Modern Buddy

I live in Oklahoma City, and based on my whole month of driving I have noticed many things about other riders of two wheeled vehicles. I am wondering other peoples experiences with other riders too. I divided my observations into bike categories.

Street Bikers- They always throw the wave at me or back at me when I pass them. Although I kinda always thought of them as kinda stuck up guys until recently. Everyone I have talked to has been really nice.

Harley/Cruiser Bikers- This one I really found to be age appropriate. Bikers from ages 20-40 dont even acknowledge me on the road. However older guys who ride their cruisers have always thrown me a wave and smiled or laughed in my direction.

My last category falls in the line of Vespa riders- This one amuses me because I have waved at probable over 20+ Vespa riders and none have waved back.

Theses obviously dont all apply, I just thought I would share my observations and I am kinda wondering if anybody else has any observations or agree with mine.

There are nice bikers who think all bikes are equal and nice, then theres the stuck up elitist who say the bike/brand they own is the top, and all others are trash. I've noticed similar things too. Another thing I noticed is 90% of riders are stupid, no gear on at all, not even a tshirt!

*waves to OKC!* We just moved from there last summer. Now I wish I was back so we could have a play date for our Buddys.

Well, my husband has had scooters, and we have had motorcycles since before we adopted Buddina last fall, but I would just confirm the issue about the bikers and Vespa-ites. "Real" bikers (i.e. guys who aren't weekend warriors and posers) are great about smiling, nodding, waving. I always get an acknowledgment from them, and this weekend we ended up side by side a biker at a stoplight, who even gave me the geek wave.

The bike guys who buy new Harleys to be cool are not what I would. . . ahem. . . consider "cool." And I have to say that I told my husband that if another biker chick waits until I pass and then acknowledges him on his motorcycle that he is not allowed to participate in her disrespect of Buddina.

As far as the street bikers here we have the snobby ones and the nice ones. It varies. And I haven't seen that many Vespas around, although I know they are here. My husband is Italian so he likes Vespas and Lambrettas just on that principle, but I have a bad taste in my mouth after reading about an Italian Scoot group who posted that they welcomed "all" makes and models of scoots to join them. . .as long as they were manual! Hmmm. . .I just don't like snobbery of any kind. We are all traveling on the same roads, enjoying the same scenery, and trying to stay safe. We are all two-wheelers, so my hope is always that all scooterists will make me proud by being the two-wheeled goodwill ambassadors.

jfrost2 wrote:Another thing I noticed is 90% of riders are stupid, no gear on at all, not even a tshirt!

*nodding*

Yesterday we passed a young girl with a dress, sunglasses, and (at this point do I even need to point out -) no helmet or gloves. . .

Most older harley/cruiser bikers give me a wave, some younger ones don't give a wave back, and today I gave a wave to a 40ish harley rider and he gave me something like a 'who the hell do you think you are' face (asshole). other scooterists almost always give me a wave or honk as they go by, and the only ones that haven't are on vespas. I always wave, and have never denied anyone a wave back

We are all two-wheelers, so my hope is always that all scooterists will make me proud by being the two-wheeled goodwill ambassadors.

I like your style, thats how I feel. We are all two wheeled on the road enjoying it up. We all have our preferences and thats cool too.

I think next time you try waving/acknowledging another 2 wheeler and you get nothing back, you should (if you're stopped) lift up your face shield and scream "cant we all just get along???!!!" and start fake crying. Let us know how it goes. Heh heh

Hmmm... the biggest compliment that I've received so far was from the very manual two-wheeled variety.. a bicyclist. I wasn't certain how to react to it, but I certainly didn't snub him either! Gotta take the compliments where I can!

runtotorun121 wrote:My husband is Italian so he likes Vespas and Lambrettas just on that principle, but I have a bad taste in my mouth after reading about an Italian Scoot group who posted that they welcomed "all" makes and models of scoots to join them. . .as long as they were manual! Hmmm. . .I just don't like snobbery of any kind.

That's exactly why there's ModernVespa.com! A lot of people who ride shifters hang out there just because it's friendlier than the vintage-only sites.

And, as someone who rides a Vespa, I gotta say that I wave to every scooter I see. Those least likely to wave back to a Vespa rider? People on chinese import scoots. What comes around, I guess.

I got my first wave the other day from a guy on a sport bike. I was too surprised and nervous to even get out the geek wave...I just smiled like a dork. I hope that wasn't disrespectful

A guy probably in his late 30s pulled up next to me at a light on his Harley the other day and said my scooter looked like a lot of fun to ride. It was great!

I give the two fingers towards the ground rubber side down salute to every two wheel thing i see on the road... and I totally geek out when i see another buddy...

I think all of us have experienced one form of elitism or another. I just laugh when they don't wave back. I personally love the wheelies done by crotch-rocket riders. I keep waiting for them to fall. Is that evil to think this??? Or am I just a firm believer in karma?

soupergrrl wrote:I think all of us have experienced one form of elitism or another. I just laugh when they don't wave back. I personally love the wheelies done by crotch-rocket riders. I keep waiting for them to fall. Is that evil to think this??? Or am I just a firm believer in karma?

I think it is the good evil...

And, as someone who rides a Vespa, I gotta say that I wave to every scooter I see. Those least likely to wave back to a Vespa rider? People on chinese import scoots. What comes around, I guess.

Haha, I laughed out loud quite loud when I read that. I guess its up to you and me to bring us all together.

ericalm wrote: Those least likely to wave back to a Vespa rider? People on chinese import scoots. What comes around, I guess.

They're probably just hanging on for dear life and were afraid to take their hands off the bars.

ECS