Ladies Love Cool Bikes

Only 11 percent of motorcycle riders are women, according to this MSN Autos blog post, but that number is growing every year. Between 2003 and 2009, there was a 45 percent increase in chicks on bikes — and not in the bitch seat. [shudder]

What do women buyers look for in a motorcycle? It’s not a pink gas tank, it’s not streamers on the handlebars, and it’s not a wimpy motor. Like jeans, bras, and almost everything else women buy, fit comes first.

• With an average height of 5 feet, 4 inches in the US, women like bikes low enough for their feet to touch flat on the ground when they’re stopped.
• Women like lighter bikes that they feel comfortable handling — 300 pounds instead of, say, 500.

As gas prices climb, sales of efficient two-wheelers do, too. I’d expect to see more women on motorcycles in the next decade — especially electric bikes like Brammo’s.