One thing that caught my attention, when I began to ride a scoot, was the wave bikers gave each other. I got into flashing the low two rather quickly and felt a connection with all other bikers. To me we had a common bond in the joy of cycling. I felt that "the sign" communicated some thing like; "hey isn't it great to be on the road, feeling free, enjoying our bike......have a great ride !" I did understand that maybe the seasoned, Harley, biker with multiple tattoos would use different words maybe some thing more like: " ###*****~~~~~~~~~#*^^--****#*##***#**``~~~!" But the message would be one of the shared joy of riding. As I racked up the miles and waves, I started to notice some patterns. Since I wear a helmet, other riders wearing helmets will wave 98% of the time. Bikers who do not wear helmets will wave at about a 89% rate. What I perceive as Heavy duty Harley riders (ie. live to ride, ride to live) are a little less likely to wave and come in at about a 84% rate. If the Harley has ape hangers there is only a 50% chance they will wave. Some riders are cc's sensitive, so when I am riding my wife's (Dirty Deeds) 250 Yamaha with its cool fiberglass trunk my wave response goes down to an all time low of 77% for all bikers and a mere 44% for Harley riders.
I went through a phase for awhile where I waited for the other biker to initiate the wave, as I feared rejection. I did this more often with the big biker duds thinking they would be annoyed by my presumption that we were biker brothers. I got over this hesitation to wave by deciding that I wanted to greet my fellow bikers and share my joy of cycling regardless of how they would respond. I also had a short lived internal battle regarding cc bias. Should I wave to scooter and moped riders? I must, because as a Nobody I am accepting of all bikers regardless of cc's!
I have also gone through an evolution of my personal wave. I started out with the low two, but through time I started to feel it really was not my persona. I am usually wearing Darien Ridewear (made by aerostich http://www.aerostich.com/ ) so the low two seemed out of character for me. So I dabbled in the low five, mid two (about hip level), mid five, above handle bar five and the above handle bar wave. It has not been an easy road finding myself in this matter. At present I am most comfortable with the mid five. When I am wearing my leather jacket, I give myself permission to use the low two.
So do you believe there is a brotherhood/sisterhood of bikers? Take a few minutes and participate in the Nobody Survey on this topic. You will find it on the side bar next to this article.
REMEMBER WE'RE THE NOBODIES AND WE DO NOT DISCRIMINATE REGARDING CC'S
6 comments:
Being a new bike rider, I appreciate hearing encouraging words. It is still scary riding on the road with other cars and trucks. There's is a lot to remember: clutch, brake down-shifting, so far, it's been fun.
Keep at it dirty deeds. The more you ride the more confidence you will get and your skills will keep improving. I imagine you have a fantastic motorcycle mentor to help you along.
It is good to hear that you have no cc bias, as I usually ride a 0 cc cycle! I have noticed that most 0 cc road cyclists use the low, flat 5 wave, for smooth road. When riding a pace line, hand signals are important for road hazards, like holes, gravel, slowing. So I like the smooth road signal. I also like the high 1 wave, as in we are planet brothers and sisters, but it can be easily misconstrued for a whole different kind of signal!
Smelty said I had to vote. But since he won't let me ride on the road yet, I'm not sure what signal I'll use. I'm thinking the low 2, it seems more cool!
Your right Ace. The low two is the coolest of all the biker waves,but are you sure that you are cool enought to use that wave. You see most of the Harley riders use that wave and they are way cool. For me some days I feel confident enough to use the low two other days I just don't have it. I suggest you ride the road for 100 miles before you even dare try the low two.
Ace, you may find as a beginner biker that a quick hand off the handel bar is all you want to do. It takes awhile to feel comfortable enough to do amy more.
Post a Comment