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[Elixer]

Am curious. Whats the sign?

Rule of the Road?

There seems to be an "adopted" protocol of biker to biker recognition between/among riders that has to do with a slight, horizontal pass / wave of the left hand upon cross-traffic passing one another. You know, the slight wave of the left hand at hip height across a horizontal plane....an acknowledgement from one rider to another....where does this come from? is it something that is expected, a simple sign of respect, courtesy, etc? I do it occasionally and sometimes I don't,  a lot depending on what aspect of motion I am undertaking at the time, ie. slowing down at an intersection, using my clutch, etc.....then again, sometimes other riders give the signal while others don't - so what gives?

[ice6900]

Another gesture we use in Europe is to wave with your foot, by wave I mean just to raise your right foot off the foot peg and out towards the other rider as you overtake other riders, obviously its not possible to take your right hand off the throttle and complete your overtaking manouvre.
Again this is just a gesture of acknowledgement or friendship to a fellow rider.

[9 1/2 Beers]

 

[JCZ]

This thread is already hilarious.

If you feel like waving, just wave.  The hip, slick and cool wave has already gone out the door by the hip, slick and cool and it just shows you to be a rub workin overtime at being hip slick and cool.

[TN]

wuts the cvo...er screamin eagle eagle wave again??





TN

[JCZ]

wuts the cvo...er screamin eagle eagle wave again??





TN

You tuck your thumbs up in your arm pits and flap your elbows like a screamin chicken.   

[CVOThunder]

Hmmmm, I thought it was like the weasels on Ice Age. Closed fist, hit chest x2 then peace sign. Peace out dood! 

[Jerry/MD]

A simple dropping of the left hand is standard around here. I would say over 90% of my fellow riders do it.

[VaEagle]

Am curious. Whats the sign?

Rule of the Road?

There seems to be an "adopted" protocol of biker to biker recognition between/among riders that has to do with a slight, horizontal pass / wave of the left hand upon cross-traffic passing one another. You know, the slight wave of the left hand at hip height across a horizontal plane....an acknowledgement from one rider to another....where does this come from? is it something that is expected, a simple sign of respect, courtesy, etc? I do it occasionally and sometimes I don't,  a lot depending on what aspect of motion I am undertaking at the time, ie. slowing down at an intersection, using my clutch, etc.....then again, sometimes other riders give the signal while others don't - so what gives?

I assume these are serious questions? There are no hard and fast rules that I have ever seen. Each rider develops his own style .Many Harley riders use the old hippie peace sign by holding out two fingers in a V formation. Many show it at waist level or below because they are afraid if they raised their hand up it would look like a Goldwing rider or something.
I believe the wave thing started in the very early days of riding because it was rare to see other riders and it was acknowledging the brotherhood of riders.
Some riders only wave at like brand of bikes and refuse to wave at sport bikes etc. Other wave at all riders remembering that we all share in the brotherhood of riding.
Some accidents have been caused by over eager riders trying to wave while cornering or doing some maneuver that should have their full attention so you are smart for not waving when you feel unsafe doing so.
One grey area for me is when you come upon a large group of riders coming toward you in the opposite direction, I wave to as many as possible but if I get tired I quit waving and hope i don't offend anyone in the group by not waving to them. I don't loose sleep over it though. For those times we need a old time curb feeler on the handlebar with a glove on it so it waves for us.

[Twolanerider]

My niece finally realized this past spring that most riders wave as they pass.  In the mind of the eight year old it (at least for awhile) became mandatory to do so.  Sometimes with enthusiasm.

Then the problem came.....

One day while riding back there playing her DS and chattering away in the intercom in said intercom there was suddenly this blood curdling cacaphony.  I thought a huge flying scythe must have come by and suddenly cut my arm off in front of her or something.  It was that kind of noise.

No....

A bike had rolled by and she'd missed it.  Didn't wave. 

Had to go back!  "Uncle Donnie turn around I don't want to miss it" yelled at Space Shuttle launch volume in the intercom inside your helmet is not an easy thing to endure while you're being whacked in the back of the shoulder with a Nintendo DS.

After that we had a little take about exuberance.... 

[charles05663]

I tend to wave to everyone.  This includes mopeds and scooters.  I noticed that the response of the other rider often depends on the type of bike they are riding.  BMW riders are the least likely to wave back and crouch rockets are mixed.  Old hard core Harley drivers look like they simply want to wave with the middle finger. 

The state your in makes a difference too.  In VT & NH most riders wave.  In NY (go figure) most don't.

[CVOThunder]

I tend to wave to everyone.  This includes mopeds and scooters.  I noticed that the response of the other rider often depends on the type of bike they are riding.  BMW riders are the least likely to wave back and crouch rockets are mixed.  Old hard core Harley drivers look like they simply want to wave with the middle finger. 

The state your in makes a difference too.  In VT & NH most riders wave.  In NY (go figure) most don't.

Ya, I tend to wave to everyone as well. Never know what they'll be riding next plus we have enough things to deal with on the hiway. Being friendly to someone else piloting 2 wheels just seems like the norm to me. Arms get tired sometimes.  If I have a hand full of clutch or cornering then I'll try to nod.

[Wrongway]

Different places, different meanings. Here in So. California a wave is a signal that the road is clear of the law and have a safe journey. If I get a wave back and not a hand to the helmet it means I don't have to reduce my speed, something I hate to do!

[Indenial]

I tend to wave at everyone regardless of bike. It's a friendship deal. Recently in Canada around Lake Louise there were more bikes than I would have imagined and everyone was waving. Kinda cool. At Sturgis or other large rides, forget it.

[1sharprdkg]

Yeah, I usually give'em a wave, all bike brands even little scooters. There are a few exceptions, up or downshift clutching, turning or if my BSR is riding alone I maybe didn't notice them coming in time. Got tired of waving during Thunder Beach this spring, too many bikes to wave to all of them.