Ah biker babe sights . . . their siren call speaks to the complex and uncontrollable nature of pleasure. What is it about a woman artfully posed with a motorcycle that will make a grown man sit in front of screen and skip lunch?

Just what is the erotic appeal of chrome and female skin that will make a committed motorcyclist bookmark.... oh let's see . . . there's PJ's biker page and then there's Jack Frost's unofficial Superbike page. and Marcus' page and of course Mikuni's Fast Dates page. That's the carburetor manufacturer who is perhaps the last major parts maker to produce cheesecake calendars suitable for display in your garage.

I can't forget The Real Motorcycles Real Woman Calendar's site (now down)-- not to mention the pay site Biker Chicks and so many others . . . why indeed are they there, stored in silicon, ready to obey the click of your mouse?

The first answer that comes to mind we could call the "double your pleasure" thesis. To wit the woman is appealing and the bike is also appealing so two good things makes one great thing--right?!

In response I say close but not quite. Not quite because this answer assumes that the bike and the woman are equally sexy and this I will argue is not true. For in true biker babe art it is the motorcycle that is the center of attention.

This is so because the sight of the motorcycle brings joy--the joy of remembered rides, joy that, in a true motorcyclist, has long been cultivated so that it has come to contain other pleasurable sensations,ones most often triggered by other stimuli.

Put simply, the joy of riding calls up other joys: the tingle of danger felt while sailing or flying, and also the road's bouquet of smells--like Proust's madelaine--reminding one of some perfect meal taken long ago. . .

All would agree to what I have written so far. So why the snicker when I add that the pleasure of riding extends to include the jolt of sex? Or at least that's how I see it, but how do others--especially women involved in motorcycling--feel about such biker babe art?

I began my search with the recent book, The Perfect Vehicle, in which author Melissa Holbrook Pierson characterizes such art as "ineluctable sad photos" of women "draped over Harleys"--women who Pierson concludes are "not normal" because "they are colluding in their own debasement, and this is seen somewhere deep in their eyes, though their lips smile and their backs arch in feigned ecstasy." OK from that passage I can conclude that Pierson is a woman rider who seems not to share my view, but what do other women think?

I put this question to Heather, a transplanted Brit, now living in Northern California where she gleefully tears up the back roads around Alice's Restaurant, a famed biker hang out. When not out on either her Honda Super Hawk or her Honda Fireblade, Heather takes some time to publish her girlie-biker page.

Heather commented that she thought that such art may ultimately have the negative side-effect of discouraging woman from riding, or even going for a ride as a passenger. But as for her own attitude about this kind the artwork, Heather remains unruffled by it all: "I think every woman would like to have the figure of these models, and when I look at pictures of good looking women on bikes, I too will think 'she looks good.' But as a choice of posters to plaster over my motorcycle garage wall, I would choose pictures with just bikes." Well, Owl-Eyes think Heather "looks good" on her Super Hawk--clearly happy at the prospect of enjoying a ride.

Foxy is another motorcycling woman who once had a very fine web page (now down) and who decided to share some of her opinions with Swang readers. Foxy loves the camera and enjoys posing with her Ninja because it makes her feel "sexy and wild and free." For Foxy, "sex appeal is the one thing that catches everyone's eye" and the mix of bike and babe makes for "a perfect combination of soft and strong qualities together. It's always intriguing . . . so many shapes and sizes, and men are very visual anyway," she said.

For Foxy posing is a natural, fun activity, one that makes her feel good--not sad. Ultimately Foxy concluded that Ms. Pierson's comments may reflect a lack of "self confidence to be herself in front of people--let alone in front of a camera."

Foxy's astute comment finds support in the caption Pierson gave to a picture of her on her Guzzi, where she writes, "probably the only smile of that [800 mile] trip," suggesting that she does indeed dislike the camera. Fortunately for Swang readers, there is Foxy, who wants guys to know that when they look at her "the only thing you'll see deep in these big brown eyes of mine is not sadness but contentment and ecstasy" and I think many readers will have such a look in his eyes when seeing Foxy!

Foxy is clearly the kind of model Richard Thomas sought for his "Real Women Real Motorcycles" Calendar. "I did it," he writes, "to show that all women are beautiful and that given the opportunity some but not all would not mind being involved."

Though Thomas disagreed with Pierson about biker babe art, he loved her book because it tells the inspiring story of how she "went out and rode alone" demonstrating that she is a "strong and independent woman." And as for her thoughts on what is and isn't normal Thomas is content to simply overlook her opinions --until she runs for President--and say with a shrug, "who gives a shit"?

Richard was also right to point out that everybody has a different interpretation about what kind of acts are "degrading." And finally, being a businessman and a realist, Richard reminds us not to forget about the money-- many of the women in front of the camera are there for the big mamoo! (Richard's site is now down.)

And speaking of money, we finally come round to the big time--the famed Mikuni calendars brought to you by photographer and creative director Jim Gianatsis. For the novices out there, Jim tells it like it is: "Calendars are a very difficult product to market successfully for a number of reasons which include the high upfront photography and printing costs, the short selling season, the consignment terms required by major book chains, and the many competing titles. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."