I’m so excited to be able to serve up another Profile of a Female Motorcyclist Meet Sofia! This time I have Krystyna a.k.a. @KK352 to thank for introducing me to Sofia. She is also known on Twitter as @CandyStripes327 or CVMA #327 at the track! Sofia is from San Diego, CA. Check out her racing profiles on BigHeadzRacing and GirlClutchRacing. Pretty cool stuff.
Profile of a Female Motorcyclist Meet Sofia
How long have you been riding a motorcycle? Five years
How did you learn to ride? Motorcycle Safety Foundation
What was your first motorcycle? 2003 Suzuki SV650S
How many have you owned? 5 total; 1x Gen1 SV650, 3x Gen2 SV650S and 1x CBR600rr
Why did you want to ride a motorcycle? Initially it was all about commuting … but that only lasted a year. Now it’s a complete addition and I don’t want it to ever end.
Tell us about your riding. Racing! I initially got into motorcycles because I needed to save money on my commute (30mi each way), with the intention of “never riding in groups”, “Never going to the track” or any such madness … let alone racing.
Now, I only ride track. I no longer have a street bike, but I am racing with Chuckwalla Valley Motorcycle Association and supporting SoCalTrackdays. I am considering racing other organization such MotoWestGP (Willow Springs), WERA (Las Vegas Classic) and maybe AFM (Buttonwillow).
I would like to race regionally to support my sponsors better. Currently I am sponsored by Torco Lubricants, Snug Harbor Motorsports, ACT Racing, Impact Safe-T Armor, Bell Helmets, OCSuperbike, Podium Tire, Racetech Suspension, Woodcraft, Bazzaz and Livewire Energy.
What advice do you have for women who ride or want to ride a motorcycle?
1. Do it. The sooner the better.
2. Learn from certified instructors; As much as you may love your significant other, the student/teacher thing will be strife. Avoid at all cost.
3. There is a lot of free advice out there… and it’s worth less than you would pay for it. A lot of guys try to impress girls on bikes with their knowledge of riding and most don’t know what they are talking about so take advice with a grain of salt.
4. If you can avoid it, don’t race the Same Classes as your significant other… more strife. I haven’t needed to worry about this one, but we did talk about it and agreed it might not be a good idea as we are both pretty competitive.
What is the longest trip that you’ve taken on your cycle? 300ish miles … been a while since I did a street ride.
Do you belong to any motorcycle groups? BigHeadzRacing: A group of folks connected through corner working for SoCalTrackdays, whom also share other interests such as getting together at the Regale Beagle or Mission Valley Starbucks in San Diego
GirlClutch: An all girl club lead by my friend Christin, CVMA #61, which is mainly a street riding group
GirlClutchRacing: Also lead by Christin and a subset of the aforementioned group, this group is targeted at Racing.
Do you have a favorite riding story? Winning my first sportsman class, Amateur Formula Twins, after working my way up from the back of the grid after a bad start, and lead the entire race up to the very last turn where 2nd tried to pass me on the inside and forced 3rd place off the track when I shut the door on him.
It was my proudest moment and was my inspiration for bumping up to expert after only half a season as am amateur. I have been chasing faster folks ever since, but I am working my way closer and even placed 3rd as an expert.
What do you do when you’re not riding? I am a software engineer by trade, but I spent a lot of my free time doing much of my own work on the bike. I am also a bicyclist and I am looking forward to enjoying the off season with some surfing.
I definitely recommend that girls learn how to do simple maintenance on their bikes. Doing so will help with the skills of riding if you know mechanically what your bike is doing for you and foster a closer relationship with your machine. Honestly, I even talk to mine, and yes, I even name my bikes.
5 Responses
I guess if I was racing all the time maybe I would not be as motivated to ride on the street but then again maybe I would want to do both. Unfortunately I am not a racer so have no perspective on the matter. I wish I was a racer so I could have that perspective. Ok have to go and find a Track Day near me.
Great article, lots of respect for SOFIA and all that she does.
You go girl!! I’d never think of doing track days let alone track only so I salute you.
Very cool. And naming our bikes personalizes them. I have big admiration for gals who ride at the track. It takes courage, skill and strength.
Thank you everyone!
@TwoTireTirade, I definitely miss riding street. I miss riding with friends and doing the destinations… but I invariably ended up getting too wrapped up in my own riding, often disrespecting that it’s still “the Street.” I only ride track now because it’s the responsible thing to do, for someone who can’t contain their enthusiasm for the sport. Besides, the community of track enthusiasts is just as supportive and inspiring, often through rivalry which is something very dangerous on the street. For people like me who crave that kind of daring, I definitely suggest the track 🙂