The police?

[Andz]

Last time I was pulled over was a couple of months ago on my way back from a race meeting. There was a car driving in front of me when a cop stepped out in the road and put up his hand. The car stopped so I did too. The cop waved the driver on and motioned me to pull over. By the time he got to me my helmet was off and my licence was in my hand.

"Are you only stopping bikes today?"

He checked my licence and mumbled something, checked the licence disc on the bike, then walked round the back and said "your plate is a bit small but at least you have one so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Ride safe" and walked away.

Lucky break! I have heard stories of bikes being impounded for having no plate or little plates like mine.

 

[dolau]

Riding behind my lad on his thou on a wet Sunday with not much traffic about on a local road- was flashed by oncoming drivers and knew where they would be and looked in my mirror as I cruised around the bend and couldnt see them and assumed they were after someone else so took off after my lad who was long gone.

Got to the next village a couple of miles on and a jam sandwich (Britsh traffic cop car) was waiting for us and pulled us over then the other one with the Vascar came up behind.

Average 83mph over the measured 1/4 miles- so as I stared at the regulation 60- I must have been moving some by the time I left the road markings

Even though he only timed me he did both of us- assuming we were both doing the same speed- cpuld have been worse SP30 3 points and a £60 fine after 38 years of a clean licence which was not deserved just lucky up until then and it was my time

No speeding course for me it seems so I was expecting insurance to go up with 3 points but it made no difference- maybe another 3 would be different but hey!

It was a shame as it was our last ride together before he sold his bike and hasnt brought another yet- damn redundancy!

He rides my FZ6 when I am not-
now

 

[ChUcK]

SWIM ran from the cops once and got away with it.

Split highway, cop going other direction, saw the bike going too fast, and hit the lights and flipped a U, but SWIM was already exiting and L-R-L-R turning until a handy barn was found to hide behind.

SWIM doesn't recommend this, it is too stressful. It's much better to ride like a normal human being.

 

[CDE]

Oh man, some sick stories!!

I've had a few minor incidences on the bike, but nothing requiring insurance or Police. I've managed to ride in such a way I have not been pulled over for speeding (not saying I don't speed though!!). My only ticket in the past 6 years was this past Christmas driving 3 hours on a highway to see the folks....cop got me coming around a corner going 15KM over. I was frankly quite surprised he pulled me over. Maybe he saw me slam on the breaks once my radar detector beeped...I was distracted by talking with my girlfriend so my reaction time was a second too late to get within 10KM of the 110KM/hr speed limit. MERRY CHRISTMAS! This was in my BMW 525i






I have a good story though...my best bud slash room-mate has a Ninja 650R and likes to ride it HARD. He has had his license suspended due to too many excessive speeding tickets. I was driving home a cool and foggy fall night down this large straightaway towards the mountain I live on from the highway. The speed limit on this desolate road is 60km/hr and most people go well above that. When I'm driving at night I am usually just cruising on or just above the speed limit...because I'm a well behaved boy for the most part. Well, it was dark out, no one on the road, and I'm cruising at 60kph. Just before the road starts climbing up the hill, there is an old heritage type of village - just a few old houses and some stores and the speed limit is reduced to 30kph (soooo slow). Well, I was "in the zone" and proceeded to drive 60kph through this quaint little area. I know what you all are thinking...yes, there was a cop sitting on the side of the road, waiting for some poor chode to "speed" in this 30kph zone. BWOOP BWOOP *lights flashing* Ah sh!t, saw that coming - as soon as I saw the "POLICE" light up as my headlights hit the cop car I thought to myself, "self, you are going 60 in a 30 zone, ah FML". So I casually pull over, but I through the officer off because I was driving a Toyota Corolla Levin GT-Apex which is a JDM right hand drive. What I didn't realize was the rather mucky yard I parked beside so once he notices me on the right hand side after shining his flashlight in, the walks over the the right side, "squish squish" like walking on a wet marshland. We exchanged pleasantries, I asked him how his evening was and apologized for parking next to the muck. I have a way with talking to people and they get comfortable quickly. Anyways, as he is checking out my registration and asking me about how weird it is to own a RHD car, I hear the distinct sound of a twin motorcycle coming from the mist. Sure enough, my buddy on his Ninja goes rumbling past, definitely not at 30kph! Took one for the team that night. If he had an excessive ticket there, he would have been re-suspended (since then he's had 4 other tickets, so I think he's F'd anyways...haha, loser). But the nice officer gave me a warning and told me to have a good night. I put my stuff away, peeled out a little in the muck, and started my ascent up the hill towards my house. Between Christmas and this, these are the only times I've been pulled over for as long as I can remember.:cheer:

 

[marke14]

OK, yes since Lefty is clearly on his lunch break at the moment, I will speak up here.

So last summer a bunch of us on the board decided to do a big SoCal group ride. There is another post about that ride along with several other pictures of “the incident” mentioned by several others who were there that day below.

So basically, we had enough riders that it was decided to split into two groups – a “faster” group and a “more reasonable” group. Now I always go with The Mild Ones, particularly on the street, but being as I am a moderate pace rider in reality, and there was a need to balance the faster group with a few more riders from the “slower” group, Lefty and I decided to tag along with the faster group.

After nearly going wide going up the Palomar Mountain grade switchbacks (my first time!), Lefty and I decided to “hang back” a bit and let the hooligans go roaring off in front of us as we went down a spectacular road called Montezuma Valley Road - Anza-Borrego Springs, CA - Google Maps . We were definitely “pushing” the 55 mph speed limit – doing maybe 65-70 – and we lost so much ground to the faster guys in front of us that we could actually see them down the road in front of us, as the canyon road twisted and turned.

Well, as we near the end of this curvy section of road, the road comes down out of the hills and turns into a straight as it goes out onto the flat desert floor below. As Lefty and I come around this last bend, we see two things simultaneously, like a scene from some comedy:

1) Wavex, CaliRider, and about six other guys (Kenny, Chemiker, McLovin I think … ) pulled off to the side of the road about a half mile in front of us, literally high-fiving each other, having survived the bomb rush down the mountain, and

2) A CHP (California Highway Patrol) SUV coming right for us in the opposite lane.

As I pulled INTO the group (hoping to disguise myself amongst the other FZ6s), I saw the cop flip a U-turn. He pulled directly in front of our group, got out, and came directly to Lefty and I and asked for our IDs and registration/insurance. Having never gotten a ticket on the bike, I figured it was my turn. What are you going to do, after all?

It was at this point that these jokers began whipping out the cameras and snapping the pictures you see below, and on this thread – and in my avatar.

Right as he was checking our licenses on his computer, one of the guys’ wife, who was riding two-up with us, went up to the cop and asked if she could sit in the back of his truck in the air conditioning, as she was overheating.

He came back over a short time later and handed me and Lefty our papers back, grinned at us and said, “I scared you there, didn’t I?” He then advised us to be more aware of the speed limit, “even if it’s a little boring to do that.”

I personally think that when our friend went to ask if she could sit in the back of the car, that is what saved us the ticket. That and the fact that Lefty and I were clean (at least as far as tickets go!).

He later said to the group that we weren’t like “most of the guys on bikes” that he sees out there. He specifically said that he could tell we were a good, friendly group.

The VERY BEST PART, aside from not getting a ticket, was watching Wavex move to stand between the cop and his rear tire, which was absolutely COATED in gravel that he had picked up on his overheated-by-excessive-speed rear tire, as he pulled off to the side of the road. The thing looked like a world superbike tire after someone runs off into the gravel – I equated it to a piece of chewing gum that had fallen into the dirt. CLASSIC!

EDIT: I would like to re-emphasize how unbelievably nice and understanding the CHP officer was. Certainly the most pleasant one I've encountered.

Well, this is the closest I've come to getting "pulled over" by police (It was actually me voluntarily pulling over--I'm way in the back. I missed out on the real adventure----arrived late)

On behalf of the eighteen members of this forum, it was probably here.



No tickets were issued, but plenty of warnings including some fix it tickets that could have been issued. One was for David's Blue Windscreen. Everyone was fully geared and were accepting the consequences for being stop without zero argument. Oh, by the way, it was like 115 degrees.

Talk to Lefty (and Mark?)

I can't wait to hear this:spank:


And officer Peterson was very cool even in 114 degrees


Jerry

That boring straight part is just where they stopped. It's at the bottom of one of my favorite twisty roads of all time - Montezuma Highway in Borrega Springs :rockon::rockon:

 

[marke14]

And, as I wrote this, I realized I have had one other CHP motorcycle encounter.

Coming down from Angeles Crest Highway (a local Los Angeles mountain road famous with the moto crowd), I pulled over to have a swig off the water bottle and to call my wife to let her know I had survived the ride out, before getting on the freeway for the 45-minute ride home. Just as I was packing up to take off, a motorcycle officer pulls over behind me - one of the "infamous" ones who goes up The Crest pretty much to write tickets to motorcyclists.

Several things ran through my mind:

* had he seen me speeding earlier? (... because surely I had seen him!)

* fender eliminator

* aftermarket turn signals

* aftermarket exhaust

Instead, he looks at me without dismounting, and asks if I was OK and if my bike was alright. I said why yes, I was just having a drink before I get on the freeway to head home. We talked for a couple of minutes and he took off to go home himself.

It was another pleasant CHP experience - the only kind I've ever had, really - including the times I received speeding tickets in my car. Only one guy was ever a dick to me - this one other officer chastised me for not crossing the double yellow carpool lane line when he busted me for speeding in that lane.

 

[TeacherJoe]

While on a solo camping trip last summer, I got pulled over for speeding at about 8 am. I was doing over 60 in a 40. Bear in mind that I teach English . . . The officer was friendly enough, and I told him I was actually going faster than he had clocked. As I was just a few miles from the Robert Frost museum, I explained that I was trying to get there in haste to catch the light (this part I was making up) that inspired the poem "The Road Not Taken." It turns out he was a fan of Frost, and we shared an uncommon interpretation of the poem's meaning. We agreed that the conventional understanding of the poem failed to grasp the sense of lost second-chances. I got off with a warning. The text of the poem follows. Feel free to discuss.

Joe

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

[Lefty]

Thanks Mark for posting, I was out of the office this afternoon and you beat me to it posting about our encounter. Anyway here's my little write up from last year's stop.

Re: NorCal ride to see SoCal gang 8/20- 8/22
Thanks everyone who went today, you all made the ride truly epic. The CHP officer was totally cool, he said Mark and I were clocked doing 70 in a 55. it really could have been a lot worse. The funniest part is that Mark was the sweeper for our group and I was just ahead of him. Wavex and the rest of the group were already a the bottom of the curves and off of their bikes when Mark and I came around the last sweeper and opened it up on the straightaway just as the CHP came around the corner in the opposite direction. We couldn't believe he singled Mark and I out to ticket us! But he let us go with a warning and said part of the reason was we were such a cool group of riders.. It does makes a great story with all the pics though.
Props to John and David for all the planning and organizing the weekend that made this ride so enjoyable. And to all the new friends I made today all I can say is thanks, you were all awesome.

 

[ohgood]

82 in a 70, on I-75 heading north out of tampa.... why ?

because everyone else moved RIGHT towards him on the shoulder, on a BMW. i moved LEFT towards the 'fast' lane and didn't lift. they almost caused a huge pile up slamming on their brakes. why'd i move left ? cause there was biker on the shoulder. well, not just a biker, a sheriffs deputy.

i explained why i moved left, commented what a nice beemer he was cruisin, and he still wrote me, perfect ! nice officer, and completely right about the ticket, but i thought he would say something about not plowing him over with the rest of the herd. nope. just on to the next one.

in my younger years i was ticketed for everything from speeding (slow night) to jumping railroad tracks in a lincoln and burning out vw's while pushing dumpers down the alley.

now, i'm old and boring. i don't break the law (much) and never, ever ever speed. and i just bought my first bike with a 14, bajillion rpm redline.

sheesh

 

[macem29]

Short story.

On the way to work 8ish in the morning around Xmas 2009. Got pulled over for the obligatory 'drink driving blitz' that happens all around Australia.

In the 10 mins I was there (2 mins for the breath test, another 8 mins for the bike inspection), they only stopped me & not the 100 or so cars that passed!

Also did you know it takes 3 police officers in Qld to breath test 1 person on a bike

so what's it like to ride at Christmas time? lucky dude :thumbup:

 

[Stumbles06]

Last week, on the way to work, Wednesday morning, 5:30am and about 3 degrees (Celsius)... Got pulled over for a random breath test. I've been waved through random test stations before but not this time.

Pulled up, bike off, gloves off, helmet off and you should have seen his eyes... I wear a balaclava in the colder weather and this particular balaclava has a skull print on it... lol

I blow into the machine and while he's waiting for it to register "0", he comments... "A bit chilly this morning, huh?" I reply.. "ya think??"

Sends me on my way. One of my mates got to work 5 mins later and said they were packing up the station, so he didn't get pulled in.

First and only time I've ever been pulled over by the cops.

:rockon:

 

[Stumbles06]

so what's it like to ride at Christmas time? lucky dude :thumbup:

It's awesome. Bit chilly this time of year, but ya gotta love being able to ride all year 'round :thumbup:

:rockon:

 

[ozzieboy]

Got pulled over for "I think you were going a well over 70kmph when I saw you come around that bend back there while I was parked in the turning lane here".

Me: You mean the bend at the lights where I had stopped for the red...the one with the hump on it, so that if you nail it the front wheel would come up? You think I accelerated to well over 70kmph and kept the front wheel on the ground through that bend off of the lights. Did you see me looking at you while you were pegging me out? Did you see me pointing at my speedo and and looking at you with an enquiring hand gesture as I went past you? You heard me coming in first gear at 70kmph and instantly gave a "YEEHAW! Billy Bob. We got us a chase!" Then you pulled out of the turning lane, and pulled me over for doing 2 kmph under the limit on this gravel shoulder, on a bend, on a hill, in heavy traffic, so that I have to be very careful when I pull out, to not spin the wheel, hook the 3 inch step in the shoulder with the rear, or get nailed by a speeding car driver. Thanks ever so much for looking after my safety. That's the problem with you cops...you don't ride bikes, and only think in 2 dimensions. You don't think about the crest in the intersection that makes what you're saying impossible. You pull me over in a dangerous spot, and if I had've kept going looking for a safe spot, then you would've found another way to endanger me just like the last idiot, that pulled me over for nothing when he flashed his high beams as I was checking my mirrors in preparation for turning.

Cop: I ride bikes.

Me: When? Rode a bike once 10 years ago? ( look in the eyes tells me I got that about right) Look either let me go or shoot me, I've got stuff to do. I don't wanna stand here on the side of the road in case a mate goes past and thinks you're my friend, and I certainly don't wanna catch a stray bullet intended for you.:thumbup: At least you didn't try to change lanes into me like that moron cop on King William road after I pulled out around him 'cause he was doing 30kmph under the limit in a 50 zone, and I sat in his mirror for 6 flashes of the indicator before I went around him. You guys endanger me more than anyone else on the road. Anything else? Want me to blow in your machine? I don't drink or take drugs so bring it on.

Cop: Just take it easy.

Then spend the next 2 minutes waiting for a gap and shaking my head at the morons who put me in this crap place to pull out from.




I've got a ticket from a previous stop for doing something that is not even illegal. This might start to give you an idea of why I get stuck into them. I'm not the cause of accidents (my driving record proves this). They are targetting the wrong people.

 

[Lefty]

You're one bad@$$ dude! Lol....
I wish I had the cajones to speak my mind when pulled over. (See Marke's post). But I just stand there like a kid who caught caught with his hand in the cookie jar. :spank:
Awesome that it worked out for you though. :thumbup:

 

[MHS]

I speak my mind -- but never that clearly. Too many !@# cops or that have just had a bad day for speaking my mind to upset a little too much.

On my ride a couple nights ago I was stopped at a roadblock. The cop was nice, but seemed to have issues understanding that I was just out for a joy ride that far outside the city. Other than that, just asked for my ID and if I'd had anything to drink.

 

[rexbaum]

I have been a policeman for 24 years, been riding for 35. I will say this for all it is worth. Cops know good and well just how carelessly motorists (cages) drive. There is an unspoken opinion about the risks we take as cyclists on the roadway. I think that a majority are sympathetic to the hazards we face, therefore a majority of the time no summons is issued.

My personal record is stopping a guy on a bike for 117 MPH in a 40 MPH zone. Gave him a piece of my mind, but I did not issue a summons.

As for the house bill mentioned way earlier regarding random stops (ie. sobriety check points), been there, done that. These stops are gonna be around. No 4th amendment violation.

Those guys in the European areas, I speak not for your cops. That government structure is collecting revenue at a rate I personally don't hope to see here in the USA. Liberalism sucks!

:BLAA:

 

[jmun]

Today-11am ish--3 lane road that merges to two lane-a punk with his buddy in a camry cut me off in lane 3 then cut off the car in lane 2- which was kinda nice because that left me plenty of room to run lane 3 until it ran out and get in front of everyone-of course I had to be tougher then the camry!!! gunned it and jumped out in front- about 63 in a 40--- there go the lights.... ahh shi$...Officer walks up- "out enjoying the new bike??" -not sure what to say, I was speeding and deserved the punishment my wife was going to deal to me. He let me go with a warning....TFC !!!!- I wanted to polish his.. shoes!! I hope he has great day!!!

 

[abraxas]

We have a completely different police situation here. No moving violations are ever enforced, and the only time you see cops are either behind speed traps, or operating in 2's to conduct random stop checks, otherwise referred to as the lunch money brigade ... you can get away with a R100 wrapped around your license.

Since my plate is broken (it was driven off my bike, but some schuck in traffic) i'm not worried about the traps, only the pullovers. Daytime isn't a problem, because if you shake your head politely and ride past they just grab the next sucker. However they've started night operations now, without any flashing blue lights, so you don't see them.

Since they're only looking for drunk drivers, a friendly hi officer is all that's required for them to respond, by which time i've already pulled away. They cannot "corral" bikes like they do cars

They're implementing a toll road system soon, and apparently have chase cars, so i think things will get more interesting soon. But i'm not worried, every single offramp from the highway is bumper to bumper all day everyday, so good luck chasing me through stopped traffic.

Awesome thread!

 

[1/2%normal]

Before I moved to FL I had a spotless record. Got one ticket during biketoberfest in Daytona Beach for earplugs (legal to have both in up home) $116 is way to much for a college student like myself. second one was from a POS old hag cop:spank: who clocked a harley going 74 in a 45 but decided to pull me over. direct quote-"ya know that car you was behind was goin 55mph. I got you goin 75." Now think about that quote and tell me whats wrong with it:Flip: I hate every cop and always will. dont try to convince me that there good cause I dont want to hear it.

 

[gpostarmy]

:Flip: I hate every cop and always will. dont try to convince me that there good cause I dont want to hear it.

Might be a little harsh, seems most are a$$hats though, but it is a stereotype and therefore cannot apply to every cop. Maybe some day you will meet a cop that is smoking hot and she just wants to put you in cuffs for fun.