28-year-old goes viral with motorcycle videos

Suddenly an influencer – what that entails

The 28-year-old now has more than 130,000 followers on Instagram. Before her first motorcycle video, there were around 200, she remembers. When someone points at Emily, she asks herself: “Is this normal now or is this because someone already recognized me?” This becomes clearer in her direct messages on Instagram. After riding her motorcycle, she often reads sentences like “Hey, I saw you there.” Emily describes the experiences, which are still quite new for her, as “totally crazy”. The “Märkische Allgemeine” has also already reported on her.

Messages like “I’ve now registered for a motorcycle license because of you” make Emily aware of the impact her videos have on other people. “I think that’s why it’s even more important to wear protective clothing,” says the influencer. In the videos, her long, braided braids always spill out of her helmet over her leather outfit.

It takes several hours for a reel to be finished – even though the videos are usually no longer than a minute and Emily finds editing easy. She works in the advertising industry and is primarily responsible for visual effects in TV commercials. “On their Instagram profile, they upload the most videos of other people’s reactions to them as a motorcyclist or their own reactions,” says Emily. In their currently most successful video, you can see a motorcycle policeman tapping his head with his hand. This is how bikers warn themselves about police checks, she explains. The man “was basically making a joke because he was the police officer himself and was warning about himself,” says Emily and laughs.

What a role motorcycle content plays on the internet

The chairman of the Federal Association of Motorcyclists, Michael Lenzen, emphasizes that motorcycle content is not only shared on social networks, but also on blogs or forums. Especially in winter, when you don’t ride a motorcycle, the exchange is possible – even for older people.

When it comes to motorcycle influencers, from Lenzen’s point of view there is always a certain amount of self-promotion involved. What is important is what was transported. “If someone shows that you can simply be sensible with it, that your own fun doesn’t bother others and goes beyond measure, then I think it’s a good story.”

Motorcycling – still a male domain?

While motorcycling has a reputation as a male domain, Emily’s videos also create visibility for female motorcyclists. Many women wrote to her saying that she motivated them to ride motorcycles, says Emily. A motorcyclist also praised in a message that women were finally being perceived positively as bikers through their videos.

At the age of 16, Emily first got her small motorcycle license, then later the big one. Across Germany, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), 32 percent of people with a license to drive a motorcycle as of January 1, 2024 were female. The proportion of women who had a motorized two-wheeler registered on the same date was significantly lower. The German Motorcycle Industry Association said it was 14 percent, citing data from the KBA available to it.

The value has been about this high for years, explains Christoph Gatzweiler from the association. However, he assumes that the higher proportion of women in driving licenses will gradually be reflected in the vehicles that are registered to women.

Emily still thinks that motorcycling is a male domain, but she is meeting more and more female motorcyclists through friends of friends or on tours. Lenzen from the Federal Association of Motorcyclists wants the same level of ease as when driving a car: “Why should a woman only sit in the back? There’s no reason at all.” When it comes to cars, you wouldn’t think of asking how many women actually drive them. “That’s how it should be with motorcycles.”