The Most Common Motorcycle Superstitions

Superstitions exist for many reasons, but mostly as a form of comfort or insurance. Many superstitions exist today. For example, black cats are usually considered unlucky and are believed to ruin your life. Other common superstitions include the belief that one should not break a mirror, walk under a ladder, or dump salt among other things.

Apart from the generic superstitions that are meant to help prevent you from facing bad luck, superstitions that are specific to hobbies and communities also exist. Motorcycle superstitions, therefore, fall under the second category. The motorcycle superstitions apply to bikers, riders, and the overall motorcycle culture. They are things that can improve your luck on the road. Here, we explore the most common motorcycle superstitions. They include:

1. Dropping your helmet

There is a saying behind this superstition. It states, “As goes your head, so goes your head.” It simply tells us that dropping our motorcycle helmet is bad luck, discouraging us from doing so.

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A helmet is a safety gear that should remain in good condition all the time. However, dropping it may weaken it. This might render the helmet unable to protect you, hence the need to replace it once dropped, no matter how short the fall is.

While dropping a helmet might render it unable to protect you better, it seems unrealistic for one to be replacing a helmet once they drop theirs. This is where the superstition that “helmets on the ground are bad luck” comes in.

Since safety is of much importance, it is unlikely for one to get a cheap helmet. Instead, they will go for an expensive but high-quality one that might not weaken in just a single drop. That way, you won’t leave any helmet(s) on the ground.

2. Guardian Bells

A Guardian Bell is a small bell used by some motorcycle riders to ward off evil spirits that may try to harm them while on the road. It is believed that evil spirits, which you are likely to encounter on the road, can cause bad luck.

Due to the belief that evil spirits can cause bad luck, and that bells can undo all the anticipated bad luck, bells on a bike are believed to be a sign of good luck. The sound of the bell is believed to attract the evil spirits. The bell then traps the evil spirits. The constant ringing of the bell drives the evil spirits crazy making them lose their grip and fall. This superstition is a little dark but also helps the biker community.

The bell helps in keeping the biker community together. A new rider cannot buy his/her bell, they must receive it from a fellow rider. This trend helps to create friendships between the bikers.

There’s also another version of the bell, a brass bell. But, this is more of a form of remembrance and less of superstition. Some bikers hang it on their bikes to remember a fallen rider. There’s a belief that the fallen rider will still enjoy the road with their friends.

3. Green motorcycles

The green color on a motorcycle was considered bad luck before Kawasaki changed this superstition. But initially, green motorcycles were not something you wanted to mess with. The superstition grew because all the people who drove green vehicles died in race crashes. In addition, the American troops died in The Second World War while riding their green military motorcycles. The two coincidences led to the belief that green motorcycles were highly unlucky, that’s why people kept away from them at all costs.

Another reason for the superstition relates to the sale of green motorcycles after World War II was over. They were probably not in good condition and were sold at a cheap price. So, people who bought them could have been riding motorcycles that were not the safest and were more likely to run into issues.  These three reasons scared people from riding green motorcycles for a long time.

4. Riding with the rear pegs down

Riding with rear pegs down is believed to attract evil spirits to ride with you. There’s an old belief that riding with pegs down is only okay when you have a second rider you. Because it is believed that the second rider, (probably the same evil spirits you are trying to trap in the bell) will appear if you ride without one. Unlike people, these riders are out to cause mischief.

This is somehow a complicated superstition because one is required to leave the pegs down when riding in a funeral procession in honor of a fallen rider. This is to allow the fallen rider to enjoy one last ride. This shows how this superstition overlaps with other traditions. However, it is good to have the silver bell with you to avoid the bad luck of riding with evil spirits.

5. Stopping to help other riders

This is the superstition that everyone should get on board with. It is not simply on account of luck, but more like bad karma. It encourages people to offer help to fellow riders in bad situations. Regardless of whether you might need help or not, always stop to help.

The basic reason why you need to stop boils down to karma. It is believed that refusing to stop for a fellow rider will lead to no one stopping for you when you need help. You can also just get some bad luck.

Stopping to help other riders is also a motorcycle culture, one who fails to do so will be going against it. The biggest reason why many bikers love to ride is the tight-knit culture. Even beyond that, we should also try to help those who seem to be in need because it is a nice thing to do, and if you believe in karma, good karma will come back to you.

There you have the most common motorcycle superstitions. Do you follow any of them? Or do you have some of your own?