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The Wave
If you are around motorcyclist for any length of time, the topic will eventually turn to “The Wave.” “Those guys didn’t wave” or “Those guys waved and I didn’t expect them too,” etc. Since I seem to have an opinion about most everything else I might as well put my two-cents in on this one as well. Since I have had follow bikers not return my wave, I certainly have an opinion about those who wave and those who don’t.
Let me put it out on the table so everybody knows up front where I’m at on this issue. I wave to every other motorcyclist I see; Harleys, Goldwings, cruisers, metrics, standards, crotch rockets, trikes, motor scooters, and old people with two wheels on their walkers, I wave at them all.
When I first started riding in the early 60’s, there were far fewer motorcyclists than there are today. Hell, there were far fewer people than there are today. In fact, those who rode motorcycles were a bit suspect. If you weren’t actually irresponsible you were at least immature. The slogan, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” was as yet unknown, and not believed in any case.
During that period of time, some drivers would tailgate me or cut me off intentionally, and a few were just generally hostile. Then again, that was in the heyday of the Hell’s Angels and many of the people who didn’t ride assumed we were all, what later came to be called, the one-percenters. Today, I still have people who cut me off and tailgate me but now its just because everyone seems to be in such a damned hurry they’re not paying attention, not because they don’t like motorcyclist, per se. Of course, we still have some of those also.
For all of those reasons, there seemed to be a closer bond between “bikers” than there is today, and we all waved. The type of motorcycle never occurred to me and apparently never occurred to them. If you were on two wheels, you had to be willing to put up with being odd and, as the old saying goes, misery loves company. Besides, we shared a common obsession, motorcycles. Everybody waved.
OK, so I leave the sport for about 20 years and come back into it at a time when motorcycling has become a popular pastime and motorcycles now cost more than open-heart surgery. I bought a used BMW, a bike that had a good reputation for quality when I left the sport, took a CMSP course, and hit the road, glad to be back in the group. I pass a fellow biker on the road, he waves, and I wave back. Oh yeah, I remember this. Later, I pass another biker, I wave first and he returns the wave. Hey, I love this sport. That wave brought forth the memory of camaraderie, of being part of a smaller group, of sharing an obsession at a time when we are becoming an anonymous glob, and I enjoyed that memory. I liked the wave.
Then, one weekend I’m up on skyline and I pass a couple of crotch rockets and….they don’t return the wave. “What the Hell?” I pass lots of other bikers and they all wave. OK, maybe the two guys were busy and couldn’t wave. I can accept that. Then I pass a couple of Harley guys, no wave. At first I thought it was an age thing, but the Harley guys looked more my age. I needed to find out what was going on.
I ask one of my motorcycling friends, who is and has been an active rider for many years, and he just laughs, “Yeah, a lot of the Harley guys won’t wave,” he tells me with a “ welcome to the real world” kind of attitude. He didn’t know about the crotch rockets.
“Really, why is that?”
“I don’t really know. They don’t think it’s cool I guess.”
A couple of months later, I head out on a 4300 mile trip around the western part of the United States. I spend most of my time on the two-lane back roads and every biker I wave to, waves back. Everyone, no matter what they were riding. Harleys, crotch rockets, (well actually, there were very few crotch rockets) touring bikes, they all wave. Apparently, they hadn’t gotten the word about coolness. When I got back into the bay area, I encounter the same old silliness. Selective waving.
After thinking about this difference, I have come up with the following theory: Those who ride only on weekends or for show, or who have a short history in the sport, may not wave. They are too concerned with the image they are buying in to. Those who put a lot of miles under their bottom, appreciate another true believer and will wave. I think it’s that simple.
Will I continue to wave while riding around town? Damn right I will. I generally like people and I’ve seldom met another motorcyclist who was unfriendly to me when I talked with them. I like to laugh, I like to hear others laugh, I enjoy talking to other riders about motorcycles, and by God, I’m going to wave at you, no matter what.
If you don’t wave back, I will assume you didn’t see me instead of assuming you’re a poser or a biker with more money than manners. But rest assured, as a fellow motorcyclist if I see you on the road, I’ll wave and if I see you broke down on the side of the road, I’ll stop, and if I see you in a gas station, I’ll talk motorcycles with you, and I hope you will do the same for me.
Remember, there are still more of them then us, and there are still some of them that don’t like us. And even if there are more of us today than there were 20 years ago, we still need each other.