Can we please have a slow clap for Dainese? After 22 years of development—during several of which, men had the benefit of D-Air protection made readily available—Dainese finally remembered that some riders are women, and they might like the added safety of D-Air gear, too.
In 2019. Yes, I mentioned that in the header for this slide, but I feel it bears repeating, because why are we still even having this conversation?
Even non-moto-centric publications, on slow news days, have been falling all over themselves to note that more women are riding than ever before, and that encouraging women and younger riders (and women who are younger riders, because yes, you can actually be both at the same time) is part of how the motorcycle industry can save itself.
Seriously, I’ve seen variations on this theme show up in business publications like Marketwatch and elsewhere for at least the past year, if not longer. If the business heads—who may or may not care about motorcycling, but most certainly care about numbers—can take note of this, then why did it take Dainese so long?
This is hardly just a Dainese problem, either. Other gear manufacturers could also stand to improve in this area. If you’re a woman who rides, you know this—and if you know women who ride, just ask them. Maybe that’s what we can hope for in 2020: Instead of making broad assumptions about what women, young riders, and people of color (and again, you can be all three at once, believe me) want, maybe both gear and bike makers could try asking their target demos and then developing from there? It’s a thought.
Have a happy and safe New Year, everyone, and here’s to more excellent and intriguing moves forward, in gear and throughout the motorcycling niche, in 2020.
