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The topic for this month are the common hand signals typically
initiated by the Lead and passed back through the group to the
Sweep. Most of these are well-known and rather intuitive and some
are utilized much more than others. You will find these signals in
your BMMC Riders Guide and/or Ride Captain Guide, but here is a
quick reminder.
Since the right hand is devoted to the throttle and front brake –
as well as to one end of the handlebar, of course – all signals
are made by the left hand only. Let’s review them:
Start your engines. The left hand is raised high, index finger
pointing up, and the arm is used to move the hand in a
circle…mimicking the rotation of the engine’s crankshaft that is
about to occur.
Stop your engines. This is one that is used rarely, since it is
usually obvious when it’s time to shutdown. It’s the old
hand-across-the-throat, “Cut It!” signal.
Left Turn; Right Turn. The left arm either gets extended fully out
to the left (for left turns), or bent upward 90º at the elbow (for
right turns). Finger position doesn’t matter much.
Ready to Ride. When you are all set to go, give the thumb-up
signal to the Lead.
Slow Down; Speed Up. As a courtesy to those behind, let them know
when your speed is going to change markedly. The left arm goes
out, palm down, and you make a few downward strokes to indicate
slowing. Vice versa, palm up and upward strokes indicate that you
are accelerating. Almost identically, but in a for and aft
direction instead of up and down, come the…
Pass me; Don’t pass me. Wave the rider around you to let them know
that you are dropping back and want to be passed. On the other
hand, maybe the gap you are allowing to develop will be only
temporary – as you try to program a new channel on your radio! –
so you prefer that the following rider not pass, even though
he/she is probably thinking about it. In that case, “shooing” them
back with the palm facing backward is the signal.
Staggered Spacing; Single-file Spacing. Staggered, remember, is
the BMMC standard and all riders should start in that formation
without being reminded. When the road gets curvy and it’s best to
utilize the whole lane, not just your third of it, the signal is
one finger over the head, with the hand moving fore and aft to
indicate the single file format. When it is time to stagger again
– and this is one that is often so obvious the signal is somewhat
unnecessary – now take two fingers and wag them side-to-side over
the head.
Turn off your turn signal. Oh, we’ve all needed this one at times,
haven’t we?! Take the thumb and index finger and “blink” them
together to indicate the boo-boo. Here’s a clever idea: To
decrease the times one forgets to cancel their turn signal, a good
idea is to make it a habit to always cancel them when the left
hand finishes the turn hand signal and returns to the grip.
Hazards on the Road. By pointing down at the road with the left
hand, index finger extended, you are indicating that something
potentially dangerous is on the road. Since no signal utilizes the
right hand, this left point can be used to indicate a hazard on
either side of the rider! However, sometimes it makes sense to try
to direct attention to the right side. Although this is not an
“official” signal, two methods are commonly used and accepted: (1)
Point with the right foot, or (2) curve the left arm so that you
are pointing over your head to the right. The foot technique is
preferable if the hazard is on the road whereas the over-the-head
point is preferred if you are trying to draw attention to
something beside the road, such as bicyclists or a temporarily
parked car. (And if you have cruise control or a throttle lock and
don’t need to keep the right hand on the handlebar right now, no
law says you cannot point with that hand!)
Stop. To augment the brake light, left arm down, palm rearward,
indicates you are slowing to a stop.
Time for a Pit Stop. We hope BMMC rides are always planned so that
the eyeballs don’t ever reach the floating stage long before the
next gas/bio break is encountered. However, if you need to
“encourage” the group to stop very soon, pointing at the gas tank
– Or are we pointing at the bladder? Oh well, they’re pretty close
together – is the signal saying “Now!”
To make them more visible, don’t be timid with all of the signals.
Be dramatic! Make them as big as you can! Also, realize that a
side benefit of proper hand signals is that other vehicles on the
road, not just the bikers in your group, are better informed of
what is occurring and hence they are less likely to pull a stupid
stunt in their surprise.
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