High heels and v-stroms don't mix

Hmmm, maybe we should start a new picture thread - motorcycle women and their tools. I'd betcha we'd get more hits than "Toxic Britney"

Little bike. Nice story.


But, no pictures? No witnesses? Don't worry, it never happened.

Your secret is safe with the 200,000+ folks here on ADV.

What can I say, I find it exciting that a woman has the interest, apptitude, self-confidence, skill, etc. to get out and enjoy these kinds of things AND still be an attractive WOMAN. As it should be. I think our society is guilty of selling women short in so many ways, and sadly many women buy into that bullshit. We have four daughters so believe me I'm familiar with this crap . Gotta look like Barbie and be totally helpless 'cuz the Big Hunk of Man will want to come rescue you and ride off into the sunset with you on the back of his white horse; if you aren't Barbie-esque you'll be sad and lonely; buy this and this and this and this and that to help reach you're true potential! You never see a chainsaw (or tractor, truck, etc.) ad with women operating the things. I love seeing women driving big rigs, running heavy equipment, and giving their man a ride on their motorcycles!

Speaking of tractors, that's the one thing my wife can't do around our farm. We have a big old International tractor with a bush hog on it and she can't get the clutch pushed in; she just doesn't weigh enough to put enough pressure on it. This pisses her off, says maybe we need a tractor with a hydrostatic clutch so she can drive it. I like that tractor, otherwise she'd be out bush hogging the land while I scrub the toilets. We recently built a "loafing shed" (for the horses)/tractor shed and she was using the pneumatic nail gun even though it's about 1/4 the size of her and the recoil knocks her around pretty good; never a complaint. We had a heck of a time finding a bike to fit her and ended up with a Suzuki TU250X which she loves for it's retro-styling:





She can almost flat-foot it so that makes her feel more comfortable. I'll suggest she wear some high heels and then maybe she'll try riding my 1150GS! I like this bike too, it runs great and handles very well, has fuel injection (gets like 100 MPG) and a front disc brake, but at 250cc I don't feel it's safe on the open highways and she agrees. It's fun to bop around the back roads on but for long trips she enjoys riding pillion, says she gets to see more that way.

I just love this forum; of COURSE there is someone looking at it that can explain the design and physiology of high heeled shoes! Lovely name, too; my wife spells hers with a "C".

Doug

I really like my xt250 - I can put my feet down when I screw up! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Oh yeah, the XT is a wonderful bike! I've owned two and they are very capable, surprisingly spunky, and literally bomb-proof. When my wife was first learning to ride she tried the XT but could only get one foot down. She fell over to the left, still had her right foot on the peg and hand on the throttle, and the bike was pivoting in a circle on the left peg with her straddling it, left foot on the ground. I ran over and hit the kill switch because she was a little too busy hopping around in a circle to reach for it. She said, "It tried to KILL me!" After that the bike's name was Killer and we started looking for one that fit her better, ended up with the TU250X. She dropped the TU and did the exact same lever bend that you got on your V-Strom, cost like $12 for a new lever.

Doug

I love it!

It's great because you all get it! When I told a friend in the party she got this very concerned look on her face and asked me if I was OK to ride home.

I'm glad you're raising your daughters right! That's one of the reasons I like riding my bike to school. I get girls asking me if I ride a motorcycle and when I say yes they usually say "cool" I'm hoping that the girls are seeing that you don't have to fit into a mold expected by society.

Our daughter Jen (25 y.o.) started riding when she was about 18. Loves everything about motorcycles. Wants to do an Iron Butt with me in 2013.



Yeah, guess you could say I'm proud of her.

That's awesome!

I started my educational career in electrical engineering and ended up as a geologist for a number of reasons. When I was in the engineering college in 1976 there were three (3) women enrolled in the entire engineering college (not too many more in geology, sadly). Their advisors steered them toward "more appropriate" degrees like the MRS or teaching or "home economics". My little sister was one of the first women to graduate as a mechanical engineer from that school and it was a true struggle for her to break through those stereotypes. I have been bristling at the Barbie Bullshit for a long time. It's infinitely better than it used to be in some ways and so much worse in other ways; have you seen "Jersey Shores" or "America's Next Top Model" or "Real Housewives of..." or any of 1000 other horrid shows? That kind of stuff wasn't even around when I was a kid and now we are just inundated by it on 400 channels 24 hours a day. We see stuff on prime time TV that used to be considered pornography or just too vulgar for "polite company". I'm no prude, but c'mon already with this trash!

Like I said earlier, it's a real struggle to get the girls to see past all this crap to what really matters in life; they want SO MUCH to fit in and be accepted and there are more Barbie wannabe's than otherwise. We've had our successes and our failures... I celebrate women who live the lives they want without succumbing to those ugly, limiting stereotypes. Ride on in your heels and sequined top! Woooot!

Doug

It was the discovery that my Catherine owned a Stihl chainsaw that completely bowled me over, whooobabeeee!!

She'd never ridden on a motorcycle before we met, so we did a nice, long ride on my GS over dirt roads, up into the forest with a cooler full of picnic in the topbox, and back on a beautiful curvy scenic asphalt road. When we got back to my house I asked her how she'd liked it? She asked, "Can we ride this thing to Alaska?" That, on top of the chainsaw thing, was the final straw for me. I knew then and there that she was The One.



Doug

I fully agree, except that although I am capable of operating a chainsaw, I can't manage to figure out how to post pics from my iPad to this forum!

Talk to them about developing self-confidence and self-esteem. A lot of young people these days seem to not have any, so they put up a front and act arrogantly.

Learn how to be the chief when it's the right thing to do, even if you have the smallest tribe...or grow the largest. Don't be afraid to march to the beat of your own drum, but also don't be too arrogant to recognize when somebody else has a better beat.

I just want to say two things.

1. AWESOME.

2. Which bikes DO high heels mix with?


I tried flip flops and my old CBR after doing some work. THAT was a HUGE mistake. Somehow I only destroyed the flip flop, and not my foot or self.

High heels or not, 98% of v-strom drops happen at 0kmh/mph DAMHIK

Glad to hear there wasn't too much damage

I love the women on ADVrider! There's a reason why we're called WOmen.. Hehe. A lot of backbone, and humor. Glad to hear you share the story! Love your attitude And glad to hear the bike escaped with minimal damage!

Well now, that was a lesson in shoe design I've never had before! Thank you for providing todays "I learned something" highlight.

Would be a better story if you were a guy...