There are moments in your life when you need to jump off a figurative cliff. These are the watershed moments where you go from being a person who thought about a particular thing to a person who does a particular thing. So it was on a sunny morning in south west England that I changed my life by letting out the clutch of my 1974 Honda and riding out onto the road.
Maybe I've been living in a bubble (okay, highly likely I've been living in a bubble), but I had never thought to look for a leather vest for riding. The association with leather vests and motorcycles, in my mind, is not really high on the fashion stakes. They're usually badass, patched with a hoodie under and sometimes a fringe to boot... but Lindsay has shone a new light on this bit of gear.
While I admit this writer has been only been riding a motorcycle for a couple of years, was not born wearing motorcycle boots, and pre-riding, my knowledge of mechanics extended to ‘key turns on, key turns off’. Ironically, I'm is in a good position to dispense some tips on what to look for when buying your first motorcycle, coupled with advice from Deus Ex Machina Workshop Manager and Head Technician (and super nice guy) Jeremy Tagand.
For those of us who lived an observed life, we often draw many lessons from life on the road into life in general. IVV picked up this great article by Kristen Lassen who shares four essential motorcycling tips from her military father, beautifully laced into larger life lessons found by a girl navigating her way through life while strengthening a relationship with her hero.
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.
Vicky and her machines are inseparable, they are one and the same. They are everything she is, energetic, fast, ready for anything and not to be messed with. She finds the yin in her perpetual motion yang when she can push her bikes to 120% to find that moment when time slows down and she is nowhere else.
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.
We’ve all been in those situations where we either try sound like we know-our-shit or default to playing dumb. Entering the gasoline scene can be daunting, especially if you haven't got a knowledgable friend to navigate conversations with. However the ego that surrounds gasoline culture is problematic for community building.
Introducing the first five Petrolettes of IVV. Five very different women, riders, bikes and adventurists but all commonly want to see more women on the road, loving life and living in the moment. Every fortnight IVV will be taking a deeper look at the lives of each of these women further learning why they ride and what they love about it.
