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This campaign has generated a lot of controversy. Sex has (and will continue to be) been used to sell just about everything but particularly so for motorcycles and everything else that skews mostly male. In advertising research they call it "tickling the lizard brain" or using visual cues that trigger more base and evolutionary responses. I attended a seminar in college on the use of sex in selling alcohol and cigarettes and learned much from that. I think it's clear times have changed given the amount of negative comments this campaign has received. Yet look at how many likes it has still? Does sex still work or not? Look at what brands like Gillette and Chips Ahoy have done recently featuring transsexuals and shaming of "toxic masculinity." Or what Nike did featuring Colin Kaepernick. Clearly these companies are looking to be edgy and generate buzz whether positive or negative. Is that what MV Augusta is doing, just in a more conventional way? I posted a photo about two years ago of some Baja Rally trophy girls on our Instagram feed and not only did it get below average engagement, I actually offended at least one female rider. I think I did one other photo that pushed the envelope on what was "sexy" vs just a female rider posing on her bike. At least for adventure motorcycling I can say that I don't think the over the top sexy photos work at all. But that's not to say there are feeds with huge followings who do specialize in that kind of thing. Are those who complain to be taken seriously or do you think they're being pearl-clutching scolds who are simply virtue-signaling? I thought it would make for interesting discussion. I only ask that you remain civil, respect others' opinions and stay out of politics.

Let’s share femme-friendly techniques, tools and hacks for working on and around bikes, because she can do anything he can do, right? When it comes to know-how? Sure! What about the plain old brute force strength that occasionally seems to be required with moto-maintenance? Hmmm… I’m a fairly new rider - I’m celebrating the 4th anniversary of buying my first bike in about a week - but in these 4 years, I’ve put 70,000+ miles on my Transalp throughout North and South America. For me, understanding the mechanics of my bike and learning how to work on her has made me a better rider. I’m not sure if it’s because the more I learn, the better I understand how to manipulate my machine while I’m on her… Or maybe it’s just another component of building confidence around motorcycles… The knowledge that, if necessary, I’ll be able to self-rescue is HUGELY rewarding. I’ve been really fortunate that the men I ride/have ridden with have been really supportive of helping me to increase my technical know-how. Sometimes, this is relatively pain-free for them But sometimes, when I’m stuck on something and insist on not having any help, it can require a massive amount of patience (the above tire change, rear and front, took HOURS)… Advice is easy to find - post a photo like this on social media, and you’ll get dozens of “Try this!,” “You’re doing this wrong!” comments… many of which are useless if you’re 5’4” and under 120lbs. I understand it can be hard for someone who is a foot taller than me, has 50-75 pounds of muscle on me and has been working on bikes for YEARS to understand that methods that work for HIM might not work for me. So I wanted to start up a thread where we (both men and women) can share femme-friendly techniques, tools and hacks for working on and around bikes... Like the hack below... I’ve found that my GoGirl is actually much easier to use as an oil funnel than for it’s intended purpose I have a few other tidbits I’ve picked up along the way and made short videos of that I’ll share when I have better internet, but for now, please throw in your two cents and let’s help one another out!