women as an important part of Motorrad’s business, which has been primarily men in the 45 to 55 age group.
“We’re broadening the range [of bikes] we have … ones that have lower ride height or adjustable suspensions,” she told ABC News at Motorrad’s U.S. headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. “Women need to be comfortable on the bikes they choose.”
She added, “We want to expand our audiences. There’s a lot of untapped potential for us.”
Last week BMW unveiled the R 18, a retro-styled bike geared toward the U.S. market and Motorrad’s first entry in the cruiser segment. The bike’s ergonomic design allows for relaxed riding and optimum control, making it appealing to women. Motorrad’s entry-level bikes, the G 310 GS and G 310 R, were also built and priced to attract female riders, according to the company.
Genevieve Schmitt, founder of Women Riders Now, an online magazine, said women are the fastest-growing demographic in motorcycles versus young men and baby boomers.
“It seems to be exponentially growing,” she told ABC News.
There are two reasons women are turning to bikes, she said: more gear in women’s sizes and the rise of female enthusiast groups on social media. She has also noticed an emphasis on female-focused advertising when there are women executives in the industry.
“I was personally very excited to see BMW choose a woman for that leadership position,” she said, referring to Hardy. “BMW tends to be seen as a conservative company. She was the most qualified candidate — for sure.”
Mark Hoyer, editor-in-chief of Cycle World magazine, pointed out that there has been an increase in ride events and tours marketed directly at women, such as Babes Ride Out and The Suffragists Centennial Motorcycle Ride. Harley-Davidson has also led the charge on getting more women excited about bikes by hosting “Women-only Garage Parties,” a concept it piloted in 2006 with its dealer network.
“The industry has evolved significantly in the last 10 years,” he told ABC News. “It tended to be more masculine … an old time, chest-pounding culture.”
More women are signing up for safety training and the proliferation of online groups and platforms has encouraged women to take up motorcycling, said Andria Yu, director of communications at the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). Women riders spend an average of $574 a year on tires, routine repairs, maintenance, replacement parts, modifying equipment and accessories compared to $497 that men spend, according to the 2018 Motorcycle Industry Council Owner Survey. Female entrepreneurs are also filling a much-needed void in the industry by manufacturing gear cut specifically for women, Yu noted.
Yu, a former journalist, started riding in 2001 to save money on her long commute to work and was soon hooked.
“I just found riding to be so much fun,” she said.
Hardy’s team of 50 U.S. employees includes 14 women, some of whom are avid riders. But knowing how to ride “is not a prerequisite to work here,” she said. “It’s not for everybody and I never push it on someone who does not feel comfortable on two wheels.”
For Hardy, being on a motorcycle “is an escape mechanism,” she said. “I love the feeling of really being in control.”
But convincing Americans to embrace Motorrad’s “make life a ride” slogan has been a challenge for the brand and industry leader Harley-Davidson. Motorrad delivered 175,162 bikes globally in 2019, an increase of 5.8% from 2018. BMW, however, acknowledged that 2019 was a “difficult market environment” for the brand, with sales in the U.S. and Canada totaling 15,116 units. Harley-Davidson’s U.S. bike sales in 2019 fell for a fifth straight year and the company recorded its lowest global motorcycle shipments in a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic will also likely put a serious dent in industry sales with the closure of manufacturing plants and dealerships.
Hoyer said the decline in motorcycling could partly be attributed to the high barriers of entry and associated costs. The used market now accounts for 70% of motorcycle transactions, according to Hoyer.
“You’re not giving up much when you buy used,” he said. “They’re affordable and the safety and stability control have improved immeasurably.”
He added, “Bikes, like Harley-Davidsons, have traditionally held their value.”
Schmitt said industry sales never really bounced back from the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009.
“Young people have so many enthusiast options available to them now,” she said. “They live differently than their parents and grandparents.”
Hardy conceded that Motorrad’s demographic has been “aging a bit” and her focus now is bringing younger riders into the brand and “targeting the right person with the right bike.” The BMW name has also presented its own challenges.
“We have this perception that we’re expensive to own — we need to overcome this,” she said. “We have some very affordable and attainable bikes that have a lot of safety equipment on them that our competitors do not.”
Hoyer noted that Motorrad’s string of recent products has helped it take market share away from competitors like Honda and Royal Enfield and buck the downward sales trend.
“Motorrad has done an excellent job of embracing its own history,” he said. “The Heritage line has been very successful.”
Hardy said her top goals this year as head of Motorrad USA are to create more passionate riders and to get back on her own bike. She even launched a training program for all BMW staffers who want to get a motorcycle license.
“This should be the most fun place to work in the BMW Group family,” she said.
Celebrating adventurous bold women on two-wheels
Women travelling on motorcycles were, for a very long time not treated seriously – even today, it happens to be that females are not treated equally to their male companions or other motorcyclists which happen to be males. To celebrate Women’s History Month we would like to introduce you to 25 amazing characters which paved the way for modern, more equal opportunities to discover the world on two wheels as a female.
by Sean Parker from https://www.wheels24.co.za/
While many of us were enjoying a break over the festive period and new year, Kirsten Landman and Taye Perry began 2020 by competing in one of the world’s toughest sporting events: the Dakar Rally.
This year’s race took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time and competitors were faced with a route of 7900km. They traversed massive sands and rocky terrain and performed exceptionally well to finish the race.
Wheels24 reported earlier in January that Landman, a 28-year-old from Durban, completed the two-week-long race in an excellent 55th-place overall, while Perry (29) came home in 77th place.
They performed incredibly well over the twelve days on the bikes and the reality of how dangerous the Dakar came to light when Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves died after crashing in the seventh stage of the race, the first casualty since 2015.
“I was very nervous, one of the officials came to me and said this is the point of no return. Once you go over this (starting) podium it’s over. It’s the beginning, but it’s over,” says Perry in an interview on Carte Blanche.
Landman, whose love for motorbike racing started at 10-years-old, said: “I grew up watching Dakars, and you see videos of riders crying because they are so physically exhausted they can’t get out of a section, it is so physically tough and draining.”
Wendy McGean fulfilled her dream — of driving cross-country on a motorcycle — at 55 years old
Suddenly, in her late forties, Wendy McGean started having an unexpected reaction every time she’d spot a motorcycle on the road.
“My head would just pivot and I’d think: ‘I really want to do that!” she told CBC Montreal’s Daybreak.
At the time, she thought it was an odd feeling for a married mother of two teenage daughters with a white collar job.
“It was a very traditional kind of life,” she said.
Before she knew it, McGean was leaving all that behind — her home, her job, even her marriage.
“Some people thought I’d absolutely lost my mind,” McGean said. “I just completely turned my life upside down.”
Just one kick at the can
McGean started to chase her dream of riding a motorcycle at 51 years old, signing herself up for circuit training. She realized that she didn’t feel comfortable on only two wheels and bumped up to a three-wheeled bike.
She said it was “love at first sight,” and suddenly McGean was buying a bike of her own.
“I think it’s the first thing in my life I found that I thought, ‘this is mine,'” she said. “It represents complete and utter freedom.”
Not long after McGean got a taste of that freedom, she suffered a major loss. Her father died.
“[It] made me realize that if there’s something that I want to do in my life, then I better get at it,” she said. “So I made the decision to leave my marriage.”
After 23 years of married life, McGean said she started to feel like a square peg and her life was a round hole. Something just didn’t fit anymore.
“I was lucky enough to have somebody that understood that I needed to explore that,” she said.
After living on her own for a while, McGean saw that her workplace was offering an early retirement package that she qualified for. She took it, moved out of her apartment and put everything she owned in storage, except for a one-person tent.
“I got on my bike and headed north without any reservations or anything,” she said.
Forging connections, old and new
With no plans and no commitments, McGean spent the next five weeks riding west to Tofino, B.C. and back, stopping in different towns and meeting new people.
One man she met at a gas station was intrigued by her motorcycle and struck up a conversation about his own cross-country ride on a bike. Before pulling out of the station, he gave her a hug.
“Stopping and having conversations with people I met along the way was probably the best part of the whole trip,” she said.
McGean also took the opportunity to reconnect with people she hadn’t seen in years — she spent a night with a friend in Ontario she hadn’t seen since high school, and also stopped to visit some cousins in Manitoba.
McGean’s cross-country treks are over, for now, but she said she’s grateful for the experience.
“At some point along the way, I finally realized that I had to live my life for me,” she said. “I had to do things that made me happy.”
She’s not sure what lies ahead for her, but McGean is now looking for a job doing something she loves in the Montreal area because she wants to be near her daughters, who are now in their 20s.
Looking back, she said her adventures really helped her come into her own.
“I’m comfortable in my own skin now. Probably for the first time in my life.”
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