Put off biking.

[wizzzadora]

Hello all, long time reader first time poster.

I've recently been toying with the idea of fulfilling a lifes ambition of mine and that is to learn to ride a motorcycle. I have looked into all the laws and requirements and have even put a deposit down on a little 125.

While searching for more information on riding I came across a bikers website that was both busy and had loads of information I could use.

Now the problem is I am absolutely appalled by the level of misogyny that appears to run through the biking community. One post really brought that home to me....

www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=3853062&highlight=#3853062
(I hope it's ok to link it here).

This quickly led to what can only be described as a vile torrent of abuse aimed at a woman that did nothing more than make a sensible comment. Suffice to say she was driven off the site quite quickly....

www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=287211
I know it sounds weak but I'm now very much put off going to bike meets or runs because of the obvious hatred so many seem to harbour be it overtly or secretly.

People don't agree about everything, it's a fact of life!

If it was very rude then presumably other users would have been able to draw their own conclusions as to if it was rude? Are people here really that easily offended that such strict moderation is necessary?

And your suggestion that MN has a strict moderation policy is even more laughable

There are no moderators in the usual sense. Only staff at HQ who try their best to make sure that this lovely, useful, non misogynistic site is kept largely troll free. They only visit a thread if they've been asked to...

hth.

I really hope you won't be put off biking OP. I'm a member of that particular forum also and whilst it is a very good source of information it is full of all the" ism's"

I know it doesn't help the situation but I hope you know that over there they tend to have a pop at anyone regarless.

I gess as a man I gloss over all the rubbish that goes on on that particual forum maybe I shouldn't? however there is plenty to dislike about things being said on MN so if we opted out of every forum that had some bad stuff on there I don't think you'd have much left!

I'd like you to know that in my experience as a biker most all the people you meet are friendly and warm people more than happy to give a helping hand or advice.

Stick to the biking and get out there and meet other biker men and women in the flesh and I'm sure you will be happy you stuck with it.

I don't know where you are in the country but there are lots of biker meeting places dotted around which I found to be lots of fun.

The more women that get involved the more the tosser men that think it is ok to be sexist and vile will be maginalised.

The opening was given the advice to stay away from forums that didn't suit her at the beginning of the thread. Obviously a forum with a backdrop of misogyny isn't to their taste, just as a forum where misogyny and rudeness are looked down on won't be to some other people's taste.
Maybe just stick to the forums that suit?

Opening = op. Typo.

Calling us arseholes is offensive and uncalled for!

It's not a way of life.

If you go to a bike meet or other such event then you'll meet people on a case by case basis, it's not a cattle market and you'd actually find that everyone is helpful and friendly at such events. It's the same at bike rallies.

Horse riding.... horse riders have a serious accident every 350 hours on average, compared to every 7500 hours on a motorcycle. That makes it 20 times more dangerous, there's plenty of information about this on the net if you're willing to consider that your opinion might be incorrect.

Anyway, this is getting repetitive. To lighten the mood, here's my cat

Plenty of information?

Its a 20 year old study, carried out by one leading spinal specialist.

You are splitting my sides here, really

Yes now do some more reading and you'll find stuff from much more recently.

No.

I don't care to follow orders from random visitors

Why do you care anyway? OP asked if she should start biking, I gave her my opinion. Not sure why you feel the need to try and sway me, it wasn't me asking for opinions

You are a card nobby

It's not an order.

I care because you said "Mostly because the rates of death due to accident are so high" and that depends what you're comparing it to. Most deaths happen when someone is sleeping at night in their own bed!

You gave your opinion and you're unhappy because I'm giving my opinion. What's wrong with that? There's no need to start name calling, that suggests that you don't have anything constructive to add to the conversation.

If it's someones "lifetime ambition" (as has been said somewhere in all this) to ride a motorbike who are any of you to try and put her off with accident statistics? I've injured myself far worse doing sport (supposedly good for you) than I have in any of the three crashes I've had on a bike. For the record all of those were caused by myopic drivers who don't look where they're going - this opinion is not just mine but that of the police and the insurance companies involved also.

The OP may wish to develop her ability to give as good as she gets - I'm female, been riding for 13 years, ride every day, go to bike runs, events, rallies, rode over 2000 miles around Europe camping with my OH last year.

Bike forums may be full of tools - I may be one of them! Not all tools are male, neither are all sexists. And most of those men spouting their sexism wouldn't dare say it to a ladies face.

And as for biking being a male dominated society - hahahahaha behind almost everyone of those men is a woman, be it his wife, girlfriend or mother! And there are more than enough of us girly bikers to hold our own against the blokes.

Now where do I go to find advice on which sort of beaker my OH should be washing his willy on? I'm trying to wean him off wiping it on the curtain!

Who is unhappy nobby? Not me.

But this Yes now do some more reading and you'll find stuff from much more recently does read as somewhat commanding, no?

Would it help if I quantified my opinion on your terms?

OP I wouldn't start biking tbh. Mostly because the rates of death due to accident are so high. Could you consider taking up knitting or jam making instead which have not caused one single death in the UK in the past 12 months

Names? What names? Poor ickle biker

oooh nobby, that looks like a penis.... only smaller

OP, I ride a (big) motorbike and have met some lovely people.

I've never been a member of that forum so I can't comment but generally bikers are some of the nicest people I've met and love to help out.

I have a couple of biker friends but the majority aren't bikers but I still get the thrill of riding a bike without being a member of a biking group.

If you really want to do it, do it. You only live once!

To be blunt, if it's such a "life long ambition", why the hell haven't you done it by now? You don't need a deposit on a 125 given that you can do a local course.

If you continue to act in a special snowflake manner, you'll never survive any forum, let alone the M25.

And what's with all these bloody annoying photographs of cats? Meh, real women prefer dogs. ;-)

Oooh the M25 with a fully loaded bike filtering over the QE bridge - who needs Alton Towers!?

My cat can't help with that method of cleaning - she's not allowed cream!

And here we see many examples of exactly what I meant.

"And here we see many examples of exactly what I meant."

Perish the thought, you mean people expressing opinions that DON'T agree with your own? Is this matriarchy then, given that I'm a 50 year old woman expressing my opinion? I won't wrap you in cotton wool, I won't pat you on the head and say "There, there, it's okay".

As others have said, many bikers they've met are friendly and welcoming. That said, the bikers I know are pretty outspoken and you know what? I'd rather be outspoken any day than be hypocritical and be two faced.

They've been getting themselves all het up over a day trip out to MN to post penis/cat pictures wizzadora

I should think they all have very little in their lives other than their bikes/wanksocks.

I'm really sorry to read that you had a bad experience, Wizzzadora, but I can assure you that it's not all like that. There's a lot of really nice people out there, so don't let the odd troll spoil it for you. I've been riding for 25 years; I ride solo, I ride with friends, I go on bike rallies and I help other people develop their riding skills, and most of the misogyny I've encountered has just been friendly banter. However, until you get to know people on forums, you don't really get a good idea of which people really are nasty and which are just trying to be funny. It's not so much trolling, as just being silly. I can give as good as I get. Anyway, as Evilbendy wrote, you don't have to tell people you're a woman. There are people I've been acquainted with for many years online who have been really surprised to discover that I'm female. I have even been told I'm an 'honorary bloke', which amused me somewhat.

There weren't so many female bikers around when I first started riding, and in the early days, I occasionally got comments from some men, about 'having delusions of grandeur' or 'are you a bit 'butch'?' but that was very rare indeed, and I used to respond with something along the lines of 'Sorry, am I threatening your manhood?'. That sort of thing hasn't happened (to me, at least) since about 1992, though. Kylietart is right, most of those men wouldn't dare say such things to your face. The only one occasion since then that I have experienced misogyny was one young lad who said that didn't want me as his IAM observer because he thought that no girl would ever be as good as he was. He was disabused of that notion fairly quickly - I was one of three female Senior Observers.

Don't be put off biking; get out there and ride, enjoy the open road and, above all, have fun.

Good for you unlinked It must give you a warm fuzzy feeling of belonging.

The OP will get over her foray into BCF, you on the other hand will still be a handmaiden to a group of mutual masturbators.

Just been laughing at this quote from Evilbendy -

#2 You entered a debate about feminism on a male-dominated forum. What were you expecting would happen? "Vile torrent" my arse, by the way.

#3 Coming over here and baaawwwing about it? Really?

Obviously seeing no irony in the fact that this thread has been dominated by baaawwwing "Bikeys" and that Misogynists posting on a Feminist forum might expect to get short shrift themselves....

How do you survive on those big, tough bikey forums if you can't take a bit of gentle MN ribbing?