What Women Are Saying About Biking in 2022
“I’m a woman riding into a man’s world.”
According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, nearly 20% of motorcycle riders are women, a number that has grown significantly in the past decade. To gather greater insight into how female motorcyclists view the industry, Cycle Trader conducted a survey of 1,746 women shoppers on our leading motorcycle marketplace. The results demonstrated that there are still challenges unique to women within biking, along with opportunities to continue making the world of motorcycles more inclusive.
The survey indicated that female riders in 2022 share a passion for motorcycles and the freedom that comes with riding. A plurality of women riders (39.1%) stated that they ride for the love of the open road. Other motivations included enjoying time with a significant other, empowerment, and bonding with friends or the community. And, of course, many women ride for all of those reasons.
Female riders are using their bikes in several different ways in 2022. A majority of female riders—66.8%—use their bike primarily for recreational use, including those who most commonly go cruising on daily rides (26.6%), weekly rides (17.6%), and occasional rides (22.6%). Another 15% of women riders said they mostly use their motorcycle for daily commuting, while 18.2% said they primarily ride during long travel trips.
The biggest takeaway from the survey is how women riders are defying expectations and confronting industry obstacles based on misconceptions. Even in 2022, it’s often assumed that women riders are simply passengers riding behind or in the side-car of a male biker. In fact, 75% of women riders answered that they are the driver operating the motorcycle!
In a separate set of in-depth interviews with women riders, one individual said, “I’m a woman riding into a man’s world.” She later added that women should be seen as equals on the road.
Another popular assumption is that young women in particular aren’t interested in bikes or cannot afford them. Yet over half of women riders (53.7%) bought a bike before they were 40, including 33% who bought their first bike in their 20s.
When shopping, female riders say they struggle to find motorcycles with the right seat height (24.7%), bike height (19%), bike weight (17.1%), and handlebar distance (9.1%) that best fit them. It’s no surprise, then, that when asked the biggest overall challenge they face in motorcycling in 2022, 29.6% of women riders identified finding a bike to meet their needs.
“If a company wants to define bikes for women, they should focus on things that are different for women, such as handlebars, height, [and] weight,” explained one female rider we interviewed. However, many women are finding ways to make current bikes work for them. If a motorcycle with the right fit cannot be found, a majority of female bikers (56.53%) said they would customize a unit rather than waiting to find a better one. Customizing motorcycles gives riders exactly what they need, and remains a popular option for all bikers.
The only obstacle that received more responses than finding the right bike was finding gear made for women (35.2%). Additional struggles included finding community (17.6%) and facing discrimination (9.4%). And don’t assume that women are only looking for bikes and gear that are small and pink. One interviewed rider exclaimed, “Why does everything have to be pink? I hate the color pink!”
Women are a rapidly growing segment of the biking community who share a love for the freedom of the open road. Female bikers are breaking down stereotypes and providing a more nuanced view of women riders as active drivers who don’t need or want everything to be pink, but who would appreciate motorcycle and gear specs designed with them in mind. Motorcycle and gear manufacturers have been developing more products for women as their numbers in the community have grown, but this survey shows that in 2022 there still are gaps to be filled to meet the needs of female enthusiasts.
Whether you’re a man or a woman, you can start the search for your next bike today on the nation’s leading motorcycle marketplace, CycleTrader.com.
Ryan Miller
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