All about Rippin-Kitten and rippin-kitten.com

About Me

My name is Liz Frazier and Rippin-Kitten.com is my motorcycle blog. I started Rippin-Kitten.com in April 2007 because I couldn’t find online resources that I could relate to, as a younger female rider. There weren’t many sites out there that appealed to me. So, I decided to start my own.

I reside in Massachusetts with my husband and my black kitty. I’m a freelance, interactive art director with many years experience in online marketing and web design. I passed my Motorcycle Safety Course and received my motorcycle license in the summer of 2004 (I’ve even been told that I ride better than a lot of guys!).

About My Motorcycle

My current ride is a 2004 Suzuki Volusia LE. My mods include: lowering it 2 1/2 inches, drilled out the baffles in the stock exhaust, gone nekkid (no external air box- installed a uni filter), rejetted and added highway bars. I will eventually switch out the air box again and get a shiny, new set of exhaust pipes.

About blogging

I was hesitant to become a “blogger” because there are so many blogs out there to choose from. Ironically, in the process I’ve discovered that it’s something I quite like to do. I am not a paid blogger, so if I mention products in my posts it’s because I’m actually using them. I am more than happy to review products if samples are sent to me (for example: Kawasaki gave me the opportunity to test ride and review a 2007 Vulcan Custom in the summer of 2007, which I did happily!).

While I try to post as often as possible, sometimes I just can’t help jumping on my bike and hitting the road. After all isn’t that why we’re here? I enjoy traveling and taking pictures, going to rallies and meeting all kinds of people. Because I live in New England my riding season is fairly condensed, so a way for me to get my fix in the off-season will be through this site.

I hope you guys like this site. Feel free to contact me or comment on my posts at any time. Ride safe!

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What is RSS? Read more about it here.

Visit me at these other sites:

Visit Rippin-Kitten on myspace!

See my profile at BikerorNot.com!

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Richard says:

June 1, 2007 at 11:48 pm

Hey that bike looks just fine! You don’t need no Harley. I like the blog, you should have a section for people to post picts of their bikes! Here’s my old fella, a good loyal BMW k100. Keep the wind in your face and the bugs out of your teeth, when your not in front of the computer that is.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/77335849_5b397b2f29_o.jpg

christine says:

June 29, 2007 at 8:34 pm

Hi Liz,

my name is christine, and i just reviewed your blog for “the weblog review.” I normally don’t reach out and say hi after i’m done, but I really enjoyed your blog and wanted to let you know that. The review will reflect that.

You put a smile on my face with a lot of the entries, and I hope you keep writing.

And …

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amusings/614888781/

this is my dad. I’m not sayin’ you got a big butt (Lord knows I sure do) and it’s not his bike or his helmet… but when I got to your blog on the review list, I thought you might just find the picture amusing.

Cheers.
–christine
(near Haverhill MA… so it’s a small assed world for cool assed chicks!)

Lizzie says:

June 30, 2007 at 8:03 am

Hey Christine,
Thanks very much for leaving me a note! I’m glad that you enjoyed my site. Something I wonder if the content is too singular and that I’m writing it for myself and a handful of my friends. I LOVED that photo of your dad! It made me laugh. Oh, and hey-maybe most of the cools chicks live in MA after all!

June 30, 2007 at 8:59 am

See, your blog isn’t singular in content at all. You write about the bike, the bike and women in biking history, your work on the bike, places you go… you are finding ways to make the content interesting.

loved the mt washington photos… and the story of the guy who was too scared to go back down. that would be me.

if you want to borrow the pic of my dad, feel free. heh.

and the review posting will be up sometime in the next week. i reviewed like 11 blogs and the webmaster has been out. he’s slowly (one a day i think?) catching up and posting the reviews. so watch the site.

cheers.
cg

July 3, 2007 at 3:40 pm

I read the review you wrote for me and I have to say that I am so grateful and blown away from all of the nice things you had to say! Thank you!!!

July 3, 2007 at 5:32 pm

i was just about to leave a comment saying the review had been posted by the admin…

keep writing. and riding. and writing about riding.

Missy says:

July 18, 2007 at 3:05 pm

Hi—Liz: Love that you decided to blog about your bike, and girls on bikes, that is way hot. I also like your writing style, it is fun, without being crass. Which brings up a solid question, what do you think of the stereotype that some “bikers” and “biker chicks” have to go through in some parts of the country?

Missy.

July 18, 2007 at 4:07 pm

Hey Missy: thanks for coming by!

As for your question, I’m not quite sure how to answer it. The “biker” stereotype is dubious because I feel like it’s evolving. At first glance people assume that bikers are bad news. And some of them are. It’s a subculture defined by a stereotype that in most cases couldn’t be farther from the truth.

A lot of bikers I have met are some of the nicest people. They’re friendly, generous and socially conscious (I can’t even begin to tell you how many charity rides happen every year).

Of course, I’m also completely generalizing. I don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the country because I’m based on the east coast. My husband and I both ride motorcycles. We are both well-educated, have good jobs, own a home and have many other interests aside from motorcycles.

We don’t live the biker lifestyle 24/7, which I think is a big misconception that non-riders have. I’m not sure if this answered your question, but I think this is going to become a blog topic in the near future!

July 19, 2007 at 6:48 pm

Hi—Lizzie:

I think that perhaps the stereotype varies by location, like there are southern biker chicks, which i can say are probably different than a biker chick like yourself. I personally don’t subscribe to putting people in boxes and making wide crazy generalizations about folks, but there are many who do.

Bikers girls like you elevate the culture, which is good, for all bikers. I don’t know you or anything, but i can tell from your blog, your photos, and your writing that you’re a classy biker. Maybe you can do a post on the different types of bikers out there. That would be interesting, indeed.

But anywho (i’m rambling, so i’ll stop) i enjoy your blog and will come by from time to time to say: hey!

See ya around BC.

Don says:

July 20, 2007 at 5:20 am

Nice bike and nice site. I saw you are a loyal Volusiarider posted too. Love the info

July 20, 2007 at 10:15 am

Thanks Don! Hope you’ll visit often! See you on the Vol board? What’s your screen name there?

Mac Musick says:

August 3, 2007 at 10:02 pm

I too enjoy reading your blog and visiting your Myspace site. I have been riding motorcycles since 1964. “Biker” used to have a very different meaning than it currently does. There was an era, say, pre 1970 when most “bikers” were dangerous people. Witness the Stones concert at Altamont for a single example. Not all, but most bikers had done time in prison. The biker gangs used to run some of the prisons like San Quentin and still today have considerable influence in some prisons.

Life and styles change. Today tatoos and doo rags are more fashion statements than status symbols. One should still be aware that 1 percenter gangs are not interested in making nice. If you are a middle class person and go into the wrong bar you might be treated harshly. Do a little research on the internet and discover that there still is a significant outlaw biker culture. I am not at all interested in eradicating that culture nor am I interested in attempting to mimic it. But then to each his/her own.

My wife and I both ride. We enjoy the ride as well as the destination. For us a good ride is to Taos or Telluride. We live in the mountains of Colorado.

If you are in our neighborhood over Labor Day Weekend come out to the Sugar Pine Ranch. It will be fun. 11 bands and all the biker games and etc. Check it out. All makes and models of motorcycles welcome.

Janet Green says:

August 8, 2007 at 9:15 pm

Hey gal, thank you for adding me to your blogroll – I will return the favor as soon as I finish up leaving this comment! This is a really enjoyable blog – keep up the great work! Best, Janet @ Biker Chick News

August 9, 2007 at 9:32 am

Janet: thank you so much! I really enjoy Biker Chick News and I am honored that you took the time to write!

journeyman says:

December 6, 2007 at 5:33 am

Enjoying your blog – greetings from a Harley rider in the UK. I’m also very aware that whilst much of the biker stereotype is true (and proud of it) we are all complex individuals coming at this thing from different angles …

journeyman

Joel Baker says:

September 5, 2008 at 7:20 am

Hey there,
Happened onto your website looking for some design ideas (how I got here I have no idea but I’m glad I did arrive) read your comments on RUBS vs. gen x and yers. Good stuff. RUBS keep me buisy at work (trauma nurse at county). Anyway, I’m old scooter trash from way back, a vet and a Harley rider. I have had 2 fathers, my biological and my motorcycle dads. I learned alot from both, but probably the one thing I pass on the most is, “It’s not what you ride but that you ride.” I appreciate your unbiased approach to riders, we are all family on the road and have to look out for each other. God knows not many out there even look for us! I hope that the RUB class out there will be soon fading out or learning what it really is about. Seeing that it involves more than perfect weather weekends drinking beer with the guys from the office with your secretary on the back while the wife is at home with the kids. More than acting tough in your new squeaky leather and later crashing and killing your trophy girl on the back and scrambling your brains because you think you’re too cool and drunk. TI have seen great things with the younger generations, alot of responsibility and respect. I say to you, keep it up, never forget what it is really about, be you and let your bike show it. Yamaha, Kawi, Vic, Harley, BMW, whatever, I would enjoy and welcome you to ride beside me any time and be a part of this amazing life of being a biker.
Take care and remember, “Wind on your knees will put your soul at ease.”

leetaylor says:

December 24, 2008 at 7:32 pm

rippin’kitten – you go grrrrl! very cool ~ i’ll have more to say after i’ve had a chance to digest…
merryXmas to you & your’s. blueskies lee [:-{)