Do you wave?

I put my left arm straight down at a 45 degree angle and hold out 2 fingers ( feels natural) Every time. unless im cornering or down shifting, then its the nod.
seems to me some (by some i mean 97% of them) Harley riders are to cool for my XJ. maybe its just the person ( i mean if i spent $25,000 on a bike id be pissed too ) What are yall guys' thoughts/ actions on the "wave"

 

Great thread topic! I started one just like it about a year ago.
Here's the link:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=42300.html

 

I do the exact same thing as you with the two fingers and the nod. I actually get some Harley love but only because I work on most of them HAHA! They are money baskets in my opinion. I live my "Jap Bikes" as they call them.

 

Almost everybody waves back, including the cops and the Harley riders. One exception is a guy I see in a cafe quite often, he always says hi when we meet there, but he ignores me on the road when I'm on my XJ-1100. I don't think he recognizes me on the bike with my helmet on. He waves when I'm on my Vulcan 1500, probably thinks it's a Harley.

 

Why is it always the Hardly riders as I call them. But they're sure happy to see you when you pull over to help them out!

 

I use to wave to everyone on two wheels except small scooters and mobs.

 

The only times I don't wave are like motor-guitars said: not when it's too risky to ride with one hand. But there's a Quaker Steak tight by my office, and on Wednesday nights, I honestly just get sick of holding my hand out non-stop, so I'll wait for the other biker to initiate. The ones I notice not initiating or returning are usually the crotch rockets. Especially the guys with flipflops/no jacket/no helmet on.

 

I find our XJs get more Harley waves than a lot of bikes because we sit up straight and don't look like crotch rockets. They have a wave on their mind before they realize we aren't a Harley they wave and then it's too late. ha ha
I also notice it can be location specific. I live in Nashville where bikers wave a lot and when riding through a small near by town of Smyrna you get very few waves; figure that.

Ride safe...

 

i try to wave at everyone riding a bike, but yea i notice alot of harley guys dont wave or the ones like baldwonder said in the flip flops..lol. some people just have that im to good for you attitude but i wave anyways most of the time. by the way i just put my arm down and do the 2 finger deal too

 

No, i don't know you from Adam. i'am not your friend on facebook, don't follow your tweets, don't care that you have a motorbike, and won't buy you a beer.
i might stop if your broke down but i'am not waving to every nitwit that goes by

 

I usually do unless it's dangerous. I almost always give a couple fingers to the cop on the corner.....simply cuz I don't ride stupid and I want him to know there are a few safe riders still out here.....

As far as other bikes, I wave as a courtesy, figuring ate set the riders has b@ll$ enough to straddle a 400 lb chunk of metal and go hurtling down the road balanced on top... I can at least a knowledge that.

Yeah, the crotchets often don't save back, but some give two fingers from the handlebars, and the Harleys almost never do---- so two fingers be one one.

 

Isn't auto carrot competing ship? :lol:

 

I always wave - my dad taught me when I was a kid, and its just a cultural thing I like. 1000s of miles on the back of his tourer, I did the waving to 100s if not 1000s of other riders.

I get waves here in CO from all bikes, EXCEPT what I call the "scientist" riders: dudes on bmw or other tech bikes with the most extreme safety gear money can buy.

I once met a guy that was that type of rider and he was a physics professor - very scientific about riding, borderline ausbergers, and probably thought more about both hands on the grips for safety than about acknowledging a fellow rider, hence the "scientist" rider.

Don't get me wrong, they're probably great guys, and I still always give them a wave.

 

coloradodan. yea i know exactly the people you are talking about. they are always on some type of touring/duelsport import bike or something like that. yea they never seem to wave.

 

I always give at least a taciturn acknowledgement, drop my left hand off the bar in a half wave/salute; if it's a vintage bike of any sort I generally give a hearty "thumbs up."

The guys on the giant land-yacht Harleys with all the bells and whistles generally ignore me. But I'm seeing this increasingly becoming a "helmet" thing; they seem to not acknowledge anyone wearing a helmet even if it's somebody on another monster Harley. (Our helmet law was recently repealed.)

The hipsters on the ADV bikes are just as self-absorbed as the hipsters on scooters and generally oblivious to everything around them; so I don't expect much.

 

For the last 40 years I've always waved, nodded or flashed to anything approaching on two wheels except for scooters. The vast majority of the time I get a wave in return. It's the law as far as I'm concerned.

 

Wow...... How'd I miss all that?!?! I'll try again:

...Yeah, the crotchers often don't wave back, but some do give two fingers from the handlebars, and the Harleys almost never wave---- so my two-finger wave becomes a one-finger wave.

That makes a little more sense. Lol

 

Hell I even wave at scooters, I figure they're on two, and at least trying to feel the air through the hair. They may be future riders, who knows?

 

I do the same thing, except with the cops in my town....they usually wave to me first because I know most of them. One of the advantages of being a smart rider... and the VP of the local youth football.

As for the other riders, I always wave, hand low, all fingers extended. I can probably count on one hand the number of riders that haven't waved back in the past year.

 

I wave to most people hand out all finger out. Not usually to harley riders after a couple attempts I kinda gave up. Whatever... I even have a quick chat with some people at red lights. But 2 or 3 times in the last month have a couple harley guys sitting at the light looking at me reving there engines so I blow by them on my 550. (Not saying that I have the fasted bike but) Lol. Again whatever.

 

I extend my arm if I can, people are generally pretty friendly and the majority do the same around here.

 

When I'm on my Sportster, I wave to EVERYBODY (not many bikes around here, so it is kind of nice).

I wave at mopeds & scooters because they're more fun than motorcycles are in some respects.



Crotch rocket riders that haul ass around here don't get a wave. I'm tired of 24/7 wheelies in the middle of traffic.

 

Yep, I throw the 2 finger salute to every bike I see here in Northeast Tn, You rarely ever don't get a salute back unless it's in a curve or something like they mentioned earlier. And Harleys have always waved to me around here but it could just be cause it's Northeast Tn.

 

The law? I agree, even mopeds, I remember what it was like when I was a lad, made me feel like a proper biker when I got a nod

 

i keep my hands on the grips

 

I always wave when safe to do so.

 

oh. i wave.

 

Yeah I'd agree, it was a nice feeling & the camaraderie was a big part of what got me more into bikes than cars... End of the day we're all taking the same risks, for mostly the same reasons, whether we're riding a Blackbird or a Raleigh Runabout!

 

In the UK i tend to nod to the right instead of a wave but when in Continental Europe, and riding on the right, i wave with my clutch operating hand but just at hip height usually with two fingers extended a la "V" sign and palm of hand facing the other rider. Much easier. :wink:

 

nope..stopped after a Harley rider flipped me off.

He did however survive the accident.

(only kidding, but it is the thought that counts...lol)

 

Always give the two finger wave and being in Wisconsin HD's are everywhere and they wave back. I actually get more wave backs when riding two up vs solo for some reason...

 

I ride a Scooter, that from the front looks more
crotch rocket than Scooter... but I get lots of waves
especially from HD's
I will lift a finger off the bar or nod
I am always hyper aware of my surroundings
to me a salute is great but I am trying to not die

 

Have only been out on it three times but today was the first day I passed other bikes and lots of them too. I got waves from each and every one and I was surprised how cool it felt to be acknowledged, like I was part of the group now. I even passed a group of like 50 quads and dirtbikes headed down a county highway and they all waved too! lol. Great day for a ride, the best time I have had so far!

 

I thought of this thread yesterday driving back home, on a 4 lane highway there is a moped going as fast as he can, slowing traffic and waving at other riders... it looked pretty funny

 

The wave is great!

 

Here where I live we tend to nod, almost all non HD riders non back. Some HD riders nod back but most ignore other bikes.

 

if they ever get their drivers licenses back... just saying haha

 

I've noticed that the waving varies depending on weekday / weekend and location. Weekends in the mountains and foothills, almost everybody waves. Weekdays, riders are on the way to or from work, doing errands, etc. and nobody waves.

 

I wave. Yesterday we even had a bicyclist wave at us. Ive noticed around here atleast its the weekend warriors that dont wave.

 

Most times I do wave. In my experience most riders will wave back, particularly sport bikers as well as riders that are on vintage/standard mc's. In our area it's the riders of certain Milwaukee made bikes that won't wave at me. I'd say only 1 out of 4 or 5 of these folks wave.