Motorcycle Hand Signals: Everything You Need To Know
Photo by Jakub Sisulak on Unsplash
Motorcycle hand signals are incredibly important, especially if you want to ride together with others in a group. These signals help you communicate what you’re doing, and make it easier to let other drivers on the road know what you’re doing.
When you’re riding a motorcycle it matters to show other drivers, including both the other motorcyclists on the road and drivers in cars and trucks, what you’re doing.
The thing is, hand signals only work if everyone knows what they mean and what to do when you see one.
This guide will cover the motorcycle signals you need to communicate on the road, whether you’re driving around other motorcyclists or near drivers in cars and trucks.
Why Use Hand Signals?
The first thing you need to know about motorcycle hand signals is when and how you should use them.
Hand signals are a good option for motorcyclists because they’re quick, easy to make, and don’t increase your risk on the road. In fact, they can reduce risk by letting other drivers anticipate what you’re about to do.
Hand signals are also a good option if you know that your bike has relatively subtle light signals, or that the lights are out or otherwise not working the way that they should.
When in doubt: use a hand signal. That way you can be sure you at least attempted to communicate with and warn the other drivers on the road about what you’re doing.
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Motorcycle Hand Signals For Driving In Normal Traffic
These are the motorcycle hand signals you can use when you’re driving with people in cars and trucks.
Other drivers are more likely to know these hand signs than the more complicated ones you can use with other motorcyclists, but you can’t communicate as much information with them.
Stop:
When you want to come to a stop, this hand signal is good for warning the driver behind you. If you use it before you start braking you can give them a little more time to respond, which is good because motorcycles can usually come to a stop a lot faster than cars and trucks.
Using your left hand, turn at the elbow so that your palm is facing the vehicle behind you. You can use a closed fist or an open palm to signal that you’re stopping.
Lift your arm far enough out that the driver behind you can see, but you don’t need to hold it as far out as car or truck drivers using this signal.
Turning Left:
If you want to turn or merge left, point toward the left with your left arm.
Turning Right:
If you want to turn or merge to the right, lift your left arm straight out, and bend your elbow up. Hold your arm up, either with your palm facing forward or a closed fist, to indicate that you’re turning.
Motorcycle Hand Signals For Driving With Other Motorcycles:
The signals for turning left, right, or stopping are all the same when you’re driving with other kinds of traffic and when you’re driving with Motorcycles, but there are a lot of other signals you might want to know as well.
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Here are the most important signals you need to know for driving with other motorcycles:
Speed Up:
Speed up is one of the most important signals in groups and one you’ll use often in groups that aren’t used to riding together.
Extend your arm palm-up toward your hip, then bend at the elbow to lift your hand toward your waist. This tells the drivers behind you to speed up and match your speed.
Follow Me:
Raise your hand straight up palm-forward to indicate that you’re the group leader and others should follow you.
Should not be used if there’s already an established group leader. Signal to pull over or talk about it the next time you refuel if you want to take over for someone else.
Single File:
Similar to the follow me signal, hold your hand up in the air with one finger raised.
Double File:
Similar to single file but raise two fingers instead of one.
Slow Down:
This signal can be helpful when your motorcycle starts engine braking, to warn about speed limit changes, or to indicate when you need to slow down for road conditions or hazards ahead.
Hold your arm straight out, palm down, and lower it to roughly hip level. Repeat as needed.
You Lead / Come Here:
This signal is important for telling someone to take over leading or to change riding order and bring a different motorcycle closer to you.
Sometimes used to keep inexperienced riders in safer positions in the group.
First, approach the vehicle you want to lead, then point to their bike, and then point forward. Repeat until they start following. Then move to wherever you want to be and they should follow you.
Road Hazard Ahead:
This two-part signal is important for communicating when people might need to move over because of a hazard on the road.
You’ll need two motions. One, stick your right leg forward with the foot pointed up. Then point forward with the hand on the same side as the road hazard. This combination will tell the other motorcyclists where the hazard is and what side of the lane they should move toward.
Comfort Stop/Pull Over:
This hand signal is a good one if you want to sit down to adjust something, get a drink, or just because you need to stretch your legs.
Comfort stops are common, so don’t feel bad about needing one, but you also shouldn’t use this signal too often.
Hold your arm out at an angle down and toward the side, make a fist, and shake it up and down until the signal is received. Usually, you can tell the other riders have seen your signal because they’ll start making a turn or pull over signals of their own.
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Your Turn Signal Is On:
This hand sign is mostly used as a courtesy to other motorcyclists, and to make sure people know what their signals are doing. Use it to tell someone they left their indicator on, but only if you’re relatively sure they aren’t actually trying to merge or turn.
Hold your hand out low, roughly in line with your hip, and open and close your hand repeatedly like a blinking light.
This signal can be done on either side, but you can use your left hand to indicate either signal light. Don’t use your right hand unless you’re indicating that the right turn signal is on.
Pull Off Urgent:
Don’t use this motorcycle hand signal for comfort or a refreshment stop. This is used to say something is wrong and we need to pull over now and can be used even when the shoulder isn’t clear.
Holding your arm slightly up, point, and move your hand from closer to your helmet to pointing forward and left.
Can be done by pointing right if you want to exit or use the right shoulder, but that’s rarer. Consider using the pull-off in combination with a turn sign unless the group is familiar with this hand signal on the right side.
Police Ahead:
This signal is a good idea because police lights can be distracting to motorcyclists more than other drivers, and because staying together around police can help make you and the other motorcyclists more visible, which keeps everyone safer.
When you see the police vehicle, repeatedly tap the top of your helmet. Keep doing this for a few seconds to a minute, or until the other riders do the same to pass it on.
Fuel Stop:
This signal is pretty straightforward – just point to your fuel tank until the other motorcyclists get the message.
Be careful though, you don’t want to use this signal too often or when your tank isn’t getting close to empty. Most motorcyclists don’t like stopping when they don’t need to, and you can get some nasty nicknames for calling a fuel stop too often (unless your fuel tank is the smallest in the group).
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