Experiences with Police

Last week I left work to pick up lunch. On the way back I opened up the bike a little hitting about 85 mph (speed limit is 65 mph) then slowed to about 50 mph due to traffic. A second later a bike cop rolls up on my left side and yells at me I need to slow down. I gave him a thumbs up and nodded, he took off and I got off the freeway to return to work.

In the last two years I've been passed by a few motorcycle cops who have waved or given me a thumbs up while going 80 mph in a 65 mph zone (they've passed me at 90+ mph). I was stopped twice back when I had my GSX-R600, once got a ticket for 95 mph in a 65 mph zone (was going 115 mph, so the officer was nice enough to drop it to under 100 mph) and the other time I just talked and joked with the officer, even showed him my Glock G29 I was carrying in my backpack and he ended up letting me go with a verbal warning (85 mph in a 65 mph zone) and told me to fix my license plate (was tucked up next to the rear shock and not visible).

Even the officer who came to my crash on the R6 wrote up the report so it wouldn't affect my insurance rates (found out he also rode a motorcycle).

Over the years I've learned most cops will only stop and give you a ticket if you're really riding wreckless or doing stupid stuff. If you can talk to them and relate or make them laugh, you're golden.

What's been your experience with police?

Another experience:

When I was much younger, 18-19 I think, I had left a girls house in my little Honda Accord and went to get a quick snack before going home that night. On my way I was pulled over (right in front of a biker bar) and asked to exit the vehicle. The officers proceeded to search the car and myself a few times coming up empty each time. They did a field sobriety check which I passed, however my eyes were not dilating to what they believed they should (I have photosensitive eyes). They showed me their little card that had all the pupil sized and where mine were and where they should be. After this they handcuffed me and searched me and the car again and were determined to find drugs somewhere. At this point the bikers started coming out and heckling at the officers to let me go. I asked, "are my pupils in fact constricting and dilating regardless of the size?" They answered, "yes, but not the size our card says." After about an hour of this back and forth I finally lied and said I had taken some flu medicine, at which point they let me go saying I should have mentioned this to begin with.

I was polite the whole time, as were the officers, although they were very persistent I was under the influence of drugs (originally pulled over for my tinted windows).

Not a bad experience, got to feel like a proper criminal for a few minutes. I laugh about it now, as with many other things.