As the biker came up behind us, and as myself and my minibike came into his view,
our eyes met (well he had a full coverage and a tinted shield, but I assumed he saw
me staring at him) and he gave me The Wave! He and I were of a kindred spirit. He
was acknowledging me as a fellow biker. It is a memory that i fondly carry with me
some 25 years later!!!
So I began to ponder the question of The Wave. I'm sure it is common to others with
a shared interest (or vehicle perhaps - do volkswagon people wave at each other?)
but it seems to be most prevalent in the motorbike community. It feels good to wave
at a fellow motorcyclist and receive the return wave. It feels good to get the wave
and return it back. Yet at the same time you feel kinda the fool when you acknowledge
another and are met with... nothing. Rejection?
After years of riding you can almost spot those who will and those who won't. Although
there are always exceptions, I have found the following through my experience of
giving the 2 wheeled salute: Most Harley riders don't wave. Unless they think your
riding a Harley (gotta love them fatbob Hondas!). Crotch Rocket riders don't usually
wave - something to do with those one piece, colour coordinated leather riding suits.
Commuters don't usually wave, to them its just an economical form of transportation.
Scooters don't wave - at least not at me. People with fluorescent vests don't usually
wave, its not safe. Everyone else pretty much waves. It's nice to wave. We posed
the question of the wave on our website and got these responses:
Don’t matter what make or model.. we’re all enjoying the same hobby etc.
Why not wave? It’s painless. Obie in Western NC
Usually—especially if they wave first. Have trouble getting a return wave from many
stuck up Harley riders when on Gold Wing, Hell’s Angels don’t wave back and when
I’m on my ’46 Knuckle Bob Job most RUB’s (Rich Urban Bikers) don’t know what to think
and look straight ahead. Al M.
Everytime i wave to another rider, i spill me beer, and sometimes even fall off me
bike! Yes, I wave to other bikers. How else are you gonna let someone know of road/cop
conditions ahead? When I first started riding, back when all motorcycles came with
kick starters (like God intended ‘em to! <g>), there was an informal sort of
“code” to various hand signals (no, not *that* signal!).
Bad weather/roads/police radar - you held out your hand in the old-Western- movie-Indian
“how” sort of gesture.
Poor road conditions/tight roads - held out your hand palm slightly turned down,
pushing hand down towards ground.
If you see other rider’s headlight out - extend hand, rapidly opening and closing
fist in a “blinking” sort of gesture.
If you spot trouble on other rider’s bike - point at trouble area on other bike.
Good conditions/no fuzz - regular “how are ya?” kind of wave.
When traveling in a group - extended index finger, pointed straight up. Move arm
in circular motion and then point forward to indicate “let’s go!”.
When traveling in a group - pull up beside leader, get his attention, tap your tank
to indicate low fuel.
I am not frocking waving, i am airing out the arm pits. It gives the bikers behind
me some fresh air
No I don’t wave at other people riding bikes. There all a bunch of forking posers.
As soon as the sun goes away they sure as hell don’t wave at me from there car or
truck, do they? (unlike the people in Nebraska, but different story). No, the only
bikers I will wave back to are the ones I pass in December. Steve, Renton, WA
I wave to other riders. I dont care what your riding it’s the bond of two wheels
that does it. It’s been a code of the hiway for a long time. It’s to bad that our
attitudes now are losing that now times are different. People just dont give a @#$%
anymore and people in the cages are worse. They would just as soon run you over just
to save a few seconds. Ya I got an opinion! I like to keep the old ways alive and
will keep on waving to the other riders and I wave at the cagers too just not with
all of my fingers. Keep the rubber side down. Onions
I don’t think it’s a waste of time really, why not acknowledge a loose allegiance
of “bike mind”, you never wave when driving a car, unless you actually know the person,
so why not?? eric at ChopperHeads
The wave thing, probably one of the most controversial of biker social habits in
my opinion. It is a very intuitive thing, you never know who is gonna wave back and
if there is no reply wave you look like you’re doin' aerobics on a motorcycle. Generally
most folx on the mid 70’s ricers will wave first or wave reply giving the standard
“open hand palm out couple inches off the bars”. Beemer folk always seem to wave
(even when I’m on another make of scoot besides my BMW). Most Guzzi and Duc owners
seem to wave but the duck crowd like to do the “two finger peace sign below the bars
wave” also known as the “I’m going impossibly fast and don’t want to screw my aerodynamics”
wave. Then there is the Goldwing/Venture style touring “wave from the rider the passenger
the puppy dog and all the folx at the hot tub/wet bar in the saddlebag”. There is
also the speed racer on the hyperbike “reaching out across the median to shake your
hand” wave.
From various folks you also have the “nod”, “salute”, “waving the pinky finger” and
“high five”. Those are most of the usual waves from nice folx. Then there is the
category of jackass:
The harley guy who is just too tough to acknowledge any other riders.
The crotch rocket jock who’s parents have lotsa money so they don’t wave.
The way too wealthy mid life crisis who will only wave at others like him.
The yuppies who will crash if they don’t keep their hands on the bars.
Now these guys can usually be spotted a mile away and are fun to screw with. I like
to stand up on the footpegs and wave my arms madly, it’s loads of fun and
they get embarrassed and try not to look, they always do tho.
Then there are the nowave waves: The headlight flash, the wheelie and the famous
waggling (acting like you are weaving through road cones). All in all it is very
interesting to ride all day and see how many waves you can collect, kind of a game
of sorts. Mostly tho it seems really odd that cars don’t wave at each other, well,
maybe not.—Beemer Dan
Waving, as you know, is more than just a physical action-it’s a way we acknowledge
other people’s presence on planet earth. And it’s a funny thing but in my opinion
simple acknowledgement is hard come by. Wave at someone when you’re in a car or walking
down a street and see how far you get. One of our columnists (John Threlfall-’Paperback
Rider’) wrote about the various kinds of waves in one of our back issues and he did
a pretty good job of outlining those very semaphoric actions you’re talking about.
But there’s always room for more comment. Now, in any given week I’ll ride four or
five different kinds of bikes (maybe not chopped mopeds-but I’m open to that experience)
and I’ve noticed a few things.
Cruiser guys tend to give each other a deep nod. But they do this only sporadically.
If they know for a fact the other guy is riding a Harley, the chances of getting
a nod are better but by no means automatic. Today, many of the Japanese Cruisers
are difficult to tell apart from the American brand-especially from the front-and
the snobbish Harley riders dread, above all, acknowledging “Harley wanna be’s on
Jap crap.” There’s also the outlaw factor to be considered when sending waves in
Harley directions. Kind of like, “What the flick are you waving at me for asshole?”
That sort of brain dead attitude seems to manifest and appears in direct proportion
to the amount of time spent on the leak-prone American Big Twins. Conversely, the
Japanese Cruiser riders seem self-conscious about their pseudo-Harleys and don’t
like to draw too much attention to the fact they don’t have the Real McCoy. Waves,
nods or points are a hit and miss thing.
Sportbike guys are the wave champs. They’re in it for the fun, not the image (generally
speaking) and seem to have no problem saluting a fellow rider. Sportbike guys tend
toward the point because a full out wave impacts the aerodynamic equation. I guess.
Off roaders have about the same mindset but they seem to favour a quick cut of the
air. Cruiser types, sportbike riders and the off-roaders all have their own thing
and you can more or less predict how warmly they’ll return your wave or if they’re
even receptive to a hail. But the true enigmas are the scooter people. They don’t
wave at anybody. Period. I think they’re snobs and they kind of scare me because
there’s no telling what kind of trash is rolling around in their brains. I think
they like to observe their friends from inside strange cars and document their activities
for god only knows what evil ends. Around Scooter guys, it pays to be vigilant. Have
a good weekend. John, Van. Isle.
The wave, eh? It’s funny, cause I’ve also encountered the wave from other groups
as well, like any time I drove my 71 VW Baha Bug (get waves from other buggy drivers),
or in our current 94 Jeep Wrangler (from other Jeeps, especially topless),...same
exact instances of wavers, usually from the true fanatics or diehards, but the more
tricked out or custom the vehicle, the less likely the wave. On two wheels, I like
to wave, the misses likes to wave,...most often, I dont wave at land yachts (like
the mammoth Aspencades or Gold Wings... the ones w/ heated hand covers & sound
systems) & most likely I wont wave at clubbers, if I can ID them as clubbers,
‘cause thats not exactly a macho thing to do. If a clubber is cool w/ whatever rat
I’m on, we usually do a nod. Depending on speed & road conditions, I’ll give
a little salute, or if I cant get my hands off the bars, I’ll do a little flip w/
just my fingers. I always will wave at female bikers, just cause they’re are so few
of em, & just like the punk scene, I want to make them feel welcome & encourage
more of em to get up & drive as
opposed to always riding bitch. Da Thief
I wave to everybody on a bike. I don’t always get a response. I may be being judgmental
here but it seems to me that the “Instant Harley” riders (the ones with the all new,
matching leather garments right off of the Harley dealers floor) don’t respond much.
Also it SEEMS to me that the extreme cafe’ed out Japanese bike riders are the same.
Both of these groups will sometimes give an obligatory nod as if waving is beneath
them. It looks like to me they are just too damn cool for us run of the mill riders.
These are simply my observations and should be taken as such. I just don’t understand
why it is so hard to acknowledge another enthusiast, no matter what he/she is on.
And my feelings get hurt because after all I am trying to be a nineties kind of guy!
Happy trails, JB in AZ
When I first started riding in the early 60’s most motorcyclists waved at each other,
at least in Southern Ca. There were not nearly as many bikes on the road in those
days, so riding one made you a member of a small group that felt a kinship with each
other. You still have this feeling to a certain extent when you ride other than oriental
iron. I no longer wave. Vernon Fueston
Ahh Vernon... don't give up. Ya got to keep waving even if all the other riders are
weiners!! And when you see the harley rider - put a little extra into your wave.
They may think its uncool to wave at the non-harley rider but we think
its uncool to wear one of those HD headbands!!!! Thanx to all those we emailed us
with your responses to our Wave query. New question?
This article among others published in the UTMC were originally published in Motorcycho
Zine, they are reprinted with the permission of Norman of Motorcycho Zine. Motorcycho
is probably one of the best printed beasts out there and a must have for anyone who
rides.
You can find Motorcycho on the web at http:www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/4500 |
