why bikers "wave"?

[matcom]

thought this was interesting. not sure how true it is. a Google doesn't come up with much but this guy's post is entertaining anyway...

..."The idea of such a bond is completely foreign to car drivers, but that is because car drivers hate each other. When you are in a car, the only thing that can make you angrier than social injustice and child abuse is a stupid driver. And when you’re in a hurry, everybody is stupid, except you. But such is not the case among bikers. We live by a higher law. And although you may not see the bond and higher law, it’s there. Don’t believe me? Next time you're driving behind a biker on the highway, watch what he does when he passes another biker. If he thinks you’re not looking he’ll take his left hand and point at the ground at a 45 degree angle.

I quickly learned that this was called the “Signal of Brotherhood” (S.O.B.). At first, I was certain everybody was pulling the “made you look” joke on me. But I figured this wasn’t the case when they never came back to punch me in the arm. Later, I determined they were pointing at Hell, as in, “See you in Hell, bro.” Again, I was mistaken. Finally, I learned that it was a signal of recognition and acceptance, as in, “Hello there brother. I see you, and you see me. We see each other and therefore we are not alone. I do not know you personally, but I love you and am loved of you. If you are ever in trouble, just perform the scream of the Norse god, Kerfluggon, and your brothers will be there, in all their raging furry, to fight on your behalf.”

Upon further research I learned that the S.O.B. was not always performed the way we see it now. Up until 1973 the S.O.B. was a low five. You actually slapped hands with oncoming bikers. You’re probably thinking an actual five is way awesomer than a non-five, and you’d be right. It was way awesomer. But the original S.O.B. was wrought with peril. S.O.B. deaths were not uncommon. But it wasn’t until Sonny “Bones” Wilcox, leader of the Southeast chapter of Hells Angels, S.O.B.’d a passing biker, swerved into an oncoming semi, folded like an accordian on impact sending his butt through the back of his face, and killing him instantly, that the biker community decided to change the way the S.O.B. was performed. Needless to say, the language is changing but the feeling and intent remain the same.

http://www.theunmighty.com/2008/06/my-life-as-biker.html

I notice (and I do the same except with a PEACE SIGN) most point down. Any "history" to this practice?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. I don't wave on the cycle

I'll do the wave at baseball games, sometimes at concerts, and occasionally at a golf tournament if the golfer is taking too long to hit the ball.

But on a bike? Standing up on the pegs and raising both arms in the air, well, sir, that's just way too advanced for me, especially at high speed. Maybe after my next MSF class.

As to the idea of pointing down: If you point up, it means you're turning right. Point to the side means you're turning left. Pointing down used to mean you're slowing down, but that went obsolete a few years after Thomas Edison invented the brake light. It would have gone obsolete earlier, but Harley-Davison resisted, thinking electricity was a fad, like driveshafts on bikes.

Just kidding (and drinking & posting). If I see you, I'll wave. Or point a finger.
:hi:

I don't remember any full-contact high (or low) fives pre-1973. Waves, salutes, fist in the air, or just a nod if you needed both hands on the bars at that moment.

[matcom]

2. I'm sure you'll "point a finger" if we ever pass each other

:rofl:

:hi:

[ThomWV]

3. Back when I was a kid I owned Corvettes, always waved at other vet' drivers

Kind of funny, back in the 60's and 70's I owned a couple of Corvettes and it was customary for us drivers of the plastic toys to wave at each other. I also rode bikes back then - a lot more than I drove actually - and I don't recall anyone on bikes waving at each other back then.

Now days every bozo on the bus waves, and I'm more than happy to wave back, kind of*. No sweat off my ass. I see a bike pulled off the road where there's no reason to be pulled off the road I slow down, maybe stop, and yell over if they are OK too - no sweat off my ass and if they need help I'll do what I can even if it does cost a trickle of perspiration.


* I know it's cool to nonchalantly drop the left hand down and point at some nonexistent spot just over in the next lane but what I actually do is raise my left hand in a fist as a return wave. "Power to the People!" It seems to bewilder just about every oncoming rider I see.

[av8rdave]

4. I always wave - same thing...peace sign pointing more or less down

Just finished a short two day trip into Arkansas and OK yesterday. Didn't pass a single biker that didn't wave.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. I get the little finger wave from oncoming bikers. I seldom initiate but do wave back.

Since I'm only on a scooter (Reflex) I figure they made a mistake waving at me and I'd be presumptuous initiating a wave at someone on a real bike.

Do I have an inferiority complex?

[ThomWV]

7. That is the one exception - I always wave at scooters

In the hopes it will welcome them to the 'brother- sister-hood' and be part of what makes them decide to move up to a motorcycle.

[guitar man]

6. I always wave

generally pointing downward more or less. And if I see a biker on the side of the road, I will always stop to see if they are alright and offer assistance, no matter where I'm going, whether it will make me late or whatever, I never leave another biker stranded on the side of the road. :thumbsup:

[Robb]

8. I'll wave back

...Usually not taking my clutch hand really off. I'll wiggle a few fingers back, but never initiate -- unless I ever see someone else on the exact same bike, which would be worth it. Bound to happen someday.

Maybe I'm a grumpy bastard, but I disagree with the article. There are a ton of stupid bike riders out there. Many are too focused on waving and not riding.

I actually witnessed a bike coming the other way take his hand off to wave at me just as a deer jumped out in front of him. He hit it, went down hard. Hospital hard, lucky I had dispatch on my speed dial. Can't say for sure he would've gone down more gracefully with both hands on the bars, but it couldn't have hurt his chances. He's alive because of his helmet, which was still attached to his head which was still attached to his body when the whole mess came to a stop a few yards from me.

Maybe if I didn't live in deer country I might be more into the waving. :shrug: Besides, summertime in Colorado I'd be waving my ass off, there's so many new bikes out there.

/end grumpy bastard rant

[Haole Girl]

9. I wave...

as long as I'm not on a turn or doing something that might cause me to go off the road! lol

[happyslug]

10. Old VW bug use to wave to each other, as do Jeep Wrangler Drivers today.

I drive a Jeep Wrangler and I have had most other Wrangler drivers wave to me (Wranglers and CJs and the occasionally WWII Jeep only, NOT Cherokees or other Jeeps). I remember the wave between VW bugs drivers (Mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, before the Bug was replaced by the Rabbit).

[panhead1961]

11. Jeep (CJ's) drivers wave also

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. The low wave is more aerodynamic. n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Given the surface I present on a motorcycle ...

"aerodynamic" is not an option.

:rofl:

[doc03]

14. I bought a scooter last year and most bikers do the wave and

I return it. I have learned just by their appearance generally which ones won't. There are a few maybe 10% of the Harley Davidson types that like to project a tough guy image that won't wave. I parked beside one of them the other day and a guy walks past him and his $25,000 bike and starts ashing me about my scooter. The biker looked pissed, scooter envy I guess.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. "Scooter envy" lol!

I'd do exactly the same!

I find that 80% of Harley riders won't wave to a lumberjack on a ratted-out old Yamaha. I generally wave anyhow, just to be sure I catch that fifth one.

Scooters, never a problem. They always return the wave.

[doc03]

16. I thinks maybe that segment of bike riders have a

little of that "the bigger the SUV the smaller the package syndrome."

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. Maybe. I've developed a bit of an unhealthy attitude toward them, I must admit.

The cost of the uniform signifiying that its wearer belongs to the rugged individualists club is nearly as much as the bike. The Harley "motorclothes" catalog is the size of the JCPenneys Christmas catalog, and the motorcycle brochure is the size of the complementary waxed-paper comic which was once included with a piece of Bazooka bubble gum.

I've concluded that for the aformentioned 80%, a Harley is a fashion accessory primarily and an investment secondarily. The "fun" is wholly derived from those two primary functions.

Fashion over function? Look at the helmets. "Darn do-gooders! Make me wear a helmet? I'll show you... I'll purchase the least protective one I can possibly find!"

I think the Rat Bike trend is the fashion I admire.

[Lowell]

18. I always wave if my hands are free

Just a single finger pointing to the ground. It has always been an acknowledgement to the other rider that he is not invisible. I'm using the same wave I used in the 60s.