Yup, I think it's at least to some extent a statistical thing. Girls that have the opportunity to get into riding at an early age are a very few & far-between occurrence, and simply limits the pool of talent greatly. But at the extreme of the envelope, there is a physical aspect to it which perhaps can be a limiting factor - at top-level race speeds, wrestling a bike around can require a lot of strength which may generally give men an edge. Then again, especially at that level, I think the extreme degree of competitiveness along with maybe a higher willingness to risk life & limb is more a masculine trait & helps explain male dominance of motorsports in general.

But back to apples, talking mere mortal street riders - I still think women have much more of a tendency to approach riding & pushing themselves with much more common sense & caution. IMO, while that probably helps many survive, it often limits the progression of their skills somewhat since they're less likely to push their envelopes & put themselves into 'do or die' situations than we testosterone-addled boys. Generalized & rambling, of course... :2cents:

I think a lot of the gals on here would be an exception and not cringe or back down to a threat but the majority of women in general would. They would have closed their eyes, screamed and hoped for the best. Walk up to a guy with no warning toss a small ball at their head, most guys are gona duck or catch it or knock it down, most girls will close their eyes and turn and flinch.

Fight or flight mentality and men will be more likely to stay and fight. There are always exceptions....

I think how you react in "oh shit" situations is based a lot on your experience level. Many guys I have spoken to have had accidents where a car pulls out and "there was nothing I could do so I laid it down" In many cases that is lack of experience to think things through under pressure. I'm not sure how women would differ from men in that case.

Hmmm interesting point. The last time I hit a deer, last August, I remember everything that happened, when I first saw the animal, what I did to try and avoid the collision, when I decided to "square up" and take the hit and the steps I took post-collision to keep from hitting the pavement and an oncoming car. Perhaps "panic/fear" is a possible cause but I still could maintain that our divergent gender specific upbringing may have just better prepared us for this type of situation. There aren't a lot of imminent collision circumstances involved during teddy bear tea parties or playing with a Barbie Dream House. Hell, we were always pushing it on our bicycles and our favorite games involved throwing things at each other-rocks, balls, snowballs, sticks, walnuts, you name it. :lol: How the different sexes react in "crisis" situations may be part of the problem, but is it biological or is it conditioned? Heck, I've seen fags act worse than little girls when they are about to be hit.:lol:

Possibly but as before, most girls don't grow up having things thrown at them almost every day! Boys are constantly throwing things at each other which conditions you to better react to high speed impact situations. Imho.

See that is totally what I was saying. Almost every accident I've ever witnessed, I am almost certain it could have been avoided.

Boys are encouraged to race everything. It wouldn't surprise me to find out my Dad had me go toe to toe with the neighbor's kid in our walkers!:lol: Boys are raised speed competitive. That gives us a lifetime of "crashes" and "near misses" to draw on. I'm not bragging here but one thing I never do is panic. I concede that some of that may be genetic, some may be environmental, but I'm certain that most of it comes from my experience dealing with crisis/imminent danger situations. Not my gender.

That reminds me of something - speaking of reaction- time/effectiveness, I can relate a recent 'oh shit' incident where Kathy's observation & reaction was every bit as quick if not a little quicker than mine would have been. A big doe (not the ray-me kind!) scampered right in front of us as she was driving along ~50mph. As I was starting to point & about to yell a warning, she was already on it & had it hauled-down right at the limit of ABS engagement, stopping to a slow roll about 5' shy of splattering Bambi's mom. Tightest pucker either of us have had in a long time! :lol: (impressed me & me proud of her too :D )
Point being, my 'male instincts' wouldn't have made a bit of difference & it was a matter of individual reaction time/skills. So I think your point holds water too, Tigger. :dthumb:



Remember the far more important point though, however well ANY guy can ride, he'll NEVER have these!!! :bowdown: :boobs:


:lol

Why? Cause women are hawt in leather!!!!! :D


Ok, seriously, I'd say just because it's not common ;)

My opinion on skill between genders is primarily exposure and percentages. A small percent of girls start out young compared to males. A smaller percentage sticks with it as they get older and of that group, (male or female) it comes down to a natural born talent (my opinion). In any sport or physical activity, there are people that excel and it's easy for them where others with sometimes more years of experiance can't hang. That's a very small percentage of a small group of riders male and female. The few outstanding rides of the male gender come from a much larger pool than the female pool. It's just against the odds for a truely outstanding female rider to be one that stuck with it long enough to become well known I think. There's probably some bank teller, nurses, pre-school teachers etc. out there that could dust Danika Patrick :)

This is why I persist in these debates.:lol: people are starting to come around a little bit.:rockwoot:

Just read my free Motorcyclist magazine, there was an article in it titled "Risk" that talked about risk takers having less of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase which helps to break down dopamine and how risk takers were found to have lower levels of dopamine. It states that monoamine oxidase levels increase in women as they age. The article discusses that genetics could play a role in the whole pushing it to the limits thing.