The wife and I were riding around the Sacramento delta today having a great time. The weather was perfect and there were tons of bikers out enjoying the day like we were. Since I still haven't put a backrest on the veefer we took the wifes Honda vt 600 out for the day.(It has the backrest). It's a cruiser type that sort of has that "Harley" look. We don't wear the standard "harley gear" we wear full faced helmets,boots and on this day textile jackets. Me in bright red, why? cause it matches the veefer... rolleyes.gif But what really tripped me out was that every time that we passed, say a honda st 1300, the rider would wave. Or for that matter any and every other bike we passed...would wave or just give the traditional sideways peace sign. With the exception of two old guys on harleys that both were the spitting image of Chewbaka from starwars,no other harley riders would give us the time of day. Why is that? Do I smell or something? huh.gif TJ
I read a quote recently in a motorag and already forgot the speaker but it went something like this......." Motorcyclists share the wave as a way of acknowledging that we are having more fun than the cagers. As for those that don't wave back, thats OK, I wasn't waving at you anyway, I was waving at your bike."
The Harley riders are.......well, you just don't fit in with them. You are not a fashion lemming.......see, you're dressed all wrong blink.gif
Riding one of those Pearl Harbor bombing Japanese bikes....you're unAmerican not riding a Harley. Kinda insulting to a rebellious, bad-a#$, Macho-man who knows what a REAL motorcycle should sound like ( like an elephant farting). goofy.gif
Hobie1dog, Jun 10 2006, 09:49 PMThe Harley riders are.......well, you just don't fit in with them. You are not a fashion lemming.......see, you're dressed all wrong blink.gif
Riding one of those Pearl Harbor bombing Japanese bikes....you're unAmerican not riding a Harley. Kinda insulting to a rebellious, bad-a#$, Macho-man who knows what a REAL motorcycle should sound like ( like an elephant farting). goofy.gif
Well, you have to remember, their American made machines have a positive vibration feedback mechanism... If there is not enough vibration going on, the bike will idle itself to the correct RPM so as to keep the rider seeing double almost all time....
Hence...
1. They HAVE to keep both hands on their bars for vibration purposes and to keep from falling off themselves due to "vibrating seat syndrome"..
2. Exhaust decibels have been noted to produce "Harley Davidson tunnel syndrome".... good luck even being seen by these guys...
I find it amazing how upset riders get if somebody doesnt wave back, or otherwise recipricate the same gesture, such as a nod or whatever. In all likelyhood you don't know the person on the other bike and never will, so really who cares? Only you!
Even so I am sure you did not go riding with the intent of seeing how many other riders are going to wave at you? So really what does it matter? It is nice to see someone wave at you on the road but dont get too caught up in it. Dont fall into an attitude about it cause well it is not anybody you know anyway so it is not personal if they dont happen to wave! The only person who is in control is you, you can wave or not, so if it is you who initiates a wave instead of expecting a reciprication, just be gratefull if sombody does wave back. Dont catagorize the other rider into any one group who does or does not wave, we are all individuals - that you probably dont know personally. Its not the bikes fault. For myself I dont always wave back either, I am busy riding, or lost in thought and well I missed it.
HispanicSlammer, Jun 11 2006, 04:01 AMI find it amazing how upset riders get if somebody doesnt wave back, or otherwise recipricate the same gesture, such as a nod or whatever. In all likelyhood you don't know the person on the other bike and never will, so really who cares? Only you!
Even so I am sure you did not go riding with the intent of seeing how many other riders are going to wave at you? So really what does it matter? It is nice to see someone wave at you on the road but dont get too caught up in it. Dont fall into an attitude about it cause well it is not anybody you know anyway so it is not personal if they dont happen to wave! The only person who is in control is you, you can wave or not, so if it is you who initiates a wave instead of expecting a reciprication, just be gratefull if sombody does wave back. Dont catagorize the other rider into any one group who does or does not wave, we are all individuals - that you probably dont know personally. Its not the bikes fault. For myself I dont always wave back either, I am busy riding, or lost in thought and well I missed it.
Good thoughts, Slammer.... Somebody else said it best - maybe on this board - consider the wave a gift....you shouldn't care if it comes back. Enjoy the ride!
Hobie1dog, Jun 10 2006, 11:49 PMThe Harley riders are.......well, you just don't fit in with them. You are not a fashion lemming.......see, you're dressed all wrong blink.gif
Riding one of those Pearl Harbor bombing Japanese bikes....you're unAmerican not riding a Harley. Kinda insulting to a rebellious, bad-a#$, Macho-man who knows what a REAL motorcycle should sound like ( like an elephant farting). goofy.gif
I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Harley Capitol Of The World. Nowhere on Earth is this behavior more prevelant. I call it motorcycle racisim. I also agree with the CEO's post that it really doesn't matter and doesn't get me "upset". Too much ego is a bad thing.
silverceptor, Jun 11 2006, 04:27 PMGood thoughts, Slammer.... Somebody else said it best - maybe on this board - consider the wave a gift....you shouldn't care if it comes back. Enjoy the ride!
Jack
+1. There are situations when to wave back is impossible. And there are so many riders sometimes that you have to ride with your left hand up non-stop. biggrin.gif
Most but not all Harley riders wave around here. The lowest percentage of non-wavers around here are the metric cruiser guys who are trying to be more bad ass than the real Harley guys. There is an area out in the boonies that I go through on the way to some of my twisties with a group of one-percenter-wannabes on Harleys. They never wave. I don't want to break down in that area.
BTW, almost every single rider in Canada waved at us on our trip, regardless of the type of bike they were on or the way we/they looked. Men, women, sport bikes, touring bikes, dual-sport, metric cruisers, Harleys, old bikes, new bikes...it didn't make a difference. The kid wearing shorts on the FZR-600 in the parking lot didn't wave, but I think he was afraid to let go of the clip-ons.
However, every time we were stopped anywhere near a full dresser, they just had to say..."bet your bike can't do this!" and turned on their crappy sounding stereos...the must sound really bad on the road at high volumes cause they sounded worse than a duck fart sitting still. Don't they realize an mp3 player or XM radio with earplugs sounds a bazillion times better? goofy.gif
Lifesaver, Jun 11 2006, 11:26 AMAHHAHHAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! fing02.gif laugh.gif AAHHHAHHAHAAAAAA HA HA HA!!!!!
I am going to go do that today, just ride around flipping everybody.. off.. all day long...
That might be dangerous in these times....seems everyone wants to make the 6:00 news by shooting at people or running them off the road when their road rage flares up. blink.gif
I get about 90% of bike riders waving back at me around here no matter what their on. I do get pissed if they don't which doesn't make sense ! huh.gif beer.gif
Beemer riders can be just as bad as the Hardley boys. They usually like to show off their Germanesque Teutonic attitudes so they can't waste their time on you to lift their hand off the bars and into the fascht vindschtreem.
I guess I just always thought that if they didn't wave back they were just either focusing real hard on what they were doing or they were too scared to take their hand off the handlebars. And that's O.K.... I understand.
I thought I'd add a bit as I own a HD in addition to the VFR.
I agree that the wave is a "gift". By the way, have you seen the patch some Harley riders wear: "FU, I have enough friends already" ?
The thing that does get to me is that the Harley folks will (mostly) wave if I ride one bike, but not another. Further, if I park next to them, and say hello - in an actual human interaction - they will, of course, say hello in return.
As an aside, I've noticed on the VFR, I have a better chance of a returned wave from an HD if they're either alone or with just one other (presumably a pal of theirs). Get them in a group of 4+, and the group-think takes over. "Can't be seen waving to a non-Harley, after all..."
Another observation: the more miles a Harley owner puts on their bike, the more they are motorcyclists, and less "Harley Riders". Again...mostly.
So, I successfully flipped off 39 people today. I just went for a couple of quick shorter rides, and on each ride I enthusiastically made it a point to outstretch my left arm, with my middle finger pointed high & towards the sky, for every passing motorcyclist I saw! And I made sure to be the initiator for starting the wave. I made it a point not to discriminate, and did this for either, any, and all different types of rider's... I also kept the gesture up real high, and let it follow the other motorcyclists as they neared, and went by me, so that the full effect was totally undeniably seen for what it was...The Bird!
This is what I noticed:
The sportbikers mostly just started the wave thing back, and generally stopped mid-wave, and then sort of finished their wave anyway. Now those cruiser types, they just kept their straight-ahead, I don't see, or acknowledge you look. This was soon followed with by a reaction I don't ever think I have ever witnessed before.. before today. They turned all rubber necky! I think they were even sort of shocked, and maybe even sort of pissed off at me for the gesture?
It was pretty fun! I think I'm gonna stop doing that now though? Because I had to out-run three people. All of them on cruisers. UT-OH! ohmy.gif That was fun too, but not much of a challenge wink.gif
Just kidding cool.gif
I do think that I will no longer wave, but instead throw up the pinky-thumb-radical sign, while rotating it, and saying DUuu'D--Totally!
I wave to all bikes if I think about it, especially the Hogs. Once in awhile I'll notice a waving bike go by and realize I did not wave. I feel oddly guilty.
I'd say about half the Harley guys wave back. I have noticed if I pull up and park next to them they ignore me usually. This is nullified by a remark like "Nice bike dude. Is that the Road King?" Then they will almost always start a friendly chatter, and even ask about my bike(on rare occasions)! I've met some REAL cool people riding Harleys, that seemed like they were in it for the right reasons.
Folks can carry around the tough-guy bullshite if they choose, I will still wave. I do honestly think that Harley guys/girls love their bikes and couldn't care less what we think, and I am cool with that. I love my VFR and I don't care what they think, either!!
I will usually wave to most anybody, unless they look particularly grizzled and in the opposite lane. It's just not worth it, as they *never* wave back.
But if I'm running the same direction as a cruiser, I'll usually pull alongside (I ride fast) and give a left-hand thumbs up before continuing the super-cruise velocity.
Now, some cages deserve "the wave" as well....I saw a Ford GT on the 5 near Carlsbad, CA, today and made sure to give HIM a thumbs up, that car is nutz!
I live about 4 miles from downtown LA and there are very few VFR's in these parts, which is why I nearly somersaulted out of the saddle when a silver VTEC passed me, opposite direction, on Sunset Boulevard.
goofy.gif By they way, any of you Angelenos seen or know of some guy who rides a red VFR800 (probably '99 or so) who happens to have some huge antlers or horns or whatever the hell they are attached to his helmet? I've seen him in Hollywood twice, I really would like to know just who they hell this guy is. Black helmet, red bike, and wears a black wife-beater with summer gloves. It keeps me up at night unsure.gif
I wave to all bikes. I notice that the Newbies to riding are too busy watching the road to wave or nod. I don't sweat it. And I find more riders are waving to me this year. Prolly 'cause they notice the bike is on the road again this season.
What wave do you do? Peace sign? Hand completely off the bike? Low wave (da "cool wave")? just the figures up? Or just a nod? I'd be interested in finding out what "technique" you've perfected to your "wave". I've tried several. Not sure what I'll stick with.
i still remember the first wave i ever got. it was on my first bike (honda VT500 shadow, '83) and on the second day i owned it. i was 18 at the time and didn't know about motorcyclists waving to each other (i'd only ridden off-road till then).
pulled out of my parent's drive and headed down the street. a large harley was coming the other way with a giant rider with a long, white, flowing beard on it (an impressive sight - you have to admit). well, we got close and he threw out a wave - and i don't quite remember through all the shock - but i think i waved back...
that was my welcome to street riding, i suppose. doubt i'll forget it, either.
i've since collected many a wave from serious cats like that - and been snubbed by more than a few that look like sunday riders fresh from the HD showroom. i think sending out a wave has a lot to do with why you're out on the bike in the first place and as such, i don't concern myself too much with the response - but make sure to gesture postively to as many two-wheeled comrades as possible. who knows, either one of you may get t-boned by a soccer mom around the next corner - that's reason enough to recognize the guy across from you.
Don't get mad unless you have the time to take a close look. Saw a guy on a cruiser with the aftermarket add on side wheels (not a true trike, more like a bolt on trike...) and he neglected to wave at out small group. Took another look and turns out he has no left arm! May have waved his stump, though. Couldn't tell for sure... beer.gif
KPerham, Jun 12 2006, 10:39 AMDon't get mad unless you have the time to take a close look. Saw a guy on a cruiser with the aftermarket add on side wheels (not a true trike, more like a bolt on trike...) and he neglected to wave at out small group. Took another look and turns out he has no left arm! May have waved his stump, though. Couldn't tell for sure... beer.gif
I've seen two of the "training wheels" Harleys like that in the last week. Up until now I had never seen one in person. FWIW, they didn't wave, but some of the other riders around them did.
End of thread · 30 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 14 Jun 2006