Motorcycle Men
Motorcycle Men
Episode 481 - Talking with Nerissa of She Knows Moto
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Hello Boys and Girls,
Today we’re hanging out with someone who brings a fresh, fun, and seriously detailed perspective to the moto world. She’s the creator behind She Knows Moto, an Instagram and Facebook presence dedicated to showcasing bikes, features, gear, and the joy of riding with style and confidence.
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Hello, boys and girls, and welcome back to the Motorcycle Men Podcast. This is episode 481, and I am your host, Ted, here in the VTwin Cafe over in the corner booth, as always. Hey, today we're hanging out with someone who brings a fresh, fun, and seriously detailed perspective to the Moto World. She's the creator behind She Knows Moto, an Instagram and Facebook and YouTube presence dedicated to showcasing bikes, features, gear, and the joy of riding with style and confidence. But before we get into the interview, let's give a little shout out to our sponsors. Now this we got Scorpion Helmets, offering high quality, innovative motorcycle helmets and technical apparel at an incredible value. So to learn more, get on over to scorpionusa.com and wild ass seats. Now you can improve your comfort and ability to stay in the saddle longer with a cushion from Wildass Seats. So if you are tired of those painful pressure points and fatigue, go to wild-ass.com and tell the real Craig Johnson that your ass hurts and get yourself a cushion today. And Viking Bags, a world leader in motorcycle luggage and one of the fastest growing companies in the motorcycle parts industry. Luggage for whatever you need, whatever you ride, and wherever you go. And as always, ladies and gentlemen, Tobacco Motorware. For the best in casual riding gear for men and women, there's only one place you should be going, and that is tobacco motorware. Visit them at tobacco motorware.com, and our listeners will get 10% off your order when you use the code Motoman. Hey, your safety is worth it. So get on over to Tobacco Motorware and get in Dave's pants. Alright, let's dive into the world of motorcycles through the lens of Narissa. Alright, boys and girls, we're back and joining me all the way from lovely. Where are you from again?
SPEAKER_00Phoenix, Arizona.
SPEAKER_02Phoenix, Arizona, where the sun has decided to take up residency. We got Narissa from She Knows Moto.
SPEAKER_00Narissa, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so for those of you who don't know who Narissa is and who don't know she knows Moto, why don't you explain what you what you do, who you are?
SPEAKER_00Sure. All right, I'll try and keep it concise. So I I run a brand called She Knows Moto, and it's uh primarily an online digital brand. Uh do some in-person events as well, but the point of it is really motorcycle education. So um I'm taking my years of knowledge and experience in the industry and just my personal adventures and creating content and putting it out there for people to consume, learn some things, maybe laugh at some of my stupid jokes once in a while. If they're funny, I think they're funny. Um, but yeah, you know, I I have a lot of experience working in the motorcycle industry as an engineer and just the power sports industry in general. So I pull from a lot of that and um just you know, I I find empowerment in knowledge and I want others to feel the same way. So and and I and I realize that people are kind of hungry for knowledge that they want to learn typically. So yeah, it's just I something I started doing about a year ago, and yeah, I'm just gonna see like where it goes from here at this point.
SPEAKER_02Oh, cool. Well, what inspired you to get involved with doing something like this?
SPEAKER_00So when I was back in Milwaukee, I lived in Wisconsin for most of my life until just a few years ago. I moved to Phoenix. And uh while I was in Milwaukee, I was part of a it was a nonprofit organization there. It's called Build Moto. And uh basically this program pairs up adult mentors in the community with high school students, and there's usually about 10 different teams every year. And the the overall goal of the program is to teach kids how to work on motorcycles. Um so we we would get a motorcycle in January, roughly, and sometimes it was not running, or it was like a barn find, or just you know, not in great condition. We had six months to teach the kids how to rebuild a motorcycle and turn it into a race bike. So the the years that I was doing it, we were specifically building flat track race bikes. Nice. Um, so along with actually building the bike, we also had to maintain a budget. We had to raise money from sponsors, so it really got into like the real world marketing and financial side of things as well. So, um, anyways, it was a super, super awesome program. I loved being part of it. I worked with a few other female engineers that I worked with at Harley. Um, we started the first all-girls team in this program. Nice. And uh basically from that, I just I had a lot of other people reaching out to me, a lot of adults saying, Hey, do you teach classes like this online for adults? Because I want to learn all this stuff too. And at the time I said, no, I'm sorry, I'm just you know, all my extra time is being dedicated to the high school students, but it really made me realize that that people want to learn and they are very curious about the motorcycle that they're riding, right? Um, and maybe they they don't have the resources themselves or they don't feel comfortable asking people in their circles these these questions. So um fast forward, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona a couple years ago. I'm not part of that program in Milwaukee anymore, but I I discovered that I really liked teaching and I really love mentoring. So I thought Shinos Moto would be a way to kind of blend all of that and then I could start bringing this knowledge to more people.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay. Let me let me ask you during that program, did you ever get a bike in after you guys are done rebuilding that you wanted to keep?
SPEAKER_00Oh, a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02Oh really?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Do tell.
SPEAKER_00Um so we we didn't get to keep the bikes, unfortunately, because they would they would stay with the team. And sometimes they would be like reference for the next year, or they'd even race them in you know, future years and just have more bikes, whatever. So um, but yeah, uh they're just like they always turn out to be such cool bikes. And of course, when you build a bike with people and you know, a program like this, you just have so many cool memories. So um, the the girls, especially, you know, like ultimately they were in charge of the design of the motorcycle. We as mentors were just there to kind of guide them along the way. Right. And we we like on our team in particular, um, we felt it was very important to let them make mistakes and let them know that it's it's a safe space to mess up, but then you're gonna learn from it, right? So um a lot of times they would design the paint, they would design the shape, the components that we put on the bike, etc. We just kind of told them like the general framework of what it needed to be for flat track, and yeah, some of the designs that they came up with were just so cool. So um, yeah, I I did always want to take some of the bags home.
SPEAKER_02But so you put the women in charge of designing it.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, that was just one piece of it, right?
SPEAKER_02That's a little bit all right. So now let's let's talk about let's talk about your page. Uh, because you get into this technical detail and the moto culture, obviously. How would you describe this mission you have with your brand? She knows Moto, and what do you hope riders you know take away from your content?
SPEAKER_00Hmm. So I like to think that my content focuses on the what, why, and how of motorcycles. It's it there's tips and tricks and those simple kind of things mixed in, but um, you know, you anybody can go on YouTube and type in their model of motorcycle and type how to change oil. Right. Right? There's there's all these like how-to videos on the internet. So pretty much anything that you might want to do mechanical-wise, you may find it online already. But I've noticed that a lot of people don't really understand the why of a lot of these concepts. Like, why are you changing your oil? Why are you having to use this certain weight oil or right? Just kind of going deeper beyond that to really understand the machine. And and again, you know, I have a background in engineering. I spent about 15 years working in the power sports industry as an engineer, so I do have a lot of this why kind of knowledge. And um, I I want to start bringing more of that to the table as well as the how, right? Kind of marrying them together. So yeah, and and I also feel like, you know, throughout my career, of course, being a woman in engineering, I was a bit of a minority in my field, and and I know what that can feel like. So uh another big goal of mine is to just make sure that the information that I spread and the videos that I make feel safe and they feel inclusive. Uh, you know, it I never want to answer somebody's question and make them feel dumb for asking the question. Like there, there's no dumb question. Like if someone's willing to learn something and they're willing to ask the question, then I'm happy to answer it, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um just, I mean, you know, everybody in motorcycling has probably felt at one point in time that there can be sort of uh, you know, this this gatekeeping mentality, and it can be maybe a little intimidating to like step into this world if you don't really have somebody reaching out a hand and welcoming you in, right? So um, you know, I want to help be that person for people if they don't have it.
SPEAKER_02Right. You know, it's like back from my Navy days, uh, we had a saying the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.
SPEAKER_00A hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's it.
SPEAKER_00And and usually if you have a question, that means somebody else has the same question.
SPEAKER_02Probably it's very possible. So, how does that all fit into your book of motorcycle words?
SPEAKER_00I I'm curious, yeah. So I do this little series now where it's um motorcycle vocabulary. And um I'm I'm curious if anybody has looked close enough and picked up on it, but that book that I use is actually my engineering thermodynamics.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I saw that.
SPEAKER_00So so there's there's a lot of words in there that aren't necessarily motorcycle related, but maybe going off script here, I I know you did a piece about uh E15 fuel.
SPEAKER_02All right. And we had a discussion about that a few weeks back. What is your take on it?
SPEAKER_00I hate it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, can you get can you get can you get non-ethanol fuel where you live?
SPEAKER_00Not where I live. Uh unfortunately around Phoenix in Maricopa County, they do not sell zero ethanol fuel. Really? It's at least E10 everywhere. Now, if I went further outside of the valley and went to a different county, I probably could. Uh you know, especially like in more recreational areas. But yeah, where I live, I can't. Um, I have not personally seen E15 anywhere around me, but yeah, definitely E10 is pretty common.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Yeah, well, I can get uh ethanol-free fuel here in North Carolina. That's nice. And that's all I use in my motorcycles and my small engines I have around here. So I petty people who cannot get ethanol-free fuel. And I really wish the government would say, you know what, knock it off. You know, it's crazy. Right. Um with but well in your in your channel, um channel, your page, uh, a lot of times you get uh specific into motorcycles and you look for these unique features in different bikes. Uh when you choose a bike to highlight or showcase, what details are are you looking for first and why?
SPEAKER_00Hmm. Um I guess I'm not necessarily looking for specific details to highlight on the bike, it's more so whatever idea pops into my brain, and I think, oh, that could be an interesting video. Yeah. Um, because I I have uh seven seven? I it's either six or seven motorcycles in my garage. I lose count sometimes. What? Uh you're gonna have to give me the list. Uh um, so my daily is a 2020 Harley Lowrider S. Nice. Um, I call that my purple disco machine. And for anybody who has seen photos of it, you'll understand that.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I see that. I was gonna say purple is your favorite color, I guess.
SPEAKER_00It is. And sparkles. Um my husband's daily that I steal sometimes is a new BMW uh R s R12G slash S. So it's it's kind of like the the new vintage style rally looking GS. Um then I have a KTM 250 XC two-stroke dirt bike, and I have a Honda 150, a CRF 150 four-stroke dirt bike. It's just a little one. And then I inherited my dad's chopper. It's a 1970s CB750 custom frame. Nice, long, long chopper.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00All right, um, and then I also have uh 1973 Honda CL350, so it's a scrambler.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um and I think that's it. I think that's it. Yeah, and and and some of them work, some of them don't, you know, but um always it's always an adventure when you walk into my garage.
SPEAKER_02You can't just have one. You can't just have one. Oh, no, no, it's the things you love. You can't just have one.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Yeah, you get it.
SPEAKER_02I get I totally get it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So I guess, you know, when I'm making my videos, I'm I'm fortunate that I have a few different styles of motorcycles to choose from that I just use as display purposes in the video, because I I I make all my videos in my garage.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um I I someday I want to start expanding out and you know, local bike nights that I go to, things like that, maybe doing some videos with other styles, because I actually I don't have a sport bike in my garage. I've really been itching to get one, but the last thing I need right now is an is another motorcycle. So um, so you know, I would love to do some more sport bike content, but I need to borrow my friends' bikes for that. So um, yeah, it's really just like what's around, and I kind of keep a mental list of ideas that pop up or maybe questions that people have asked me. I've got like an old seized up motor that a friend gave me. Eventually I want to have a machine shop, do a cutaway on that so I can use it for the videos as well and talk about like internal combustion. Yeah, so it's it's just I don't know, ideas and I throw up my tripod and my camera and make something out of it.
SPEAKER_02Now you get into components a lot. Uh do you have do you have a process for breaking down uh the details of the con of the components uh for education or just for fun?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I guess so. Um I don't know that I've necessarily formalized it, but I I'm really always trying to take the perspective of breaking it down enough so somebody that has never looked at a motorcycle before or understood what the name of something is, like breaking it down to that level. Because I I don't only want to focus my content for the beginner writers, I also want to appeal to people who have been riding for years but maybe want knowledge. So I kind of try and span all of it, right? Um, but with a component, you know, I I like to start with the name of the component and maybe any other slang terms that people refer to it as. From the dictionary. Um from the book of motorcycle words, aka my thermodynamic textbook. Um and and then from there I like to talk about how it functions in the whole system, right? Because I think that's a really important thing, is not just a component itself, but like what is it actually doing from a higher level systematic perspective? Um and and yeah, from there just talking about like how it works, why it does what it does, maybe special design features that are important with it. I don't know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Alright, yeah, and so you just get into it. Uh being a woman in the engineering field and doing motorcycle stuff, does that shape your the viewpoint differently uh in the way that you present the bikes, the bars, and everything you do?
SPEAKER_00I don't know that it uh consciously shapes my viewpoint differently, but I do know that I can be perceived differently because of it. Um I I think what good and bad, you know, I hate to say it, but that's part of the world we live in sometimes, right? Like I I definitely experience negative bias from people online and in person. I have my whole career. Um but I also know that like like I being an engineer, when I was first getting into my career, I had a couple of amazing mentors. And as I grew in my career, I became older, I had the opportunity to become mentors to other younger women and sort of pass that torch, right? So um I'm a big believer in if you can see it, you can be it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I I think me just being a woman talking about this is sort of part of that. It's it's people just seeing, like, oh, she knows stuff and and she's a chick, and she also likes to wear makeup and like be feminine, but also go on long road trips and get dirty, like do all the things. Weird, right? Um, so yeah, I I try not to really push the female aspect too much because I don't want I don't want to make it my niche, right? Like I really want to appeal to everybody, like anyone who's just willing to learn and ask questions. But I I do think that sometimes women may gravitate towards another woman more just because they may perceive me as like uh a safer space or they may not be as intimidated.
SPEAKER_02So do you get a lot of do you get a lot of uh dudes responding to your stuff?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, actually, I would say that my following right now is almost a 50-50 split of men and women. So yeah, it is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, have have you taught some guys things?
SPEAKER_00I have. I actually have whether they liked it or not, you know, but it looks cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It must be gratifying to like, no, you're wrong. Watch this, you know.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes. I mean, if they're if they're being kind of yeah, if they're being a little bit of a jerk about it, then yeah, it's gratifying. But um yeah, and I mean I've definitely had experiences in the past, you know, where uh, for example, I was working at a big motorcycle expo, and I was there as an engineer, somebody who helped develop the product that was on display. And uh some guy came up to me and he thought he was like quizzing me, right? He said he asked me some question about the cams and I answered it, and he was like, Oh, I thought you were just one of like the paid spokesmodels. And I was like, Nope. So, like, I don't know. Yeah, those moments are kind of fun for me. I I I do like breaking people's expectations.
SPEAKER_02Oh, good. That's awesome though. I think that's great. Um, and now with your uh your close-ups and your walk-arounds, um, what do you think your viewers are responding to the most?
SPEAKER_00Um, hopefully not how dirty my motorcycle is all the time. Um I'm terrible at cleaning it. I just I ride it. I don't know, I don't clean it. Um I'm not sure. I mean I mean I hope that they're like focusing on the things that I'm pointing out. Um I'm also always hoping, I mean, probably like any creative person, there's uh there's always like a little bit of imposter syndrome with some things, right? And being an engineer, yeah, like being an engineer for 15 years means uh I was not a content creator for 15 years. So sometimes I'm just like, is my camera in focus? You know, is is this a good quality video? And um, I'm always worried that people are like looking at that kind of stuff, but maybe it's not as big of a deal as I think it is. Um but yeah, I I guess I'm not sure. I I I like to think that they're like following the story. Like when I make my videos, I do try and keep them short and digestible. Um right now I'm just pretty much doing short form content. Eventually in the near future, I do want to move it over to YouTube and do longer videos where I can get more in-depth with some of the topics I'm talking about. But um for now, until I learn how to properly edit videos, you know, add that to the to-do list. Um for now, I'm just doing like you know, Instagram, TikTok, all that kind of stuff. So I try and keep it digestible and um just like keep the story flooring, you know, pointing at the different things and then keep it going.
SPEAKER_02Do you like the short form videos? Do you like doing those?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, not really.
SPEAKER_02Um seems like a lot of pressure to get all this content like squished down to that little thing, you know?
SPEAKER_00To be honest, sometimes it's hard for me to keep things under 60 seconds because I just want to keep talking about it, and there's so much information that I think is so interesting and cool. And yeah, but you know, people don't sit and watch a video for 60 seconds anymore. So uh yeah, it is it is tough for me sometimes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, personally, as a
SPEAKER_00viewer uh and i i so i know somebody who also does my own youtube videos i prefer the long side because i want to sit and watch something i want to i want to be part of you know what they're doing and you know the the short form videos they're okay it's like then I go and I want more yeah you know um yeah yeah and I feel like a lot of times when people are looking at you know the TikToks and Instagram and all that they're kind of just having this brain dead moment where they're like doom scrolling right so I'm like how much of this is really getting absorbed anyway I'm not sure but it's a place to start uh do you when you showcase motorcycles is there any specific motorcycle uh or any motorcycle that you have showcased that uh got a great response or you yourself couldn't stop talking about it um I would say that my personal bike my lowrider S the purple disco machine definitely definitely gets some attention um just because it it is a bit of a out there paint job and it is very distinct so that's been fun too because you know people will see me around town if like if they're a local follower and they know who I am so that that's kind of fun. I I have done only a handful of videos using my husband's BMW and actually people are kind of stoked on that one too but I think that's because um it a it's it's capturing like the metric crowd and B it's a newer model or something new as of 2026. So a lot of people were like oh cool what's that bike you know now uh with your bike I I just happened to see a picture of are are your wheels powder coated yes I hate you so it it was honestly it was a big pain in my ass it was a whole ordeal so um when I got them done I took them to a I had just moved to Phoenix I didn't really have the network that I had in Milwaukee and I just looked up a local powder coater who said he did car and motorcycle things um turned out he powder coated the wrong surface he he powder coated the machine surface that the rotors bump up against yeah and um he claimed that they weren't taped off correctly but whatever uh so I asked him to take off the powder coat instead of doing like a chemical removal he actually used a grinder oh god on a machine surface so um it was yeah it was a whole thing it was so frustrating and you know could I have gotten it machine flat and fixed and all that probably but like I said I didn't really like know the businesses or the resources at the time and I was just trying to get my bike back together. So I ended up having to get a second set of wheels I just I I found um like through Facebook groups people who had taken their stock wheels off for aftermarket stuff and I just I bought some used ones and then had those powder coated and put on by a different guy right by a yes 100% um so yeah like I said it was it was a whole frustrating thing but they look great now yeah it looks pretty cool I never thought about that um what bikes do you prefer to uh showcase on your on your channel on on your page uh cruisers sport bikes customs do you have a preference my overall goal is to include a little bit of everything because I do want the videos to appeal to all types of riders and you know at in my heart I am a true motorcycle fanatic which means I don't really have allegiance to one type of motorcycle if it has two wheels I'll ride it kind of thing um and I feel like a lot of other people are that way too and you know a lot of concepts that I talk about apply to any kind of motorcycle um not always right but I think lately a lot of my stuff has been focusing on my Harley on my cruiser but that's because again I have a history working at Harley so I have a lot of that knowledge of that bike and I have the bike in my garage that I can use showcase um but yeah I do want to start branching out and doing more different types.
SPEAKER_02But right now you gravitate towards the cruisers right now. I I tend to yeah yeah is that a good thing or a bad thing I think I think it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00I don't know I mean like my my Lowrider S is definitely my of all the bikes I have in my garage is my favorite bike to ride because it's the most versatile right like I I take it just around town but I've also ridden it across the country and yeah it's just it's like set up to be perfectly fitting me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah and yeah right now for somebody who's gonna visit your Instagram page or your YouTube channel for the first time what do you want them to notice um I want them to notice hopefully that's organized.
SPEAKER_00Because you know I'm I'm as an engineer I'm a little bit OCD so I like things looking neat as much as possible. I get it um but I I also I I hope that they notice that I cover a variety of topics and um you know I'm really trying to provide knowledge in an unbiased and welcoming way.
SPEAKER_02Is that the first impression you're you're aiming to create I would like it to be yeah okay cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I I want I want the first impression to be you know oh this is interesting and oh she seems cool and down to earth and like a real person and not not just another motovlogger influencer kind of thing right like I I don't necessarily want to go into that sphere. There are a lot of other people that do that already and they're wonderful at it but I definitely want to stay more in like the educational corner of the internet.
SPEAKER_02Oh I see I see you know I know what I see in your future I see an actual book that comes out motorcycle vocabulary book. There's like gonna be an actual book on on Amazon with that.
SPEAKER_00Is there? Oh there's some I that there I'm giving you I'm I'm throwing you a bone here just I'm gonna write that down yeah yeah wonderful I I mean um yeah like being an online presence is one thing and and right like to have a business you kind of have to have that social media marketing aspect and then people will see you and then hopefully start to recognize you but I I do want to be more so the person that like people recognize me but then when they see me in real life they feel comfortable to come up to me and introduce themselves and maybe tell me about something that they learned on my channel or right like because that makes me feel good.
SPEAKER_02That makes me feel like I'm doing something positive you're contributing to the community yeah absolutely yeah um with regard to motorcycles and then things that you may highlight on your on your channel um is there any specific design elements like paint or machining or controls whatever that you think some of the riders and people who visit your page uh overlook but should appreciate more um yeah that that's hard to say because I think everyone kind of comes with different experiences right and different opinions um I guess you know one one thing that okay when I just kind of take a step back and think about building a motorcycle or um you know designing changes like like my my personal bike right I've made a lot of changes to it over the years.
SPEAKER_00One thing that I think that maybe people don't think about very often is the visual weight of every component on the motorcycle. So it's it's easy nowadays to just go to all these aftermarket companies and say yes I want this fairing and I want these handlebars and I want this exhaust and right these saddlebags. And a lot of it is is for the most part pretty like bolt on which is cool. But I think what makes a great looking motorcycle is if like you know you you park it sideways you take 10 steps back and you just look at the whole thing and is it visually weighted right like for example when I had saddlebags on my bike but no front fairing I felt like all of the visual weight of the bike was heavy towards the I see what you're saying. Yeah yeah yeah yeah um so and and me personally I like symmetry in things I get it and and and balance so I I think it's just like the little attention to detail sometimes with certain components that like really make it stand up out from other other bikes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah I get it unless you like chaos then that's your style and that's cool too I does this bother you I it bothers me and it probably bothers me more than it should. But one of the things that bothers me a lot is when people have their bike repainted but they remove all of the badging that bothers me it's don't look at my bike too closely then because I'm like well aren't you you know proud of your machine that you got from XXX company and you want to showcase the bike I I don't that that bothers me though.
SPEAKER_00No that that's it's interesting. Yeah that's totally fair. Um yeah so uh my bike didn't have badging on the gas tank it just it had um the Harley logo was it on right and and now all my tins are powder coated so that's gone.
SPEAKER_02Um I've thought about having somebody put some kind of design over the top of it again but I think my paint shop in particular just has so much going on visually that it would almost be like too much right and and I guess I low key I kind of like that like if you know you know so like if if if you know Harley's you know that that's a Harley V-twin engine in there you know it's a Milwaukee 8 right and like so it's one of those where it's like they have I they have identifying features that can say okay yeah we know this is a Harley right um you know it's funny because I have uh one of the one of my guests that I've had on the show who's become a friend uh he owns a uh a company that does um what do you call that the hydro coding they do that right and he says he has a one of those Tupperware tubs full of Harley Davidson badges from all years in there yeah so he doesn't he doesn't know so if you're ever looking for a Harley Davidson badge I got a guy hit him up I said he should post those on eBay he might be able to tell you yeah but I would think so I mean really I just oh my god for me I I tend to see when I look at a bike I I I totally agree with your visual weight thing and I don't think I've ever considered that before but um this is gonna probably sound really really silly but is is a bike pretty yeah you know it if if I look at a bike and I go no I like I like pretty I want the my bike is pretty I like to see pretty so I don't know a lot of people probably don't look that way but anyway no I think that makes sense right it's if it's something that you love and you're proud of it you want it to look appealing right yeah um I I would say the the only exception to that is um you know I I grew up quote unquote in the motorcycle community of Milwaukee and Milwaukee has kind of this unique style where it's it's very grassroots and like yes it's the home of Harley and there's a lot of that there but there's also a lot of vintage and there's also a lot of like grassroots racing that happens there.
SPEAKER_00So um there I think there's also a different type of beauty to be found in the old bikes that are just like complete pieces of shit and you look at it and you're like how is this thing still running like it looks like it's about to fall apart. But but it is right and and they these guys like ride the crap out of it and they race it and duel right so like I kind of love that stuff too right where it's it's to me that's almost like the pure soul of the sport.
SPEAKER_02Yep it's like that that they have this patina that just just won't leave you alone you know you look at it like that. Is there any vintage bike that uh that that any vintage bike that you would love to just get your hands on I kind of have a soft spot for old springers. Really I don't know why I I just I think they're cool ones I laugh because my one of my sponsors uh tobacco motorware Dave he just bought I know I know Dave yeah you know they he he's got oh my god he just went through this phase where that's all he wanted and he just like bought four of them so yeah I mean they're kind of wild to ride you know but like are they really well I mean it's a very unsophisticated suspension system compared to what most of us are used to today right yeah um it's a frickin spring right right but I they just they look cool and they they just have that like vintage kind of classy style to them.
SPEAKER_00I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I don't know but you'll you've been through the museum obviously oh yeah oh yeah yeah I was in the museum for a while actually you know and the my my first and only time that I was there it it really almost brought me to tears just being in that place but I was mostly fascinated with the bikes from the very beginning through like 1920.
SPEAKER_00Those bikes in that era I was like wow why isn't there one like that here now I would want one of those yeah yeah I mean I I've been seeing um more and more models come out that are like sort of throwbacks to those vintage bikes so like that that's cool for sure but yeah I that stuff is so interesting to see like just the progression of the the technology from an engineering standpoint.
SPEAKER_02Yeah yeah and yeah you think back to the early 1900s and it was like how did they get these guys even figure this out or yeah wild you know you gotta pull this and turn that and just mess with this and then it's it'll start yeah and and then somehow you have to mass produce it so that it works for everybody. Right? Exactly we got these pedals and this really long ass belt it'll work yeah so that's a cool place.
SPEAKER_00Yeah uh so looking ahead what kind of stuff do you got going on things you're gonna explore uh bikes events things like that so with she knows mode in particular I I have a lot of ideas up in my head that I I want to start implementing um like I said it's just been a a process of me learning how to be an entrepreneur and how to be creative again because you know for so long I had my my technical brain and now I gotta work the other half of my brain with this creative stuff which is fun but you can be technically creative how's that yeah that's what I'm trying you know so um my my goal short term goal is I actually do want to start a podcast of my own where um I know another motorcycle podcast but um but I I want to um have something where I I bring on friends that I have made over the years people that are part of the motorcycle community who are experts about something motorcycling related that I'm not necessarily an expert on um just like for the sake of keeping more knowledge like circulating right so just like as an example I have uh a girlfriend out in California who's a motorcycle rider she rides an Indian but she's also an 18-wheel driver wow so yeah so uh someday I want to talk to her and say hey from both perspectives what do you think are things that people should know when they're riding next to a semi right um so just uh various topics like that that's kind of my short-term goals is to get that rolling uh like I mentioned before I do want to start doing more long form content and bringing that over to YouTube. Um I I have been doing some in-person events around Phoenix. I was doing sort of like a monthly women's motorcycle meetup around Phoenix and um I'm gonna keep that going maybe not every month but you know every quarter something like that just to to keep like the in-person connection going and I want to teach teach some more in-person workshops um if people will have me but um you know I like long term I I don't want to just live online I I want to have sort of like a base online like I I would love to have like a merch store and a blog and all of this stuff people can just like come and it's my landing page but you know big picture long term I would love it if people brought me out to their events to speak or maybe if I did panels or if I could teach more in person type lessons.
SPEAKER_02So yeah um plus you do have the uh the big book of motorcycle words that you have to work on I do yeah I'm I'm checking if I have it here it's uh no I think it's outside in the garage but yeah oh man have you been to uh Arizona Bike Week I have a few times yeah how is it um it's okay well but have you have you been to Sturgis?
SPEAKER_00Yes okay now I would say it's similar vibes obviously much much much smaller yeah but I would say it's like if you are somebody that really enjoys the rally atmosphere yeah then it it falls right into that um I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it but I don't know I I I like other types of motorcycle events more sometimes where it's like more focused on the riding or the adventure rather than just like being in one spot and standing and looking at the motorcycles I guess.
SPEAKER_02So is that is that your impression of Sturgis or any of the other rallies?
SPEAKER_00I um when I went to Sturgis I I think personally for me Sturgis is one of those events where it really depends on like your attitude and who you're with um I went with a really great group of people and we we rode and had a lot of fun together. Now if I would have gone solo I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much I mean yeah you make friends but um one thing that was tough for me when I went to surge the first time that I went to surge it was my first time to the Black Hills. And for anybody who knows like that's a beautiful area to ride in right but if you want to actually ride the Black Hills my recommendation is to go outside of the rally exactly because there are so many people on the road yes absolutely yeah um and and that that time we stayed in the Buffalo chip too so you know people are bouncing their bikes off the Revlometer until 3 a.m and it's just it's just like big party atmosphere which can be a lot of fun right but like my intention was to go there to ride. It wasn't necessarily a party so it's like it kind of felt like I didn't really align with what was going on. Yeah yeah I I got I got that same vibe too and the same thing but uh because I noticed that with uh Needles Highway as an example if you know anytime I went there it was a parking lot you know which kind of a bummer you know but it is a bummer yeah because some of the people who come like they maybe don't ride super often maybe they're like the weekend warriors and like that's that's fine like that's your thing but they they maybe get a little intimidated and these more technical roads and then it's kind of a bummer for those of us who like want to rip a little bit so yeah yeah have you ever been to America I haven't oh see now there is a rally you need to go to it's an upstate okay it's an upstate New York on Lake George and some of the best riding you'll ever experience I've heard the riding in that part of the country in general is really amazing.
SPEAKER_02It's absolutely gorgeous up there. Yeah lots of twisties up and down and it's just beautiful scenery anyway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah that's on my list. Yeah actually um last June not not this June but um 2025 June my husband and I and a few of our friends we did this thing called the Maui Rally and it was in the UK and it was over the course of two weeks and we started we started in London but then we rode down to the southernmost tip of the UK and then over two weeks the rally it had like a different stage every day and it was a scavenger hunt essentially and we ended up riding to the very top of the UK we ended in Scotland. Um so that like that kind of stuff is more so what I like I think where it's like really an adventure and you're seeing these really cool roads and you're like moving every day kind of thing you know yeah I get it I totally get that uh I think we've covered just about everything but I do want to ask you so you're participating in the Motorcycle Podcasters challenge right I am and I know we talked about this earlier and it the heat has been somewhat of a deterrent for you but what is your what is your thoughts so far on the on the rally on the the challenge itself in general I'm I'm liking it I'm glad I signed up for it. The heat is tough but that's just the nature of where I live you know it's I I get it it this time of year July and August are more ideal for other parts of the country but um you know in Phoenix the summertime is almost like our winter it's when we hibernate a little bit but um you know I will say having having this challenge is a good reason for me to get on the motorcycle this time of year. So that's been fun. And uh yeah I did the motorcycle podcaster challenge years ago when it was a different format. We had to find letters and all that right and I'm at I am enjoying this format a lot more because it's much more simple and I feel like I have A higher success rate. Right. I I don't need to like sit on my computer for hours staring at maps, trying to find road signs with a lot of letters and all this stuff. So um it's cool. And and some of the the pieces of scenery or the roadside attractions are you know literally like three miles from my house and I had no idea.
SPEAKER_02See? So would you say that uh you're seeing things that you never would have ever seen before if you didn't Oh yeah, a thousand percent, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um I one of the first places that I stopped at was a statue that was it was named the $100,000 tumbleweed. And apparently that's how much it cost to make that statue, but it's literally just like this really abstract wire thing that looks like a tumbleweed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um and just it's it's bizarre, right? But I'm like, I would have never seen that.
SPEAKER_02I would have never come, and it's in the middle of a bus station, so yeah, and that's and that's one of the reasons why I set it up like this, because I've known about Roadside America for for years, and I'm like, this is the idea, it's almost like a um what do they call that? Like a poker run. You know, you're going out, you're trying to find things that you you never would have. Um there are like 20,000 things to pick from.
SPEAKER_00There's so many. I know I was a little bit nervous at first because I was like, Arizona, I like Arizona is a relatively new state, right? It's like the 48th state that was you know ratified or whatever. And um, so I was like, there can't be a lot of interesting, weird things here, not much history, but I was completely wrong. So I like as soon as I opened up the website and looked at the map, I was like, whoa, there's a lot here. So and yeah, it's just it's like silly random things, or sometimes it's historical. Yeah. So yeah, I'm I'm definitely enjoying it. And I was kind of sad that the podcasters challenge was on hiatus for a while because I did enjoy it. So I was happy that you brought it back. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Um, we're gonna there's more to come. There's more fun things are gonna be happening happening in the next week. Yeah. Um there's gonna be a, for those listening, there's going to be a uh a live stream uh next Friday night at 9 p.m. East Eastern Standard Time. Uh so check your clock. And uh yeah, we're gonna I'm gonna talk about some things that are going on and and impose some new challenges for the riders.
SPEAKER_00Uh oh. There's been a little bit of shit talk between the teams, too, which is doing that's and that's what we want, you know.
SPEAKER_02Not so much with the solo riders aren't doing that. Uh and I expected more from them, but uh the teams, yeah. The teams are doing uh wow, the competition is really stiff with the team.
SPEAKER_00Am I the first one to lose my tag?
SPEAKER_02No, no. In fact, I I just had one guy, one solo rider yesterday lost his tag. He didn't take it off and it blew off as he was riding.
SPEAKER_00And like, so now that's the yeah, that's what happened to me too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oops.
SPEAKER_00Well, I was I was blaming it on the heat because I was on stop four of five, and at that point I was just like feeling it, you know, and and I I've been using a clothespin to my bike. And I just I got on the bike and I took off, and I like my head would, I was like, all right, next stop. Actually, the stop I was headed to was um Wayland Jennings' grave, which for anyone who doesn't know is in Mesa, Arizona, which is kind of cool. Uh so then I I'm like cruising through the graveyard, right? And I find his grave, I get off and I'm like, crap. I don't have my tag anymore.
SPEAKER_02You did get the new one, right?
SPEAKER_00Um I haven't checked the mail yet today, so I thought I probably did. Okay. I'll let you know.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, uh, so uh right now I I I got I got a guy he's using he's using uh uh uh his mojo stuffed animal from his uh from his mic as his thing. It's like I know it's him. So anyway, but yeah. There you go. Temporary, but anyway. Um yeah, so uh to to close up uh any closing words about your channel and uh you know your page.
SPEAKER_00I would love it. People will go check it out, see if they're interested in it. Um if you are, give me a follow. All that stuff helps grow the channel and the page and the brand and everything. And I'm always open to suggestions. You know, if if there's a topic that you've been curious about, you know, send me a message, maybe I'll make a video on it or I can directly respond to you, whatever. So yeah, I just I'm I'm excited to keep growing it and just see where it goes from here.
SPEAKER_02All right, and so how can people find you?
SPEAKER_00I am on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and threads, pretty much all the major socials. It's just she knows moto. And I also have a YouTube. Um, the YouTube is a little bit more bare right now because I'm still working on those those longer videos, but um, I'm gonna get that up and up and running soon. So that, or if you feel so inclined, you can email me, she knowsmodo at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_02Excellent. Narissa, thank you very much for being on the show. I definitely appreciate it and uh hope we stay in touch a little bit more. Thank you very much for being on the show.
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for joining me and Narissa of She Knows Moto here in the V Twin Cafe, where she told us all about She Knows Moto and what she does. You can learn more about Narissa by getting on over to She Knows Moto on Instagram and on YouTube. Links will be in the show notes, and of course, on the Motorcycle Men website at motomenpc.com. Now her content brings the beauty of bikes right to your screen, and trust me, you'll learn something new every single time. So thanks for hanging out with us, Narissa. And as always, kids, keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up. Hey, listen, don't forget to get on over to the Ride with Ted YouTube channel and watch some of the many videos I have there. And if you would please also like and subscribe, that would be a tremendous help to the channel and of course to the podcast. Don't forget to get on over to the motorcycle podcasters challenge and keep up on what's going on. That's right, motopodchallenge.com. You can learn more about the challenge and what's happening and how things are going and learn more about maybe next year. Also, there is the Motorcycle Podcasters Challenge Facebook group you can catch up on if you want to. Hey, get your copy of my book, The Road Most Traveled, now direct from me on the Motorcycle Men website and save nearly $8. Of course, it's still available on Amazon, but you can get it from me if you want, and if you get it from me, I'll sign it for you. Hey kids, for the rest of the motorcycle men team, thanks for listening. And remember, we say stupid crap, so you don't have to.
