Kawasaki Sheds Some Light on Female Motorcyclists
Posted in another forum, but felt you girls would find interest in it (espcially Trinity and Kawibabe, with their ZZR's/ZX6E's).....
Kawasaki Sheds Some Light On Female Motorcyclists
By Alex Edge
Way back in May (yes, that's how far behind I am), I had the
chance to attend a Kawasaki press event during the Kawasaki
Superbike Showdown AMA Superbike event at Infineon Raceway
in Northern California. While most of our time consisted of
watching the races and riding the local twisties, the
informal theme was "Women in Motorcycling", and the
attendees were a who's who of prominent women motorcyclists.
What, you might ask, was a male journalist like myself doing
at such an event? Well, aside from trying to keep up with
some very fast ladies (I was mostly successful), I got to
listen to and participate in some very interesting
discussions about women motorcyclists and how they affect
the industry.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the
average height of an adult female in the United States is
5ft3.7in, while the average weight is 152 pounds. This
obviously places the average woman outside the size range of
rider for which most modern motorcycles are designed,
particularly in height. One woman riding with our group
provided a first-hand example of this problem - a talented
rider, she was simply too short to properly balance her bike
(I believe it was a Z1000) when stopped, and she dropped it
several times.
Kawasaki is aware that many women riders may feel that they
have been left out of the design process, and it was implied
that the company may be taking steps to rectify that
problem. Kawasaki PR personnel were quick to point out that
Kawasaki already offers a number of models that are ideal
for average-sized women (along with smaller men and beginner
riders in general): almost 40% of Ninja 250 and Ninja 500
buyers are female, over 20% of ZZR-600 buyers are female,
and the Vulcan 500 LTD, Vulcan 800 Classic, and Eliminator
125 cruisers are just as popular with women buyers. In fact,
more than 15% of Kawasaki buyers are female, while the
industry-wide average is just 10%.
When reading the above list, the problem that immediately
jumps out at me is this: while the little Ninjas are great
bikes, they haven't been redesigned for many years, and are
quite outdated by today's standards. The ZZR-600 is more
modern, but from my experience (read my review) I don't
think it would be too manageable for a 5'3" rider.
Most of the other manufacturers produce bikes that could be
labeled as "woman-friendly" - these are the same machines
most journalists label "beginner-friendly". The problem is
that not all women want a beginner-friendly bike - many of
them are faster and more experienced than most male riders!
What they want is a bike that is ergonomically designed to
fit their size (and I mean more than just a low seat
height). Suzuki's SV650 comes closest to fitting the bill,
but it doesn't pack as much performance as a "full-size"
sportbike.
In today's niche-infested market, it seems there are bikes
available to suit almost every particular (and peculiar)
type of rider: the sport rider, the tourer, the
off-roader/"adventure rider", etc. Not to mention the
innumerable "crossover" machines. How is it, then, that a
category representing 10% or more of all buyers has been
mostly ignored by product developers?
It's past time for a manufacturer to release several modern,
competitively-performing sport and sport-touring models
which are ergonomically designed for an average-sized woman.
When you add in the potential sales to male riders of
below-average height (average height of an adult male in the
US is 5ft9.1 inches according to the same source used
above), these bikes have the potential to be big moneymakers.
Kawasaki's new ER-6n might be just such a bike (albeit a
little more budget-minded than a full-on sportbike), but it
is still unknown if they will bring that machine to the US.
If not, they might be beaten to the punch by Yamaha, who
have a habit of releasing bikes that create their own
categories.
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