Protective Riding Gear That’s a Perfect Fit for the Feminine Form
‘Oh, my God, I don’t believe it.” The petite woman standing at the front counter inside a modest Berkeley storefront smiled down at her gloved hands while stroking the snug leather. After years of wearing men’s riding gloves too big for her tiny digits, she walked into Mota Motorbike Gear for Women and found a perfect fit simply by asking co-owner Jocelyn Kane, who turned to a rack next to the register and grabbed a pair she thought would work.
Kane and business partner Melissa Shimmin, both longtime sportbike riders, are used to emotional responses to what they consider the “best selection of women’s riding gear in the sport-touring segment.”
To the uninitiated, the customer’s reaction might seem overblown. After all, there is no shortage of gear aimed at women who ride cruisers (Harley-Davidson’s apparel catalog shows near-equal product representation for men and women). But for the woman who wants to do some serious canyon carving, or simply dress for the crash instead of the ride, most such gear is more for fashion than function.
Simple black leather chaps, vests, pants and jackets may look good and protect against abrasion. But unless there is extra padding, or inserts of hard plastic “body armor,” to absorb impact, protection is limited. For years, most female sportbike riders settled for something from the limited assortment of women’s riding wear offered at most local shops, made do with poorly fitting men’s apparel or forked over major dollars to have custom suits made. Finding a healthy selection of truly protective riding gear made to fit the female form is like stumbling upon hidden treasure.
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Many customers describe visiting Mota’s tightly stocked 650-square-foot location as being akin to “a kid in a candy store.” There to gather information about the shop, its owners and clientele, I couldn’t resist trying a few things on. In between asking questions, I slid my long, narrow feet into boots that actually fit, and zipped jacket after jacket that didn’t pull across my chest or ride up around my shoulders. And I’m one of the lucky ones. At nearly 5 feet 9 with an inseam of 32 inches, I’m able to wear most men’s gear quite comfortably.
The same can’t be said for Nancy Foote of Tustin, a sportbike riding veteran, who at 5 feet 2 could even better appreciate the Mota concept when she came upon the store’s booth at the recent World Superbike races at Laguna Seca in Monterey--where for many in attendance, Mota became the big story of the weekend.
“When I wanted to buy my first set of leathers in 1989, I went around to many different shops and tried on every manufacturer’s leathers,” said Foote, who has ridden for 16 years. “Nothing fit me, because they simply didn’t make things to fit women.”
When Foote started riding, women made up just 2% to 3% of the nation’s motorcycle owners. That figure has risen to about 8% of today’s 5.15 million owners, according to a 1998 survey commissioned by the Irvine-based Motorcycle Industry Council. Even more encouraging to many are the findings of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a national organization also based in Irvine that develops most of the curricula used to train new riders: One-third of its Basic RiderCourse graduates are now women.
Encouraged by such statistics, Bob Moffit, vice president of marketing and product management for the motorcycle division at Kawasaki Motor Co. in Irvine, pushed through a marketing research project that culminated in 200,000 direct-mail surveys being sent to female riders and potential riders across the country.
“Our objective is to encourage women to ride,” Moffit said. “We also want women to be interested in Kawasaki motorcycles and to know that we are interested in them.”
Other motorcycle manufacturers and aftermarket companies are also sizing up the effect women could have on already-strong bottom lines. During the last three to five years, several apparel manufacturers and distributors have introduced women-specific models of jackets, pants and boots. Intersport Fashions West of Tustin recently ran a two-page ad in a leading motorcycle magazine that featured five women in riding gear with the tagline, “Tell him to get his own jacket.”
The company, which distributes high-tech First Gear and Hein Gericke brands, has been a leader in women’s gear, with 9% to 13% of its U.S. line now sold to women (18% to 20% if you count the gear it provides for Harley-Davidson’s apparel lineup). Still, many dealers have been slow to expand what they carry in the segment, said Eric Anderson, national sales manager for Intersport Fashions.
“Dealers tend to be reserved about stocking women’s styles,” he said. “Out of our dealer base across the United States, only about 20% stock women’s styles, more or less based on percentage of demand. This leads to frustration among women who see our styles advertised. We’re getting a lot more calls from women wanting to know where they can get our product. It’s in the warehouses, but getting dealers to create a woman’s boutique, or simply dedicate a corner of the store to women’s gear, remains a challenge.”
Not at Mota, clearly, where Kane and Shimmin simply followed through on an obvious concept many people have contemplated. (The name, by the way, is a feminization on “Moto,” universal biker-speak for all things related to cycling.)
Kane, herself petite, is dedicated to making things easier on the next generation of women getting into motorcycling. She recently organized a ride for “newbies” with fewer than 1,500 miles under their belts; 25 women showed up for the low-key event. The store also plans to conduct workshops for women (and men) who wish to learn about basic motorcycle maintenance and apparel.
“My motivation for opening this shop was less about selling stuff and making money,” Kane said, “and more about creating a place where women could feel comfortable and get support and learn from each other. Motorcycling is still clearly dominated by men, and that can be intimidating. I want to create a sense of community, where we provide high-quality gear and the education to help people choose stuff that works. But that can’t be the end of it.”
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Noble intentions aside, Mota has been bringing in money since it opened its doors a year ago Sept. 24, selling riding suits, boots and gloves as well as T-shirts, designed by Shimmin, that combine simple, stylized graphics and bold slogans. One example: “Does this bike make my butt look fast?”
Thus far, Kane and Shimmin and their two financial backers have chosen to plow all profit back into the business while it grows, meaning both women juggle other jobs that pay for groceries and rent in addition to running Mota.
With so much talk surrounding women in motorcycling, others are sure to jump into the segment too. But the buzz surrounding Mota promises to continue as its owners weigh plans to move into other equally obvious but still untended segments of the motorcycle market--such as protective gear for child passengers.
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Mota Motorbike Gear for Women, 1477 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley; (510) 527-6804 or, toll-free, (888) 539-MOTA. Mota does not publish a product list but does post an online catalog at https://www.motagear.com.
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Two-Wheel Ride surveys the motorcycle scene in Southern California. Marry Sorensen is a freelance writer based in Costa Mesa whose work has appeared in Motorcycle Consumer News and Motorcyclist. She can be reached by e-mail at canyoninc@att.net.
