WHAT‘S IN A WAVE?

One of things I love about motorcycling is the camaraderie among my fellow bikers. It really makes me feel good when I’m cruising along and see a rider coming in the opposite direction with his hand out waving to me. Of course I wave back and more often than not I’m the one who is initiating the wave.

One of the things I don’t like is when I see a motorcyclist coming in the opposite direction, I lay out my gloved hand in a brotherly wave and get, nothing! No response. Nada. Zilch.

This annoys the hell out of me. I understand it when the other biker is just taking off from a stop light and is amidst shifting gears. They can’t very much wave to me at that point and that’s fine. I understand. But I’m not going to ignore them by not waving even though I know they can’t wave back.

The way I see it, we are all brothers and sisters of the road. You never see car drivers wave to each other. For one thing there’s too damn many of them. They’d be waving constantly. But even if they’re driving on a lonesome road with no other cars to be seen for miles, then a car approaches from the opposite direction, they hardly even look at the other driver. We bikers are not like that, as a rule.

I remember when I first started riding in the mid-70’s. There were a lot less bikes on the road then. The reason I figure for this is the lack of reliable electric start systems on motorcycles. Most bikes didn’t even have electric starters and the ones that did still had a kick starter on the bike because the electric starter often didn’t work very well, especially in cold weather. The first three bikes I owned didn’t have electric starters. You had to prime or choke the carburetor, then kick that bastard to life. Often times this wasn’t an easy thing to do, and it could be dangerous! Sometimes a compression stroke would kick you back and damn near throw you off the bike. Sometimes your foot would come off the kick pedal and the damn thing would come back up with a vengeance and catch you in the back of knee. Ouch!

This kept many people off of motorcycles. Back then you didn’t see nearly as many lady bikers or old guys like you do now. The reason of course is that many ladies and older guys couldn’t handle kicking a 74ci v-twin over.

As a result, most riders were younger men like myself. When we saw each other on the road, it was even more of a bonding felt between us. We didn’t wave to each other then like we do now. Back then we saluted each other! Some of you old skool guys know exactly what I’m talking about. We’d see the other biker, raise our left hands in the air and display a clenched fist power salute to each other. Awesome!

Those day are gone. Over the entailing years that clenched fist became an open handed wave. That hand went lower and lower until we have what we have nowadays; dropping our left hands down to the side in a very noncommittal wave that’s barely a wave at all.

But even that wave is a good feeling to many, myself included. It churns my butter however when I see some guy approaching me on a brand new bagger and when I wave to him, he just looks at me like I’m from another planet. I can imagine him thinking, “Who’s that guy? Do I know him? He must know me or thinks he does or he wouldn’t be waving”. These are almost always new riders who think they’re bikers but haven’t a clue about the biker culture. They are often, as I cited in a different Two Cents Worth, wearing a tank top, shorts, and sandals. But there is often that helmet on their heads that makes them safe, despite their lack of protective clothing.

I don’t like to pick on people about their choice of motorcycles, but I have noticed that people riding on Honda Goldwings will almost NEVER wave to me on my Harley. Are these people so conceited or upset because of the stigma of riding a rice burner that they can’t relax and wave to a fellow rider? Apparently they are.

I remember being in Lakeland, Florida with my wife one day when we went to Lakeland Fun Bike Center and met with Dan Dorsch, former owner of a chain of KFC franchises, CEO of Checkers, Inc. and a board member with Papa John’s Pizza. He still owned some restaurants like Mojo’s Winghouse and Nicky D’s. He was also the owner of Lakeland Fun Bike Center which consistently was one of the top retailers of Honda motorcycles in the state.

At one point Dan asked us, “What can I do to satisfy the Goldwing Club? I tried everything; free food, free oil changes. They still just bitch and moan about everything.”

My wife and I just looked each other and laughed. My wife had told me about when she was President of a Goldwing Club in Central New York. She resigned for that very reason; they were NEVER satisfied and always complained. She told Dan that there was nothing he could do. It was just in their nature to be like that.

It was a sad day when Susan and I were in Dryden, New York and
we heard that Dan Dorsch, his wife, his personal assistant that we also met that day, and another person died in a crash in Virginia in a private plane that Dan was piloting himself. Dan was a great man and an inspiration to everyone who ever met him. He will be missed.

But I stray from my point: Goldwingers don’t like to wave to other bikers. Perhaps if it is another Goldwing rider they might acknowledge each other, I don’t know. I’ve even had crotch-rocket riders wave but hardly ever a Goldwing. C’mon guys and gals, lighten up. We’re all on that road together. We’re all brothers and sisters of the road regardless of what we ride.

So please people, if you’re riding along, wave to your fellow bikers and wave back when they acknowledge you. It’s what makes us special.

Whether you agree or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s just my two cents worth.

Till next time, let’s be safe out there,
Johnny