bmccrary
Touring Mod
Ok so I figured I'd post this one up for you guys.
Labor day of 2012, I was out for a good day ride and decided to go get a Waffle House Tag I needed over in Murphy, NC as part of a rally I was participating in last year. On the way home I decided to make a run to the peak of the Skyway and on my way back I decided to stop by the Deals Gap store to refuel and then head home. When I got the store I found that the road was empty as most of the vacationers had left. So after a fill up I decided to make a run up The Gap and back since it was deserted.
It had just finished raining, the roads didnt have standing water on them but they were damp. I was on the Vstrom with the hard bags on, tools, heated gear, change of clothes, etc inside. The tires were Michelin Anakee II's. Coming into Crud Corner just into the TN side I shifted down into 2nd to let the engine slow me down, swung wide against the white line to apex early on this down hill hair pin corner.
Apexing the corner I was looking ahead into the straight away that followed. As my line of sight moved towards the straight away, I see a Tennessee Highway Patrolman standing in my lane waving me over to the front of his car which was facing me on the left should of the road. I clicked into the 3rd and eased on up to him.
Now at this point I am pretty darn confused. I know the speed limit is 30 but I am pretty sure I didnt break that limit. But honestly I had no idea because like the rest of you on here, the last thing to look at while corning is your speed.
I pull over, take the keys out and lay them on the ground. Flip my helmet up and lay my hands over the bars and let the officer know that I do have my concealed carry permit in NC and I do have the firearm under my coat. He could give 2 cents really, but its best to do that. Anywho, he proceeds to tell me that he clocked me at 55mph around that corner back there. I looked at him in amazement. First thought being, "Holy ****, thats impressive!" Second thought, "There is no way in hell." I pointed back at the corner and asked him. "That corner, right there?"
"Yes. Its that not bad of a corner."
"On this bike...? I am finding that a bit hard to believe."
"Well you did. License and registration."
So I go to the back of the bike and pull out my wallet. The registration is in the tank bag so I let him know that was where I would need to go next. He then has the nerve to ask:
"Is this your bike."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
(Blank stare at him) "Yea considering the payment comes out of my bank account once a month."
"Well if you can find the registration, bring it to the car."
At this point I am getting pretty furious with Officer Snow.
I take the registration (that has my name on it) to his car. He waves me away from him so I go back to the bike and look back at the corner where I had apparently turned into Rossi.
He comes back with a ticket. I look it over, 55 in a 30. This is how the rest of the convo went.
"Seriously, officer. There is no way I was doing 55mph on this bike, under these conditions in that corner."
"You did."
"I would like to see proof of this."
"What proof."
"The LCD read out on the back of your radar. I want to see where it says 55mph." (In high school, the officer that pulled me over showed me where it was blinking 85... pucker moment)
"I never had a clear read on you."
"Then why are we here?"
"I clocked you at that speed. Sign the ticket or go to jail."
I bit my tongue and signed the ticket.
Now, the pull off I was in was gravel. I was facing him and I had to turn around to leave because I wasnt about to make a run down 129 at this point. I did a quick 3 point turn to face south again and pulled out on the road. The Vstrom has many similarities to large bore dirt bike. Clutch feels about the same, seating position similar, etc. At that time, it took all I had not to have a "clutch malfunction" and leave that gravel like I used to leave the starting line of the harescrables back in the day.
To make things even better, as I eased out on the road I glanced down at my dash to see that my radar detector was going off. He was shooting me in the back as I rode off.
So I hired a lawyer that was a friend of a friend. Bought him lunch and he covered for me. Court date arrived, Officer Snow was a no show. Next date was set for middle January. Officer Snow failed to appear for that one as well. After his second no show the court dismissed the case and call charges/fees were dropped.
:Flip:Officer Snow
So today at lunch I decided to pick up a frame for my little gem. I plan on taking it to the next SBK race to get a few signatures on it...
Moral of the story. Cops on Deals Gap are a pain... Watch yourself.
Labor day of 2012, I was out for a good day ride and decided to go get a Waffle House Tag I needed over in Murphy, NC as part of a rally I was participating in last year. On the way home I decided to make a run to the peak of the Skyway and on my way back I decided to stop by the Deals Gap store to refuel and then head home. When I got the store I found that the road was empty as most of the vacationers had left. So after a fill up I decided to make a run up The Gap and back since it was deserted.
It had just finished raining, the roads didnt have standing water on them but they were damp. I was on the Vstrom with the hard bags on, tools, heated gear, change of clothes, etc inside. The tires were Michelin Anakee II's. Coming into Crud Corner just into the TN side I shifted down into 2nd to let the engine slow me down, swung wide against the white line to apex early on this down hill hair pin corner.
Apexing the corner I was looking ahead into the straight away that followed. As my line of sight moved towards the straight away, I see a Tennessee Highway Patrolman standing in my lane waving me over to the front of his car which was facing me on the left should of the road. I clicked into the 3rd and eased on up to him.
Now at this point I am pretty darn confused. I know the speed limit is 30 but I am pretty sure I didnt break that limit. But honestly I had no idea because like the rest of you on here, the last thing to look at while corning is your speed.
I pull over, take the keys out and lay them on the ground. Flip my helmet up and lay my hands over the bars and let the officer know that I do have my concealed carry permit in NC and I do have the firearm under my coat. He could give 2 cents really, but its best to do that. Anywho, he proceeds to tell me that he clocked me at 55mph around that corner back there. I looked at him in amazement. First thought being, "Holy ****, thats impressive!" Second thought, "There is no way in hell." I pointed back at the corner and asked him. "That corner, right there?"
"Yes. Its that not bad of a corner."
"On this bike...? I am finding that a bit hard to believe."
"Well you did. License and registration."
So I go to the back of the bike and pull out my wallet. The registration is in the tank bag so I let him know that was where I would need to go next. He then has the nerve to ask:
"Is this your bike."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
(Blank stare at him) "Yea considering the payment comes out of my bank account once a month."
"Well if you can find the registration, bring it to the car."
At this point I am getting pretty furious with Officer Snow.
I take the registration (that has my name on it) to his car. He waves me away from him so I go back to the bike and look back at the corner where I had apparently turned into Rossi.
He comes back with a ticket. I look it over, 55 in a 30. This is how the rest of the convo went.
"Seriously, officer. There is no way I was doing 55mph on this bike, under these conditions in that corner."
"You did."
"I would like to see proof of this."
"What proof."
"The LCD read out on the back of your radar. I want to see where it says 55mph." (In high school, the officer that pulled me over showed me where it was blinking 85... pucker moment)
"I never had a clear read on you."
"Then why are we here?"
"I clocked you at that speed. Sign the ticket or go to jail."
I bit my tongue and signed the ticket.
Now, the pull off I was in was gravel. I was facing him and I had to turn around to leave because I wasnt about to make a run down 129 at this point. I did a quick 3 point turn to face south again and pulled out on the road. The Vstrom has many similarities to large bore dirt bike. Clutch feels about the same, seating position similar, etc. At that time, it took all I had not to have a "clutch malfunction" and leave that gravel like I used to leave the starting line of the harescrables back in the day.
To make things even better, as I eased out on the road I glanced down at my dash to see that my radar detector was going off. He was shooting me in the back as I rode off.
So I hired a lawyer that was a friend of a friend. Bought him lunch and he covered for me. Court date arrived, Officer Snow was a no show. Next date was set for middle January. Officer Snow failed to appear for that one as well. After his second no show the court dismissed the case and call charges/fees were dropped.
:Flip:Officer Snow
So today at lunch I decided to pick up a frame for my little gem. I plan on taking it to the next SBK race to get a few signatures on it...
Moral of the story. Cops on Deals Gap are a pain... Watch yourself.
