February 27, 2010

Women Who Ride

Although predominantly a man’s toy, several famous Harley girls have left their mark on Harley Davidson’s history. For the most part, however, women haven’t shown a whole lot of interest in riding Harleys, and they’ve been slow to join up with the Harley revolution, preferring for the most part, to remain on the back of the bike.
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Although their ranks are growing (10% of new Harley sales were to women) and more female-oriented riding clubs are forming and gaining members, the manufacturers of the Harley Davidson motorcycle haven’t yet added the color pink to its production line! So here’s the low-down on the famous Harley girls.

Vivian Bale was the first of the famous Harley girls. Back in 1929, she rode her 45 Twin D Harley almost 5,000 miles, stopping to meet with dealers of her favorite motorcycle along her journey. After that legendary trip, she spent many more years riding and performing motorcycle stunts at various racing events in Florida.

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Brigitte Bardot, a movie icon during the 1950’s and internationally-renowned pinup beauty, changed courses and began dabbling in music during the 1960’s. She was such a fan of Harleys that in 1967 she debuted the appropriately named song, Harley Davidson which quickly became a hit single. It was, of course, dedicated to her favorite motorcycle. It’s hard to say what was more popular, that song or the photograph of her dressed in hot pants and an unzipped leather jacket seductively straddling a Harley.



Elizabeth Taylor rode a Purple Passion which was given to her as a gift from her friend Malcolm Forbes, another Harley Davidson enthusiast. It’s been said that he gave her a purple motorcycle to match the unique purple color of her eyes.Another of the famous Harley girls didn’t earn her notoriety because of anything spectacular that she did on or with a motorcycle. Jean Davidson was famous mostly because she was a part of the Davidson family, the Davidson of the Harley-Davidson union. Jean was the granddaughter of one of the founders of this motorcycle empire, and Harley Davidson motorcycles were central to her life.

More recently, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, twice visited the headquarters of Harley Davidson while on a business trip to Wisconsin. While there, she reportedly shopped for Harley apparel (although reports don’t indicate whether she actually bought any merchandise) and admired the newest 2005 models.

It’s likely that more not-so-famous Harley girls exist than famous ones. They’re the gorgeous girls pictured time and again seductively perched atop those breathtakingly beautiful, ultra-shiny chrome Harley Davidson motorcycles. If you’ve done any researching of Harley Davidson products at all, especially photos or other types of images, you’ve likely seen these women and know what I’m talking about. They’re the women that the marketers relied on to help sell their brand of motorcycle. Today, these Harley girls with their bodacious bodies and their bright smiles help sell all sorts of Harley Davidson gear, not just the motorcycles, and they’re pretty good at what they do!.

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