Ducati Monster Forum

OMG, I just saw the new bacon smilely!  [laugh] [bacon]

Anywaaaaaaaay, over the holiday weekend the bf and I went on a little getaway to Santa Cruz, consisting mostly of riding, some wine tasting, and eating.  ;D It was great.  :D :D

My observation for the ladies board, however is this:

We'd pull up to some winery, park the bikes (me on the Duqette, him on his Buell Lightening), pile our gear on top and head in to sip the nectar of the vine. Inevitably, someone would ask (him), "So, what are you riding...?" And my bf would reply (with pride), "You'll have to ask us separately." At first I didn't get it, and then I realized that the question implied I was a passenger. (Ohhhhh!) We'd go through the he's riding the Buell I'm riding a Ducati routine, and inevitably, they'd look at me all impressed, "A Ducati!"   8)

It's a 750, for Pete's sake!  [roll]  But, yes, it was fun exploding their preconceived notions of who rides what.... And my bf's obvious pride in dating a girl who rides a cool bike was nice, too.  ;)

And, the wine was good, too....  [wine] Brought home several bottles carefully wrapped in a small duffle and bungied to my back seat. It'll need to settle a while.....  [cheeky]

Glad you had a nice time! [thumbsup]

When I first started riding, I sometimes rode with my then-boyfriend, a longtime rider originally from the UK.

He got terribly annoyed that my bike, a cheap, bright yellow GS500F, consistently got far more attention than his very expensive, super-modded Aprilia RSVR Mille Factory.

The reason?  Mine had a girl rider. ;D [moto]

Hehe, this reminds me of the time I paid to insure my ex-BF's bike (he was broke at the time). We were on a conference call with his insurance agent so we could do payment over the phone. The agent remarked that he was sure this would get me lots of rides on the back of my ex's bike. It was amusing when he informed the guy that not only did I have two bikes of my own, but I had taught him how to ride.

Background: I have just walked into a bar for a sportbike night kind of gathering.  I'm the first one there.  My bike is parked in front all by its lonesome.  There are no other bikes in the parking lot.  I am the only one inside with any kind of motorcycle gear.

Enter me.  I set my lid on the table and take a seat.  There is a group of guys at the next table.

Idiot: So does your boyfriend ride?
Me: Yes. *puzzled at this question*
Idiot: Is that his Ducati in the parking lot?
Me: No.
Idiot: *puzzled* What does he ride?
Me: A GSX-R 1000
Idiot: Well where is his bike?
Me: In Mississippi.
Idiot: What is it doing there?
Me: He lives there.
Idiot: Where is he?
Me: Mississippi.
Idiot: Well then whose bike is out there?
Me: Mine.
Idiot: You ride?
Me: *stunned and speechless*

 [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang]

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Ducatista, that happens to me too. I'll have the only bike in a parking lot and someone will ask me if its my boyfriend's bike. Even better, when I was with my ex, we'd show up places on both our bikes and people would only ask him questions about what he rode (even tho we both had gear on) and he'd have to point out that I had a bike too and it was sitting right next to his.

Always great to see the looks on their faces as they realize that I can be included in the conversation.

Another instance, pulling up to the Hooters in Charleston, WV this past weekend at 10pm to watch the MMA fights, there are 4 other bikes in the lot, inc. a stretched and slammed zx-7 ninja with the typical "squid" sitting on it, posing I assume.  My husband is on his big BMW K1200LT right next to me parking. Here's how the conversation goes:

As I pull up on the s4r and cut it off, coasting into the spot next to the squid:
aquid: how big is that?
me: 1000cc
squid: oh (obviously annoyed a woman is riding a bigger bike than him)
husband (to me, about the squid bike): what kind of bike is that
me: a ninja
me to squid: is that a 9? (meaning a zx-9; there were no decals on the bike)
squid: no, it's a zx-7, said in a very resigned tone of voice (which is more than adequate for the street)
me: oh that's a nice bike, I had a 9 once. 
squid: cool

And that was it.  End of conversation.  I sort of shook my head.  :)  He never talked to my husband, just stared, and then left.   [cheeky]
BTW, that squid was sitting in the SAME spot on his bike when we passed about 3 hours before going to the baseball game.  Made me wonder if he rode it or posed on it more.   ;D

Good for you for putting a knot in his shorts. 

He needs a personality - otherwise he wouldn't need the bike for a prop ;D

The "so, does your boyfriend ride?" story reminds me of another incident. Some of you know I'm in a traditional-style motorcycle club, Vampires MC. It's a bit of a rarity in that we have male and female members who participate on an equal basis, but of course we have far fewer women than men, since the percentage of riders who are female is still small.

So one day I was sitting at some event, holding my vest with my patch on it across my lap. A guy came up and asked, "Whose patch are you holding?" When I said, "Mine" he looked a bit taken aback. He said he was friends with the Vampires, and I thought, "Well, obviously not very good friends, if you didn't know we had women members."

/threadjack

I never understood this saying.  How is one a friend of a group?  And if it means that you are friends with several members of the group why wouldn't you a) join the group if you like them all so much or b) actually use the names of the members who are your friends?

end threadjack/

Being a super n00b I haven't had this issue yet.  All of my co-workers were very surprised that I decided to start riding though.  That has more to do with the profession than the fact that I'm female.  Tax attorneys tend to be a conservative bunch.

I anticipate getting my fair share of unwanted attention from the male sector when I start out on my own. Tony told me I should have picked up the vanity plate "TAKEN". In my area, there is an overabundance of squidly-type riders that all think they're hot shit, always hooting at the girls in their cars. I can just imagine the raunchiness they will spew forth when they realize the little person on a bike next to them is a chick.

Last summer Tony and I had stopped at a pizza place out of town to have dinner. We went in and the place was packed, so we just decided to grab something to eat somewhere else.

Outside on the front patio were a few male cruiser riders, talking amongst themselves in the classy way that male cruiser riders typically do (read profanity and raunch).

A younger woman came out with a riding coat and backpack on, and the poor girl's bike was parked right in front of the cruiser guys. She started to put her helmet on, fully aware of the looks she was getting.

One of the guys started to harass her, asking her if she would do a wheelie for him on her way out of the lot. As she mounted the bike they were on her to rev it up and make a spectacle of herself. Kind of timidly she told the guys that she had just started riding, at which they all roared with laughter and comments as she rode away.

Tony and I just stood there in our gear next to the Multi shaking our heads. As one of the guys left he walked by and in a smart ass tone asked T if his bike was fast. I had my shield up; I turned to Tony and in a very loud way told T that it was likely faster than that guys chrome piece of shit.

Then we left in a hurry so the guy wouldn't kick his ass  [laugh]

I would have pointed to my head and said "EARPLUGS!  MY BIKE IS TOO F***ING LOUD!"  And then they'd see why I said that.  [laugh]

I've had people ask if my bike is fast, and I say it goes no faster than 9 mph above the posted speed limit, and I'm sticking to my story.  If they ask for a rev, I'll ask them to STFU, since their chatter ruins the music of my bike's motor.  If they ask for a wheelie, I tell them that wheelies slow a bike down, and if they knew anything about performance riding, they'd know why.

I love reading this thread, as I rarely have this stuff happen to me.  Just once.  Maybe I need to stop more often.  Too busy riding and grinning ;D!!

Don't consider myself a woman rider.  I'm just a rider - ON A REALLY HOT BIKE!!!

I get insulted when no one notices the Ducati.  She's a beauty!!!

+ "eleventy billion"     ;D

I love messing with people's preconceived notions of what a woman is or does.   [cheeky]

Here's another good one.

I borrowed my bf's beemer K1200RS to take up to Healdsburg for a "working weekend retreat." (Mostly because it has big old saddlebags....)

As I'm getting ready to leave, one of the caretakers of the retreat center where I was says, Nice bike.
Me: Thank you, it's not really mine, it's actually my bf's.
Caretaker: Oh, well that makes sense, 'cause that's not really a girl bike.
Me: [roll]  Mmmmhmmmmm, My bike at home is a Ducati.
Caretaker: (now he's impressed) Wow! A DUCATI!
Me: OK, gotta get going now....

[Later]
BF: How can he tell it's a girl bike without looking under the tailpipe?
 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Of course, my duqette is about two-thirds the size of the beemer....

We went to our "local" dealer, BCM, a couple of days ago to look for a bike for Tracy. The sales guy saw us prowling around and came out to ask us (not just me) if he could help. When it became clear the bike was for Tracy, he shifted almost all his attention to her and her questions. He didn't totally ignore me, but I was definitely on the sidelines.

Most of the time when we've shopped for cars for her, the opposite has happened - they've just ignored her and concentrated on me.

We went to a second dealer where much the same thing happened. Once they knew the bike would be for Tracy, I just ended up wandering alone and whistling. It may have helped that the sales person there was a woman.

Each place, we heard about significant numbers of female customers more as a matter of course than apparently trying to impress Tracy that they knew how to handle a female customer.

Is this perhaps more characteristic of Duc dealers than of other brands?

In the Bay Area, at least, a female rider doesn't surprise anyone who rides or is a part of the sub-culture. I get most of my dumbass comments from the non-riding public who's idea of a motorcyclist dates from the Wild Ones.

Harley-Davidson has been making a highly publicized pitch towards women for a couple years (at least) now.

Multiple people have commented to me when they have found I ride, "Wow, I can't picture you on the back of a hog."

Of course they can't, I've never been on one. [roll]

[Later]
BF: How can he tell it's a girl bike without looking under the tailpipe?
   
That is great!!!!!   [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Car dealers are the worst towards women.  Walked out of more than I should have due to salesmen wanting to talk to the other half before discussing money. 

Well perhaps they should advise their sales people on the floor to be a little more receptive then.

When I first started looking for a bike, I went to the local HD dealer to see if they had a Blast I could sit on, just to see if it could be another option for me if necessary. I was checking the bike out (important to note my bf was not with me) and waiting patiently for the sales guy to finish up with the family of three he was talking to. This family of three consisted of a father, teenage son, and mother. Not once did the sales guy address the mother; he spoke only to the father the whole time.

When he was done with the family he did not even acknowledge the fact that I was looking at a bike. Sure, I could have gone out of my way to get his attention, but after witnessing the way he handled the customers before me I was pretty much all set.

I could have had cash in my pocket to buy that bike right on the spot and he would have missed out on the sale because he was a jackass.

We popped back in one day (we being me and my bf) and it was quite amusing to see how interested in us the salespeople were.

Hey, I am originally from Santa Cruz, now an Austinite  ;D

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]
i plan on using this line someday  [thumbsup]

Hehe, this reminds me of the time I was at kickboxing and was having a conversation with a guy at the end of class about bikes in general and possibly doing a group ride sometime. Then another guy, who overhears us looks at the guy I was talking to and says, "So is that your ducati out front then?" Doesn't seem like a strange question, except I was standing right there with a t-shirt that says DUCATI right across the front in big letters. When he said it was actually mine, the guy kind of looked shocked...or embarrassed, haha.

Not that there's anything wrong with riding cupcake / acting as the backrest.   I'm all for it if that's your thing.  I did it way back in the day.

Coincidentally, I have a female client who is a marketing director / events coordinator (and avid rider) at one of the "other" motorcycle OEM's.   She and I, like many of us, feel that it's a shame that there is such a low # of women riders and really frustrated with this particular manufacturer in the fact that any image used in any of their literature that has a woman in it, is of the woman on the back of the bike - straining and contorting her neck around the male (duh) driver. 

We jokingly have tossed around a few ideas to promote more women riders.  A web site such as  www.ohmyachinneck.com (with links to local chiro's and massage therapists) and a product:  Moto-periscope - so that the woman doesn't have to contort to see the views ahead while sitting behind the driver.   Of course the point is to press upon women the fact that they don't need the chiro, the therapist or the moto-periscope.  They need their own bike!     All for fun of course.  Just thought I'd share!

<insert moto-smiley that resembles a woman>

that's a really funny and great idea stella  [thumbsup]