when you pass someone else on a bike you give them a bit of a nod. its just a small acknowledgement to another 2 wheeled road user, like waving to someone else kiting or windsurfing, or a 'g'day' to another surfer (when its quiet) when you first paddle out.
but for some reason harley riders seem to think they are superior to anyone else and refuse to return a nod or a wave. not once in 7 years of riding has someone on a hog acknowledeged me when i pass them.
are there any harley riders here who can shed some light on why this is? is it because i am on a triumph?
Hey you're right!
I was in Albany a few weeks back when the Australian AGM for the Ulyses bikies group was in motion.
3000 elderly overweight guys on bikes in town.
I might say they were all very polite and hospitable though and I talked to a few of them as I oogled at their bikes. Some of them are works of art. (The bikes that is, not the bikies.)
Anyway, back to the point, out on the highways, all the ones that waved to me were on Jappy bikes. None on Harleys from recollection.
I guess that's because Harleys are a lumbering heap of scrap metal and it takes both hands just to keep them on the road, a bit like an old Bedford truck.
And they can't nod either because that might take their eyes off the road and with the way they vibrate and shake it is hard to keep the eyes focussed.
They do sound nice though. (The Harleys that is, not the bikies.)
If they are riding a aircompressor on wheels they have issues and should be left alone in any case
IMO they sound like crap anyway!!
must be a cult thing, I remember in the 60's all sports car drivers waved or nodded to one another EXCEPT for MGB drivers, (we never considered them a true sports car anyway), I think they even had heaters in them!
They must hold a deep-seated hatred of all the bikes that cost less than theirs yet out-perform them and don't break down anywhere near as much. They have now found out the true nature of what they're wanted for so long and possibly regret it :P
D
They carn't all be that tough.
I have a small shopping center down the road from my house. 1 guy turns up on his harley, strips down to some dxxk huggers and thongs, wacks on his helmet, packs his clothes into his saddle bags and rides off.
In last 6 months I have seen him do it twice. Yet he is white as a ghost and only about 60kg. It's quiet disturbing.
1st time I ever came off my 250 it was on a summer rain day when i was 19-ish. I was turning an uphill corner at an intersection - hit a puddle of oil collected in the pothole and next thing I am on the deck. No big drama was a slow stack, a bit of skin off but not shockin. However, getting the bike upright on the steepish, slippery corner with traffic about was gonna be tricky.
At the set of lights watching the whole thing was a bloke on a Hardley Driveable. A real HD rider - not a 'gleaming new leathers that match his missus' kinda style. His lights change - he motors over and slows right down (I am just getting up round now - I think, "cool this fellow rider is gonna lend a hand." Nup, he slowed to almost a stop, reached out and stuck his middle finger right up to my face! Then farked orf leaving me totally stunned as to how low some coonts can be.
Empathy for a fellow rider? Not on you're kn life. Then again if you chose to ride sumpin that doesn't go fast, doesn't turn, doesn't stop and makes you look like an extra from a Village people film clip then you are gonna be a bit odd from the start ay?
Oh well, I guess he probably has Hep C, eats soup cause he lost his teef from too much speed and gets about on a gopher (with HD stickers on it) these days. Probably still has the mullet too. Timeless like scrap metal and HDs.
Hey all you waterboys ,....beware, you'll cause the next world war
They will all be out there to get ya........ on water scooters /jet ski's[}:)]
harley powered too!!!!!!!!!!........ROFL........
The only nod I ever got from a harley rider was when I pulled up next to him at the lights on a 900SD duke that had been bored out to 1080 and was running 12.5 to 1 on avgas. The bike had straight race pipes and was seriously loud. He nearly fell off when I took off. The exhaust could shoot a tennis ball about 100 metres! My mates used to jam all sorts of stuff down the pipe without me knowing just to laugh when I started it.
Wish I still had it!
Its funny ya know, if i'm out on Jap cruiser, the harley owners just ignore me and trust me, i'm fine with that, as i don't really give a ****.
But, if i'm out on my chopper, yes, i do really own a full on chopper, they all wave and give me thumbs up and all that stuff.
My wife rides a Harley, and she will nod or wave to anyone, even BMW riders.
Mine looks like this..... Complete with KFC chicken dispenser on the handle bars.
127 cubic inch, nitrous oxide, 300 rear tyre, 10.5 inch rear rim, 5 inch stretch out, 2 inch stretch up, 40 degree rake.
Goes like a shower of s..t, handles like a bag of the same, but bloody good fun to ride....
Bet these dudes know the feeling.
Best part is they get the extra boost from methane stored within the cushions.
Most canhardley riders are complete whankers. Almost without exception a person advertising toughness, isnt. And biker gangs, really!!
Got to say I've always found HD bikers down my way to have good will. I only had a Jap 250 and always got a wave. I still remember the first day I went riding (before I knew anything about the wave) I got a big wave off some blokes on HDs.