Triumphrat

Lee H

the wave is nothing new, and most of the older/ more experienced riders do it. Each marque has their elitist rectal disorders who do not, but that there are those people in every crowd.
At one time, there was kind of an unspoken code of conduct among riders. You stopped for any other bike broken down, regardless of make. You waved, knowing that the other rider faced the same dangers from distracted drivers and you did. You warned each other of cops and poor road conditions. That kind of faded out when the face of motorcycling changed in the 80s. Now it is coming back, and I like it.

Just something to think about when some of the riders wave to you... consider the control some of those guys have. They are not perched on the high backbone of a bike, with their weight over the handlebars. They are sitting low in the bike, often leaned back. Their feet are out in front of them, and some have their hands up shoulder height. It takes a LOT more control to handle a bike that way, and many of those big cruisers weigh 700 lbs and up. Some of those guys are far better riders than they are given credit for

MGDavisOrlando

Growing up around vintage Corvettes, it was the same thing. You never saw the wave to/from a C4 or later Corvette. Was roaring around the rural highways of Central Illinois with my daughter recently in Dad's 65 roadster, and passed a couple other early vettes. Neither waved. I was nonplussed.

Silverado57

Good point.
Whenever possible, if I see a rider and his machine at the side of the road, I'll slow and try to get a thumbs up to make sure they're OK before moving on.

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Kevin
Luceo Non Uro
NJ USA

CSAW

They all wave. They must really pay attention to their commercials.

EsEmDee

I was told at some point in my riding history that ALL bikes of all types should endeavor to recognize each other by any type of wave (low, high or otherwise) to demonstrate that they are focused on the traffic around them and specifically seeing other motorcycles.

Diligently looking ahead by x number of seconds and seeing cyclists around you and acknowledging that with a wave is a good exercise to assure that you remain focused on the road/traffic and IMHO, this is critical to seeing trouble some number of seconds before it occurs.

Back when I was a non-rider, I would notice and was confused by the waving of cyclists around me and often thought they were signaling some type of turn.....meaning, most importantly: I **saw** them and was therefore factoring them into the traffic situation.

If a cyclist consistently waves to other cyclists, I think that this will be noticed by some 4-wheel vehicles and might improve our chances that they actually **see** us in a traffic situation - and might therefore improve our chances of NOT being side-swiped, cut-off or T-boned.

Just my .02

SMD

Chuck95642

I try to wave at bikes as I see them even if I am with the GF in her car I still try to wave. I do not expect one back but sometimes I get one.

It is not what you ride but that you ride.

cug

You might consider me that, but I don't wave if I hear you coming. No matter what bike you ride, if I can hear you from far enough through the noises my own bike makes, through the helmet and 28dB noise reducing ear plugs - I don't WANT to wave at you because I despise people that are so inconsiderate regarding their surroundings.

Other than that, I wave whenever I think about it - which is most of the time. Even when doing a hairpin ...

Jamo

Man, I'm lov'n my Harley these days. My only regret is that I'd half believed all the carp I'd been hearing for 30 years.

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Turn on, Tune in and Ride off

Garandman

Bet not in the Northeast?

Motorcyclists don't wave much in the greater Boston area, reasonable considering the amount of traffic. As you get into the less developed parts of New England it's more common. Except during Bike Week in NH, no one waves as your arm would get tired. By contrast in Maine all riders seem to wave to each other.

Also in NH, for example, there is no helmet law and it's rare for the helmetless to wave to a helmeted rider and vice-versa. It's also rare for HD riders here in MA to wave to anyone with a FF helmet. I rode a Harley most of last summer and the number of HD riders that waved to me in my FF helmet the entire time I owned it was zero.

I've been riding since 1980 and sometimes I wave, sometimes I don't. I always wave back. Because I am a bad man, I often blow kisses to the lifestyle bikers, who likely have no idea whatsover what the hell I am doing. I also give a thumbs down to riders with open pipes (lately split almost evenly between cruisers and sport bikes around here) who were responsible for Boston's exhaust law.

The one exception for me is if I see a radar trap. I always give the "head pat" signal to any biker I see - MSF riding instructor or Hell's Angel, don't want them feeding the bears. Surprisingly, many riders these days don't seem to understand what that means. If another rider gives me that signal, I give him a thumbs up so he knows

crazyman

Oh the old wave or not to wave dilema.

When I started riding a few years ago, I waved to everyone. I took it personal if they didn't return the wave. Now, I just return the wave if it's offered. About half the riders wave (all types of bikes). Attitudes abound on all styles of bike. There are snobs in every group. Some are "too cool for school" and never wave. Some are too friendly and wave at everything.

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'13 Triumph Trophy SE
'11 Tiger 800XC - sold
'08 Rocket III Touring - sold