Arrogant Harley Rider

[Wh0M3]

To wave or not to wave, sometimes I wonder if people even know to do so. I try to wave at everyone on a motorcycle, I have been in a situation where I get passed by a few HD who don't want to wave and then then next guy does wave and I didn't, it only makes me feel like I should be the bigger person and not care if they wave or not.

I also drive a Jeep Wrangler and anyone who drives a Wrangler or a CJ know we wave to eachother too. I've seen the guys who aren't real Jeepers and look at you funny when you wave at them, I just think to myself that they don't understand it's a Jeep thing.

To me waving at someone is saying Hi and nice ride. I've often felt the urge to wave at Motorcycles while I'm in my Jeep or car driving too.

 

[ice]

There is one word that describes their attitude.

Childish!

I experienced the same thing from a Hardly rider the other day.
I rode by him at low speed and I waved. He started to wave back, then he caught his mistake and stopped with half a wave.

It amazes me that grown men can be so immature.

The only thing I can figure is maybe all those Hardly vibes are causing constipation.

 

[mcteague]

Not to be a jerk but I am sick of all this waving, especially on the first nice Spring days. There are so many riders out that your left hand is seldom on the grip! So now, I'll respond with a wave but I don't go first. Maybe the waving thing made sense years ago but now, with so many different types of people riding there really is not much kinship between us. Yeah we all ride two wheels with a motor but......

Tim

 

[Dennis in NH]

Not to be a jerk but I am sick of all this waving, especially on the first nice Spring days. There are so many riders out that your left hand is seldom on the grip! So now, I'll respond with a wave but I don't go first. Maybe the waving thing made sense years ago but now, with so many different types of people riding there really is not much kinship between us. Yeah we all ride two wheels with a motor but......

Tim

I hear ya. When it's Winter here or rainy here, and I see another rider, of course I wave -- there are few of us that will ride in cold and rain. A lot of cagers will wave at me too.

But when the temps hit 80F, look out because the Harleys are out; there are so many riders that waving just gets old. If there are only a few riders out, ok, I'll wave. But when there are 10 or so, forget it -- I'm not being rude just practical. But if you wave to me, I'm wavin' back.

And I wish those arrogant Harley riders (not all of them are this way granted) would take that "Live to Ride" slogan off of them -- or at least say "Live to Ride -- just as long as it's at least 80F and dry and no rain" because the latter is closer to the truth.

Dennis

 

[Dennis in NH]

...

Man I had fun!

and oh yeah!

Dang dude. Looks like you had some freakin' fun -- I'll be sure to keep hydration in mind (if it ever gets hot here in NH ). Glad some folks were cool enough to check on you.

Dennis

 

[fureinku]

i rarely wave, but just because i like to keep both hands on the bars, for now..

ive encountered around 10 or so bikes since ive been riding, and only one rider actually waved, it was HD for sure, the other 9 or so were mixed, sport/harley

i get more waves in the subaru than on the bike

 

[jmagilto]

They are not all like that:
I have the FZ as well as an UltraGlide. (and I wave)

 

[hot4teach]

Coder's got it pretty much nailed down, but I will say this. There are harley riders I despise. They are this sort of guy:

You know he is just a tax analyst or something.....why pretend to be such a gangster? And there are tons of this sort of fellow. Sometimes they wear the leather jacket and half face mask of bones with token helmet. Sure some of us look like power rangers....but our dress is functional. Since when does dressing up like Skeletor from Heman do anything for your riding?

That guy has to be about 4'11''. Look how big that sportster looks!!

 

[cap'n]

It's a funny duality...

PRO: There's a guy at work with 135,000 miles on an Electra Glide, who rides year-round, all over the damned country. He got me to go out with his HOG chapter a few times, Sheldon's HD out of Auburn MA. It was me on my little fizzer, and between 50 and 80 rumbling Harleys (and one Buell, once). Every last one of them came over to say hello, to thank me for coming, both times I rode with them. The very first time, there were only about 5 minutes before we took off so people were a little wary of the "sport" bike until they saw that I knew how to ride in a group like they do - diagonal stagger, hand signals for pedestrians and sand and turns and stops and such, compress to a column at stops, and at all costs maintain your position as closely as you can... no weaving or lunging. Once we pulled over for ice cream I got a rolling procession of compliments and hello's for my group riding manners. They were very, very good folks. Also at a construction project I'm partially managing, I ride up a lot on the fizzer, and the few harley riding construction workers now know who I am and always ask if I rode today (generally when it's raining, and when I say "of course" they always chuckle).

CON: Way, way fewer harley guys wave back at me. That stereotype is true, more often than not. And the middle manager types are just beyond silly... hard to get mad about 50 year old guys who wear Duck Head khakis 5 days a week and wall-to-wall black leather on sundays taking themselves seriously.



So at the end of it, you can't really throw the good ones out with the bad. Just chuckle, shake your head, and keep fishing for the good ones.

 

[ELIZABETH]

Well said, Cap'n!! :thumbup:
I also ride with many different styles of bikes. Mostly Harleys, actually, due to proximity. There is a WoW (Women on Wheels) chapter close to my house, and 80% of them ride Harleys. They are the nicest bunch of ladies, and happy that I ride, regardless of WHAT I ride.
If you want to wave, then wave. If you don't, then don't. Quit worrying so much about what others think of you, and what kind of bike they are on, and just ride your own ride, and enjoy yourself!

 

[Norbert]

People form groups. Having a common enemy is very useful for a group. That's why we invent them.

Having an external enemy allows a group to more easily come together. It helps define a group (the definition of our group is: not them). Even if the enemy is all made up, calling one out allows for some group cohesion.

Both the guy who was rude to RyanT and the Harley rider that snubs my wave have the same motivations:
He belongs more to his group of Harley riders by acknowledging me as the enemy.
He is reinforcing the boundaries (or definition) of his own group.
He is increasing the value of the group HE belongs too (the good guys/Harley riders/NOT sportbikers) and therefore increasing his own self-worth.
When he is with his group of Harley riders, he has a new identity, one that is with the group. Snubbing me reinforced his belonging to the group and his new identity. That's why he does it. Maybe he doesn't like who he is off the bike.

If a Harley rider (who would normally snub a sportbiker) and I were stuck in an elevator and we had our street clothes on and we making small talk, do you think he'd stop talking to me if I mentioned I had a sportbike? No. Here's why:
1) People behave differently when in groups.
2) Being in a group helps to make you anonymous.
3) People treat each other differently when they are anonymous.
I wouldn't fit the description of an evil sport bike rider in the elevator. He would have seen me as an individual, not as a member of this other group. I wasn't wearing the sport bike rider uniform. Importantly, I would have identified him as an individual, not a Harley rider.


Does anyone know about the Stanford Prison experiment? One of the reasons the guards went sadistic was because they all became anonymous and hid behind their uniforms. They wouldn't have treated the prisoners the same way if they were all told to wear their favorite clothes and had name tags with their full name, high school mascot, and favorite ice cream flavor.

The Harley riders that signal back, that I have the pleasure of meeting, that helped Motogiro out when he was dizzy are unique.
Why? Not everyone is able to break out of the group behavior. It's hard to do. If you're in a group, you can become anonymous and lose your own sense of morality.

Back to the Stanford Prison experiment: while the fake guards were abusing the fake prisoners, more than 50 outside people were brought in to see the experiment. There was only ONE person who actually said, hey, this is not the right thing to do.

Please forgive this long-winded post!
More info: The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo

 

[champion221elite]

I did a little experiment today while out riding. It was a bright sunny day, but only had a high of 50.

I made it a point to be the first person to wave at every motorcycle I saw regardless of brand or type of bike.

I saw 6 bikes today and received either waves or a head nod from all but one of them.

Here's the results:

2 metric cruisers riding together (appeared to be husband and wife). Both riders waved.

V-strom: rider waved.

Gixxer 1000: Rider gave a head nod (his left hand was holding in the clutch at an intersection).

Older Goldwing: wave and head nod.

Large Harley Davidson (appeared to be an Ultra Glide). Not only did the rider ignore my wave, he looked the opposite direction to avoid eye contact with me.

Regardless of today's test sample, I will continue waving to other riders. I just thought it was funny the HD rider took the extra step to look away from me.

 

[Ryan T]

Yet another instance: As I'm riding I see two guys on motorcycles, both of them on Harleys, really tricked out ones. I, of course wave, neiter responds to me. I figure they just didn't see me wave.

They catch up to me at the stop light (I'n in the left lane, they pull up right beside me in the right lane) and once again I acknowledge them and can you believe they both look at me, and then turn to one another and carry on a conversation. Like I didn't even exist.

Oh well, what can you do. I'll continue to wave to everyone on two wheels but I expect to get less returns from Harley riders. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[mikebike]

I have an Electra-glide Classic and a FZ6 parked side by side in my garage. And I find this tread amusing.

It is fine to classify riders just because they ride this bike or that bike but if we say all Italians are hot headed ....or ... all Irishmen are drunks....etc then we would say that is bigoted.

Just as all races & nationalities have both good & bad folks so are there good & bad owners of all makes of motorcycles.

As someone who has been stereotyped by both sport-bikes and Harley's depending on which bike I decide to ride on a given ride; I think the key is to respond or initiate the right behavior. That being the one you control.
:rockon:

 

[The Toecutter]

I have an Electra-glide Classic and a FZ6 parked side by side in my garage. And I find this tread amusing.

It is fine to classify riders just because they ride this bike or that bike but if we say all Italians are hot headed ....or ... all Irishmen are drunks....etc then we would say that is bigoted.

Just as all races & nationalities have both good & bad folks so are there good & bad owners of all makes of motorcycles.

As someone who has been stereotyped by both sport-bikes and Harley's depending on which bike I decide to ride on a given ride; I think the key is to respond or initiate the right behavior. That being the one you control.
:rockon:

But......i'm a drunk,Irish,arrogant,and I'm building a half Yamaha half H-D chopper..... I have issues!!! LOL :rof:

 

[chimneydoc]

I'd have to say for me that about 20% of Harley riders won't wave back, But then again I don't wave at scooters unless they wave first.

Doc

 

[Motogiro]

But......i'm a drunk,Irish,arrogant,and I'm building a half Yamaha half H-D chopper..... I have issues!!! LOL :rof:

That's my Brother!

 

[Wh0M3]

I'd have to say for me that about 20% of Harley riders won't wave back, But then again I don't wave at scooters unless they wave first.

Doc

When you say scooters, do you mean like the little 50cc Mopeds? I don't wave at them, maybe I'm a snob for it. I used to ride one of those when I was 15 but I never tried to wave at anyone on one of those either.

 

[joe1971]

Yet another instance: As I'm riding I see two guys on motorcycles, both of them on Harleys, really tricked out ones. I, of course wave, neiter responds to me. I figure they just didn't see me wave.

They catch up to me at the stop light (I'n in the left lane, they pull up right beside me in the right lane) and once again I acknowledge them and can you believe they both look at me, and then turn to one another and carry on a conversation. Like I didn't even exist.

Oh well, what can you do. I'll continue to wave to everyone on two wheels but I expect to get less returns from Harley riders. It's the nature of the beast.

carry a bunch of super balls in you tank bag, get in front of em and start tossing balls over your shoulder

 

[Jblk9695]

Heck, I wave at everybody, even scooters, and you know what most of them wave back. Even if they don't its no big deal to me at least I gave it a try. :thumbup:
I think that some that don't wave back are just afraid to let go of the bars
especially in the twisties:BLAA:

Jerry