Hey Andy. Are you sure your impersonator wasn't a hospital courier. I see them all the time. I believe their mane purpose is to transport organs and blood. They usually ride Pans and GS bikes and have the green and white deco, but with ambulance service badges and the words 'blood' or 'organs' written somewhere.

just a thought.

Could have been, but the chequered details looked blue to me.

If he was a courier he needed to read Roadcraft again.

Andy

Haha! Yeah blue and white is usually plod deco, green and white is ambulance services. Im now very tempted to paint my scrambler green and stick a few ammo boxes on the back, brimming with loose ammo and grenades, strap an M16 to my back and pretend im a army motorcycle courier!

or maybe paint it red with blue sirens and attach the garden hose to the back....the list is endless!

Like most others this thread has been amazing and illuminating. When i first started out in the early 70's with a bantam 175 and a 2nd hand greasy leather jacket, I was ignored by those on Commandos and Rocket Threes, even Tiger Cubs would only grudgingly acknowledge me. Scooters were a strict no no and one sure way of being beaten to death by a horde in parkas on lambrettas that could outrun me. As I got bigger and better bikes I got more smiles and waves and sense of being accepted. Things changed at the end of the 70’s with the Japscrap and Brit oilers encampments and you were either one or the other and never should the twain meet.
As the British bike industry imploded and every one rode around on Jap screamers or those things with lots of exhausts old rivalries passed away and as we were all on a Jap machine (the only ones you could buy then, early 80’s) every one waved or acknowledged each other with the exception of various chapters with colours. (these guys still do not wave as its uncool)
Today in 2009 I find that the encampment thing is alive and well although it no longer depends upon the make of bike but the type. I nod to everyone and stop at the first opportunity if a fellow biker is stopped at the roadside but find it is (in general) the big tourers, mainly BMs and Goldwings/Panams that ignore me. It is nice to hark back to a bygone age when we were all friendly and part of an exclusive club but the truth is it never was.
It is one of the reasons I love the HUBB. There is a sense of camaraderie here and everyone I have met so far, either at meets or camping has been great. I wish most of the rest of the biking community I have met over the years had been like the people I have met here so far.

Nice to see a less "rose-tinted" view. I think there's a certain amount of snobbery that goes on but that's never going to change.

I distinctly remember the last Goldwing rider that waved back as it was a German registered one in white and pulling a matching trailer. This was on the Durham/Cumbria boundary. Not my thing but it's got two wheels and a motor so :thumbup1:

Funnily enough, I do know of a bike instructor who uses the slightest spit of rain as an excuse to wear an ex-police, hi-vis waterproof jacket, complete with blue chequered stripes (see eBay). :rofl:
I've ridden an ex-police pan and people do get out the way pretty quick. A huge white bike does have road presence and there's certainly no need to tailgate.

Maybe it's the police or bike instructor link but I don't know what it is with Pan owners. No offence intended to MarkE as it's obviously a minority but it is noticeable, except from those who ride them as "company" bikes who will wave back, at least those in Durham and Cleveland anyway!

I've ridden quite a few Pan's, both ST11 and 13's and they really are great bikes and are deceptively quick. Surprised there's not more Pan owners on here really.

There is an element both percieved and real on here that says you need off road performance. Having gone the route of saying I don't need a 21-inch front wheel or 2m high plank seat, I won't comment on where you could get a Pan, but I'm betting it wouldn't be good if you dropped it. Hence, not so many owners. I bet our Pan owners wave too :thumbup1:

My "fake" BTW might have been real. Yesterday up near the Leeds festival I saw the usual groups of West Yorkshire's finest (they go about in three's, I won't suggest why people think they do this on a family board!). One of a group of three was either an F650/800 or R1200GS in with a pair of new R1200PD's. They've run half a dozen old Suzuki trail bikes in the parks for years to catch up with yoofs on field bikes, do first aid on walkers/mugging victims and they bring them onto the streets when it snows. I'm wondering if they've decided the GS could do both jobs and are trying them? Still thought the bloke on the M-62 needs to read the book.

Andy

I've been to few places that have surprised even me on the Pan and been well impressed with it. There have been times when I've been wrestling more than I would like though, and I once hurt myself fighting not to drop it. It is actually well protected against falling over, but a longer drop could be painfully uncheap. Most of my riding is medium to long distance commuting (I work on contract so I go where the work is - it's not always local) and my travelling tends to be in places with at least adequate roads so the Pan suits my needs perfectly. As the children are now grown up I can take longer breaks and I'm starting to think of getting a bit further off the beaten track. I'll keep the Pan but I hope to get something to keep it company soon. I've no intention of starting a controversy, but the Wee Strom looks right for me. Whatever I get will be mid range* as the likes of the GS strike me as too tall and too heavy.

*Not much before my time big bikes were about 500cc and they were for real men. Anything bigger than that was for pulling a sidecar yet I've just called a 650 "mid range".

PS: No offence taken Craig.

North Wales calling in here, many riders nod or wave, though on a sunny weekend you can get neck fatigue, I started riding in the early 70s when it was considered very bad form indeed to ride past a stopped rider, I normally stop or do the thumbs up/down thing, in winter the waving/nodding seems to increase a little, perhaps due to there being more "serious" riders about in the cold/wet weather. Headlight flashing is less common now that many bikes use daytime lights, and as a previous poster pointed out a flash can have other meanings.
As we seem to be attracting a little flak in this thread I will point out at this juncture that I am a BMW GS rider, I will always wave or nod, in my big alloy panniers (that seem to annoy some folks for some reason) there are a first aid kit, tools, a puncture kit, a compressor and usually the means to make us both a cup of tea if I cant help in any other way :thumbup1:

Stewart

When i used to have a KLR250, with knobblies on and usually wearing my alpine star off road boots, occasionally a "road" bike would nod, not very often though.

When i then got a CBR600.... every bugger waved/nodded....

It must be the muddy thing! :rolleyes2::rolleyes2:

Waving
 

I'm from OZ:thumbup1: and find most riders wave or nod. The exception being Harley riders, I think they must have a clause in there rego papers that states they will immediately be struck down by a lightening bolt, if they dare acknowledge another brand of bike !!!!:nono:

Cheers
Paul

My Africa Twin decided to undo the + Terminal on the battery yesterday and after push/bump starting it and then stalling it I stood by the side of the road trying to catch my breath watching every biker just ride straight past !

There must have been 20 plus 'bikers' ride past before a couple of lads in a pickup jumped out and gave me a push ........

Are you a Biker or a Motorcyclist ?

I am the later ..... I think that there is a difference nowdays....
I am 37 and have ridden motorbikes off road since I was 7 but I have only been on the road for 5 years.... My only reason to get on the road was to travel .... Slowly...... so I can see the places that I ride thru ?!!

I am not a fan of Sports / Superbikes... well not the bikes exactly ( they just pop out of a mould in a factory and get a Honaha or Kawazuki sticker stuck on them ) but the way they are ridden in this country by the majority not minority ....

When people go on about the North Wales issue here in the UK ( North Wales Police targeting 'Bikers' ) I have no sympathy ..... when you ride in an area of outstanding natural beauty at ridiculous speeds thus making the roads unsafe for other users you are gonna get whats coming ........ I dont want to be associated with this kind of biking ...
'Bikers' have tarnished Motorcycling ...

I am choosy about who I wave to and maybe thats a bit harsh ... But if anyone waves to me I will wave back....

I will stop for anyone who is in need of help.... Biker, Motorcyclist, Car Driver and even ........... Trike riders ... ( or is that Drivers ? ) :shifty: