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Is Waving To Fellow Bike Riders Still An Accepted Practice?

someone asked way back what the wave signifies...my understanding is it's akin to a fraternity handshake, and it is properly done with two fingers signifying two wheels. Not a Harley thing.


Those who don't, but safely could I attribute to them being a noob and not knowing, or old, grizzled, curmudgeonly and not caring :)

I wave to most everyone, when safe, and nod when appropriate. This definitely include bicycles in the middle of nowhere.
Out on the road, almost all return the wave if not initiate it (I do the low one, btw, and gotta get it "just right" for ultimate cool :wave)
I find those who do not return it are likely scooter riders, or Goldwings, not so much HD. The more obscure the location the more likely the wave.
 
someone asked way back what the wave signifies...my understanding is it's akin to a fraternity handshake, and it is properly done with two fingers signifying two wheels.

I always wave with one pointed finger. That's to signify I'm riding the world's number one motorcycle, a BMW!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
I'm not sure I'd attribute waving or not to a brand.

Acknowledging other riders all the time is old school and still done by many of us who learned quite a few decades ago. I sure don't want to own a cruiser but I've been known to stop and assist cruiser riders with problems- my on board tools and knowledge will work on most brands. I've had cruiser riders pull up and ask if I needed any assistance when simply at a routine stop; always an appreciated gesture.

I go out my way to wave at folks on liquor-cycles (could have been me if I'd had bad luck in my youth) and scooters (I actually like scooter folks though I don't want to own a scooter).

And waving at cruiser types afraid of dragging a foot board while I'm doing twisties in NC mountains is pretty much my only form of taunting cruiser riders. I suppose it could more charitably be construed to be educating them about the superior handling of other types of motorcycles.

Here in the south, most wave. I suspect many of the non-waving cruiser types are noobs who maybe ride 1-2K miles a year. The guys you can tell are the all year, every day riders wave- they even can recognize each other because the population isn't that huge and you may see the same guys every few days. That's why I know most cruiser riders are sunny day only types. I see the commuter types frequently but they are low number; the numbers go up 5-10 fold on sunny weekends.
 
I wave

Two friends and I were on a short Sunday afternoon ride. One of my friends was on an R1200RT (which is why I now have one) and the other 2 of us were on Harleys. Other groups of Harley riders were spotty on returning our wave or would wait til my friend on the Beemer (who was leading) passed and returned our waves. I didn't realize they were like that as I have ridden Harleys for many years. I did notice that when I traded my Harley Ultra Classic for an R1200RT that I don't get as many return waves from Harley riders. As a Harley rider, I was usually the one who initiated the wave, sometimes even to guys on Mopeds. I think it has much to do with their thinking that someone on another mark just isn't worthy of their time, but it is gnenerally those who think they are the "1%'ers" but are really just wannbes.
 
I never thought anything about waving at fellow riders because it is automatic. As I grew up deep in the mountains of Appalachia, almost everyone waved at oncoming vehicles regardless of what they were. Since we were friends with or related to almost everyone on the road, we greeted everyone (and frequently still do) and waving at an infrequent stranger was OK. Back then, we also waved at people sitting on their porch or in their yard. However, AC and entertainment distractions has eliminated most of that.
 
................... Back then, we also waved at people sitting on their porch or in their yard. However, AC and entertainment distractions has eliminated most of that.

I still do when in your back yard. Just got back from 10 days and 2500+ miles in your neighborhood, waved at hundreds of people on porches, chopping wood, getting the mail, pounding nails, fishing etc.

To take this up notch, when did some BMW riders get so uppity, they stopped checking if a rider needed help???

Yesterday up on RT 16, 15 miles N of Osbornk, my 74 year old friend low sided, and biffed the guardrail. He was unhurt, but the front wheel caught a guardrail post and was collapsed. As we sat on the side of the road, the F800GS leaning against the guardrail facing the wrong direction and waiting for rescue, a group of 2 R12GS, A K16, and a Vstrom rolled buy, never slowing, waving, or asking if we needed assistance. Meanwhile 3 separate HD riders (100%) stopped, to ask if they could help, along with countless people in cars and PU trucks.

It is a slow section, so there was no way they could not see it was a fellow BMW rider, and easily stopped to ask. Guess they were in a hurry to find a Starbucks! All I will say is I hope they never get the same treatment if they have a problem in the future. Karma can be a bitch!
 
Do folks "hold up their finger on the steering wheel" when they drive by in your area? No, I don't mean "giving the finger". Common in some rural places & virtually never seen in larger towns or cities. people wave at you from their yard/porch where I live. My widowed MIL in her 90's & her 80's single sister get porch waves constantly from their hwy facing porch-I kid them, it's boyfriend waves...
 
I wave at the Amish working in the fields....sometimes they wave back!:wave You got to respect a guy who still plows with a team of horses, right?
 
I still do when in your back yard. Just got back from 10 days and 2500+ miles in your neighborhood, waved at hundreds of people on porches, chopping wood, getting the mail, pounding nails, fishing etc.

To take this up notch, when did some BMW riders get so uppity, they stopped checking if a rider needed help???

Yesterday up on RT 16, 15 miles N of Osbornk, my 74 year old friend low sided, and biffed the guardrail. He was unhurt, but the front wheel caught a guardrail post and was collapsed. As we sat on the side of the road, the F800GS leaning against the guardrail facing the wrong direction and waiting for rescue, a group of 2 R12GS, A K16, and a Vstrom rolled buy, never slowing, waving, or asking if we needed assistance. Meanwhile 3 separate HD riders (100%) stopped, to ask if they could help, along with countless people in cars and PU trucks.

It is a slow section, so there was no way they could not see it was a fellow BMW rider, and easily stopped to ask. Guess they were in a hurry to find a Starbucks! All I will say is I hope they never get the same treatment if they have a problem in the future. Karma can be a bitch!

The BMWs and Vstrom were not local folks. The lone R12GS owner I know would have stopped and I'm not aware of any K16s or Vstrom owners locally. The HD riders could have been local as we are covered up with them. If they were looking for a Starbucks, they had to ride a long way to find one.
 
The Amish are OK, but with a different lifestyle.

... kinda like BMW motorcyclists, huh?
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Are they just too cool or has this gesture of fellowship gone by the wayside?

Depends on the day they've had.

Where I ride, I could be waving every 30 seconds. Take a count on how often that is during an 8 hour ride and you get a bit tired after a while.

Furthermore, I know you are having a great ride; aren't they all.
 
I'm a waver. I wave at anything & everybody.
Where I live there are LOADS of Harleys. Some of them wave, some don't. The Chopper dudes rarely if ever wave. Many of the BMW riders don't wave.
I don't get worked up about who does and who doesn't.
I wave because I enjoy it.
 
I'm a waver. I wave at anything & everybody.
Where I live there are LOADS of Harleys. Some of them wave, some don't. The Chopper dudes rarely if ever wave. Many of the BMW riders don't wave.
I don't get worked up about who does and who doesn't.
I wave because I enjoy it.

I agree with this totally, anybody can wave or not, no skin off my back...
 
One day I waved at an approaching motorcycle rider who turned out to be an Ontario Provincial Police officer on an OPP bike. He returned the wave. Nice.
 
One day I waved at an approaching motorcycle rider who turned out to be an Ontario Provincial Police officer on an OPP bike. He returned the wave. Nice.

Yeah, I just remembered.....Florida State Trooper on a RTP (high boots, half shell, and dark sunglasses) passed me on I95 around Cocoa. I gave him the fist pump and he very cooly nodded back.:brow: Thank goodness he was passing me, right!?!
 
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