Unspoken Law of "The Nod"

[RichyP]

This post is a bit of fun, but thought i would share,

I am a bit older than perhaps the average scooter rider, being 32 and all, there has been a few interesting and amusing things I have discovered riding in the UK.

I have been riding for 18 months now, and here is my take on NOD LAW!

Background -
The first few days I was on my bike and I was riding to and from work, I discovered other bikers nodding at me! This at first confused me as i thought they were perhaps trying to make me aware of something wrong with my bike etc. After i got to work for the first time, I decided to check my bike to see if anything was actually hanging off. - noob i know!

Alas, I did not understood my initiation into the biker world and the unspoken laws and rules of NODDING!

So here are my observations on "The Law Of The Nod" -

SIMILAR NODS
It appears from my observation that other bikers on similar power or type of bikes will nod at you and you return or vice versa. First few times this is quite strange, but makes you smile and feel all warm and fuzzy like you are part of an unknown unspoken of family! Hey you, you have a bike like me! - I am going to nod at you, hey, mr shopkeep you have a face like me, have a nod! Since moving up from a smaller scooter to a PCX I get alot more Nods from big biker riders, I put this down to the fact that the front end doesn't look like a scooter, I've even had big bike riders looking at the side of my bike as they go past, as they cannot recognise what kind of bike it is off the bat.

DON'T NOD TO . . .
If you are scooter rider, some big bikes just wont nod at you, its that simple, some even look upon you like some sort of wet looking womprat that does not yet know its place in the world of the unspoken hierarchy that no one acknowledges exists, but indeed does of "The Nod"!! Or there is someone on your commute that rides a similar bike / scooter who you nod at most mornings and it becomes the UN-RECIPROCATED NOD - You see them every morning, at roughly the same time and after nodding at them 3-4 times, you realize, they aint nodding back...ever. you continue to see them everyday, more than aware, that a nod just aint gonna happen.

IF they nod at you, then NOD away, but beware that it is an honor that should be cherished to such a young riding scooter padawan!
This is of course, all in good fun, but I do find it amusing the unspoken rules or acknowledgement of NOD LAW!

Please add anything to NOD LAW that you see fit, I don't know what its like in other countries besides the UK, but would be interesting to hear your guys takes on "The Nod"

[Leafeh]

Liking the 'Nod Law'!

I've also found that depending on what you're doing at the time, makes a rather large difference as to how many riders nod!
Say for instance I'm filtering down the A40 at 50, more bikes will nod at me, almost all infact; whereas when I'm chuntling down Oxford at 20mph [The limit] the majority of "big bike" riders WONT nod!

[Wulfy]

33 Here Just got my PCX yesterday and gesh these need a Warning sticker on them for pure fun factor and smile factor!

I got quiet a lot of nods on my old chinese thing (new but horrid!) we have quiet a decent bike community in Telford so while you do get the odd one even the "big boys" give you a nod or a wave.

Rule of thumb I always nod and mutter expletives to the ignorant ones

[gn2]

Back when I were a lad on bikes (before you were born) it was a wave of the hand and never a nod.
Nowadays I will return waves and nods with a wave, but never initiate them.

[ScootyK]

I'm 30 and completely new to bikes and scooters but I really love "The Nod"

First time it happened was from a fellow scooter rider with an L-plate which I thought that's why he nodded, but on my second ride out there were 3 occurrences of "The Nod" all from much bigger bikes

I think it's great, makes me smile everytime

[RichyP]

33 Here Just got my PCX yesterday and gesh these need a Warning sticker on them for pure fun factor and smile factor!

I got quiet a lot of nods on my old chinese thing (new but horrid!) we have quiet a decent bike community in Telford so while you do get the odd one even the "big boys" give you a nod or a wave.

Rule of thumb I always nod and mutter expletives to the ignorant ones

Hi wulfy,
had mine for about 3months or so now and i know you mean, granted it gets to 65 and doesnt do anything more, but its how it gets there and how you can throw it round corners that i love, there is so much stability in the PCX.

I too mutter expletives to the ignorant ones lol

[Mel46]

Where I live most bikers wave, and they only nod when their hands are busy or they are busy with traffic. Most bikers don't know that our little pcx is a scooter. Look at them. Do they look like scooters!

IMG_20150704_105551.jpg (95.05 KiB) Viewed 2109 times

[gn2]

That pair look like racing yachts with their spinnakers up

[you you]

Where I live most bikers wave, and they only nod when their hands are busy or they are busy with traffic. Most bikers don't know that our little pcx is a scooter. Look at them. Do they look like scooters!

IMG_20150704_105551.jpg

Yes

[MikeP]

Up in Canada, the wave comes first, the nod if not safe to free up one hand. I find the real sporty crotch rockets and the Harley cruiser dudes rarely wave. The dual sports and other bikers usually do. I make a game of it that I wave to everyone. I feel it heightens my awarenes as I am actively watching and it just makes me feel good. Sometimes I feel like a dork when they don't wave back, but who knows, perhaps they will be inclined to be more in touch with their fellow riders.

[Mister Paul]

Funny, I just came onto the forum to post about this.

I sold a 650 Kawasaki Versys to get the Forza. On the Versys virtually ever biker nodded. The day I got the Forza I became a leper. Overnight people started ignoring me. 5 weeks in and I've had about 3 nods in over 1000 miles of scootering.

I don't get it.

[gn2]

Welcome to two wheel apartheid.

[RusticCharm]

Although I live in Wisconsin, I use the Minnesotan finger wave when I am on my pcx. The Minnesotan finger wave is a lifting of the index finger off the steering wheel when passing an oncoming vehicle on rural two lane roads.

[ScooteringAbout]

How Australians ride, let alone wave is beyond me

[Bash On!]

Funny, I just came onto the forum to post about this.

I sold a 650 Kawasaki Versys to get the Forza. On the Versys virtually ever biker nodded. The day I got the Forza I became a leper. Overnight people started ignoring me. 5 weeks in and I've had about 3 nods in over 1000 miles of scootering.

I don't get it.

Bikes have a pecking order; my experience depending on bike I'm riding at the time:

-Antique BMW: Always get waves, often get thumbs-up, sometimes get honks (thought at first honks were warning me of bike parts falling off or other mishap!)

-Ex-Police Bike: Don't get waves unless I initiate. Most other riders too busy controlling sharp braking front-end dive.

-PCX:
Pre-Tail Box: Got waves when other bike approached from front, less so from other angles (they could see it was a scooter)
Post-Tail Box: Rarely get waves, even if I initiate. Tail box is dead giveaway that this is a scooter, or a touring bike, which is almost as bad.

[I wave at scooterists just to see the surprised look on their faces. ]

[ScooteringAbout]

Adding panniers to mine, but in the UK the Pcx gets nods around my area.

[you you]

Is it really that important?

[Bash On!]

Is it really that important?

Important enough for you to ask if it's important. And, if it's important enough for you to ask if it is important, then that makes it important to me. That's because you are important, you you.

[Valiant]

I suppose the nod makes more sense in the city on a motorcycle when taking your hand off the clutch to wave might inadvertently kill the engine or slam you into the car in front of you.

[dkazzed]

I do the two finger wave if I can, and nod if I'm in a situation where I can't.

I'm guessing it's a bit harder to wave in countries where people drive/ride on the left side of the road.