Hand Signals

Hey guys, does anyone know what an open palm, tapping the top of a helmet means? I had a "huh?" moment this morning, with another motorcyclist, headed the opposite direction.

 

speed trap ahead I think

 

what are some others?

 

I thought it might be to close my shield, but a speed trap makes more sense. Thanks

 

I thought it meant there was cop up the road.

 

Thank you for the MSF diagram, I lost my booklet.

 

so , according to the diagram, it means --(high beam on)

so it could either mean,
1, put your lights on
2, you have high beam on

w.t.f.
stu

 

The one I heard for a speed trap is a couple of flashes of your high beam and make like you are patting the top of a dogs head.

 

In the MSF chart, I don't see the universal signal for a cager that cuts you off.
The extended middle finger.

 

Slow down! something ahead. I had a guy do that to me while crossing a mountain pass in Co. He was right, 3 mountain sheep on the road, half mile ahead of me. I did slow down quickly when he was signaling me.

 

Around here three taps on the helmet means cop

 

When I hung out with the crotch rocket crowd in Tallahassee it meant cops ahead.

 

Yup, tapping the top of the helmet means "cops ahead."
Pointing at the side of the helmet means "hey dumbass, why aren't you wearing one of these?"
Indicating a hazard ahead is holding your hand out flat, palm down, and waving the hand up and down. Typically means "slow down", could be related to debris, animals, broken down vehicle or also cops ahead.

Ride through Deals Gap a few times and the locals will let you know what hand signal means what. When they tell you to slow down for something ahead, do it. It often means there is an oversized truck or RV blocking the road around a blind corner.

 

Up here, it means 'there's a cop ahead'. The motion itself comes from the old motion of a plain-car cop reaching out the window to put the bubble light on top of the car roof. Now, it refers to the light bar on top of the car, too.

dave

 

officially it means high beams but what do you do in a car to signal a cop/speed trap? flash your high beams. so high beams = cop

 

I agree that its most common for cop ahead. That's the way I learned it here. I have done it and others have.

Besides, what good does high beam alert do? I use high beam during the day, so some other rider advising me that my high is on would be a bit of "thanks, captain obvious"