'Riding a motorbike is like therapy on two wheels'

The number of women taking an interest in motorcycling is on the up, according to the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) and Women's International Motorcycle Association (WIMA). But why is the number accelerating? These women share their experiences of the thrill of the open road.

Unusually, Michelle Griffin's Parkinson's diagnosis was the incentive she needed to learn how to ride a motorbike.

She had a bike when she left school and had been pillion on her husband John's bike for 10 years, travelling to places including Ireland and Wales, but she never got her own full licence.

Mrs Griffin, from Capel St Andrew in Suffolk, has now been qualified for two years.

"After I was diagnosed with Parkinson's, it gives you a different perspective," says the 51-year-old.

"I've become more impulsive since being diagnosed. I've done a skydive and I do things now that I wouldn't have even considered before."

She says she went to a bike show at Stonham Barns and was encouraged to do her tests, which she passed first time, and swiftly bought herself a motorbike.

By law, Mrs Griffin has to report her Parkinson's to the DVLA and insurance company and she is on a medical licence, which her doctor has to review every three years.

While she is out on her motorbike, it is a time for her to forget about the condition.

"It's the only time where I don't feel like I've got anything wrong with me. Sometimes I'm so stiff I can't get on it, so I have days where I don't get to ride, but the days that I can, I love it," she says.

"You're in your own little world, it's amazing, it's such a feeling of freedom. You can't describe it until you do it."

"I would encourage anybody to give it a go," she adds.

"I think it's good for anyone's mental health, to just get out on your own or in a group. It's like therapy on two wheels. I wish I had done it years ago."

She is planning to keep riding until she feels she no longer can, or the doctors tell her otherwise.

It was a coronavirus lockdown that prompted Karina Artun to reconnect with her roots and learn to ride a motorbike.

The married mum-of-two, from Ipswich, says she grew up around bikes, and her dad and grandad were both Harley Davidson riders and "very much central members of the community".

There is even a photo of her at her christening on her grandad's bike, she says, and she would go out on adventures with her dad as a child.

But despite thinking it would be something she would learn herself, her grandad and dad passed away and "life happened" so she never got her own licence - until recently.

"I had a moment last year when I was like, it's time, I wanted to feel connected to them [her family] and let's go for it, there's no time like the present," says the 34-year-old.

She shares her adventures on Instagram, which she says helped connect her with other women into bikes, as she did not know any locally.

"The Instagram community around bikes is a phenomenal place where you feel so welcomed," she says.

"It's difficult to just turn up somewhere. It's a nerve-wracking, daunting thing, especially as a woman, to walk into a room of bikers at a meet or something like that, so social media is a great way to ease yourself in."

Mrs Artun, who has got her compulsory basic training (CBT) and plans to do the courses for her full motorbike licence, says she also wanted to highlight some of the mental health benefits.

"It's difficult to put into words the feeling that it [motorcycling] gives you," she says.

"Motorcycles don't appeal to everyone. There is that danger element and the risks involved, but there are a lot of benefits to it, for your mental health especially.

"I'm a huge advocate for trying to find that life balance we're all striving for, and that comes down to hobbies and juggling that with work."

"There is masses going on in the world of women riding motorcycles," says Sheonagh Ravensdale, BMF's communications director.

Ms Ravensdale, who is also a former president of WIMA and has been riding for 50 years, says there have been record numbers of women turning up for ride-outs and meets.

She says women's membership to BMF has grown by 50% in the last two years and the "world's largest female biker meet" took place this summer, with 1,549 women in attendance.

In Suffolk, instructor Jan Waters says the number of women wanting to get their full motorbike licence has increased by 25% in recent years.

She says in every 10 students she teaches through an Ipswich-based training school, two or three are women.

"When I first started motorcycling, which was when I was 17 or 18 years old, I was the only female I knew that biked," says the 62-year-old.

"But ladies have got a little bit more confident in themselves. They don't perceive the same boundaries as women did 10 or 15 years ago and they think, 'I would like to do that', and do it."

She says before women would come to get their compulsory basic training (CBT) to enable them to ride a moped or 125cc motorcycle, but there has been an increase in women taking the full motorcycle test, enabling them to ride large cc bikes.

"It's much more acceptable for women to ride motorbikes now," she says.

"Before if there was a group of bikers and there was a woman there, they'd get the, 'Cor, look at her', but not any more."

Mrs Waters, who works in Ipswich, Eye and Norwich, says motorcycling is a "real community" and the best thing is the "sense of freedom you have".

"In a car you're encompassed, but you are a part of everything on the bike - you can smell the crops, feel the wind, rain and cold.

"You also have to be mentally astute and much more aware because of your perception of hazards and potential hazards has to step up a notch - [it] keeps you sharp."

And whether you are a man or a woman, she loves seeing her students pass.

"Anybody who has a passion for motorcycling, it's just a joy to see.

"It's such a satisfying feeling if you've got a lady who is nervous and when they get their licence, the smile on their face is worth millions."

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