Doin' the Wave
Doin’ the wave
UP FRONT
David Edwards
A FEW ISSUES BACK, CW READER MARK Schuttenhelm from the bucolic hamlet of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, took offense at our generally positive road test of the Harley-Davidson Bad Boy, accusing the editors of toeing the Motor Company’s corporate line because we had somehow been “brainwashed by this H-D mystique crap.”
Funny, I don’t feel programmed.
Mr. Schuttenhelm, a Gold Wing rider, then went on to brew-up a fairly vitriolic lager of words that culminated in his characterization of most Harley owners as “easy-rider wannabes.”
“The best part is that they refuse to wave to anybody not riding a HarleyDavidson. Some guy who hasn’t showered for a week thinks he’s hurting my feelings by not waving back? Yep, I’m crushed,” he concluded.
We let Mark vent his spleen without much editorial comment, thinking that other readers would respond to his outburst.
Well, y’all came through like gangbusters.
Danny Rappley of Hayward, California, sent a very thoughtful letter explaining part of the Harley-Davidson “mystique.”
“Some of the reasons Harleys are so popular?” Rappley asked rhetorically:
“1. Ease of maintenance. Two sparkplugs, four quarts of oil and filters, 45 minutes tops, and you’re down the road. No cam shims, feeler gauges, gaskets, bodywork removal or accessibility problems.
“2. Parts availability. Between the dealer network and a very strong aftermarket, I can’t think of any part for a Big Twin from 1948 to present that is not available. I built a 1949 Panhead completely from aftermarket parts-try that with a 1973 Kawasaki H2, or a 1985 Yamaha Virago.
“3. Reliability. Most Evolutionpowered bikes are good for 80,000 to 100,000 miles with only routine maintenance, and you can breathe this kind of reliability into older H-Ds.
“4. Value. Rather than getting hung up on purchase price, here’s an example of value: If you paid $10K for a new Softail in 1989 and kept reasonable care of it, its market value today is $11 to $12K. You’ve had six years of fun and made a grand or so in the bargain. If, however, you spent $8000 on a cheaper alternative, today it may be worth only as much as $2500. You lost $5500. Where is the smart money?” (Rappley’s figures are a little off in regards to Japanese cruisers. The average 1989 price for a big-bore V-Twin from the Big Four was $6075. According to the NADA “blue book,” average price today is $3715, a depreciation of $2360. Still, the point is well taken.)
Investment strategies notwithstanding, it was Schuttenhelm’s contentious comments about Harley riders not waving at owners of other brands that drew the most response.
Some were short and not so sweet. “GET REAL!” was the sage advice from one Mr. Eric “Shotgun” Wardrum, comfortably ensconced at Ohio’s Trumbull Correctional Institute.
“Is it any wonder that we avoid waving at people with his mentality?” asked Dan Field of West Covina, California. “As to his aspersion that we are dirty-I bathe at least once a month whether I need it or not.”
Kenny Rosen of Tarzana, California, took a Lone Biker of the Apocalypse stance: “I bond with the road and the bike-not the brand. I don’t wave because...I ride for the road ahead, not for what is next to me, and not for what I have just passed.”
Most were lighter in tone. “We’re tired ! " wrote Robert J. Queen, who recently left the crumbling, chuckholed road system that rings Chicago for the green countryside of Olympia, Washington. “If I waved at every rider within 500 miles of Sturgis, for example, I’d never be able to shift because I wouldn’t be able to put by arm down long enough to pull in the clutch.”
Queen went on to suggest that keeping both hands on the bars is a good idea: “I survived 35 years in Chicago’s expressway environment by being worried about mc-not who didn’t wave. Ride safe.”
Cathy Sufrich lives in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, just nine miles from Schuttenhelm’s hometown. “I’m sure we’ve passed on the road sometime,” she writes. “I’ve owned both Harleys and Hondas since buying my first bike, a 1947 Hummer; ditto for my husband, except substitute Triumphs for Hondas. Most of my many Harleyriding friends are blue-collar people. I’ve been everything from a waitress to a welder, my hubby is a steelworker who rides a Springer Softail. I owned a Gold Wing for nine years, liked it all right, rode it over half this continent. I currently own an Evolution Sportster; I find it to be as dependable with a lot more maneuverability and character. I wave at all motorcyclists; my husband waves at nobody, regardless of brand.
“I’d like to invite Mr. Schuttenhelm to stop in at the local H-D dealer in suburban Stroudsburg, pick up a 1995 calender of events, then join us this summer and find out who we really are. Mark, we don’t bite, some of us do wave, and most of us bathe regularly.”
It’s ironic that Schuttenhelm’s point about some (most?) Harley riders choosing not to wave is a good one, especially if the non-wave is meant to be some kind of holier-than-thou snub. To me, a simple wave at oncoming riders is more than a display of kinsmanship, it lets those riders know that the road ahead is clear of hazards-either natural or those that carry citation booklets. (A palm turned down, parallel to the ground, and pumped up and down is the slow-down signal.) If you choose not to avail yourself of such information-your loss, not mine. I’ll still wave, though. Where Schuttenhelm made his mistake was wrapping his assertions in such negative energy. It was both unkind and uncalled for.
As Steve Stout from Byron Center, Michigan, nicely summed up: “Mark, maybe it’s not the bike when they don’t wave.”
