Having read all the guff on here about roadies not acknowledging MTB'ers & vice versa I thought I'd try a little social experiment:

When out on my pushbike I occasionally nod to bikers – hard habit to break I suppose and occasionally I get a response.
So during yesterdays tour of Pen Y Ghent I decided to nod to every passing biker and see how many responses I got:

Old timers on old British iron were the most friendly – grins, waves, friendly banter from those parked up. Almost 100% success rate.

Proper off road bikers came second – most gave a nod on their way through, a few 'It's easier with an engine' comments. About 70% success.

However, the weekend warriors slowly blatting their way over to Foxup on top end sports bikes mostly ignored me, even though they were forced down to walking pace by the conditions, as did a brace of
Ewan and Charlie wannabees on BMW GS's.

Harley riders, amazingly, were friendlier, about a 50% success rate. I was pleasantly surprised, as no other motorcyclist would be seen dead waving or nodding at them (biking being even more pathetically tribal than cycling).

Breaking it down further, women were more friendly than men and the older the combined age of bike and rider, the more likely you are to get a response, missus.

Give it a try, it's hilarious watching the look of horror spread over a Ducati riders' face as they realises that, however automatic the reaction, they have just nodded at a cyclist 😀

I've done it by accident and had a response before! I shall try it again!

The worst thing is when I'm riging my Vespa, and I nod at a biker, they nod back then realise they nooded at someone on a scooter…. It is funny! 🙂

Brilliant!

I remember returning from kyle of lochalsh earlier this year and it started to lash down.after eilan donan castle i saw a biker on a harley with a passenger.the driver had old gear on with an open face helmet and old style goggles.I didnt nod,i waved with my left hand and not a fookin flinch from him. His face was soaking and his nose was nearly the highest part of his body.If its a nice day i usually keep waving so they see it in the mirror. not a great thing to do but by **** some folk are unreal.

Its like riding out of the carpark onto the trails at Glentress as folk come down the hill.blinker-central.

It's funny, most of the Harley riders I've met over the years have been very pleasant individuals, from the old school blokes in 'patch' clubs to the newer breed of social riders.

You still meet the odd poseur though, living out his 'Electra Glide in blue' fantasy whilst cruising down to Bacup, or pulling into Oswaldtwistle thinking it's Hollister.

As I ride a motorbike most days I find it hard not to nod or wave to them when riding a roadie or mountain bike! Equally I tend to forget when riding the motorbike and wave or nod to cyclists many seem quite puzzled!

I get that use to waving to the Police when at work I do it in the car and on the bike sometimes. I get some funny looks occasionally but most of the time they seem to recognise the car anyway. Might explain a few things I suppose.

It amazes me the amount of people who don't acknowledge you, if someone said hello to me in the street or at a bus stop you would of course reply back, so why not if on a bike (engined or not)

MTB V Roadie v MOTO it's really really pathetic.

We all love 2 wheels, end of IMO

PnM

I notice groups of foreign bikers passing and not bothering to wave. maybe they just get sick of it and see it as a distraction that could cause an accident.I dont mind that too much as they have probably done over 1000miles and just want to get on with it.

After spending an amount of time as a (motor)biker, I still find it incredibly hard not to nod to other bikers when I'm driving a car. It's a difficult habit to break, this 'being nice to people' malarky.

I ride a motorbike to work most days and in the past have experienced that "Ahhh I just waved to a Scooter!" moment.
I wave to everyone now – though it does feel a bit….. well, you know – odd – with a scooter!

Interesting idea Rusty – I shall give it a try

OP in "prejudices confirmed" shocker!

though it does feel a bit….. well, you know – odd – with a scooter!

Oh, it does, it does. LOTS of 'proper bike riders' will totally blank you, although my GT200 seems to be more 'acceptable' then my Gilera Runner was, oddly!
When I had my (180cc) Runner, which was a pokey little thing, I had a bit of a ding-dong through some traffic with a guy on a ZX9. He came hammering past me first, passing close and showing how much faster he was than me, then at every suceesive set of traffic lights I slid my way to the front of the que where he couldn't always fit, and even if he could I was faster off the line (Reactions, being ready, no clutch or gears to worry about) which seemed to really irk the chap…..Until I actaully manged to outbrake him into a roundabout, then loose him at the next lights which went red behind me…. 😈

There's a lot of bikers have a scooter for commuting these days, so beware!
74mpg, 80mph, decent weather protection, luggage capacity, and £75 insurance are not to be sneezed at!

Harley riders, amazingly, were friendlier, about a 50% success rate. I was pleasantly surprised, as no other motorcyclist would be seen dead waving or nodding at them (biking being even more pathetically tribal than cycling).

I wave or nod to all the other motorbikes I see when I'm out on one of mine – even Harley riders etc. The only ones that don't consistently wave back are sportsbike riders – many of them do wave but I definitely get more acknowlegements when I'm on a sportsbike myself compared to when I'm on the tourer or XBR.

OP in "prejudices confirmed" shocker!

Nah, I was genuinely surprised by how many nodded/waved back!

Cynic-al in pointless post – Exclusive!
See pages 1, 2, 3, 4 etc….. 😀

Would add to your experiment data this week, unfortunately I am working in Islay where everybody waves to you whether walking, driving or standing still!

Do any of you lot go to check your mirrors then realise you're on the push bike? I'm forever at it

Do any of you lot go to check your mirrors then realise you're on the push bike? I'm forever at it

Yep, & still do lifesavers, even in the car…….

😛

"LOTS of 'proper bike riders' will totally blank you"

On the motorbike, I tended to find that scooter riders got blanked not because they were on scooters but because they were either dressed for a day at the beach or riding like a tool, or both. If you're dressed suitably to hit the ground at 30mph without the subsequent ambulance guys needing a spatula to recover you, you'll command a lot more respect.

(in my experience, etc etc)

If you're dressed suitably to hit the ground at 30mph

What, like a roadie cyclist does then? In just lycra?

I quite often ride round in shorts and a hoodie, and I wear an open face lid all the time unless it's cold or wet. My choice. 🙂 It's no more dangerous than riding a push bike in lycra.

It's one of the best things about a scooter, you don't need to spend 20 minutes dressing up for it 🙂

At least roadies wear gloves.

As for "no more dangerous", given the choice between a racer and a scooter, I know which I'd rather have dropped on my anklebone at speed.

Btw, I don't mean to lecture. I'm a firm believer in acceptable risk; people should be responsible for their own safety. By extension, I'm also a firm believer in natural selection. The world would be a lot safer if we took all the gorram "contents may be hot" warnings off coffee cups and got people back into the habit of using their common sense muscle occasionally. I absolutely back your right to ride around busy roads wearing shorts and sandles, hell you can turn up in a tutu for all I care, but I reserve the right to smugly look down my nose at you. (-:

Martinxyz – you may find that the foreign guys are waving. "Sur le continent" the throttle hand is the inside hand so they tend to just dip the left hand down a bit whereas we, because we have to use the inside hand, tend to raise it prominently.

They also tend to take the right foot off as acknowledgement when they overtake.

(Mr MC posting)

am I the only person who's tried to spd-hop a pot hole on a motorbike then? 😳

orange-crush yeah noticed that when driving in france bikers sticking a foot out/down.

As a L-plater many years ago the only local biker to wave to me on my crappy 30 quid MZ was a denim-patched-bearded chopper rider. I tend to wave/nod to everyone who looks like an enthusiast, ie. big/proper bike, or a little bike but nice kit. A bit arbitrary but similar to keen cyclists vs reluctant commuters.

GSers in matching LWR kit seem to take themselves more seriously than anyone, you get the bigger nobhead quotient on sports bikes and some harley riders seem suprised to get a wave from me on an R1. Gold wing riders are friendliest and cool, anyone who will drop that much money on a bike (usually with matching trailer) and not take themselves seriously is all good in my book.

It has to be said though on a long ride on a sunny day, you get a bit jaded after the 300th wave.

And to answer the original OP yes I find myself acknowledging "across disciplines" usually just after Ive been riding the "other" bike.

Interesting experiment, but perhaps the ones who waved thought they were still on their pushbikes?

If you're dressed suitably to hit the ground at 30mph

What, like a roadie cyclist does then? In just lycra?

That happened to me on Monday… it's not good; mountain hairpin covered in cement dust. No skin on the whole left forarm to elbow and both palms and one hip.

Funny thing is I had just (like, 5 seconds before) said 'Hola' to a bloke cranking up the mountain on an Audax bike. Did that contribute to my crash?