The motorcycle industry, for the most part, has long been regarded as a man’s world. However, one of the biggest influences on any industry is the media that supports it and in China there is huge female input in that region.
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“There is no discernible sexism
in the modern Chinese motorcycle industry.“
A woman rider in China, more commonplace that you’d think.
Lucy is the owner and editor of i-motor, the biggest Chinese language motorcycle media. In her opinion, “There is no discernible sexism in the modern Chinese motorcycle industry. Females exist in every position from company owner down to production line worker and in every aspect of the industry including media (namely myself). If there is a lack of females in the industry at any time it is just a matter of their choice as opposed to discrimination. It is true that there are no Chinese ladies currently competing in motosports, but then there is not yet a big participation from men in motosports either in China. As motosport grows I guarantee you will see the emergence of capable Chinese women riders and technicians at race tracks.”
There are an estimated 200,000 woman motorcycle riders in China, most riding scooters under 125cc. Ma Cong of the Chongqing custom bike society is an exception. Ma Cong says, “It’s quite rare for women in China to ride bigger bikes, but I have been in love with Harley-Davidson bikes for years. Last year I bought myself a Softail, which I had bored and stroked to 1600cc. I love the sound and torque. I’m considering open pipes but I’m not sure because I attract a lot of attention already and I’ve had some traffic incidents with guys looking at me.”
Women in China love Harley-Davidson motorcycles and enjoy color coordinating themselves with their motorcycles just as much as American women.
Zhong Li owns a small supermarket and regularly delivers groceries to her elder customers on her 50cc Lifan scooter. “For me the scooter is my main means of transport. I regularly change the oil and filters and tighten the drive chain because my husband doesn’t know how to do it. A lot of ladies around here get together to do maintenance on the scooters and cubs that we ride. If we leave it to our husbands they would take the bikes to a mechanic. We prefer to maintain the bikes ourselves to save a bit of money!”
Zoe Fu, chief editor of ChinaMotor Magazine reports. “More often than not, when I am reporting on a new motorcycle product the head of the publicity and advertising company for the motorcycle factory is a lady. Their knowledge of the new products is at least equal to the men that we deal with. It’s not just Chinese women employed either; I remember years ago Shineray employed a Swedish lady as the general manager. And in the last few years a woman, Yan Haimei, was installed by Qjiang as the CEO of Benelli.”
Li Lian is an 18-year-old assembly line worker in Chongqing. She tells of her decision to work at a motorcycle factory. “I come from a poor village where the main employment is farming. Most young people these days have enough education to move to the cities and try to make our lives there. In Chongqing the main employer is the auto and moto industries (more than half a million employed) so it was the natural choice. I was given full training and taught about the safety issues of the line. Like everyone starting out I have quite a mundane job, just connecting parts, but for the good and diligent workers there is the chance to learn and progress to the testing areas and the research and development department. Men and women have the same opportunities to progress and it seems that women are quicker on the production line!”
“Their knowledge of the new products is
at least equal to the men that we deal with.”
Zhang Lin is an export account manager for a leading motorcycle company. She explains the advantage of hiring females in the export department. “If you go to any language school university in China you will see that the classes consist of 90 percent females. I don’t know why but it’s invariably girls who prefer to study English and other languages, which means that there are many girls working in motorcycle export departments as they have the language requirements.”
Rio Wang, CEO of Fuego Power agrees. “I wouldn’t think twice about hiring a female for any aspect of the operation. My general manager is female, and three quarters of the export staff are female. Their motorcycle knowledge is on a par with the guys even though they are a bit reluctant to get on and ride sometimes. I also find that they are generally more organized than the men and that many of our male customers prefer to do business with a lady!”
Chinese women with an interest in motorcycling are smart, business-minded and savvy, which has enabled them to climb corporate ladders and be successful in China.
It’s not just Chinese owned motorcycle companies in China that hire females. High-level female operatives are essential to the running of Harley-Davidson and Ducati China.
The electric scooter industry is also benefitting from the knowledge and skill of the the fairer sex. Yadea is the biggest EV (electric vehicle) export company in China and is captained by Nancy Zhou as GM. Nancy reports, “As the EV industry is still relatively in its infancy there are huge opportunities for women as the industry has not taken a male-orientated culture in the same way as the standard motorcycle industry. It’s also the case that many women prefer to ride an electric scooter.”
To conclude it seems that there is no discrimination against women in the Chinese motorcycle industry, conversely, women hold some of the top positions and this trend is likely to continue.
Article originally written for the FIM. Articles and photo reprinted in WomenRidersNow.com with permission from the author.
I work for S&S Cycle doing the social media, and nearly half of our marketing department are female, along with countless on the manufacturing floor and in the office. Quite a few of the ladies I’m close with are moto industry powerhouses, like Jacqui Van Ham, and the ladies of Babes Ride Out, Nicole of Brembo Brakes, and so many more!
My husband and I recently moved from AZ to CA. I used to see a few women riders while living in AZ, but in CA they are few and far between. I rarely see any scooters on the road. Rarely do motorcyclists ever do the “recognition wave.” There are tons of riders in CA, and I wish they were friendlier and am yearning to see women riders. I miss it! With gas prices today, I can’t imagine why there aren’t more riders on the roads. Asia and Europe have it right.
I work for S&S Cycle doing the social media, and nearly half of our marketing department are female, along with countless on the manufacturing floor and in the office. Quite a few of the ladies I’m close with are moto industry powerhouses, like Jacqui Van Ham, and the ladies of Babes Ride Out, Nicole of Brembo Brakes, and so many more!
My husband and I recently moved from AZ to CA. I used to see a few women riders while living in AZ, but in CA they are few and far between. I rarely see any scooters on the road. Rarely do motorcyclists ever do the “recognition wave.” There are tons of riders in CA, and I wish they were friendlier and am yearning to see women riders. I miss it! With gas prices today, I can’t imagine why there aren’t more riders on the roads. Asia and Europe have it right.