The police?

[gpostarmy]

When was the last time you had an encounter with the police while on your bike? What was it for? What was the outcome?

I will start.
As i get off the highway I quick check my mirrors to see who might be getting off behind me. Low and behold I see flashing lights. So I crank the throttle. OK, no, I pull to the shoulder right away. Hit the kill switch and put the kick stand down. By time he gets to me I have flipped the front of my modular helmet back and removed my gloves. He says, "You know the highway is not your personal race track."
I reply, "I understand officer." Now mind you I was only on the highway for two miles, never went more than about ten over the speed limit(I think) and didn't even pass anybody on the wrong side. I did have to make a tight squeeze to get on the highway or be forced to stop in the merge lane which is bad news.
He asks me were I am going and I inform him that I am on my way to the college to take a chemistry exam. He asks how long I have been going, so I let him know it is my last semester before I deploy to Afghanistan. He then asks for my drivers license. I hand him that and my military ID. He starts to walk away and stops. He asks if my driving record is clean, I reply yes, but I got a speeding ticket three years ago for five over(94 in 70 actual, got lost and was almost late for military funeral, sad day) but I did not tell him the details.
He comes back from his car, tells me he is letting me off with a warning, that if I ever get pulled over by him again it will be a bad day. He then tells me, "Ride safe people in cars are idiots when it comes to people on bikes, they will change lanes right into you." then walks off.
I am still not sure why he pulled me over.:don'tknow:
That was part of my ride today what are your stories.

 

[Wolfman]

I got pulled over recently, was on my Black Bike...

I had taken the baffles out of my Shortened Two Brothers pipes for a short ride to a friends house...just cause i like the inbly rude, violent noise the bike makes when the baffles are out...but only for a short ride...cause the pipes are so incredibly obnoxious....like having no muffler at all loud!

Anyway, i am not 5km's from home, and i get pulled over by an unmarked car....

I wait till there is a safe spot to pull over, indicate, and pullin...

Young Detective gets out the Car, tells me i was going a bit fast "back there"...which i wasn't, it just sounded like i was! I was actually riding under the speed limit!

Anyway, he checked my license, registration, and sent me on my way with no fine....

No matter that my bike tyre was down to the wear markers, or that my exhaust is ridiculously loud...he just let me go.

I smiled, told him to have a good night, waited for them to take off, and then i went on my merry way...

 

[Disco]

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

 

[Davey]

A not very exciting story:

Moved to France to years ago and brought my UK registered bike with me. You're supposed to officially import it after a few months, but I kept it as UK registered, taxed and insured as long as possible to save money.

I got stopped by a (quite gorgeous) female officer carrying out routine checks on paperwork (it's obligatory here to carry your licence, registration and insurance documents, unlike in the UK). At the time I didn't speak a lot of french so explained this to her, and showed her my papers (all in English of course!). She tried to look like she knew understood exactly what everything was, but I could tell she didn't so ended up helping by pointing out the details. She asked when I was going to import the bike. I said 'as soon as possible'. She gave me a very nice smile and waved me on my way. Not an unpleasant experience by far! :Flash:

 

[dstaffx]

I got pulled over by a cop on a bike (Garda in Ireland) for doing about 90 in an 80 zone. He pulled me in and I took off my helmet before he got to me and I showed him my license. I was still on a learner license at the time. He asked me if my bike was legal (due to learner license you can only ride a bike up to 250cc). I said it was and he told me "If your going to be doing speed like that, do it on the back roads, not out here where the glaring eyes of the Gardas can see you". He handed me back my license and rode off.

Also got pulled in the car but the Girlfriend was in labour so I got a "good Luck" and waved on. Pregnant women are great for legal speeding:BLAA:

 

[FB400]

I had to stop at a NY Motorcycle Checkpoint (Long Island) last august.

Police were respectful and polite. They were mostly giving tickets for non DOT helmets to some harley dudes. They didn't seem to mind my LEO vince exhaust although it did make me sweat to have to run and rev the bike. My and my buddy rolled in in full gear on a hot day, had papers ready in a jiffy and were on our way in 15 minutes.

All in all the cops were nice but the whole idea of a checkpoint is a violation of 4th amendment rights. There is a bill prohibiting the Federal government from funding these checkpoints (H.R. 904).

Bill Summary & Status - 112th Congress (2011 - 2012) - H.R.904 - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

NY Riders join the twitter feed to get alerts:
NYMSTF - Checkpoint Alerts

 

[grommit]

Riding along and this Dark Grey BMW comes right up my chuff, so I opened the throttle to give some space before I came to slow down for the traffic ahead going into some road works. Just as I was about to filter through the road works, yes you've guessed it, the BMW lights up like Close Encounters. Pulled over, officer was pleasant but patronising. He took a close look at the bike and my rear tyre, brand new at the time BT016. Said I was speeding into the road works, hmm, didn't argue, got a fixed penalty; 3 points and a £60 fine.

 

[Tailgate]

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)

 

[chaskell27]

Last summer I was on a back road with lots of rollers in it. I was actually working and on my way to a job site. So I wasn't in any real hurry and I was going right around the speed limit on the straights and everything. I was blipping the throttle as I was going up the face of the roller though. I was having a great time zipping on through but as soon as I came over the top of one of those rollers there was a cop sitting there waiting for me. he pulled me over and told me I was going like 66 in a 50. He knew exactly what I was doing because I'm sure he could hear me from a ways off. After he ran my record and saw that it was relatively clean he just started asking me about my bike saying jeez I've never seen one like that:thumbup: That's when I knew I was all set. I just kept adding fuel to the fire and we shot the $hit for 20 minutes or so. In the end he told me to slow it down a bit and have a good day. He told me he'd wait back behind me with the blues on until I got my bike back together (I had most of my gear off and the seat off to get my docs). Nice guy who apparently had bikes so I got lucky:thumbup:

 

[champion221elite]

Never been pulled over by the police on my motorcycle. The only interaction I've had with the police was an accident report when I hit and killed a Wild Turkey with my bike last Summer.

I did $1,400 worth of damage, but kept the bike upright and rode it to the Yamaha dealer for an estimate.

 

[chaskell27]

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)

haha that Officer looks waaay less than impressed to have his picture taken :BLAA:

 

[dstaffx]

Never been pulled over by the police on my motorcycle. The only interaction I've had with the police was an accident report when I hit and killed a Wild Turkey with my bike last Summer.

I did $1,400 worth of damage, but kept the bike upright and rode it to the Yamaha dealer for an estimate.

I hope you kept the turkey and ate it!
:sinister:

 

[Kazza]

Random breath test and licence check. On my L's. 11am - no alcohol in the system (had to register 0.00 on my L's or I would have been in BIG trouble). It was a week before my test. Cop wished me good luck and let me on my merry way :rockon:

Only time on the bike. Hopefully, it stays that way

 

[radexS1]

I had an encounter this morning! Never been pulled over though, just at checkpoints.

I was running a bit late for work today, was doing the speed limit in some sparse traffic, on a single lane road. Was just dodging around some potholes when I got overtaken by a bike cruising happily past all the traffic at about 150% - 180% of the speed limit. I caught up to him at the next set of lights, and tailed him at his speed for the clear stretch of road that followed. Nice bit of a run.

Next set of lights he slipped quickly in between a bus and an SUV, so I nearly lost him. I caught up and hung back a bit, and let him through when he wanted to switch into my lane to pass some more traffic.

He seemed like a competent driver, although his bike was pretty eye catching (modded), and his driving wasn't subtle either.

And then he pulled in to the next garda station, gave me a chuckle.

 

[Red Wazp]

Twice. First time in Oregon, a friend and I were in eastern Oregon where it's wide open spaces. We were doing 77 in a 55 zone. The Sheriff checked us for warrents (we are clean), he seemed to be in a hurry and gave us a verbal warning (my only one) and let us go. Oregon has a state wide 55 speed zone, real dumb out in the eastern desert.

Pulled over for 81 in a 55 by a CHP, he was cool and we talked bikes for 20 minutes (he thought my FJR was a Beemer). Thought I'd get off but he wrote me up for 65 in a 55, would have been much cooler if he let me off.

 

[Hoshiko]

Every year, several times, at the beginning of the riding season on the Brooklyn Bridge. They even have one of the 2 lanes closed with concrete barriers, one cop pointing at any 2 wheel vehicle to get in that space and 2-3 cops checking drivers license, insurance, registration and inspection strikers. I always have all of them. I used to get mad but now I know it's just like taxes, don't get mad anymore just hate them.

 

[Zargof]

Only once. I was going to a family reunion 3 hours away when I got behind a semi that was consistently running onto the shoulder and spewing gravel back at me. There was a car that was getting a little close to me in the left lane, so I gunned it to get around the semi. I was going about 90 in a 65 when I seen the lights come on. The cop was real cool because he also rode and understood semis are hazardous to bikers, but told me I needed to keep my speeds more reasonable. He let me off with a warning.

 

[TampaFZ6]

I am yet to get pulled over by the cops after one year of steady riding but I try and stay about 10 MPH over the speed limit max.


Once in 1985 I was flying into the I-275/I-4 interchange in Tampa to meet a old AF buddy in Orlando when a cop pulled me over or so I thought it was a regular cop. It appeared that it was a jail guard in a cop car. He went off on me about going to fast. I was freaking becasue I did not want a ticket, then he said you better be cool and walked away. That was bizzare!!

 

[gpostarmy]

Ah, on the last post I forgot to mention that here in Michigan our State police run The dodge Charger with the HEMI as their patrol car. Lets just say not alot of people run around here.

 

[Motogiro]

Never been pulled over by the police on my motorcycle. The only interaction I've had with the police was an accident report when I hit and killed a Wild Turkey with my bike last Summer.

I did $1,400 worth of damage, but kept the bike upright and rode it to the Yamaha dealer for an estimate.

Hope you got to keep the turkey!