1981 Motess Female Motorcycle Drill Team Los Angeles CA - 2-Page Vintage Article

Description

1981 Motess Female Motorcycle Drill Team Los Angeles CA - 2-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article.
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
• What's a cross between the Goodyear
Blimp and the Folies Bergere? Give up? The
answer is Les Motesses, a brand-new, all-
female motorcycle drill team based in Los
Angeles. Their job is enviable: riding for
money. What better show-stopper for an ad
agency than 15 beautiful girls dressed in
coordinated costumes wheeling matched
motorcycles down Mam Street U.S.A.?
The Motess, Inc., of Los Angeles, is an
offspring from the original French drill team.
Les Motesses, which was founded almost
by accident nine years ago in Paris. In 1969,
female motorcyclists were an anomaly in
Paris—especially tall beauties like Marie-Hel-
ene Gemger. At the time, she was working
as a model for an advertising agency and
dating a motorcyclist. So, why not beat the
Parisian rush hour, she thought, by riding a
motorcycle to work? She was more than
just noticed by other motorists—even dur-
ing rush hour Fashion designers began to
enlist her to wear their newest creations on
her way to work. When this began happen-
ing regularly, her boss asked her the key
question: "Do you know any other female
motorcyclists?" She quickly (and wisely) re-
plied that she did. But this beauty had brains
She didn't tell him how many she knew
(one). Instead, she managed to round up
eight more motesses within a week.
Ricard, the French aperitif, became the
team's first sponsor, and the mademoiselles
continued to ride as freelancers until four
years ago when Geinger formed the corpo-
ration, Les Motesses They are as much a
household name in France as the Goodyear
Blimp is in this country. The multi-media
coverage they provide for advertisers is re-
sponsible in part for their fame. But, just as
important, the french government has bor-
rowed the celebrated group to put on mo-
torcycle safety demonstrations. Two years
ago, the team had its American debut in
Washington D.C., to the delight of that city
and its myriad motorcycle deliverers.
Geinger's business sense led her to col-
laborate with her longtime friend, lawyer
and Los Angelino Brigitte Segal, to form an
American branch of the Motess team. The
10 young women who are now members
were nearly all weeded out from applicants
responding to an ad in Cycle News. Segal
demands a set of qualifications that aren't
often found in a single person beauty, riding
expertise and a sense of responsibility.
To be placed on the team, the girls were
interviewed and given a parking lot audition.
Segal stresses the importance of slow, pre-
cise riding ability rather than trick riding.
Most of the riders she chooses have had
extensive motorcycling experience—includ-
ing racing—and nearly all of them have a
background of dirt riding. Candy, for in-
stance. has been riding for 12 years and has
raced dirt bikes; Barb, who tends bar in
Vegas when she isn't on a bike, is sponsored
in dragracing and won her most recent race.
When asked why they decided to run away
and join a drill team, the young women in-
variably responded with some version of,
"Because riding is so much fun." And Laura,
who owns a Sportster, added that she
looked forward to riding with other women
for a change. But, if it's difficult to find the
right female motorcyclist to fill a niche in the
team, it's just as hard to woo a potential
sponsor.
Many companies are reluctant to be the
first to join what seems to them a radical
bandwagon. On the second of April the
team rode white BMWs through the center
of Los Angeles modeling Norman Todd
sportswear for their first sponsor. They also
appeared in a feature for Apparel News in
February. Even so, the group is still looking
for a motorcycle manufacturer to sponsor
them on team motorcycles (Segal indicates
that Yamaha is a leading contender) of at
least 500cc but not more than 900cc They
are also itching for innovative advertisers so
they can try out their pyramid—on TV Les
Motesses of France has had its share of
unusual jobs as well as their staple, advertis-
ing They've been asked to escort rock stars
from Orly airport, for example, to their stu-
dios or homes. With Hollywood just around
the corner from the U.S team, can sponsor-
ship be far away?
Segal is confident that The Motess, Inc.
will be a success. She looks forward to the
day she can have some riders working full-
time and some working part-time, and to
the possibility of going on tour. To her, the
group is more than a great promotion stunt
for advertisers. It's a way to promote re-
spect for motorcyclists from drivers. After
all. what could be threatening about a pretty
girl on a motorcycle? —Merry MacTavish
16058