Well your question was relevant i think! Average UK woman is 1m62 tall. Not sure about the guys but probably at least 10 cms more maybe. Also women as you said are generally less muscular. So asking question to female riders make sense.

Here are few tips I've learn the hard way if you are short and not very muscular (so also relevant for guys who fall in that category
ALways plan where and how to park your bike. If there is a slope the chances are, if you park front wheel first, it will be very difficult to get the bike out. In that case make sure you park back wheel first.

Also, chances are you may not have 2 flats feet on the ground. So you will not be able to "paddle" (ie sit on the bike and paddle with your feet to move it). No worries. Get used to move the bike on a flat ground, with you on its side. You will need that to park around town! At least in Europe where space is at a premium!

Not being very muscular, if the bike start linning on its side, after a certain point you will not have the muscules to keep it up. Here my advice is let it go down. There will always be someone to help you pick it up! I dropped mine again this morning and straight away some guy came from nowhere to help me! So sweet! ah yes also I've been told (by my IAM instructor - Advacne riding) to practice slow speed (like speed of someone walking) to increase your machine control! That will help you not to drop the bike! And me too! Off to Tesco car park later to practice !

Now there are also advantages to being a female biker!

Look a bit dizzy and hapless, smile a lot, and that cope on its bike who is about to give you a speeding ticket that you surely deserve, or parking ticket, will quite often let you off with a small lecture only!
Look clueless, flash those eyelashes, and hey presto some bike shop assistant will offer you to change your visor for you (or whatever small thing you are clueless but is a minute job for a bloke!). My theory is that it makes them feel good, so let them help you even if you don't need
And there is always someone to help you pick up your bike! Because you will drop it! No shame on that!
Send me an email if you want!
By the way, not sure where you live but you may be able to rent a 125cc bike for practice? I did it when preparing my test.

Cheers,

Maria

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

I know that you have given up obtaining a license for now, but I should have thought of this before--you, or someone completely new to bikes (not just women) can learn on a scooter or moped. I learned on my friend's Honda CT70 years ago, and they are still available as street-legal Chinese-manufactured replicas. http://www.americanlifan.com/lifan/models/g7.html

They are cheap, and when you upgrade to a bigger bike, you have a lesser tendency to drop the bigger one because you got used to having a 2 wheeler, and a very unintimidating one at that!

I guess it's long overdue to end this thread that I started.

I took a day-long taster course in Germany in 2008 to get the basics down of riding a motorcycle; the instructor was nice enough give me guidance in English, and he was really wonderful. I didn't get anything in terms of a certificate or permit, but I did get a lot of great advice and a basic understanding of riding.

We moved back to the USA in 2009 and I had signed up for a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course in Louisville months before we had arrived (they fill up fast). LOVED the course (I think it's absolutely essential!), and got my motorcycle license in July 2009!

I bought my own motorcycle in November 2009, and after various milestones, took my first motorcycle trip on my own motorcycle this month (August 2010) -- to the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Northern California. I'll do my first international trip next month, when my husband and I go on a short trip to Canada.

Another resource I found helpful: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motorcycles, 4th Edition. It has a lot of great advice for riders.

Thanks, everyone! Happy riding!

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Jayne Cravens
transire benefaciendo - travel & do good