Women heading full throttle into moto culture

Natalia Hernandez considers her 1994 Yamaha SRV250 motorbike, Derek, “a rescue”.

“He is my baby,” she says of her lovingly restored, British racing green machine. “The dude who owned him before me used to ride him around Brunswick with no mufflers on, he was really running hard … He kept him outside. I was like, ‘Oh, you poor thing’.”

Renee Thompson, Em Jensen and Natalia Hernandez share their love of vintage motorbikes and riding in the all-female crew The Leatherettes.Credit:Jason South

Owning Derek is the fulfilment of a childhood dream for Hernandez, who loved riding dirt bikes with her cousins as a kid, but whose begging failed to convince her parents to allow her one of her own.

Finally hitting the bitumen on two wheels around the age of 30 was “so game-changing” that Hernandez, a graphic designer, wanted to share the rush, the freedom and the hands-on care of vintage bikes with other women, so she co-founded the female-only vintage bike crew, The Leatherettes.

“It feels really liberating being in a massive group of motorcycles, people like you, all coming down the street together. It’s such a rush,” says Hernandez, who instantly made 30 friends when she started riding and met her motorcycling partner, Kano (who, as a bloke, has “friend of” The Leatherettes status).

“It’s changed my life and been the best thing I’ve ever done. There’s a lot of freedom involved and a bit of independence … I’m a bit of a speed demon and love to let out a bit of steam on the bike, but it’s also quite meditative.”

The Leatherettes is one of many all-female motorcycling groups around Australia, growing quickly as a wave of women and girls hit the road, the dirt – and the tools – in a motorcycle culture historically dominated by men.

In Victoria, outfits including The Litas, The Melbourne Moto Ladies and The Mild Ones (“Burning down the side streets of Collingwood and stopping for ice cream since 2014″) travel to Ballan in regional Victoria to kick up dust and do mild stunts at the annual Sheilas Shakedown camp.

In Sydney, The Throttle Dolls has amassed 122,000 Instagram followers since three friends formed it in 2014, new group Girls Ride Out formed in 2021, and the national network GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies on Wheels) has an active branch.

Motorcycling Victoria reports a recent rise of up to 20 per cent of female participants across age groups in its training programs and events as girls and women hit the tracks.

The organisation started a female participation management committee in 2022 and finance officer Donna Pearce said events are thriving.

“We have a big range of age groups from mums and little tiny daughters through to women in their 50s,” she said. At the next ladies’ “day in the dirt” at Broadford on August 13, women “aged from five to 90 can come along and ride”.

Catherine Manning, 54, who runs girls’ self-esteem workshops, says she sees an increasing number of middle-aged women taking up motorcycling simply because they can.

She got her L-plates in her twenties but soon sold her bike when she and her husband (also a motorcyclist) decided to start a family and recently went for her Ls again. She rides a cruiser-style Kawasaki Vulcan 650, whose full engine power she will be able to access when she receives her full licence.

“I absolutely love it; I’m literally waking up every day and coming out to the garage with my cup of tea and just looking at my bike – and the weather,” she said. “It just puts a huge smile on my face and puts me in such a good headspace. ”

“I just love the encouragement you get seeing other women out there on the road and being part of that,” Manning said.

From Em Jensen’s ‘Sheilas’ series, titled: ‘Sarah pulling into the Retreat Hotel to meet the Leatherettes for a drink’.Credit:Em Jensen

Seeing other women having a riot at Sheilas Shakedown hooked photographer Em Jensen on the idea of not only documenting women’s bike culture but also joining “the ultimate girl gang”. Although she had never driven a manual car, she got her bike licence and became a Leatherette, on her Suzuki GN250, called Betty.

When she saw the scene in full swing at the Shakedown, Jensen felt it needed documenting, “especially in a motorcycling scene where there are so many representations of women that are not what I saw out there”.

For her photography series, Sheilas, Jensen followed members of women’s motorcycle clubs over months, capturing their festivals, rides, “and other general shenanigans”, hoping to dispel clichés about where women belong in the bike scene.

“It became clear that this community shares more in common than just a keen interest in motorcycles; there’s a strong sense of reclaiming the activity and challenging gendered stereotypes surrounding moto culture,” she said.

“I feel like girls doing this hasn’t been shown before, and it’s a shame.”

Em Jensen’s show, Sheilas, goes on display at The Old Bike Shop at 117 Lygon Street, Brunswick, from August 11 until the end of the month.

A cultural guide to going out and loving your city. Sign up to our Culture Fix newsletter here.

Most Viewed in National

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article