Big Blu said:
I hope you wave back to the scooter guys! When I'm on the Vespa I make it a point to wave at everyone on two wheels, very few return the courtesy.
It's always fun to pull up to a red light next to the H-D rider, I look over, smile and give a big wave. They'll often rev their motor, then when the light goes green I'm through the intersection and they're just starting to roll. When they pass I flash a big thumbs up. Yeh, I know it's cruel. ::025::
I've noticed this, too. People on bikes like to snub me when I ride my Vespa. I just chuckle. When I pull up next to a bike at the lights, its usually the same experience. You can see the other rider studiously avoiding eye contact. Working at ignoring the scooter rider. LOL Light drops, I'm ready and slightly revving, and before they've fully released their clutch, I'm almost across the intersection. One of two things happens thereafter...
First is the continuation of the status quo. No boy-racing, trying to trump, etc. Everyone levels off at the speed limit and we all mosey forward. Sometimes I get a wave or nod as they drift past me down the road a ways.
Second is the "oh no you didn't, girlfriend" response. The other rider realizes their manhood has just taken a galactic smashing, they peg the throttle and over take. Dilettantes will short shift thinking I'm somehow counting their shifts and will be mucho impresto by them reaching third gear as they rip past me. Savvier riders just stay in first and wind it out, ripping past in a flurry of noise and mechanical angst designed to show me who's boss.
It takes all kinds.
Most embarrassing is a collective third group I think of as The Unfortunates.
This is a collective group of folks riding everything from Honda Groms to aging Hyundai Sonatas. Their common bond being that a stock Vespa GTS 300 can walk away from them up to 50 mph. In some cases its simply a matter of waiting for the Unfortunate to hit their own top speed, where small displacement rides are concerned. Cars, however, will eventually catch me and pass me, but by that time I've long since backed off the throttle due to speed limits. Incidentally, any early '90's Accord with a frat can bolted on is fair game when I'm on my Vespa.
For the record, unless my hand is needed for control at the moment, I wave. That's a reflection on who I am, how I see myself. If they don't wave back, meh.