do we wave at harley bikers... if they wave at us?? or are they considered our enemies???
Anybody on two wheels with a motor is OK. :cheers: I've still got my Harley T-Shirts laundered, and folded, in a bag in my garage for when I get another one. :thumb: Heck, I even wave to the kids on the motorized skateboards. They're the worst for not returning a wave; either too cool or too intimidated. :dunno: :mrgreen:
if someone waves to me, i'll wave back....harley guys can't tell that our GS is more of a sportbike, when they see the round headlight and no plastic they wave thinking that we ride a cruiser...here in my city, harley and other cruiser guys don't like sportbikes but they wave to me when they see me....
I wave back. I'll try to return any wave from anybody, including cagers. There are no enemies, except for the cell-phone weilding SUV driver.
Wave, it is rude not too, well it is here in the South. :cheers:
hehe, I wave to any fellow sportbiker unless their rounding a corner and don't have a hand free [ya ya know after you turn to switich gears so where's the third hand at? :nana: ] and pretty much anyone that rides by on a big crusier and has one of the little "hat helmets" I give them a salute :thumb:
I wave at everyone on a bike, no matter what it is. I let them feel like the jerk for not waving back.
-Paul
If you're on two wheels I wave when I can and nod when I can't. Only time someone in my area doesn't wave back is when they don't see me. ALL the bikers are really friendly here.
Scott
I've always found that "Real" riders, including Hardleys, will wave back... you can tell the fakes from their equipment which is worn on Sunday only. Real riders ride and have no need to imagine what to look like. The fakes don't know what to look like so they fake a persona.
Cheers :thumb:
^ Funny I noticed that too. I took my bike out yesterday, there were MANY bikes out. I was waving all day.
But I noticed a couple of times where there were lots of Harleys riding in a group the younger type guys would not wave, while the stereotypical "old Harley guy" with his white beard flapping over his shoulder would put out a hand.
Seems like those guys don't worry about what you ride, as long as you ride.
-Paul
I try to wave at eveyone on a bike, even some who aren't - heck, yesterday I waved at someone on a horse! :lol:
People have a stereotype in their heads about "bikers". By waving and being friendly it may make some people think twice about us.
Ride safe!
:thumb:
I try to wave at everyone on a bike as well. If the wave is responded, it makes the ride more enjoyable. Sometimes I wave at kids and chicks riding on horses too :)
I've been thinking about what GRU wrote about the look of the GS. Perhaps fewer Harley riders would respond to my wave if I put a full fairing on my bike?
Quote from: RingoI try to wave at everyone on a bike as well. If the wave is responded, it makes the ride more enjoyable. Sometimes I wave at kids and chicks riding on horses too :)
I've been thinking about what GRU wrote about the look of the GS. Perhaps fewer Harley riders would respond to my wave if I put a full fairing on my bike?
yeah, harley guys don't see the fairing so they wave thinking we ride a cruiser....
two wheels you get a wave, 4 and you get a finger, but only if they deserve it.
Oh yes, a wave to any rider on two-wheels is just common courtesy if safe to do.
The wave variations are part of the fun. Included are the two-fingered wave - often meaning two-wheels (rather than "peace" for those old folks like me). The index-finger wave for riding is #1 (also offered by HD riders mistaking my sport standard for a cruiser). Then there is that other-fingered wave reserved for cell-phone using cagers :nana:
Are there other variations?
In the middle of January everyone waves and even smiles.
I smile because l can go back and tell my wife "See I'm not the only one out there".
I wave at all two-wheelers, motorized or otherwise, with few exceptions (There's guy down the street who bought one of those Autoworks 50cc "choppers" that sounds like a gas-powered leaf blower. I'll wag my head at that guy). If they're riding like an @$$hole, I'll shine them on.
If I'm out in the country on secondary roads I wave at everybody: especially farmers, joggers, equestrians and Amish folks in the surrounding areas. I've had occasions that I was helped by a total stranger and I consider it a gesture of "paying it forward".
I'm finding I'm getting waves by almost everybody, with the exception of 1%er white trash who aren't worth the effort to flip off anyway. :cheers:
i wave at all bikes. If i cant then my passenger will if they're up there. In the country i wave at tractors and horse-drawn buggies as well. I see it as if its 2 wheels, they're in ok in my book. Even the tiny little dual-sports. It's curtousy sp.?
my and my room-mate waved at a phoenix mc cop, he waved back whils in a turn. :o he rashed that f[censored]er up :dunno:
I'm from the "bikes is bikes" generation. I consider it a BIG FINGER to not wave back at me. We're bikers, sport or not or beard or not. Whatever. It's two wheels.
A buddy of mine rides a harley and a sport bike. He said Harleys always wave and Sport bikes sometimes wave. We should try harder.
Two wheels means a wave. That's how it should be.
Can't really expect people to wave while starting or stopping, or in a turn... I try and nod in those instances :) my hands are occupied with getting the bike through the process and I don't want to end up like that Phoenix motorcycle cop ;) And you know what? Sometimes I don't notice a bike coming the other way down the highway... Cause unless it's an intersection, cars aren't going to miraculously jump the guard rail and so I pay attention to the road in front of me. I still feel bad about not waving though :(
I agree with the idea that people on motorcycles that don't wave aren't bikers (except for some really surly craggy old Harley riders, but they live on another plane of existance :mrgreen: Almost all the old Harley riders do wave though!) Whether it's a squid on a sportbike, or an accountant on their spanking new H-D or custom, they care more about looking good on their bike rather than interacting with others :P
I think its fine not to wave... there are times when you just don't notice the oncoming rider or you are occupied. Safety first, folks. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.. but generally, my opinion on the matter is that once one rider initiates the wave process, it is the other riders unwritten obligation to wave back if it does not compromise their safety. If no wave is given.... its cool, they have their reasons... good or bad.
I also wave at cops (I wonder if they think I'm taunting them?) and any car that pays me a common courtesy like coming to an intersection and actually stoping (sometimes I'll notice them start, then see me and hesitate and wait for me to pass... I always give them a wave to try to encourage that kind of driving).
Yesterday I waved at a pedestrian who had the right of way in a crosswalk but let me through my turn so I wouldn't have to put a foot down. He waved back. :mrgreen:
There are other riders who only wave at bikes that they belive are in their 'class' (harleys, sportbikes, etc). Those people are dicks, but that's their problem, not mine. I'd say for every 5 waves that get returned, one gets ignored... usually by a cruiser, but I'm sure that's because of the way my bike looks (I'm speaking of the R6). Cruiser riders will probably say the same thing.. about 1 in 6 waves doesn't get returned.. usually by a sport-bike.
what can you do... the world is full of Aholes. Many people aren't happy unless they have someone to be pissed off at. With cars they are behind all that glass and steel, on bikes they are in your face... what can you do? :dunno:
Being that bikers make up less than 1% of the people on the rode I think we should all stick together. Which includes waving to every rider I see. Yeah the Harley riders sometimes don't wave back but that's their problem.
I always wave when I 'm riding and if I can not I nod . I found that most riders will wave or nod back which think is really great :)
all the best matt:0 your friend
p.s would the world be great if everybody did this Cars & so on
When i drive with two others in the driving lessons with the teacher in a car behind, all people on a MC is waving. It is a really nice start when someone is a MC beginner. Afterall the bikes have a big School sign on and filled with crahsbars and so on. We really look like newbies :-)
/tralala
from Denmark
i wave at cops as well. even if im in a car i'll wave at a bike. i also put an arm down for rescue vehicles. Just for a good luck wherever they may be going. And i also agree, sometimes i honestly dont see the other bike till they are like dead even with me or whenever i hear them behind me :oops: . It's not me dissin them but im just in my own little world on a bike. Ridding is like a relaxing therapy for me. Is there a hand signal to warn for cops???
I try to wave at cops too, just 'cause most (though there are some notable exceptions) are really cool ppl who are doing their best to keep people (read: us) safe. I do wonder sometimes if they think we're taunting them. Anyone had a bad experience with waving at cops? On a bike, I wouldn't think it'd be a prob. I'll wave at a cop on a bike any day, and I bet most wave back (not a lot of experience yet, since my bike is still having some probs).
As to other riders, I can't tell the difference while I'm riding between a harley and a honda, so I just wave at everyone that I can wave to.
Riding around BYU campus (Brigham Young University, in Provo Utah) there are a lot of people who ride scooters or bikes, and I wave to a lot of them... I notice that the ones with helmets almost invariably wave back, whereas the ones w/out (which on campus is about 90% of them) don't. I think this is just because people with a real bike feel part of the "biker community" whereas people on scooters nobody really knows where they fall. =]
Still, I've never had someone not wave to me that was A. able to do so, B. had seen me in time, and C. was riding a real bike. never had someone that I could tell intentionally didn't return a wave.
Quote from: matt86to...p.s would the world be great if everybody did this Cars & so on
People do wave in cars at other car drivers. Happens alot in western Kansas, but thats about the only place I have ever seen it on a regular basis.
So I guess my answer would have to be no....the world would NOT be great if it was all like western Kansas! :P :)
here in Mid-Southern Illinois, if you're out in the country, everybody in a truck, and 85% on people in cars wave at anything that moves, including bikers, joggers, deer, pop cans, raccoons, and rivers.
I always wave whenever it is safe....but I always wonder what the cagers behind me think about all this waving going on.....must be that secreat society :lol:
Wayne
I try to wave when I can and receive many in return. Have noticed that alot of guys without any protective gear, you know hat on backwards looking like orange county choopers or jesse james types just blow by. whenever I see another sportbike though it's automatic, kinda cool to have someone on a liter bike wave to a newbe.
i've seen a fist down for cops close by:
meaning stop sharing lanes, or slow down
I always wave at other bikers. If I don't have a free hand, I try and give the nod.
Here in NYC, eveyone in cars waves. For some reason, though, they only do it with one finger.....go figure :roll:
In Europe it's more common to give the nod rather than wave but the principal is the same, there are so few of us on two wheels we can't start sub-dividing, if the other guy dont wanna know well his (or her) privelidge and their loss. Iwas around in the 60's during the wars between bikers and scooter riders, mods 'n' rockers and all that. In those days I was riding a 197cc two stroke Lambretta with fifteen headlamps and even more aerials and an embarrasing amount of fake fur, quadrophenia and all that, then I grew up. The point about winter riding is well made, there is more cameraderie when it's freezing the nuts off.
I wave at everyone ... bikes, ppls in cars if they seem excited bout the mc, I ove to wave to kids in cars ... I nod if my hands are in use ... Bottom line, when I am one my bke I am on top of theworld and want ppl to know that + alotta ppl think pl on bikes are hard ass punks ... so I wanna try andchange that imae I figure if am nice to the cagers they will return the favor + waving to ppl on bikes is a must for me because I they are my brethren ... I dont know how many of you guys have experienced this but bikers go out of their way to help other bikers ... I was recently stranded on the freeway and a fellow biker stoped by and helped me get the bike started + offered to stayed with me till I got off ... good thing that he did because the bike staled on me, he then gve me a ride to the nearest shop and even offered to get his pop's pick up after his pops got home to take the bike to the shop. Therefor after this if I EVER see nother biker in trouble I m goin to try my best to help em out. Waving at em just makes the whole mc experience even better.
So this to all you posers that dont WAVE, dont be a lil punk a$$ Buddha Loves You :nono: and jus wave and have fun .
Be safe