Take Time To Listen

This year will mark my 32^nd year on the road as a motorcyclist! I have learned so much about motorcycling; the people on the road, the companies that make stuff for motorcyclists, etc. I can honestly say that I am one of the foremost authorities on the subject of women and motorcycling!

As a published author and speaker on the subject of women and motorcycling, I have been invited to many motorcycling events and venues. I love being asked to attend these events! You meet the nicest people and they are ever so gracious and pleasant to be around! What’s interesting is that many people love to hear about history. They want to know what it was like for the women who rode the highways long before you and I were born! People love to hear about the unknown stories of undiscovered women motorcyclists of the early years. It’s a fascinating experience to share these stories with those that yearn to learn.

When I’m out and about at motorcycle events, I love to talk and visit with those that have been on the roads for 40 and 50 years. Yes! These wonderful people are the ones that paved the way for the motorcyclists of today – you and me! Walking around the bikes and checking out the owners, gives me that perfect opportunity to hone in on those that have had a few miles under their belts. I usually go up to these wonderful people and start striking up a conversation with them. I want to hear how they started out on the road, who got them on a motorcycle, why they love motorcycling and so on. So, my advice to you is to LISTEN to what they have to say. It may surprise the hell out of you! The stories they have will probably beat any one or two of your best biker stories!

One story in particular was shared with me many years ago and I still remember it today. A lady biker got involved into motorcycling because of her brother. He wanted to teach his sister the joy he got while on his 1932 Harley. He asked her to meet him down the road near a corn field. His idea was to show his sister how to ride without being noticed by their mother. As the loving brother started teaching his sister how to ride, a neighbor noticed this escapade and promptly mentioned it in passing to the mother. When it was time for the young girl to return home, her mother met her at the door and promptly slapped her across the face telling her she was to never ride that motorcycle again. The mother’s reasoning was that it was unladylike and that no good boy would marry her if she was a motorcycle rider.

How humiliating it had to be for this young teen girl to endure such negativity and abuse just for learning how to ride a motorcycle! The positive moral of this story is that she kept up with her training from her brother – just that they made sure that no one saw them ride. She rode for many, many years, marrying her high school sweetheart, raising a beautiful family, and engaging the children into the joy of motorcycling.

So, while you’re out and about, take a few minutes (or longer) and introduce yourself to someone that may have ridden “back in the day.” Before you know it, you will have made a new friend, learned a bit about their history on the road, and can honestly say to yourself that you have personally witnessed history in motorcycling!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you will stop by again to read yet another story about the History of Women and Motorcycling. You’ll be reading it from the one that started this trend many, many years ago – me!

Susan (Susie) Hurst