Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Courtesy of a pickup drivin' Harley rider...

Soooooo, the wife is on the back of the BA this afternoon as we're headin' out of Cottonwood Arizona and on towards one of the the most beautiful spots in all of America...Sedona.

I pull up behind this scruffy-lookin' dude drivin' this equally scruffy-lookin' old Datsun pickup in the right lane at the second to the last stoplight before you leave Cottonwood along scenic route AZ Hwy-89A. Said scruffy-lookin' dude is jawin' up at the guy sittin' shotgun in this big ol' dump truck that's sittin' in the left lane at this intersection.

The light changed to green about 30 seconds later, and we all took off. The dump truck being a dump truck is of course slower to get up to speed(which I had of course planned on, and thus the reason I pulled behind the scruffy old Datsun and not the dump truck at this red light.

As soon as there was an opening enough to safely change lanes into the left lane, I put on my left blinker and pulled in front of said dump truck, and then I pulled past said scruffy-lookin' dude drivin' his scruffy-lookin' old Datsun pickup in the right lane.

Okay, are you folks still with me here? Okay then, I'll continue.

Now, when I pulled up to the next and last lighted intersection out of Cottonwood, and yep, it was red goin' our way, this scruffy-lookin' dude in that scruffy-lookin' old Datsun pulled up next to me in the right lane and started jawin' with me! And here's how THAT conversation went...
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Scruffy Dude: "Hey! You know when you're goin' to change lanes or make a turn, your girl there is supposed to signal with her hands like this!"(he proceeded to lift his arms and then make motions to the left and the right with 'em)

Dwight Argo: "Well, THAT'S certainly interesting! I've never heard THAT before! Thanks for the suggestion."

Scruffy Dude: "Yeah, well, I've been ridin' Harleys for years, and I know these things! And BTW, I had a few Trumpets back in the day. I like the old ones, but I don't like the new ones!"

Dwight Argo: Yeah, well, I have both an older Triumph and this newer one, and I like 'em both. And, I like 'em because all Triumphs have always handled better than any Harley!"

Scruffy Dude: "Well, that's not tru....."
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The light changed, and I hit the throttle just as Scruffy Dude tried to get the word "true" out of his mouth.

Ya see, I've learned after 58 years on this planet that occasionally there are just some people who believe what they believe, and no amount of debate is ever going to alter their "beliefs".

(oh and BTW...unfortunately I thought of THIS latter...what I should have maybe said was..."Yeah, well, even though I look a h*ll of a lot younger than you do, I'm actually 58 years old and probably older than you are, AND I've been ridin' motorcycles for 43 years, and I'll bet that's longer than you've been ridin' 'em. And dude, I've NEVER heard that thing about "the girl" signaling for me, especially when these here things have TURN SIGNALS! But, thanks for your opinion!")

I always had the ol'lady signal but that was on my bikes that had no blinkers. My SM is the first and only bike I ever had with blinkers on it.

Yeah Ian, I was kind'a thinkin' the same thing. Maybe "Scruffy" has an old Panhead chopper that doesn't have any turn signals, and thus makes his "b*tch"(I'm guessin' that that's "Scruffy's" vernacular for his "girl"...not mine here, ya know) do the "honors" for him whenever he ATTEMPTS to turn that chopper o' his!!!

A Datsun driving, scruffy looking Harley dude. What's this world coming to?

I know, huh?!

(...though I think after some reflection on this matter, I'm going to give "Scruffy" the benefit of the doubt here Keith...ya see, maybe "Scruffy's" meth lab had just blown up and so he was just venting...yeah, venting...somethin' he probably had forgotten to do to his meth lab...yep, I hear that stuff does need to vent when you're cookin' it up!)

I'm pretty sure it's in the Harley owner's manual that you have to use hand signals (either you or your passenger) because, well, you know, it's a harley and the signals are only going to work once in a while.

Well, at least it was a Datsun and not a Nissan. Nissans really tick off hard core HD riders, eh? Dang trumpet riders. Short time frame for retorts, but next time tell Scruffy AMF and V Rods rule.

Mn, there sure are a lot of stereotypes in this thread.... good story, Dwight!

Wow, I just realized, I'm gonna be the same age as cranky ol' Dwight in a couple months.

Funny story, good point about folks who know what they know.
I was thinking about hand signals the other day, do you think a 20 year old would know what it means?

As a girl try to use hand signal when needed.... oh wait I'm riding my own and not the b**th on back...

Well folks, I still say a passenger is a passenger, and thus is not responsible for taking on the "duties" of the operator of any vehicle. And mainly because, there is no way that the passenger is going to know the operator's intentions to make a turn or lane change until the operator has already started into it without the operator yelling out to the passenger those intentions each and every time beforehand.

And, this is even IF the vehicle in question is an older pre-1971 motorcycles without turn indicators, because IF you can't take your left hand off the handlebar and make the signal yourself, then maybe you're not a good enough rider to ride the dang motorsickle in the first place!

Weeeell, okay...with MAYBE the possible except of IF your passenger happens to be Clyde here...



...THEN ya might have HIM help ya make those turn signals. All ya'd have to do is in your best Clint Eastwood voice yell out..."RIGHT TURN, CLYDE!!!"

(and of course, the salient point of why I felt compelled to write this here little ditty o' mine up was the friggin' patronizing attitude "Scruffy" seemed to project about all his supposed "Harley ridin' experience" out there...oh, and of course his obvious lack of taste he expressed about the "new" Triumphs!!!)

Harleys and handsignals reminded me of something, and then Dwight gave me the answer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAygHtnyUqI

Going back to the original post, I've been on bikes, back and front for over 30 years, and I've never heard of the passenger giving the handsignals, nor have I ever seen it done.

Might even be disallowed under the highway code