Around The Bend: The wave

Warning: This article is based on opinion. It can contain sarcasm, disrespect or incongruities. Protective clothing may be necessary when reading.

To wave or not to wave, that is the question. I have been doing it for so long at this point it has become second nature, my hand in the position as soon as another rider is in my site.

One of the first particulars about riding a motorcycle that I realized was a wee bit different from the “normal” cage riders and one that made me feel we were out of the ordinary. Not only do we wave at one another. more often than not, if your bike were broken down on the side of the road, another rider would stop to see if you needed help. It’s a brotherhood “thang”.

No one told me that, it was by example that I learned. As is the way of bikers, we train the new riders. And that may now be the problem. With all the new riders not every one has a mentor to guide them any longer. Riding isn’t only because of the mere love or riding it is also because of the cost of gas, insurance and an automobile.

I do so hate to see that the greeting we have shared for so long seems to be dying. This wave goes back a long, long time. Way back when motorcyclists had only each other to depend on. Okay, that isn’t so much true any longer but the spirit remains. That spirit of camaraderie is one of the most important phenomenons of the motorcycle rider. It has held us together and holds us together still, keeps us a part of each other much the way common language, race or religion keeps people together.

The motorcycle wave is something we do like an underground greeting, as if to signal to each other “We sure are having fun! Ride ON!” I’ve noticed it seems to take on a different configuration according to the kind of bike the rider is on. Harley riders usually do the down low hand out pointing towards the ground while Honda rider’s seem to prefer the “HOW” Indian style, arm bent at elbow palm out up in the air and “crotch-rocket” riders lean towards a quick nod and/or the finger wiggle keeping their hand on the clutch. Beemer riders have a quick wave that I call the “parade” wave, from side to side and the Gold Wing rider have the hand up and hand back down, short, sweet and to the point. Any way the wave is preformed, it is still each biker’s recognition to the other. Just a wave to say we acknowledge that we have a common love of riding and we both are unique in that knowledge of the reason we ride.

You meet all kinds of people on motorcycles – tall, squat, thin, wide, lots of hair, no hair, bearded, clean-shaven, and tattooed, ear ringed, no jewelry at all, a ring on every finger, college grads, high school dropouts, nice,...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "The wave". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of Jul / Aug 2006 where this article was originally published.

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