31-10-11, 08:37 AM
It's a problem I'm very familiar with. My dad was a mechanical engineer and I'm far more technically minded than my husband (not to say that he's lacking there), but I've seen it time and time again. Back in 1985 I actually gave up biking for a while as my bikes always seemed to be unreliable (mostly because service departments didn't take me seriously, so problems never got resolved on the first visit). When I came back to biking in early 1987 I bought an MZ ETZ250 from a dealer who would routinely call me "love" but in such a way that I didn't mind. He always took me seriously when I said I had problems with the bike and was also very good about trying to find ways to make the bikes he sold easier for women to manage (option of smaller back wheel, etc). I learnt a bit more about working on bikes while I had the MZ, and found that most things could be fixed on the roadside with a bit of know-how and confidence. My confidence grew to the extent that the MZ was the first bike I took touring overseas.
Since the MZ I've not had any problems with dealers. I've chosen them as carefully as the bike and will walk out and look elsewhere if I don't like their attitude. To some extent I think dealers have moved on a bit since 1982 when I started biking. But I also found it to be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If you lack confidence and come over that way they assume you're a dumb blonde, if you exhude confidence they usually don't (there are exceptions in both directions). But, if you've been badly treated by a dealer a few times it can destroy your confidence and set you up for more mistreatment in the future.
Back in 1998 I got an R1. In fact I think it possible that I was the first woman in the world to own one. My husband had a Bandit 1200 at the time. Being the lovely husband that he is, he bought me a proper R1 jacket to go with the bike. However, he was then set up for disappointment, as every time I walked into somewhere and the jacket was noticed some guy would turn to him and ask him about his R1, and he'd have to say "why don't you ask her - she's wearing the jacket".
Since the MZ I've not had any problems with dealers. I've chosen them as carefully as the bike and will walk out and look elsewhere if I don't like their attitude. To some extent I think dealers have moved on a bit since 1982 when I started biking. But I also found it to be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If you lack confidence and come over that way they assume you're a dumb blonde, if you exhude confidence they usually don't (there are exceptions in both directions). But, if you've been badly treated by a dealer a few times it can destroy your confidence and set you up for more mistreatment in the future.
Back in 1998 I got an R1. In fact I think it possible that I was the first woman in the world to own one. My husband had a Bandit 1200 at the time. Being the lovely husband that he is, he bought me a proper R1 jacket to go with the bike. However, he was then set up for disappointment, as every time I walked into somewhere and the jacket was noticed some guy would turn to him and ask him about his R1, and he'd have to say "why don't you ask her - she's wearing the jacket".