How to wave while riding a motorcycle


So I found this satirical article over at AxleAddict.com, which was titled: Motorcycle Etiquette: How Not to Wave Like a Dork. and it made me laugh. Here are a couple of excepts, that may cause you to want to read the article.  For those who take what I write serious, the author wrote is satire (or I hope it is satire) because the real story and the one at AxelAddict bear no resemblance…

“If you drive a motorcycle, you know about “the wave”. The wave is your rolling connection to your biker brother and sisterhood, but is there a special secret to this wave? When you started riding did you seek out a wave master and perhaps copy theirs, or did you develop one of your own? Have you ever wondered if your wave is appropriate? Unfortunately, wave training is not covered in the basic or advanced motorcycle safety classes.” … “Well, here I present the five basic motorcycle waves. Your worries about not knowing proper biker etiquette are over.”

“Many riders believe there that was once a secret wave society, similar to the Priere de Sion fraternal order, founded back in 1903 when the first Harley Davidson rolled out of the shed. There wasn’t. It all started one day in 1904 when Arthur Davidson passed by William Harley and, since they knew each other, they waved. Another biker saw the two “Kings of Motorcycles” doing this and thought this was a biker necessity. A tradition was born.” … “The waving tradition continued on through the years but was always haphazard. There were bikers doing the “Bye Grandma Wave,” others doing the “Howdy Wave,” and still others doing the extremely feminine “Princess Wave.” … “In 1946, after several years of these image-destroying gestures, a group of crusty old bikers decided to put some proper waving rules in place. They formed the Wave Hard And True Biker Society. Abbreviation: WHAT-BS.”

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Biker Santa at Smiths

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Biker Santa is at the Smith’s ( 980 Fort Union Blvd, Midvale, UT 84047); drop on by for a free photo op with Santa.

I’ll be at Smiths from 12:00 until 4:ooPM

Had a great time with the people at Smith’s.  Thanks to Jamie and crew.  Great parking for the sidecar rig, backed it right in at the front of the store.

Biker Santa is available for other quality events.

 

Funeral urn for my best friend.

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“…Grieve not,
      Nor speak of me with tears,
       But laugh and talk of me
   as if I were beside you there.”
~ Isla Paschal Richardson

It was my privilege to build this urn for my friend, Ken “Tazz” Crofutt who went down on a bike he loved on May 30, 2015. Rest in peace, my brother.

Building the Urn:

The urn consists of a top end off of a 103ci Harley Davidson engine. The “jug” is inset into a hollowed out base machined from a solid 10″x3″ round billet of aluminum. The pictures below show the base being “faced” on a lathe and then one of the chip piles from the milling process in a Haas machining center. This project was a labor of love; thanks to all the folks at the DATC who helped make this project possible.

turning on a lathe     pile of chips

The Garage

Get asked a lot, what do you ride? The answer is it depends what’s in the garage.  Today, there are only three bikes to choose from (The house mouse needed more room for her car):

2011 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® Ultra FLTRU

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Upgraded engine, intake, and pipes … Never though I wanted a full dresser, but I sure do love cranking the tunes. Backseat reserved for my Angel.

2001 Swift Punisher RS

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All lightening and feathers… a real Heyoka bike…

2000 Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® FLSTF

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Picture is me doing the Salt Lake Biker Santa thing.

A fatboy for a fat boy: A one up bike with 1938 panhead signals in the back, reproductions recently relocated to the lightbar on the front; new tombstone taillight coming soon. Take a look at the killer swinging arm bag made by my friend Klaus.

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2002 Ural BC-75

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The Bolshevik Beemer: This RPOC is a WWII throwback hack, fun to ride, primarily for cart’n the dog around.

2015 Fire Ride

Support the Fallen Firefighter Memorial

Had a great day riding with a friend on the Fire Ride to help fund the National Fire Fighter Memorial in Ogden, Ut. Then we went to the UT State Fair where we found that our friend Klaus has won a blue ribbon for his leather saddle bags. On the way home ran in to him and Chell at a stop light and told him the news…he did not know. Of course all this means is that none of us mere mortal friends can afford his work and he’ll be hard to live with.

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Route 66 through MM, KS, OK, TX, NM and part of AZ (Long way home from the BBQ run)

Overview:

Distance: approx 3000 miles
Time: 5-8 Days

This ride is a multi-day extension of the Iron-Butt BBQ Run, that covers the lower mid-west of Historic Route-66.  It really is the long way home from Kansas City, MO:  Continuing east to south St Louis in order to travel westward through Missouri, south east Kansas, Oklahoma, north Texas, New Mexico, and most of Arizona (Flagstaff).  The north across the Navajo Reservation into Utah.   Last took this trip in  July 2015, in 5 days.

Route:

Leg 1 (1,070 miles): Follow the Iron-Butt BBQ Run to Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque in Kansas City, MO

Iron-ButtBBQRun

Leg 2 (267 miles): Arthur Bryant’s to Ted Drewes’ Custard stand

KS-SL

  1. Starting at Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque (1727 Brooklyn Ave, Kansas City, MO 64127)
  2. Take Brooklyn Ave to I-70 East
  3. Follow I-70 East to Columbia (about 2 Hours)… If you did he all nighter to Arthur Bryant’s, you may want to get a hotel in Columbia and have Mid-America Harley change out your oil.
  4. Continue on I-70 E to Exit 128A (Jefferson City)
  5. Follow US-54 W/US-63 S to US-50 E
  6. US-50 E to I-44 E
  7. Exit 284A (Jamieson Ave)
  8. Jamieson Ave to Chippewa St (Old RT 66)
  9. Ted Drewes’ Frozen Custard stand is at 6726 Chippewa St, St Louis, MO 63109

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Leg 3 (120 Miles): Drewes’ to Devils Elbow (Exit 169 I-44)

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Note: Essentially RT 66 was replaced with I-44; get yourself a good RT 66 guide and map

  1. Follow I-44 taking the parts of Old Rt 66 that interest you. Stops to be sure and see:
    • Meramec Caverns (Stanton)
    • Bourbon, MO – Water Tower
    • Carr Phillips 66 Station in Cuba, MO
    • Fanning 66 Outpost World’s (largest rocking chair; if you’re into kitsch)

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