The biker wave. 

For safety reasons, the instructor of my motorcycle safety course advised the class to avoid waving to other riders. At first, this made all the sense in the world; I needed as much control as possible during my wobbly hill starts and super-slow sharp turns. Barreling down the road with only one hand on the bars sounded near suicidal, so I took the instructor’s advice and ignored the extended hands on the other side of the yellow line. 

About 500 miles into spring I started to feel like a snob. 

It didn’t matter if I passed by a big V-twin cruiser on the highway or sat across an intersection from a bright sports bike, more often than not, riders always offered some sort of greeting. Some simply nodded in my direction, others waved with four fingers while keeping their palm on the bars, but most extended their entire arm as if reaching for a 50-mile-per-hour high-five slap as we passed. 

What possesses complete strangers to greet each other on the road? Sure, I’ve felt an urge to wave at other Hondas similar to mine on the highway, but have always resisted for fear I might trigger some form of road rage in the other driver. 

I’ve heard of Jeep owners waving to each other, apparently much like bikers do. At least Jeep owners are driving the same model vehicle; the greeting could be considered a statement like, “Hey, nice choice in a vehicle purchase.” With bikers, this justification doesn’t apply. I haven’t passed any bikes even similar to my 1980s, rough-around-the-edges Yamaha 650, but they wave anyway. Factor in the danger of riding one-handed, and the biker wave doesn’t make any sense.

So why do I feel so rude ignoring it?

The other day, without thinking, I dropped my left hand from the handlebars while cruising at 55 miles an hour just to give my arm a rest. The unconscious decision told me it was time to put my mind to rest and start waving back. 

I spent the few sunny days last week exchanging exuberant arm waves, lackadaisical two-fingered points and – if I happen to be holding the clutch in – small nods with other riders, but haven’t settled on any particular style of wave. I think I should, just to be consistent, and am leaning toward the sideways, palm-still-on-the-bars, four-fingered approach. To me, it says, “Hi. I see you looking cool, but I am continuing to ride safe. You should too.”

Then again, the flared-out, upside-down peace sign is just awesome.

                                  -Nate Jones