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| *Vultures Knob>>>Bike Tours |
Anybody have a clue as to when and where the exchange of a wave started in the M/C community? |
I first saw it back in CA in the mid eighties. Never noticed it in Europe. Last few years it seems to have fallen out of favor. Seems more and more waves go unreturned. (I notice this seems to be mostly by rice bikes. Not only the crotch rockets which probably can't take a hand off the bars, but the big garbage barge rice tour bikes.) Just an aside. it never fails to amaze me when a whole fleet of bikes is coming your way, you wave, and all the arms seem to come out in unison, and retract the same way. Almost like a parade ground manuver. It still impressive, no matter how many times I see it. When I lived in the mountains, we waved at everyone - whether they were in a truck, on a bike, or heck, even on horseback. I think this all dates back to days when you knew everyone, and just wanted to be friendly. The farther I have come down off the mountain, the fewer people wave. After a while, there were so many people on the road that you only waved at a few that knew you. Eventually, it was so conjested that is was hard to tell who was who, so folks just stopped waving, unless they had good reason to. "Fellow motorcyclist" has always been a good reason. Now a days, with so much BS marketing telling you what brand you are supposed to buy, and so many people believing the hype. Many newbies out there feel that they should only wave to their "own kind" now. A lot of crusier riders blame sport riders for all that is wrong with motorcycling, and likewise, the sport riders like to ridicule the cruisers. We have thus lost a lot of our comaraderie. Just wave - the rest really doesn't matter. It probably started when the first 2 cycles met going opposite directions. To me, it sort of signifies the fact that what the 2 riders are doing represent the true essence of freedom, out there, in the wind, pointing it where ever you damn well please. Sort of like a couple guys out playing hookie from school; "hee hee, can you believe we're getting away with this!?" I've been riding awhile. I know what you mean, some guys wave, some don't, doesn't seem based on what they're riding. Jerks abound in any type or brand cycle that are ridden. I think it varies by areas of the country too. Here in Wisconsin you're almost guaranteed a wave, whether you wave first or not. I always wave. If they don't wave back is up to them. Maybe the next bike they meet, they'll wave first! I have been riding since the sixty's and we always did the wave because it was like an acknowledgment that you where one of the few who belonged to the biking community I had heard the wave started in the early days of the motorcycle, and means you have tools on board if trouble should arise. I don't know if that's true though. A friend tells me if you don't wave to a on coming motorcyclist(whether he waves back or not), it's bad luck. Again, I don't know if that's true-but why chance it. Ride Safe All Where I am it depends on the age of the bike. All five of my Hondas are 25 years+, so the riders of old BSAs and Nortons wave more often than riders of '07 CBR600Rs. And riders of big American cruiserstotally ignore me, as my largest bike is a 350cc. There's been a lot of discussion about this lately. I don't know when or where it started but it does seem to be falling by the wayside. I'm female and I ride a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6 (crotch rocket). I always wave to everybody on a bike no matter what kind it is. It was how I was brought up and I'll never stop. If I'm riding in full gear I would say I get a wave back less than half the time. Now, if I'm riding without a jacket on and the guy on the other bike can tell I'm a woman I get a wave back 99.9% of the time. How sad is that? Keep on wavin'! I don't know when it started, but I believe it was a long time ago. You can see it in the old black and whites. It seems to be a feeling of camaraderie thing, belonging to a group slightly special. And it's not just motorcycles, I remember when we had a particular VW. There were only 3 in the state. Everyone waved whenever we crossed paths. I find myself sounding like my parents, "People used to be nicer". Aside: many different groups use basic military maneuvers to give order to their movements, including the posting of road guards at intersections. To ride in a large group requires everyone to work in unison, similar to a unit on the grinder. |
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