Interseting observation

[K1200LTryder]

Yesterday I went for a nice little jaunt, 120 miles total, from Port Canaveral down to Sebastian Inlet riding along the coast on A1A. The weather was in the mid 80's with a pretty stiff breeze coming off the coast, and severe blue sky. There were plenty of bikes out, as the unofficial start of Biketoberfest started on the weekend.

I made a concious decision to wave at all oncoming bikes, whether they were in a group or not. I could not count how many bikes I waved at, but I estimate it was in the hundreds. But it was easy to count how many return waves I got back. 2 to be exact. ( and one knod).

The 2 that waved were wearing helmets and were fully clothed...jackets and foot protection, and at least blue jeans.

I did get quite a few "sneers", all of which came from riders wearing swartzenegger glasses, wife beater shirts (LOL) and shorts and flip flop foot protection. Most of these riders were on metric cruisers, or HD products of some sort.

I did get quite a few blank stares, and these all came from the older V-twin crowd, mostly clad in black, with matching his and hers dew rags...a few were even wearing turtle shells painted black and covered with some sort of stickers. The good news to me was seeing more seasoned riders wearing helmets, maybe the law of averages is catching up.

Myself, I was wearing the BMW club jacket that I just purchased through this site last week, my Nolan N102, blue jeans and riding boots. Nothing flashy, but I guess I just dont fit in with the crowd.

I did not see 1 BMW, which I thought was rather odd. Either that, or everbody is hiding until biketoberfest is over...LOL

:bmw:

[justlookin]

Have not made a trip to FL yet, but will make it there some day. (on my LT)t
I hope when I get there,I'm not disliked for my helmut and mesh jacket..
I have to admit here in MO I get a wave back from almost everyone. Harleys, Hondas, BMWs, and most Crotch Rockets. I just keep waving and really don't dwell on the "non wavers" its not my problem if they don't want to wave. I really haven't thought about why they don't wave back. The % of nonwavers may have gone up since I switched from a cruiser to the LT, I'm not really sure.
Missouri has a helmut law so we all have on lids.. When I'm over in IL I am in the minority with my helmut on.. Still I see lots of helmets over there too.
The last group ride I was on (a church group) had abut 1/2 helmets, 1/2 w/out while we were in IL..
To each his own.. As long as I'm enjoying my ride, I really don't care.. and I'm always enjoying my ride. :D

[Tat_n_Telle]

I've found that at the larger rallys, a lot of people (including myself) stop waving, because you'd be doing it pretty much all day long. Don't think of it as a snub.

[donsobeck]

Try waving on the Dragon.

DON

[kola1]

The wave is nice but, the best is when I see that ear to ear grin coming at me. Only a dog with his head out a window or another two wheeler would understand. I don't seem to enjoy the really big rallies and the crap that they sometimes become. I live and ride the west side of Fl. I try to avoid the big cites. Yes when the weather will not let you ride up north get your butt down here. Try the smaller towns and not the big cites. There will not be as many cars, or problems. Even if you don't have to wear gear in Fl. you still need to. As hot as it is here I also wear a padded mesh jacket so, justlooking you are welcome here any time.

[Retread]

I grew up and started riding in Northern California in the mid 70's. My folks were touring bike riders and before that we all rode dirt bikes. I took it for granted back then that you always waved at another biker and it was rare when one didn't wave back.

I didn't own a road bike, a working one at least, from about 1984 until two years ago. I bought an older Goldwing to see if I would actually want to ride. After deciding it was an overwhelming 'yes I would" I bought an 02 LT about a month ago.

I amazed that so few riders wave back. I live in Sparks, NV now and have ridden both here and in Nor Cal recently. I'd say the percentage who wave here is below 50%. There doesn't seem to be a real breakdown along bike brands or types at least that I've noticed.

Well, I'll keep waving and not worry about the other guy.

Look forward to seeing you all out there on the road.

[ahpd1992]

Try waving on the Dragon.

DON

No Kiddin! but Don Ive actually done it on some of the less severe turns. Once youve committed to a line u pretty much only need one hand
Im usually making the sign of the cross w/ the other :histerica

Tom

[jayjacobson]

....I made a concious decision to wave at all oncoming bikes, whether they were in a group or not. I could not count how many bikes I waved at, but I estimate it was in the hundreds. But it was easy to count how many return waves I got back. 2 to be exact. (and one knod)....
Yeah, and sometimes I go outback a bang my head on the brick wall just because it feels good when I stop....

[Jim3123]

I guess it depends (not the kind you wear) on where you are as to how many people will wave. I waved on the way to Myrtle Beach, SC from Florence, SC (about 70 miles one way) and received waves from nearly everyone. When I arrived in M.B. hardly anyone waved because there were thousands of bikes and you would be waving constantly. (My fix was to have my son wave while I drove). On the way back I started waving again and had good results.
The Carolina crowd have always been friendly anyway. You know... Beautiful places and Smiling faces. Come up to the Carolina's...We'll wave at ya.

[HornHonker]

If I ride my Bandit, I get 0 returns from everyone except the sports bike crowd. On bot the LT and RT I get about 10% from the dirt bikes, and very high return from everyone else. Even the hard core HD is probably around 80%.