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Reader's Letters
Once a year (like now for example), I put some of the contents from my inbox on public display. The intent is neither lurid, voyeuristic, malicious nor vengeful in nature. It’s just that quite often readers in their communiqués to me express views, raise particularly pertinent points, or simply have interesting things to say that aren’t necessarily comfortable fits in the ‘Letters’ department.
With that said, forthwith ...
Donna Gabriel, Halifax, writes:
I’m doing some research for a TV series in development about women and motorcycles. The road movie-style series is being developed for CBC by a Halifax production company, and we’re looking to make contacts across the country with interesting women riders.
We’re also hoping to get an accompanying website www.bikerchicks.tv up and running and to serve as a forum and resource for women bikers. We’re inviting women to post their profiles on the site and engage in discussion about motorcycle culture in our chat room. Ultimately we hope to assemble a cross-section of passionate riders who might be interested in being part of a national television show that will journey across the country to explore female bike culture.
The “culture” of female riders referenced by Ms. Gabriel has built slowly, but steadily, especially over the past five years. Now it’s really gained momentum. Every week someone from news media calls looking for backgrounders to support stories they’re writing about the “phenomenon” of women riders, or there’s a female-only event being brought to our attention, or someone is pitching a story about a remarkable accomplishment by a woman rider. From the classrooms of riding schools, to the starting grids of roadrace tracks, to the beckoning roads of far-off places, women and their motorcycles have become intrinsic parts of the riding scene, not just decorative bolt-ons to the machinery of others. And if Ms. Gabriel’s email isn’t a call to action to women riders, then I’ve never heard one.
Here’s how you can make contact with her:
Donna Gabriel (902) 446-2292
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Peter Derviller, Calgary, writes:
We are dealers for the new-to-Canada Hyosung bikes. The light weight and low seat height of the Hyosung 250cc and 650cc sport cruisers suits them to new riders and smaller riders. We also custom-build saddles to lower the seat height even further is necessary. Our plan is to design an advertising campaign targeting this demographic. Any stats you have on female participation would be much appreciated.
Though anecdotal evidence abounds concerning the surge of the female demographic in the motorcycle industry, I’m personally unaware of any definitive study of the Canadian market. But, the Motorcycle Industry Council in the United States reports women account for 10 per cent of the total riding population. The Canadian market runs a very close parallel to the US in terms of trends and consumer preference.
John Wellburn, on the road, writes:
I am now on my way to Ushuaia with Mr. Tyler Baba and Chantel. I scored the sweetest expedition bike off an American rider who had pimped it out and driven it from California to Ushuaia and back to Buenos Aires where I happened to learn that he wanted to sell it for a song. It is a 2001 KLR 650 fully decked with the sweetest aluminum panniers, Corbin seat, backrest, pipe and every single aftermarket accessory that has been made for the KLR. I never thought I would end up on a KLR for various reasons, but I’ve covered more than 5,000 km on this baby so far, through some incredibly heinous terrain, and I am in love with this machine!
Having first made his acquaintance in 2004, I’m now a huge fan of the ongoing John Wellburn saga. The Williams Lake, BC native was a complete novice to motorcycling when he stitched together a rather creaky 1976 R-series BMW and, in the most Quixotic fashion imaginable, departed on a gruelling pan-continental journey that took him over the Patagonia, to the very southern tip of South America. The story of his wide-eyed expedition was published in the July 2005 issue (“Goin’ South”) and followed shortly after with his account of motorcycle adventure in the Amazon. Since then, Wellburn’s life has been one of constant movement, though I would have thought that Africa might have been the cure for any naiveté afflicting him. John keeps in touch regularly and his always entertaining exploits are a constant source of vicarious pleasure. Ultimately, it’s his conscious decision to start from a base of zero knowledge where motorcycles are concerned, then fling himself at the world, that has always fascinated me.
Marla Benton, on the road, writes:
I just thought that I should contact you to see if you would be interested in an article about a couple on their third date riding around North America on a 1985 1100 Kawasaki LTD. As we have been on the road for more than four months, we have tons of stories to tell. Both of us are artists and have been making art along the way. Hope to be able to share our stories with you.
A couple young artists from Halifax who decide, on their third date no less, to road trip North America on a 1985 LTD? Even a hardhearted editor can see the romance in that. Of course it’s a story I’m willing to work with, I told her. You’ll meet Marla, her guy and the LTD this summer.
Dave Crockatt, Nunavut, writes:
I am really looking forward to when my Ural gets here this spring; I ordered a 2007 Gear Up. I am also going to Edmonton to take a motorcycle driving course with the Alberta Safety Council. What I really need though is a sidecar driving course ...
The Arctic Circle community of Cambridge Bay is the home of Kim and Dave Crockatt, two of my oldest and dearest friends. We first met in a tiny uranium mining camp in northern Saskatchewan, near the NWT border. That was in the 1970s, but the Crockatts chose to stay in the north, where they’ve adopted and fostered dozens of Inuit children over the course of years. Tireless work and commitment to their community has been the Crockatts’ lifestyle, and I’m nearly as excited about the pending arrival of the Ural, as Dave himself.
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