General Gesturing 101

[Snowman]

I haven’t seen any “Official” dictionary of gestures motorcyclists use. There is of course the standard wave as discussed in “Why we wave” thread, but not much on the other signs we throw each other…

So I thought we could get them worked out here. Things like:

Flagging a rider behind you to pass.
Wanting to Change lanes.
Calling out a Hazard on road.
Signaling that a Cop is ahead.
Calling someone a squid that derives all the pain from cleaning the road rash they are about to get.

And so on….

[MetaLord 9]

http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/club/rules.html
a good start

[Nick_Ninja]

[Snowman]

Police ahead
For oncoming riders and riders behind you, warning them to check their speed
Pat your head with your left hand (this is the signal we use).
Some riders do an up & down motion their left hand out at waist level, palm down (like they're dribbling a basketball).

I have always separated these two. I pat my helmet for cops and use the other to slow down because of heavy traffic, construction or something bad up coming.

[Nick_Ninja]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbZLHMv-218

[Sortarican]

I like the modified ones:
Attachment 8586

[Snowman]

Oh and one other, this is for any cops on line. Is it correct to wave at a cop on a motorcycle? I’ve been waving at this one almost every time going home at work for 2 years now and nothing, not even a nod.

[Sortarican]

...Is it correct to wave at a cop on a motorcycle?....

They usually wave back to me.
But they usually know me from various trials they've testified at.

[Snowman]

They usually wave back to me.
But they usually know me from various trials they've testified at.

You think they would have stopped that after they put you into the witness protection program?

Or are they trying to get you killed?

[Cars-R-Coffins]

After comparing the standard hand gestures to the modified hand gestures, I think the modified ones make more sense ...no, really!

[Aracheon]

I like the modified ones:
Attachment 8586

Brilliant.

[MrMischief]

Oh and one other, this is for any cops on line. Is it correct to wave at a cop on a motorcycle? I’ve been waving at this one almost every time going home at work for 2 years now and nothing, not even a nod.

I have yet to have any cop in Colorado wave or nod back to me. I'm pretty good at waving to every cop I see, if I'm in my truck, car, or on the bike. I attribute it to the fact that most people in Colorado are assholes who believe that they're more important then anyone else. So the cop is either an asshole as well, or is so tired of dealing with assholes that he/she doesn't believe anyone out there really appreciates the job that they do. I also wave at emergency crews (ambulance and fire) when I spot them since I appreciate that they'll probably try to save my life one of these days.

[Devaclis]

I have a lot of cops wave back at me. Not all of them, but a good amount.

[CaptGoodvibes]

Oh and one other, this is for any cops on line. Is it correct to wave at a cop on a motorcycle? I’ve been waving at this one almost every time going home at work for 2 years now and nothing, not even a nod.

So far, I've waved twice to moto cops coming the opposite way. One waved back and the other did the "slow down" basketball dribble gesture.

[CaptGoodvibes]

I use the "start your engines" gesture while riding to indicate I'm about to do a (DY) pass.

[YZFRydn]

I like the modified ones.

[Ricky]

Great info. Only thing I can think of that it's missing is that I've never seen anyone use their hands to gesture for debris in the road on a ride. Especially in the canyons. It's always the straight leg, foot off the peg on the debris side.

[Bebop]

Great info. Only thing I can think of that it's missing is that I've never seen anyone use their hands to gesture for debris in the road on a ride. Especially in the canyons. It's always the straight leg, foot off the peg on the debris side.

I would have to agree

[mauser72]

I would like to see a sign people started using for, the road is all clear no cops or anything on the road mainly for canyons like deercreek.Just because a bike passes me and doesnt tell me a cop is up there im still not 100% sure

[Tipys]

i have never really passed a cop while riding. so I dont know if they would wave back