I've found that with few exceptions those that don't wave really, really need to keep both hands on the bars.

I've found that with few exceptions those that don't wave really, really need to keep both hands on the bars.

That's probably true. One problem with the design is that with three separate wheel tracks. Your guaranteed to hit every single imperfection or pot hole in the road!

Bob, I hope you don't run across any unicycles!

Yeah, that may not be taken too well, would it! 

I've been there and done that with the Harley's and I can tell you that most of them (not all) HATE us for riding non-American "iron". I really don't see the point in trying to kid-glove this.

Like many others have said, I will wave at anyone in the open air, but here is my take on it....... The Harley group is the only other rider than I am unsure if they are going to wave back. I have no hard data, but seat of the pants response is that 50% of the time, they will not wave back.
And I quoted TurboHawk simply because it stretches beyond the non-American bike. I rode a heavily customized Victory Jackpot for several years and that bike has more American in it than the Harley does and they resent that bike just as much. 

I always point one finger towards the ground    My normal wave

All seriousness aside, I find most Harley riders wave and most of them will initiate the wave.  Bottom line I wave at anybody. 

I always point one finger towards the ground    My normal wave

All seriousness aside, I find most Harley riders wave and most of them will initiate the wave.  Bottom line I wave at anybody. 

i was on my way home from work last week and a H-D guy passes me and gets over 4-5 cars ahead of me.  along comes another H-D at us and he waves to the H-D guy in front of me and i wave lika normal and he just looks at me............i was like whatever; you cant win them all.  i find that the H-D guys are the most hard headed about "the wave" around here anyway.

There are some good guys on HD's, but they are the minority...The good news is the bad ones have a way or weeding themselves out.

Waving is a courtesy, a sort of "pay it forward" of good will.  Not everyone is courteous.

I wave at everybody. Motorcycles, trikes, scooters, dual sports, Spyders, everything. I've been riding and racing motorcycles since I was 10 years old and love everything about them. I have street bikes, dirt bikes, a 4 wheeler, hell, I even have a scooter. It's a sickness, I tell you!! Anyone who won't wave at any or all of the above is a douchebag and can stick their thumbs up their butts and walk on their elbows! You gotta love 'm all if you're a true motorcyclist.  So.......am I breaking some kind of rule when I wave on the BMW? LOL! I'm out on the road a lot and I've found that all the RUBS and posers stay in town while the wavers and real motorcyclist are OUT of town. additionally, I ALWAYS stop to check on a rider on the side of the road regardless of bike choice. It's really a brotherhood kind of thing to me.

Jim, I love your saintliness!

What are the odds that the last poor sap that was "broke down" on his motorcycle on a hot summer day on I-10 in west Texas that I stopped to help was a drug mule!! He was making a delivery. I didn't want to know anything else.  It's quite the funny story.  Perhaps over a campfire.

This post is good, I want to tell a quick story:  I have(had) a friend, she was kinda an independent sole, about 5 years ago she told me she was thinking about getting a bike and wanted some advice, she was looking at a Shadow pretty hard.  Well she ended up taking the safety course here in cleveland and decided on a HD 883 sportster...well that was all it took she was the Harley stores dream.  She found a "clique" that she fit in with, she was single, liked to party and found the Harley crew to be the answer.  She has since bought a street glide, and a springer along with her sportster.  She has been an avid rider done the sturgis thing a couple time and the bike to D.C. for veterans.  Last summer on her way back from Sturgis they (her and her riding friend) took the Northern route and while in upper Michigan her partner had a serious laydown right in front of her.  It was a real bad experience for her and him, (he ended up with a few broken ribs and some road rash, they had just put on their helmets about 6 miles previous at a gas stop or he'd have been a gonner most likely).  As he layed there on the side of the road SEVERAL of her HERO harley riders just passed on by, the group that stopped was a group of tourers on Hondas and Kaw's... She told me she was done with the whole, "rice burner bike" thing....Well she has a short memory, she recently kept blasting me on a social website about my Spyder, and how it wasn't a bike and blah blah blah....Now keep in mind she has a whole 5 years experience on a bike but somewhere she feels she has the entitlement to put down what I choose to ride...WHAT A BUNCH of B.S.!!!! Last week I reminded her of there little mishap last summer.  Sadly our friendship has past, but remember guys & gals, just because it's not what you choose doesn't make a it less of a bike or someone less of an enthusiast.  Riding is a social sport, WAVE you'll feel better at the next gas stop when you meet up with those riders!!!! 

I remember a conversation I had many years ago with a Harley rider (I was riding a BMW at the time). He told me that the pure unvarnished truth is that the only riders who don't wave are BMW riders.

I had a BMW rider wave to me last year on my way back from Ohio.  The way he raised his hand up to wave looked like the more casual "Nazi salutes" you see in the movies.  Took me a few minutes to stop laughing.   

I'll wave at anyone who waves at me. I've never seen a Spyder around here so I can't say that I have or haven't waved at one.

i think its about getting out in the wind. doesnt matter if your on 1,2 or 100 wheels.

im my single days i would even wave at the pretty girls in cars.

I normally wave at bikes, trikes, and scooters.  And little kids.  And anyone I know.  And anybody who looks like they might appreciate it.  It's my way of saying something to the effect of "It's a great day to be on a bike!".   If circumstances (traffic, road conditions, speed, intersections, etc) are a bit strained, I don't wave because the other rider doesn't need the distraction, and I prefer to stay focused as well.

One of my best friends, who is my most frequent riding partner, is one of the friendliest guys I've ever met, but he hardly ever waves.  So I've learned that everybody waves or doesn't wave for their own reasons.  Lots of us have an "Us" vs "Them" attitude about waving.  Nothing wrong with that, IMHO, as long as we don't take it to seriously.   Every time I think that (whatever type) of riders/bikes never wave, it seems like the next few I see wave to me first.   

All in all, it seems to me that the farther out of town, and the hotter or colder or more miserable the weather, the more likely we are to wave at each other.

FWIW, the other day we (C14 & Tiger 955) saw a black Spyder with a rider all dressed in black with a mohawk on his helmet.  His tags were an abbreviation of "Batmobile".  We waved, he waved. 

The Motorcycle Wave - The Solution

Jim, I love your saintliness!

What are the odds that the last poor sap that was "broke down" on his motorcycle on a hot summer day on I-10 in west Texas that I stopped to help was a drug mule!! He was making a delivery. I didn't want to know anything else.  It's quite the funny story.  Perhaps over a campfire.

Sport touring bikes make the best drug runners.  Plenty of cargo and you can still try to outrun the police.   

Stuff a Harley full of pills and when you try to run the crown victoria will keep up with you. 

The Motorcycle Wave - The Solution

lmao

I wanna ride with FRANK!

author=Conrad The Motorcycle Wave - The Solution

   I just ordered one in chrome