Editorial

EDITORIAL

No bikes, m’lady?

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN scorned.

Maybe, maybe not. After all, English playwright William Congreve authored that memorable line almost two centuries before the invention of the motorcycle, so he was unaware of an even greater wrath: that of a woman told by the man in her life that he longs to buy a bike. Had he known of the hell on Earth such announcements can bring about, Congreve might have worded his passage a bit differently.

All right, ladies, all right, hold your fire; I admit it—I’m exaggerating a little. I know that not all women are dead-set against their men riding motorcycles. I also know that among the ladies who do detest the sport, not all become untamed shrews the instant they learn that their sons, husbands or main squeezes have the hots for a new bike. But anyone who’s been paying attention knows that most women either don’t like motorcycles at all, or find them tolerable only so long as their beloved never throw a leg over one. And large numbers of these women aren’t the least bit shy about voicing their displeasure at—or their outright disapproval of—the purchase of a motorcycle by someone close to them.

Today, more than ever, that viewpoint is having significant impact on the health and welfare of the motorcycle industry. No longer are women automatically relegated to playing subservient roles around the house as they were in years past; almost half of today’s households have dual incomes, due to all of the mothers, wives and live-in girlfriends who have joined the workforce. This liberated, working woman of the Eighties plays a pivotal role in major purchasing decisions made by the men in her life. Women currently influence eight out of 10 new-car purchases, for example, and they buy four of those 10 themselves. Today’s woman also has much more to say about the ways in which her man spends his social time.

For most men contemplating the purchase of a motorcycle, what this means is that actually buying the bike—not to mention finding the time to ride it—usually involves some form of approval from a woman. If she doesn’t acquiesce, the machine is very likely to remain unbought. Period. End of report.

But perhaps I should say beginning of report, because this is where the Motorcycle Industry Council’s Image Enhancement Committee comes in. Knowing that motorcycling continues to have a less-than-sparkling image among the non-riding citizenry, the MIC formed this seven-member committee in late 1986 to study the public’s perceptions of the sport. The MIC’s ultimate goal was the creation of a mass-media promotional campaign designed to boost sagging newbike sales by putting a new shine on motorcycling’s tarnished image.

A year later, after accumulating reams of information, the committee hired a public-relations agency to sift through the data and come up with an appropriate game plan. The PR people quickly reached a startling conclusion: Although most everyone in this male-dominated industry has acknowledged over the years that women have an effect on motorcycle sales, few people actually understood just how big that effect has become.

Indeed, while trying to identify the numerous hurdles that prospective motorcycle buyers must vault, the agency found that this female-approval business clearly was one of the highest. Of the many women interviewed in the MIC study, most expressed a strong belief that motorcycles are too dangerous, too antisocial, too frivolous, and said that they didn’t want their sons or husbands or boyfriends riding them. At the same time, most non-riding men surveyed were much more openminded about the idea of taking up motorcycling as a hobby.

Based on their findings, the agency has developed a promotional campaign targeted directly at—hey, you guessed it—women. As a result, throughout 1988 you should be seeing quite a few female motorcyclists spotlighted on TV news programs and talk shows, as well as in articles that will run in newspapers and nonmotorcycling magazines. The agency also cut a deal with two highly active and attractive women motorcyclists, Courtney Caldwell and Jeanne Mare Werle, to participate in promotional activities and serve as spokespersons for the campaign.

If you think that the objective here is simply to get more women riding motorcycles, think again. Instead, by showing normal, intelligent, respectable women enjoying themselves on two wheels, the campaign hopes to demonstrate to non-riding females that motorcycling is an okay activity, that riding can be safe, sane, socially acceptable and fun, no matter what your gender. Granted, most women still won’t rush out and buy a new GSX-R after watching these promotions, but perhaps they might tone down their objections to their husbands or sons or lovers doing so. And if women do happen to start storming dealerships, waving fistfuls of money and demanding to be sold motorcycles, no one is going to be upset.

As far as I can tell, this a no-lose proposition. If the campaign is a dismal failure and gets zilch for results, the industry will be no worse off than before. But if it’s even the least bit successful, a lot of good will come of it. A few more bikes will get sold— and these days, every sale counts; and it will prove to all involved that if the manufacturers (who fund the MIC and its committees) work in harmony instead of in discord as they usually do, there is great hope for the industry to pull out of its nosedive and get back on course once again.

Besides, if the program is really successful, buying your next motorcycle may not involve any hand-tohand combat with your lady. Who knows; maybe it will even be a twobike purchase. —Paul Dean