do you wave?

[csj]

Got my third ride this year, so sweet to be out on the phat lady.

Today a bike was coming my way, looked sumthin like a large bike,
so I stuck my hand out, and got a wave back. Huh, it's a little
100cc scooter. Now, I'm not against small machines, just don't
fully respect a bike that is not legal on the highway.
I have always NOT waved at the little scooters.

Do you think I'm wrong, or do you share the sentiment?
Wave, or not wave at scooters?

[R J]

If it is on 2 or 3 wheels I wave.   I could care less how big or how little it is.

I rode a 250 CC Helix to a Rally in Reno and was treated like crap the 1st morning by some NoCal Gold Wingers.   That after noon a bunch of Yamaha riders from above our Northern Border, took me under their belt and we rode every day on the scheduled rides.

The last day I got to put the rhubarb to the Gold Wingers, compliments of the Canadians with me.    We loved it and it sure did piss a few Gold Wing riders off.  Oh well, justice was paid in full.     LOL     

The next morning we, (Canadians (14 of them) and I) left Reno.  They put me up front so as not to run off from me.   They rode with me to Cheyenne, they turned North, and I headed on East.    Best damn Rally I ever attended, BAR NONE.

That is another story.

[Jess from VA]

I wave at almost everyone.  

Wave at a guy on a moped or minibike, and it makes his day!  

But I don't wave at guys on rockets wearing bermudas, flip flops and a flying tank top, and other reckless goofyfooters.  

[SANDMAN5]

The only things that will stop me from waving are;
Safety (rain/wind/traffic/speed  etc)...
If I don't see them in time.....
If I have my eyes closed.


I wave at everybody that's riding whether they wave or not.

[Red Diamond]

I wave at people not motorcycles, some I never notice what they are riding.

[Serk]

Heck, as long as they're not doing something stupid like riding 2 abreast blocking traffic intentionally or something I even wave at bicyclists...

[MacDragon]

I wave out of respect for someone else on two wheels and the comradery.  Doesn't much matter what they are riding.  For all you know... that guy or gal on the scooter wanted something bigger... but just couldn't afford it or handle it.  They are still in the wind on two wheels just like you and me. 

If I'm in a turn or heavy traffic, clutching etc... I might just give a gesture from the grip and a knod of the helmet.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

If they've got three wheels or less and a motor then I wave.

[csj]

Wise fellow members, thank-you for the thoughtful responses,
I will change my way, and will from-now-on toss a wave
at all motorized biking traffic. Well, maybe not e-bikes.
OK, alright, I'll do it.

[Oss]

i even wave at the state troopers in their cruisers  I think it makes em nuts trying to figure out who is waving at them and you never know if they are gonna pull you over on the return  


if safe to do so I always wave 1st   sometimes you get an excited wave in return and sometimes the nod and sometimes nothing but I wave anyway  

[Jess from VA]

I wave at most cops too OSS.  

I appreciate their work.... except if I am getting a ticket (only two moving vio on a bike in 40 years riding.... not like I didn't deserve more, just careful).

I have told them that I actually help in traffic control (involuntarily).  Wearing high boots bloused in cooler weather and a half helmets on a black interstate, I regularly get mistaken for a mountie with traffic slowing ahead of me (until they see the big blue dragons on my bags).  

I would never impersonate, but it happens anyway.  

I still got the ticket.  

[bigdog99]

i made fun of a "scooter" at a rest stop once crossing Illinois. i told the wife, "how'd you like to be on that right about now"? we both giggled as a pocket protectin horn rim glasses nerd put on his helmet.
i then knew why the "scooter" was on the express way.
After about 35 minutes at 75 mph, i saw head lights in my rearview morror. i prep'd myself to look cool and wave as the , yep "scooter" passed me by, waved and honked the horn.  
i am vowed to wave at anything, since it may be anything that shows me up.  

[alph]

i have learned over the years that the only people that don't wave are those guys that don't wear helmets.  i guess, they're too tough to wave to guys like me.  i always wear a helmet, so i guess i'm not tough enough to be in their "click"

[Quicksilver]

Riding near sundown through a small local town I came onto a group of folks chatting by the road, I waved and they all waved back, made me feel good. I wave to the little scooters the kids ride in the neighbourhood as incouragement to them, thinking that  the joy I feel while riding my bike is very likely the same kind of joy they have riding theirs. I wave because I'm  happy I have the best ride in the world and want to share the feeling a bit.

[Lucky Duck]

I live 3 miles from work and ride a 250 Reflex to work. The Valk won't even get to operating temp on such a short trip and the reflex is fun to ride. I also ride the Reflex on short jaunts into town at times if it's closer to the garage door than the Valk is, any time that I ride the Reflex, I watch other riders reactions.

About half of the bike riders I pass wave first and most of the other half will follow my wave. The posers are funny, for some reason they act pi$$ed off that I'm on a scooter -------- makes me want to give them one of those finger wigglin waves.   I just grin cause I know something they don't know.

[Karen]

Always, whether I'm on the Valk or the Majesty. Sometimes I'm in the car & want to wave...

[Daniel Meyer]

I only wave at scooters if they are running car tires! 

(kidding!)

[Kendall]

Big or small i wave to em all.   Everyone has to start on somthing, and some the scooters are just better suited.  I try to show camaraderie to all on 2 or three wheels.

[olddog1946]

I wave at em all..the only ones that never seem to wave back are the Harley's..but what the Heck,,,they're riding, I'm riding, it's all good...

[Serk]

(Not mine, and this has been posted here before, but.....)

To Wave or Not to Wave

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 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 I pass them on the highway, you know what I do? I don't wave. With their little tassle 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, Grampa, 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.

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 New York Thruway. Nice crotch, by the way. 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. Or helmet stickers. Or racing gloves. Or hiking boots.

To me, motorcycling is a like a family, a close-knit brotherhood of people who ride Hondas, wear jeans and a leather jacket (not Vanson) with regular gloves and a solid-color helmet with a clear visor, no stickers, no racing gloves and regular boots (not Timberlands). And isn't that what really makes riding so special?

[Titan]

Heck, I even wave at people sitting on porches, kids in neighborhoods, and guys on riding lawn mowers if they look up when I go by!

I don't know of any reason that I shouldn't wave at folks on scooters.

But that's just me. I'm a friendly kind of guy.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Heck, I even wave at people sitting on porches, kids in neighborhoods, and guys on riding lawn mowers if they look up when I go by!

I don't know of any reason that I shouldn't wave at folks on scooters.

But that's just me. I'm a friendly kind of guy.

Me too. And if I'm standing in the yard, or getting the mail and I hear a bike approaching, yep, I wave.

[old2soon]

Always try to wave. 4377 we are sharing the same wind!! It's all good. Two three four or eighteen wheels-i wave. I'm a happy guy. Wave and smile-it's contagious. RIDE SAFE.

[OverdueBill]

I wave at all 2 and three wheel vehicles.  Here in the rural south, we wave at everybody.  In the cage it's usually the one index finger off the steering wheel for another pickup going by.  On my scoot, I try to wave and acknowledge all kids.  In a cage, by the road, wherever.  Get them to liking bikers and maybe they'll join us in a couple years.

[Beau57]

i have learned over the years that the only people that don't wave are those guys that don't wear helmets.  i guess, they're too tough to wave to guys like me.  i always wear a helmet, so i guess i'm not tough enough to be in their "click"

The ones with a "Doo Rag" on their heads. I tell the wife they are making the tournequet they will need very handy when they have the unfortunate wreck.

[Bama Red]

The only things that will stop me from waving are;
Safety (rain/wind/traffic/speed  etc)...
If I don't see them in time.....
If I have my eyes closed.


I wave at everybody that's riding whether they wave or not.

Yep!

[fudgie]

i have learned over the years that the only people that don't wave are those guys that don't wear helmets.  i guess, they're too tough to wave to guys like me.  i always wear a helmet, so i guess i'm not tough enough to be in their "click"

Yes, but I would wave at you. 

[fudgie]

No to scooters and crotch rockets. Unless the rockets wave 1st.

[DIGGER]

This is my version of the wave......

WAVING TO OTHERS
Tom Ruttan
CYCLE CANADA –April 2002

The bikes passenger seat swept up just enough that I could see over my father’s shoulders.  That seat was my throne.  My dad and I traveled many backroads, searching for the ones we had never found before.  Traveling these roads just to see where they went.  Never in a rush.  Just be home for supper.

I remember wandering down a backroad with my father, sitting on my throne watching the trees whiz by, feeling the rumble of our bike beneath us like a contented giant cat.  A motorcycle came over a hill toward us and as it went by, my father threw up his gloved clutch hand and gave a little wave.  The other biker waved back with the same friendly swing of his left wrist.

I tapped my father on his shoulder, which was our signal that I wanted to say something.  He cocked his helmeted ear back slightly while keeping his eyes ahead.

I yelled, “Do we know him?”

“What?” he shouted.

“You waved at him, who was it?”

“I don’t know.  Just another guy on a bike…So I waved.”

“How come?”

“You just do.  It’s important.”

Later, when we had stopped for chocolate ice cream, I asked why it was important to wave to other bikers.  My father tried to explain how the wave demonstrated comradeship and a mutual understanding of what it was to enjoy riding a motorcycle.  He looked for the words to describe how almost all bikers struggled with the same things like cold, rain, heat, car drivers who did not see them, but how riding remained an almost pure pleasure.

I was young then and I am not sure that I really understood what he was trying to get across, but it was a beginning.  Afterward I always waved along with my father when we passed other bikers.  I remember one cold October morning when the clouds were heavy and dark, giving us another clue that winter was moving in from just over the horizon.  My father and I were warm inside our car as we headed to a friends home.  Rounding a corner, we saw a motorcycle parked on the shoulder of the road.  Past the bike, we saw the rider walking through the ditch, scouring the long grasses crowned with a touch of frost.  We pulled over and backed up to where the bike stood. 

I asked Dad, “Who’s that?”

“Don’t know,” he replied.  “But he seems to have lost something.  Maybe we can give him a hand.”

We left the car and wandered through the tall grass of the ditch to the biker.  He said that he had been pulling on his gloves as he rode and he had lost one.  The three of us spent some time combing the ditch, but all we found were two empty cans and a plastic water bottle.

My father turned and headed back to our car and I followed him.  He opened the trunk and threw the cans and the water bottle into a small cardboard box that we kept for garbage.  He rummaged through various tools, oil containers and windshield washer fluid until he found an old crumpled pair of brown leather gloves.  Dad straightened them to me to hold.  He continued looking until he located an old catalogue.  I understood why my dad had grabbed the gloves.  I had no idea what he was going to do with the catalogue.  We headed back to the biker who was still walking the ditch. 
My dad said, “Here’s some gloves for you.  And I brought you a catalogue as well.”

“Thanks” he replied.  I really appreciate it.”  He reached into his hip pocket and withdrew a worn black wallet.

“Let me give you some money for the gloves.”  He said as he slid some bills out. 

“No thanks, “ my dad replied as I handed the rider the gloves.  “They’re old and not worth anything anyway.”

The biker smiled.  “Thanks a lot.”  He pulled on the old gloves and then he unzipped his jacket.  I watched as my father handed him the catalogue and the biker slipped it inside his coat.  He jostled his jacket around to get the catalogue sitting high and centered under his coat and zipped it up.  I remember nodding my head at the time, finally making sense of why my dad had given him the catalogue.  It would keep him a bit warmer.  After wishing the biker well, my father and I left him warming up his bike. 

Two weeks later, the biker came to our home and returned my father’s gloves.  He had found our address on the catalogue.  Neither my father nor the biker seemed to think that my father stopping at the side of the road for a stranger and giving him a pair of gloves, and that stranger making sure that the gloves were returned, were events at all out of the ordinary for people who rode motorcycles.  For me, it was another subtle lesson.

It was spring the next year when I was sitting high on my throne, watching the farm fields slip by when I saw two bikes coming towards us.  As they rumble past, both my father and I waved, but the other bikers kept their sunglasses locked straight ahead and did not acknowledge us.  I remember thinking that they must have seen us because our waves were too obvious to miss.  Why hadn’t they waved back?  I thought all bikers waved to one another.

I patted my father on his shoulder and yelled, “How come they didn’t wave to us?”

“Don’t know.  Sometimes they don’t.”

I remember feeling very puzzled.  Why wouldn’t someone wave back?

Later that summer, I turned 12 and learned how to ride a bike with a clutch.

I spent many afternoons on a country laneway beside our home, kicking and kicking to start my father’s ’55 BSA.  When it would finally sputter to a start, my concentration would grow to a sharp focus as I tried to let out the clutch slowly while marrying it with just enough throttle to bring me to a smooth takeoff.  More often, I lurched and stumbled forward while trying to keep the front wheel straight and remember to pick my feet up.   A few feet farther down the lane, I would sigh and begin kicking again.   

A couple of years later, my older brother began road racing, and I became a racetrack rat.  We spent many weekends wandering to several tracks in Ontario-Harwood, Mosport, and eventually Shannonville.  These were the early years of two-stroke domination, of Kawasaki green and 750 two-stroke triples, of Yvon Duhamel’s cat-and-mouse games and the artistry of Steve Baker. 

Eventually, I started to pursue interests other than the racetrack.  I got my motorcycle licence and began wandering the backroads on my own.  I found myself stopping along sideroads if I saw a rider sitting alone, just checking to see if I could be of help.  And I continued to wave to each biker I saw.

But I remained confused as to why some riders never waved back.  It left me with almost a feeling of rejection, as if I were reaching to shake someone’s hand but they kept their arm hanging by their side. 

I began to canvass my friends about waving.  I talked with people I met at bike events, asking what they thought.  Most of the riders told me they waved to other motorcyclists and often initiated the friendly air handshake as they passed one another.

I did meet some riders, though who told me that they did not wave to other riders because they felt that they were different from other bikers.  They felt that they were “A Breed Apart.”  One guy told me in colourfull language that he did not “Wave to No Wusses.”  He went on to say that his kind of bikers were tough, independent, and they did not require or want the help of anyone, whether they rode a bike or not. 

I suspected that there were some people who bought a bike because they wanted to purchase an image of being tougher, more independent, a not-putting-up-with-anyone’s-crap kind of person, but I did not think that this was typical of most riders. 

People buy bikes for different reasons.  Some will be quick to tell you what make it is, how much they paid for it, or how fast it will go.  Brand loyalty is going to be strong for some people whether they have a Harley, Ford, Sony, Nike or whatever.  Some people want to buy an image and try to purchase another person’s perception of them.  But it can’t be done.  They hope that it can, but it can’t. 

Still, there is a group of people who ride bikes who truly are a “Breed Apart.”  The appreciate both the engineering and the artistry in the machines they ride.  Their bikes become part of who they are and how they define themselves to themselves alone. 

They don’t care what other people think.  They don’t care if anyone knows how much they paid for their bike or how fast it will go.  The bike means something to them that nothing else does.  They ride for themselves and not for anyone else.  They don’t care whether anyone knows they have a bike.  They may not be able to find words to describe what it means to ride, but they still know.

They might not be able to explain what it means to feel the smooth acceleration and the strength beneath them.  But they understand. 

These are the riders who park their bikes, begin to walk away and then stop.  They turn and look back.  They see something when they look at their bikes that you might not.  Something more complex, something that is almost secret, sensed rather than known.  They see their passion.  They see a part of themselves. 

These are the riders who understand why they wave to other motorcyclists.  They savour the wave.  It symbolizes the connection between riders and if they saw you and your bike on the side of the road, they would stop to help and might not ask your name.  they understand what you are up against every time you take your bike on the road…the drivers that do not see you, the ones that cut you off or tailgate you, the potholes that hide in wait.  The rain.  The cold.

I have been shivering and sweating on a bike for more than 40 years.  Most of the riders that pass give me a supportive wave.  I love it when I see a younger rider on a “Crotch Rocket” scream past me and wave.  New riders carrying on traditions. 

And I will continue in my attempts to get every biker just a little closer to one another with a simple wave of my gloved clutch hand.  And if they do not wave back when I extend my hand into the breeze as I pass them, I will smile a little more.  They may be a little mistaken about just who IS a “Breed Apart.”

[RTaz]

  when I'm riding I wave at everyone...I'm so happy and greatful just to be riding thats I like to share it with the world...scooters,bikers,mailman, cop, folks walking down the sidewalks,working in their yards...I don't care a big smile and wave don't cost a thing.....even got my kids doing it...

[RP#62]

I wave to everybody.  Some days, the wingers don't wave back but the Harley guys do, some days the Harley guys don't wave back, but the wingers do.  Don't know why, don't care.  I'm having fun.  I even wave to cars with one headlight.
-RP

[Tx Bohemian]

I live 3 miles from work and ride a 250 Reflex to work. The Valk won't even get to operating temp on such a short trip and the reflex is fun to ride. I also ride the Reflex on short jaunts into town at times if it's closer to the garage door than the Valk is, any time that I ride the Reflex, I watch other riders reactions.

About half of the bike riders I pass wave first and most of the other half will follow my wave. The posers are funny, for some reason they act pi$$ed off that I'm on a scooter -------- makes me want to give them one of those finger wigglin waves.   I just grin cause I know something they don't know.

Same here, kinda. 

About a month ago I won a Honda Metropoitan scooter (50cc) that tops out at a whooping 38mph. (this w/e with a 20mph wind at my back, and downhill, I was able to get it to 45!!!)

Alot of times I'll take it to run down to Lowes, Walmart, TSC which are all about 2 miles from my house cause this thing is much easier to get on and go instead of the Valk, plus it's fun!! and it gets over 100 mpg and it's got quite a large storage under the seat.

Most bikers will wave back and it's comical to watch those that don't I guess thinking their above that.

I wave at every biker regardless what I'm on or they are on.

Shoot!  We even have a few guys around here that put motors on their bicycles and I'll wave at them!!

[Piper]

When possible, I wave at almost everybody. Regardless of what they ride.
Of course, a choice few of the ones that do not wave back get fewer fingers....

[hubcapsc]

... the riders who park their bikes, begin to walk away and then stop.  They turn and look back.

I wave... and I feel kind of silly when I catch myself doing that other thing sometimes, too... 

-Mike

[mirion]

I wave to them all because I have not forgot how proud and happy I felt when I was 13 on my mini-bike, and then the 125 Montgomery Ward and then the 400 Honda and then the 650 Yamaha and then the 750-4 Honda and then the V45 Honda and then the Valkyrie, every single bike made me proud. Many of those little guys will probably move up some day but right now they are just as happy as the rest of us to be out in the wind enjoying that almost undescribale freedom we discovered a while ago. Don't doubt for a second that you didn't make them feel better by waving at them first, even if they are a little late at returning one because they didn't expect the big bike to wave at all.

[Michael K (Az.)]

I only wave at scooters if they are running car tires! 

(kidding!)

Wouldn't that be a car tire wearin a scooter?

[RainMaker]

I wave at all two and 3 wheelers.  Some wave back - no brand seems to wave less or more. I think they just are concentrating on the road ahead and don't actually see me.  I know that I miss some waves due to that.  If they wave, great.  If they don't, great.

[fiddle mike]

I was visiting a friend in Houston and waved at a scooter from the Valk.  Pillion asked, "Do you respect him?"  I told her that the guy was taking all the risks we were and doing it on a machine that was less visible and couldn't get out of harms way as quickly as we could, so, yeah.

In my part of the world, everyone waves (from trucks, porches, tractors, bicycles...) but I've found that, on the road, Harley guys are more likely to wave than Gold Wingers.

[Michael K (Az.)]

I even wave to cars with one headlight.
-RP
HA! Good one RP!!!

[Michael K (Az.)]

... the riders who park their bikes, begin to walk away and then stop.  They turn and look back.

I wave... and I feel kind of silly when I catch myself doing that other thing sometimes, too... 

-Mike

Yeh, but Mike, how could you not?