In cars, people often flash their headlights to indicate to an oncoming driver that there is police ahead somewhere, but on a bike, often times you see another rider and throw a peace sign, wave, or do other signs. The headlight/s are always on, and from time to time I have had fellow sportbike riders flash their lights as a "what's up" type gesture.

The other day I was at a stoplight and another sportbike rider who was across the intersection waiting at a red light made agesture tapping his helmet. I thought nothing of it; maybe he was telling me i had the same helmet, maybe thatwas his way of saying you look like a douche, maybe it was his way of telling me he liked my bike...but then my light turned green and about a 1/2 mile up the road there was a cop with a speed gun. At that point in time it dawned on me that the other rider was attempting to tell me there was police ahead and not to speed.

Anyone know of a universal sign? Was that it?

 

Yeah man, taps on the helmet are to let you know the other rider saw police ahead and not to speed... it’s just a little heads up. We use it a lot in group riding and what not. The peace signs are just a friendly hello... or an open hand down low... same thing.

There are four basic gestures that you need to know.

Hand up/out indicating turning
The friendly waves: peace, low open hand or full on wave
The head nod: another friendly hello, but couldn’t take hand off of brake/bar...
The helmet tap: Indicating police ahead... (Speed trap or just a presence)


These videos show some more, unique waves…

Here are some funny vids… (Some are repost don’t hate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbZLHMv-218
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SloT-...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqykEhOIaRk&feature=related

 

Yeah helmet tapping is meaning there is bad news around. haha.






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that exellent, thank you for that next time i ride I will know exactly what the other rides are doing when using gestures. that is one more thing I learnt today

 

Man I learn something new everyday. I have seen cars flash their headlights, but now I know about the biker sign. Thanks.

 

yerp...tapping ur head is a sign of cops ahead, behind, or just around!!

 

Deffinetly didnt know that one for motorcycles. Thanks for the heads up all Im now informed and can also make other cyclists aware.

 

Yeah, the people I ride with, we use helmet tapping as a sign for cop nearby lol.

 

There are guys that I ride with and we use multi-sport 2 channel chatter boxes made for full face helmets. Sometimes we send a rabbit out ahead about a mile and they relay information back. But in tighter packs or what not, we use all hand and foot signals. It's like synchronized cornering.

The bonus of the chatter boxes are you can plug your mp3 player into them and the noise cancelling headset will automatically cut out incoming or outgoing transmissions. One of the best investments I've made.

 

We used to do that on snow drives and group drives in the summer. In cars. We'd have the front guy scout and then the rest of the group would proceed with his information. I don't ride with enough people or crazy enough on the street to warrant the investment, however.