
Harley-Davidson Announces Women Riders Month
By Wendy Manning, Photo courtesy of Harley-Davidson
For too many women motorcycle memories are made from the back of the bike. In recent years Harley-Davidson has been changing all that, and to date The Motor Company is happy to report that 12% of all new Harleys sold are sold to women riders. Now that’s the kind of girls gone wild we like to see, sisters taking to the road on bikes of their very own.
In celebration of the rapidly growing number of women riders, Harley-Davidson has announced it will celebrate women riders for the entire month of May, 2010. Leslie Prevish, Harley-Davidson Womens Outreach Manager, said The Motor Company will host the main event in Milwaukee on May 22 and 23. Other events, from demos to rides to Garage Parties and seminars, will take place world wide from Japan to Switzerland.
“It’s going to be a ton of fun,” Leslie said. “We know a lot of women prefer to ride with their guys, so we have a lot of activities planned for families. We’ve been amazed at the response and we think with this advance notice and all we’re doing to get people excited about riding, we’ll have a great turnout. We’re excited to build upon the successful Women Riders Month events we hosted in New York City and Milwaukee in 2009,” Leslie said. “And we’re especially thrilled to welcome women riders to our hometown.”
Among the activities planned for the two-day Milwaukee event will be a ride through the city and the surrounding area with several stops to give riders a taste of Wisconsin; demo rides at the Harley-Davidson Museum; the chance to meet and speak with Karen Davidson, and a block party featuring live music. Events are still being added to the Milwaukee roster, Leslie said, and H-D dealers from Japan to Switzerland are in the process of planning Garage Parties and other activities.
“About twelve percent of all new Harleys are sold to women,” Leslie said. “About twenty-three percent of all riders are women according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, and that data includes all brands, new and used. With that in mind, Harley-Davidson wants to welcome all riders and non-riders as well, to join us in the celebration.”
A full schedule of activities and registration information for the Women Riders Month 2010 event will be announced in early 2010 at www.harley-davidson.com/womenriders.