To wave or not to wave?

The only people who don't wave back here in Vegas are the wanna be one percenters.

I wave at everyone except scooters. When people don't wave back I figure it's due to safety reasons or they weren't paying attention. It's the one percenters who just scowl and try to look all mean. Like riding a 'sled' that gives you hemorrhoids makes you tough.

I don't wave at scooters.

 

Anyone who waves gets a wave, including pedestrians and box jockeys. I figure if they're waving they either ride or want to.

I'll wave first or nod at anyone except those trying to give riders a bad name.
There are enough people out there trying to give us a bad name, VFR's are classy bikes, generally with classy riders, I try to act the part.

Want to improve motorcycling's image? Wave to a kid looking at you from the backseat of a car and watch the reaction of the adult(s) inside.

Love to see those certain Harley guys lose it when they wave and find they just did at a metric cruiser, it's hillarious.

 

uggg Sick of waving... just try riding thru SD, Wyoming , when sturgis is on..your arm will fall off!!!


I have a brown car, I dont wave at other brown cars..whats the big deal??..

but wave at me and i will wave back...

and I enjoy BS'ing at the stops and I do wave at guys out in the middle of nowhere.

I do however always return a wave, unless Im busy..I sure dont compromise my driving to do it..and I get em from as many Harley riders as sportbikers, Always! When I go on my longer trips Ive never noticed a cruiser/sport difference..Actually some of the sportbikers are usually the snottier ones...Guess its the "i'm a racer thing"??



I think i will buck the trend and start mooning everyone from now on that waves at me.......

 

The beuty of "THE WAVE" is that regardless of of age, gender or occupation the strong commonality of motorcycle riding seems to level the playing field so that while we are on the road wheather it be on a sport, cruiser or custom chopper we are all enjoying the same great past time. These people that we wave at while passing on the road or say "good day" to when at the fuel pump are the same people we might cut off or flip the finger to while driving the same road in our cars without ever thinking twice. Funny isn't it. That's the wonderfull thing about riding on two wheels regardless of the style. We should keep it up.

 

:smile: thats funny, I wave to evryone, & if I see a bike broke down, I'll pull over to see if I can get him going again (any make).

but when I wave, i figure they didn't see me, there's no button on the BMW or Goldwing to wave back, or from NY .
I grew up in Southern Commiefornia, now live in Utah, & I have to say that the Cage & M/C riders up here (other than @ the track) are the worst on this planet, even worse than New Yorkers RRrrRRrRrRr:biggrin: .

 

In Maine you would be hard pressed to find someone who won't wave back. For the most part people are all about helping each other out and everyone is your neighbor. I get just as many waves from harley riders as I do sport bikes. I think that the harley riders like the flat black mad max look. I wave to most bikes not so much to scooters or mopeds if they catch my eye with something I will wave, like this one guy I saw in this past Jan. he was riding his scooter and it was snowing. I was in my truck but I had to wave anyways.

 

I wave to everyone. I don't mind when someone doesn't wave back, I find more sportbike guys don't wave here. Not usually paying attention or going too fast. Yesterday I had a guy on a Harley compliment my bike at a stoplight. We're all brothers out there. Corvette people wave too and they have the same issues.... Guys who own C1's (Gen 1's to us) through early C3's (cutoff around 73) don't always wave to later C3 (81-82) C4 or C5 owners 84 to present. Kinda like Harley guys not waving to a guy on a V-Rod (nice bike BTW). Imagine if we did that with VFR's.

 

Maybe I'm just a prick, but there's too many bikes on the roads around me. The wave has become a formality, something not as cool as it used to be.

It's distracting looking out the corner of your eye to see if you need to take your hand off the handlebar. I guess the answer would be to wave first, every time. But what if the other guy feels the same way.

Maybe at least a nod every time would be appropriate.

And the "new wave" I see a lot is to drop your hand next to the engine and with two fingers point to the road. Can't fucking see it until it's too late. It's all I can do to get two fingers off the left grip when that happens.

Went down an old road Monday. One of my favorites. 12 miles of crooked solitude. Hardly a car let alone a bike. At the end there's a good size hill after a 15mph corner. As I came around the corner there was a guy on a sportbike just starting his journey towards where I had come from. With a grin I gave him a wave. At that moment, with the sun shining through the trees, I'd be happy to give him a high-five....

 

Talk about resurrecting an old thread. I wave most the time. When I am into the twisties hard, I tend to dipsense with the courtesy. But other than that , ya. Hell, once there was a group of about a dozen hogs coming my wave. Put the arm out and waved as the all ride bu. About half of them waved back. Caught a glimpse of their backs as we passed by each other. The crests on theri backs looked an awful lot like HA's

I have a "Hang Loose" sticker on my dark screen, so when I pull up to momma with kiddies in the bakc of thier SUV, you see them trying to mimic the hang loose. Then I flash on back to them and the get giggly, shy and start either laughing or hiding below their tailgate. Kinda neat.

One time I was riding our freeway here. There was a median about 20 meters wide between EB and WB. Some guy going the other way was waving so vigorously I thought he was going to experience lift off.

But, when there is a need to have both hands on the bars, like taking off from a stop, a very exadurated nodd of the head is the greeting of the day.

I don't wave with all fingers at my ex wife.

 

Holy back from the grave thread post Batman!

Its funny how things change over time. When riding in the UK - because your clutch hand is on the wrong side - its really a choice of nodding or nothing, although when I was in Scotland in June, I realised that spending too many years in the Alps has had its impact, as I was still instinctively acknowledging approaching bikers with a wave rather than a nod. Last year, whilst peddling rather furiously along a French peage (toll motorway) I noted a rider coming the other way gave me a very exaggerated wave - indeed so much so I slowed right down to try and check in my mirror in case he was in trouble - suffice to say just around the next bend was a speed trap which I passed without gathering any performance awards - so yes sometimes there is a very good reason to wave!

Personally I always wave - and over the years I have realised that simply watching out to acknowledge other riders has a strong safety benefit. It really helps riders to keep alert, with a wider field of vision, so you tend to be more aware of what is happening around you. OK if I am busy changing gears I will only acknowledge them by lifting fingers on the bar or nodding, but I will still try, as I think it really adds a positive dimension to riding which I for one would hate to see drift away. But each to their own..



SkiMad

 

The only riders around my area who consistently DON'T wave are the motorcycle cops~

 

All Motorcyclists and Classic cars/Vetts!

I hate my self if i get caught waving at a moped!
And also I don't wave to can-am Roadsters......

 

Waving is so 2007.

Personally, I like waving to other riders. I sometimes lift my left hand up off the grip in a traditional wave (no, I don't move my hand back and forth or up and down). I sometimes give the upside peace symbol with my hand held low (as in, keep the rubber side down/safe riding). And I sometimes just give a nod of the head which I often suspect goes unnoticed unless at a stop light. For me, it's an acknowledgment that we're in this together. We've chosen an activity that many feel is reckless, no matter how safely we perform, for the simple fact that it gives you a feeling that is hard to describe to those who have never ridden. It's truly one of those Zen feelings of living in the moment and being 100% alive and present. Mindfulness. When I see other riders, I think, "You get it. At least as to this, we are connected."

I know not all riders share this feeling about riding. Some do it out of practical necessity. Still, at least here in the U.S., it seems that most ride for the enjoyment of riding. I'm not wave happy, anxiously looking for people to wave to. If I miss a rider here and there, no big deal. When I first learned of the tradition, I was caught up with the thought that I had to wave to everyone and it became a burden. Now, I let it come naturally or not at all. I also found that in our local mountains, people tend to wave back a lot more than when I ride by the coast. It could be that there are more distractions along the coast and riders are too busy paying attention to the road and traffic conditions but I don't think that's it. It truly seems like there's a different mentality along the water. Not as friendly. Maybe people are just "cooler" by the ocean than in the mountains. In the mountains, for the most part, even the Harley guys wave back.

Ever been tempted to wave to a rider when you're in the car? Haha. C'mon, admit it.

 

Awhile ago there was a poem,
About some riders waving.

As time goes by it seems,
The scene is always changing.

It told (the poem) of scooter wavers,
Waving like a fan.

Of different signs ricerocketeers, make
Waving if they can.

And those who chose to never raise,
A warm or friendly hand.

It told (the poem) the poet's tale,
His style of waving: back
.
To all who chose to wave at him,
He always would wave back.

A small exception there that was
If we look back.
Was not to wave at all the dudes.
At anytime..
With milk crates on their racks.


The poet takes license here writing in the spring,
Oh mea culpa me
I wrote the awful thing.


Of new wild groups of riders,
Sub members of the clan.

Who never choose to lift or wave or raise a friendly hand,
who don't salute or give a hoot.
A growling group of tyrants bandits of the road.
Bedecked in all black cowskin,

From top to tippy toe.


Where’s the dad- gum camera Ma,
The thunder herds a-comin.
Race-roaring down the down the slab
Below the radar's hummin.


The names may well be different,
The crankpins are the same.
The sound is unmistakable



The dudes look
Much the same


The newbie badass bikers join the long long ride.
Who are these Iron cowboys,
Who will not raise a hand?
Sort of like you N me partner,
Paying down their loans.

Cruising down the blacktop.
Most on Harley Clones.

 

Ride nearly 400 miles a week just to work and for an entire week waved at everyone..even squids with the shorts..tennis shoes..and t.shirts with those stupid back protectors.....and every single guy or gal waved except......you guessed it except Hardley riders....I know wrong thread...but atleast one passed me last week..of course they always have to pass you while I'm doin 75 and he gave me a peace sign......I was amazed
JMTC

 

I love motorcycles, and I love riding. Like many of you, what first drew me to bikes was not just the experience of riding, but the feeling that I'd become part of a special community? A brotherhood, really. Nothing calms me more than a long ride down the interstate, waving to the members of my beloved clan.

Except when I pass Harley guys. I hate Harley guys. Hate, hate, hate. When they pass me on the highway, you know what I do? I don't wave. With their little tassel handlebars and the studded luggage and the half-helmets? God, they drive me crazy.

You know who else I hate? BMW guys. Oh, I do hate those guys. I don't wave at them, either. They think they're so great, sitting all upright, with their 180-degree German engines. God, I hate them.

They're almost as bad as those old bastards on their touring motorcycles. You know what I call those bikes? "Two-wheeled couches!" Get it? Because they're so big. They drive around like they've got all day. Appreciate the scenery somewhere else, Grandpa, and while you're at it, I'm not waving to you.

Ducati guys? I don't wave at them either. Why don't they spend a little more money on their bikes? "You can have it in any color you want, as long as it's red." Aren't you cool! Like they even know what a desmo-whatever engine is, anyway. Try finding the battery, you Italian-wannabe racers! I never, ever wave at those guys.

Suzuki guys aren't much better, which is why I never wave at them, either. They always have those stupid helmets sitting on top of their stupid heads, and God forbid they should wear any safety gear. They make me so mad. Sometimes they'll speed by and look over at me and you know what I do? I don't wave. I just keep on going. Please, don't get me started on Kawasaki guys. Ninjas? What are you, twelve years old? Team Green my ass. I never wave at Kawasaki guys.

Those Honda guys are enough to make me sick. They have one called a “Dream” yea right. Well, they’re not getting a wave from me, Dream on that. Or the Goldwing. I have yet to see one made out of gold, and most of those riders are too old to wave back anyway, so no wave from me.

Those guys on ‘crotch rockets’ just scare me. I’m afraid if I wave at one, they might try to wave back, loose control, and involve me in some type of accident. Nope, not waving at those things.

What is up with a motorcycle with a side car? That's just silly. A motorcycle is meant to have TWO wheels, passengers sit behind the operator, not off in their own little world. Well, you can take it from me, they’re not getting from me when I pass.

And TRAILERS on motorcycle. I know God didn’t intend for motorcycles to haul trailers around so they’re not getting a wave from me.

I ride a Honda, and I'll only wave at Honda guys, but even then, I'll never wave at a guy in full leathers. Never, never, never. Yeah, like you're going to get your knee down on the 405 parking lot.

And another thing. What is up with guys on blue motorcycles. They think they are so cool. Well, they’re not getting a wave from me I’ll tell you. Hate guys on Blue motorcycles. Hate, Hate, Hate.

That goes for those bright yellow motorcycles as well. What, they don’t think we pay them enough attention so they have to paint their bikes that bright color to stand out. Well you know what, I make a point of not waving to them either.

And Green bikes. Who in their right mind would paint a motorcycle Green. Well, I’m not waving at crazy people I tell you.

Guys in full leathers will never get a wave from me, and by the way, neither will the guys in two-piece leathers. And I'll tell you who else I'm not waving at those guys with the helmets with the loud paintjobs. Four pounds of paint on a two pound helmet? Like I'm going to wave back to that! I'll also never wave at someone with a mirrored visor, helmet stickers, racing gloves, hiking boots.

Yeah, I don't wave at Yamahas either.

*On a serious note, I do wave to anyone as longa as I feel is safe to do so.

 

I'm sure gad you are not pissed off with old fat bastards with glowing white hair hidden beneath their over priced helmets with the registered graphics while riding white VFRs decked out with custom markings. But that doesn't matter. They won't wave at you either.

Nice post!

 

I wave at everything with two wheels and a motor no matter which bike I am on...

If I am on the VFR I don't get waves back from Harley riders of course.

If I am on the Harley, it depends some Harley riders will wave back others not. Mostly the Real Bikers that don't wave back...I don't look the part, all dressed up in black and shit, nor do I want to conform to the Harley-Style. I own 2 Harley caps and that is it. I have no desire to pay for their overpriced paraphernalia.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :saturn:

 

Brilliant.

 

I find most other riders, including about half the Harley Dudes, wave. Mostly because I am on the back twisty roads most of the time. Don't wave to scooters though!