Women embrace motorcycle bug

Percentage of female bikers has nearly doubled since late ’90s

Cruising around Philadelphia’s outlying neighborhoods on her Honda CBR 1000 RR motorcycle, Tijuana Smith has helmet hair, tears in her eyes and is covered in sweat.

“There’s nothing pretty about riding motorcycles,” Smith says.

Despite the fashion flop, she still loves being on two wheels.

“It’s empowering,” says Smith, a member of the Skull Kandy SBC Motorcycle Club, a group of women riders. “People always ask me if it’s my boyfriend or husband’s bike — like I’m not strong enough to ride.”

Female riders are helping transform motorcycle culture across the country.

Even with the decline of traditional motorcycle brands, ridership is still on the rise — and women are in the driving seat.

Total U.S. motorcycle registrations reached 8.4 million in 2014, almost doubled the number since

2000, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. And many of those registrations belong to women. In 1998, only 8% of motorcycle owners were women. By

2014, the most recent year in which the council has statistics, female ownership had increased to 14%.

A whole community of femaleled motorcycle riders has been born.

“It’s empowering. People always ask me if it’s my boyfriend or husband’s bike — like I’m not strong enough to ride.”

Tijuana Smith, a member of Skull Kandy SBC Motorcycle Club

MARISSA WEEKES MASON The Skull Kandy SBC Motorcycle Club in the South Jersey-Philadelphia area is one of many women-only motorcycle clubs across the USA. Motorcycle companies have taken note of this demographic and are responding with updated bikes and gear.