The first time Zu Salleh tried to ride a motorbike in her kampung, she almost ended up in a drain. It was her aunt’s bike, and she was giving it a go. It’s hardly surprising that it didn’t go too well as Zu hadn’t even learned to ride a bicycle prior to that.
The near-mishap nearly put her off riding for good.
Then, in 1995, Zu decided to give riding another go; this time on a scrambler. She learnt the basics, but never pursued it further.
Today, at 50, Zu is learning to ride a big bike. Her confidence has grown, and she intends to get her licence at the same time as her son, with the goal that they might one day ride together.
“Some think I’m crazy to be learning at my age,” Zu says. “But there are others who are supportive.”
For many women like Zu, personal dreams are put on the backburner – overshadowed by daily duties like school runs and caring for sick children or parents, chasing career milestones, sorting out mortgage payments and so on. Their personal dreams bide their time, waiting for a break in the schedule or a moment of peace.
For Zu, Dr Manjit Kaur, and Azreen Ali, the wait is over. The three women, all in their fifties, are carving out time for themselves now, doing what they once believed belonged to “the young and the fearless”: Learning to ride big bikes.
Their teacher is Siti Aqilah Rahmat, whose day job is with a pharmaceutical company.
Known to her students as Akeela, she runs big-bike riding classes for women in Selangor.
“I’ve always liked big bikes,” says Zu, a working mother from Selangor. “There’s just something about the adrenaline rush when you hear the sound of a big bike’s exhaust from a mile away, before you even see it.”
Stripping away stereotypes
Manjit, fondly as Nick, is 51 and lives in Cyberjaya.
“I’ve always loved adventure, travelling and being outdoors,” she says.
Motorcycles were once very much a part of her story. Nick got her licence at 16, and her first bike was a Honda 70. She also rode her father’s and brother’s machines, among them a Suzuki Raider, a Modenas Jaguh and a Yamaha TZM.
Then work took over, and the riding stopped.
“Now, after all these years, I feel it is time to get back on two wheels and challenge myself with a big bike,” says the single mother of one, who has a PhD in Business Management.
“I’m not starting completely from scratch, but I definitely have to rebuild my confidence,” she shares.
Meanwhile, fitness instructor from Bangi, Selangor, Azreen never really considered herself a biker, even though her family owns two motorcycles: A Honda EX5 and a Yamaha LC135.
She has ridden around the neighbourhood now and then –when her husband and son were not using their bikes to get to and from work or for trips to the surau. But riding a big bike had always been a distant dream.
“I didn’t have the chance when I was young,” says the stay-at-home mother of four, who will turn 51 in November.
When her sisters asked why she was doing this now, her answer was simple.
“Why now? Why not! Age is just a number, and I didn’t want to regret not trying.”
For all three women, reactions from family and friends were similar: First came surprise, then worry, and then, mostly, support.
“Some were worried, but most were supportive and happy to see me doing something for myself,” Nick says.
Azreen’s sisters were shocked, but the people who know her best were not.
“They know I cannot sit still,” she laughs.
The weight of it all
A big bike is a completely different beast – a reality that hit all three women right from their first lesson with Akeela.
For Nick, the weight of the big bike was a challenge, initially.
“A big bike is very different from the smaller bikes I was used to. The hardest part was getting comfortable with the size of it, learning how to balance on it and low-speed handling. I had to relearn how to trust myself.”
Zu, who has a knee injury, worried that her legs would not be strong enough to hold the machine up. She came prepared with proper protective gear. She’d also worked on her strength to prepare.
For her, the real hurdle was balance.
“I’ve never really ridden a bicycle,” she emphasises.
Azreen, too, found balance the hardest part at first. But that has stopped being an issue, and what she is currently working on is staying calm while performing U-turns and navigating corners, “particularly to the right”.
Akeela says the women’s worries are understandable and familiar.
“Some would say, ‘It’s heavier than I thought,’” she says. “Or ‘I got too nervous when I lift my legs (to get on the bike).’”
But most women arrive mentally prepared for the risks, she says. And, once they sit on the bike, it feels nothing like what they had imagined.
The most common fear, she says, across every age, is falling.
Nevertheless, each of these three women can point to the moment when everything fell into place.
Azreen reached that point the quickest: It came during her very first trial lesson.
“Something clicked right there,” she says of the moment when she knew that she was all in. “I paid for the full training course on the spot, no hesitation.”
Zu had two moments when she knew that she “could actually do this”. The first was when she managed to brake smoothly, following Akeela’s guidance.
The moment felt so “right” that she even forgot that she was on a 600cc bike, thinking instead that it was a 250cc.
“It was such a great feeling,” she says.
Nick says her turning point was less a single moment than a feeling that built up over time.
“Akeela was very patient and encouraging, and her guidance made a big difference to my confidence,” she adds.
What she values most is having another woman as her guide.
“She understands the challenges and is willing to guide and encourage us. I hope more women like Akeela will come forward to support and inspire other women to get on two wheels.”
She can catch us
Even though Akeela has been in love with motorsports since even before she set foot in primary school, she has only been riding for six years, having earned her licence during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I took lessons before the lockdowns, and managed to get my licence during the pandemic once the restrictions allowed for tests to be conducted. And I passed!,” she explains.
Growing up in a family that was not into motorsports – and with her mother insisting she had to have a licence before she could ride – Akeela never rode a motorcycle as a young woman.
Even after obtaining her licence, the pandemic made it impossible to go on long rides and so she had to wait until restrictions were lifted before she could finally get on a bike.
She remembers wishing, back then, that someone had taught her to ride before she started formal lessons.
Her own experience with a male coach during riding school left her wishing she had a female coach who could help her feel more comfortable handling a big bike.
“I thought that I should and could be that person for other women ... someone who is able to make other ladies’ dreams come true,” says Akeela, who has a background in research.
Beyond shifting mindsets about women handling heavy motorcycles, Akeela seems also to be redefining what a big biker looks like too: She looks completely at ease guiding her students dressed in a flowing light blue baju kurung, with a pair of tights underneath.
Akeela admits that getting the class off the ground was not easy. She lacked a practice bike, a safe riding space and someone to help her out in class.
Eventually, she found a 2017 Kawasaki ER6N, spent three months quietly monitoring a space to see how busy it got and gained the full support of her fiancé. A final nudge from a fellow rider friend set the journey in motion.
Since then, Akeela has seen women from very different backgrounds turn up with very different reasons for wanting to ride.
Some are grieving. Some have supportive partners. Some suffered injuries in their younger years that made them give up the idea of riding. Others simply have a dream they want to fulfil.
Riding free
Among older women, Akeela says, one theme sticks out: Finally being able to put themselves first.
“Now my children are all grown up and finally I want to make my dream come true,” is a refrain Akeela often hears.
Some older women want to relive an experience they had before starting a family. Others plan to spend their retirement travelling by motorcycle.
Does age make learning harder?
“From my experience, age does not make any difference,” Akeela says. “In fact, some younger ladies make the teaching more challenging.”
What matters more, she adds, is that the individual is at a healthy weight, is fit and has been doing some form of sport, “because riding is physical”.
Her teaching is as much about addressing the psychological aspects of riding, as it is about the technique of riding and handling a big bike. Akeela knows that however much she demonstrates and teaches the technical side of riding, none of it matters if a student is gripped by fear.
“I cannot get rid of their fear without assuring them and demonstrating that I can catch them anytime,” she says.
Not too old, not too late
Riding has changed how Zu, Nick and Azreen perceive themselves.
“It has definitely given me a confidence boost,” says Nick. “I’m more willing to step outside of my comfort zone and try things I once thought were not for me. I’m not going to let my age decide what I can or cannot do.”
Azreen agrees, adding that the experience has helped her rediscover a confidence she had lost touch with – the kind that lets her try something new without fearing failure.
More than just that, she said it is also about teaching her children a valuable life lesson: That “getting older doesn’t mean slowing down or shrinking your world.”
On top of self-confidence, Zu says, riding has helped her trust herself and “overcome my own limiting beliefs”.
Inevitably, there have been raised eyebrows along the way.
Nick says people have asked her, “Are you sure?”, to which she laughs and says, “Why not?”
Zu, on the other hand, just listens, nods when she encounters skepticism, and carries on.
“At the end of the day the decision is still mine. I know the risks and try to keep that in mind,” she says, adding that it also drives her to learn as much as she can from Akeela’s classes.
On the contrary, Azreen has received no unkind comments, getting only encouragement, and sometimes tips, from her cycling friends.
Akeela sees no expiry date on dreams.
“The biggest misunderstanding is it is too late to start,” she says. “I don’t really spend my energy worrying about what people think. I care about helping women ride safely and confidently, regardless of their age.”
To any woman who says she is too old, Akeela’s answer is gentle but firm: The passion for riding never goes away.
“So, why not now?”
The road ahead
None of the three has ridden into the sunset yet, a reality they are honest about. Learning to ride a big bike takes time, particularly if they aren’t able to practise.
Zu and Nick do not own bikes, although Nick has her eyes set on a Benda Napoleon 250cc as her first. Azreen, on the other hand, has been training on a Yamaha FZ150 to get used to a bigger machine.
But this isn’t stopping them from dreaming. Nick has listed riding to Ladakh, India on her bucket list and Zu is still clinging on to her dream of riding side by side with her son. Azreen has found a new community and has been to places she might never have seen otherwise.
For all three women, riding has delivered something far deeper than just a rush of adrenaline.
“Riding represents freedom, independence and adventure,” Nick sums up, adding that it has also brought her a circle of women who share the same passion and cheer each other on.
Zu agrees, adding: “No one is going to hold your hand all the time. At some point you need to take that first step alone.”
