Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausUNDP, groups, Angie Brooks, motorcycle club, Liberia, Pink1 Comment

PINK PANTHERS: Liberia

Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausUNDP, groups, Angie Brooks, motorcycle club, Liberia, Pink1 Comment
PINK PANTHERS: Liberia

The Pink Panthers motorcycle club in Monrovia, Liberia is made up of women who make their living riding motorcycles as taxis. Motorcycles are often the easiest and cheapest mode of transport in third world countries with little to no infrastructure. After several assaults (one rider was guided into an ambush by potential passengers, beaten and had her bike stolen), these women decided to band together and established a motorcycle club by wearing bright pink and riding together. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Angie Brooks Foundation partnered up to support this club by giving them helmets, jackets and publicity to help their jobs be safer, and maintain their independence and jobs. Most women work from 5am to 9pm everyday and some are sole bread-winners for their families. But more remarkable is the action of these women to band together in the face of an ever present threat to their safety, to ensure their lives and that of their children remain in their own hands. 

Heleana is a force of nature. The founder of In Venus Veritas and The Petrolette, and a co-founder of Rising Sun Workshop. Heleana shares her love of vintage cars, riding motorcycles, and (not-so-secretly) dreams of flying planes and piloting a riva aquariva (a la Sophia Loren) very fast through the canals of Venice. Supportive and connected, community is her lifeblood, and she is as real as they come.

Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, throttle dolls, comaraderie, cafe racer, YamahaComment

MARIA: The Doll

From the new-babe-on-the-block to the driving force behind The Throttle Dolls in what she hopes will help inspire other women to ride and live their lives to the fullest, we learn about Maria's love for riding as heavily influenced growing up surrounded by people who rode motorcycles, her mum included.

Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, throttle dolls, comaraderie, cafe racer, YamahaComment
MARIA: The Doll
Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, riding, women, women who rideComment

LETICIA: Unbound

Leticia is unassuming, a free spirit, passionate about riding and keenly supportive of women who ride. I came away from meeting Leticia, overwhelmingly inspired by her journey, as her passion for gasoline culture is both intrinsic to who she is and rooted in a strong connection to her father.

Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, riding, women, women who rideComment
LETICIA: Unbound
Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana Genausdykes on bikes, riders, Group ride, mardi gras, women who ride3 Comments

DYKES ON BIKES: Rehashed

Anyone who has lived in a city that celebrates Mardi Gras would know the Dykes on Bikes as the bare chested, bondage wearing, Harley Davidson riding lesbians who head the parade with pride. What few realise, (including myself) is that they are the longest running all-female motorcycle club known to the Western world...

Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana Genausdykes on bikes, riders, Group ride, mardi gras, women who ride3 Comments
DYKES ON BIKES: Rehashed
Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, women who ride, riding, groups, moto fashion, the throttle dolls1 Comment

The Throttle Dolls

The emergence of all-women social groups (who aren't afraid of sharing their moto exploits) is not showing any signs of slowing down. Sydney locals The Throttle Dolls formalised their friendship-cum-riding posse less than eighteen months ago having been having a great time. IVV invited the Dolls to tell us, in their own words, the journey thus far and where it all started.  

Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesHeleana GenausMotorcycles, women who ride, riding, groups, moto fashion, the throttle dolls1 Comment
The Throttle Dolls
Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesKate Disher-QuillHarley-Davidson, petrolette, Motorcycles, Las Marias, Mexico, motorcycle club, BMW, triumphComment

LAS MARIAS MC: Mexico

If you haven't learnt of Las Marias MC, the all women club gracing the streets of Mexico City, then let us enlighten you. Their catch cry is also a call for freedom where they feel stronger and safer on amongst the chaos of Mexico City roads when they're together but also, and perhaps more to the point of their pursuit for freedom is in the boldness in which they express themselves. Their club titles also come with alter egos that heighten their passion for riding and the individuality it affords. There is no specific bike type, for the Marias their club is about riding and standing stronger together.

Groups, Motorcyclists, The PetrolettesKate Disher-QuillHarley-Davidson, petrolette, Motorcycles, Las Marias, Mexico, motorcycle club, BMW, triumphComment
LAS MARIAS MC: Mexico