Tired of the sissy wave by other riders

[Peter Aawen]

Thanks ARTraveler for the added humor. One thing left out..... I ALWAYS wave at LEOs weather they are on 2 wheels or not. Hopefully they find it as a gesture of thanks. That is the spirit by which it is given..... Jim

Heading in towards town or the city, I generally only wave at bikes &/or people I know; heading the other way, I usually wave at most people, cos that's what us Ozzies do in the bush (altho there is a well founded rumour going around that it's often just cos we're waving the flies outta our eyes! )

And I too usually wave at just about every LEO I see - lots of them cos I know them personally, others often cos they're so excited to see me and are already waving madly at me! hyea:

But I do wonder a bit about why that second lot always have one of those odd hair-dryer things in one hand?!? :dontknow: It seems to make it so hard for them to wave properly and keep it pointing my way?! Still, I always wave cheerily as I go by - unless I'm already past of course, then I try to give them an 'I'm sorry, going too fast' wave towards my rear vision mirror. They get so excited when I do that. Just like blipping the horn at little kids on the roadside as I pass - soo happy & excited! :thumbup:

 

[MrBill5491]

Hmmmm, never experienced a sissy wave. Most bikers here wave regardless what you ride, even the Bandidos wave. :thumbup:

 

[Pooch]

I wave from my Spyder to acknowledge other riders on 2/3/or even 4 wheels. And even 18 wheelers.
Bottom line is, I wave for me and it doesn't matter if they wave back, or even see me wave (I don't even look to see if they wave back!).
It makes ME feel good, I watch the road, and I ride on with a smile on my face ..........

Right there with you O J!!

 

[PistonBlown]

Regardless of what I've ridden, and the country, I've always found the only ones that consistently don't wave or make some insulting gesture have all of the following characteristics:

1. Its a weekend (normally a Sunday)
2. and its a main highway
3. and the bike is obviously more polished than ridden
4. and its within 50km of a city or town

i.e. Weekend warriors who talk big but don't actually enjoy the riding part of motorbikes

 

[UtahPete]

Regardless of what I've ridden, and the country, I've always found the only ones that consistently don't wave or make some insulting gesture have all of the following characteristics:

1. Its a weekend (normally a Sunday)
2. and its a main highway
3. and the bike is obviously more polished than ridden
4. and its within 50km of a city or town

i.e. Weekend warriors who talk big but don't actually enjoy the riding part of motorbikes

I think you're on to something there!

 

[Mikey]

:cheers: This has been a great post!!:riding:

 

[2RTsGV]

I wave at anybody, even scooters. That's just who I am. Nine out of ten wave back. My wave consists of a moderately low, 3 fingers down with my ring and pinky folded up into my palm. (Three fingers for trikes). Never heard of or seen a sissy wave. But, if I got one from a beautiful woman while fluttering her eyelashes, I would sure reciprocate..... Jim

I do the same, only I curl the thumb and pinky finger into the palm

 

[tntnj]

I wave at all bikes, if I don't get a wave back, so be it. It is mostly the hard core looking HD riders that dont wave back. When I had my HD I waved at all bikes not just two wheelers. There are other things in life to worry about than someone not waving back.

 

[PaladinLV]

Never experienced it!

AJ

 

[Fat Baxter]

You can always do a "Harley wave:" Keep both hands on the grips and look straight ahead.

 

[Mikey]

You can always do a "Harley wave:" Keep both hands on the grips and look straight ahead.

I think I have had more Harley guy's give a wave, than the cafe guys!!! Maybe they are afraid the will go face first in the tank!!

 

[chunkmonk]

panzy wave

Sounds like trolling; Where I live we have a little of everything from weekend seat huggers to hard core club chapters. They all get the same 'left hand down' either open-palm or index-finger pointing down as a "wave" since I can remember. The only reason those two are the "signals" to use is that they aren't used by the old hand-signal list (if you don't know what those are, maybe a little history would be fun(?). Every single one has always returned the courtesy in kind, with the exception of a few young ones on rice burners one Saturday afternoon. I met up with them in town around happy hour time and asked them why they didn't acknowledge it. The one guy said that he thought I was trying to tell them there was something on the ground so they all looked down. After I explained the reason for it, they were surprised and thanked me for informing them. Every time I've seen that crew since, they all throw out their hands long before I get a chance to. I'll have to meet up with them again and tell them that it isn't necessary to put your arm out at distances of like 500 yards and then hold it there until I'm 500 yards past them - I'm not a flag officer! LOL! But in all my 50+ years in the wind, I've NEVER seen anyone throw a panzy wave like that one.I wouldn't be surprised if you wouldn't get spoken to by someone if you did.

 

[chunkmonk]

Some don't know what it is, others think it's an "old guy" thing, and still others just figure that, since the other bikers don't initiate it with them (and sometimes they are right!), that they just won't do it because it's not what "they" do. Most folks where I live know what "left arm straight down with either open palm or index finger pointing straight down" means. We've got all kinds here, and they understand what courtesy means, even if it's not what you "do". There is more than one 1% club here and, while they stay clear of each other as much as possible, the rest of us try to be as courteous to them as possible, and they reciprocate in kind. Even when I rode with a club, we would never ignore someone who waved correctly, but if we ever got some strange version like that nonsense, we probably would stop and have words with them.

 

[stewart]

I live along the hwy, when I'm cutting the grass on my tractor I'll give the biker wave to bikers going by, most wave back.
When I'm out on the spyder I'll wave to anyone , most wave back. When going through a town, I like to wave to people that are on mobility scooters, normally get a big smile and big wave back.

 

[chunkmonk]

It's the way of the whole world any more, AR. If I wave at you (regardless of what kind of "jump up and down, flip my visor up and down 10 times, blow the horn, throw confetti" craziness I happen to think of), and you DON'T wave back, then you need to be given some kind of 'kindness ticket' and be branded as a mean person. Folks are drinking a bit too much of the kool-aid from the ministry of truth...

 

[Quickdraw]

Where I am in upstate NY, a lot of people do the typical 2 finger acknowledgement. There are more and more however that don't bother. It doesn't matter to me either way. I signal back if they signal me. I have noticed about 50% of Harley riders don't acknowledge me passing by. But again, it doesn't matter to me. To each their own.

 

[VegasDan]

I acknowledged EVERY bike I passed with the inverted V (keep both tires on the ground) when I rode two wheeled - I will continue to do so while I am on three.
If they choose to ignore or not respond - that is their decision; I will have performed my karmic duties by wishing the best for them.
No different than telling other riders to, "Ride safe" when parting company.

I base my actions on what is proper for me - I do not deviate from what is right based on the attitudes or behaviors of others.

 

[Lew L]

.

Wave to all on two or 3 wheels. Because I also ride the poor, old. slow V-Max I used to give the 2 down wave. With the 2014 RT I give the 3 down wave to all---- now even when I'm on 2 wheels ( muscle memory) Most everyone waves back--- no sissy waves here.

Lew L

 

[bikerchris1270]

I try not to let it bother me, but it still does. Other riders on 2 wheels giving the "sissy" wave to spyder riders. I used to ride on 2 wheels, but now my left knee wont hold a motorcycle up, so I ride a spyder. It is my way to still enjoy riding. If you know someone who does the sissy wave, please explain why some people ride spyders. I hate giving the one finger wave back. Im too nice of a person for that.

It must be an upper east coast tradition that is not observed in the Midwest….. Covid Residue.

 

[Mike0123]