Have you been chased by the police/cops on your Laverda?

[Dellortoman]

Not Laverda and not me, but an amusing anecdote about police attempting to stop my cousin for a RBT (random breath test).

My cousin Steve and his workmates were having their usual Friday evening "debrief" in the pub after work. He was more than likely over the legal blood alcohol limit by the time he got in his car to go home, so he's somewhat alarmed when he comes across a booze bus doing RBTs. There were a couple of police cars there as well as the bus, and a whole bunch of cops pulling drivers over. Steve was gawking at the scene of all the flashing lights and other cars that had been pulled over (hoping they wouldn't choose him out of the line of traffic) so he didn't see the cop who had stepped out in front of his car to flag him down. Steve sees the cop at the last second and slams on the brakes but there's not enough room to come to a full stop. Thump! He hits the cop and bowls him over. Steve reckons he still has a mental image to this day of the cop's torch bouncing off his windscreen and spinning around in the air as if in slow motion. Steve's car comes to a stop, he leaps out and runs back to the cop who's lying on the road and groaning. Steve says "Are you OK?" The cop says "Yeah, I think so". Steve helps him get up and says something like "Shit, that's a relief mate. I thought I'd killed you." Then he runs back to his car, jumps in and drives away. He's shitting bricks all night and the next day waiting for the police to turn up at his house and drag him off to jail.

The following evening Steve's watching the local news on TV and an article comes on about the police appealing for witnesses to an incident at a RBT site. Apparently there was a hit-and-run incident in which a police officer was run down by an unidentified vehicle. The officer involved was taken to hospital for assessment, but only had minor injuries and was allowed to go home later that night.

No witnesses ever came forward. Neither the vehicle nor the driver were ever identified.

The crazy thing about the whole incident is that there were at least half a dozen other cops on the scene. They all just stood there stunned by what had just happened in front of their eyes. Once the car had stopped and the driver had got out, they must have figured that they had the culprit and would deal with him at their leisure. It didn't occur to any of them that he would get back in his car and take off, so there was no attempt to restrain him or record details of his car. Nor did it occur to any of the cops to jump in a car and take off in pursuit. I guess they were all too preoccupied about the condition of their battered colleague.

 

[Vince]

So if we are doing dumb cop stories, one dark rainy night at approx 9pm I was driving down to the Snow for a Sking weekend. I was on the 110kph Expressway somewhere near Goulboarne and as I rounded a bend I was in the fast lane passing a convoy of 10 or so cars when there appeared a Random Breath Check. And what does this idiot cop do but walk out into traffic on this dark and wet night with a sign to pull over said cars, which results in mass panic with cars sliding and sliding all over the road. Luckily no one actually hit anything including that dumb cop and I just kept going.

 

[Legs]

When we drove down to the snow on a Friday night we always put the skis in the car.
Cars (especially Porsches) with roof racks and skis were a truckie and cop magnates.

 

[natm]

In 1980 I was riding from Ireland to Spain on a Ducati 900GTS along with a friend on on his Suzuki GS550. We had hopped off the ferry in northern France and by 11pm we were well down heading and looking for a campsite to pitch our tent. We were on one of those long straight tree lined roads and although it was pitch black, my Ducati came with a halogen headlamp (latest thing in those days) and my mate had fitted a Cibie halogen conversion to his Suzuki. Unfortunately the French drivers were still all using yellow headlamps and this must have annoyed the only car on this road as he started flashing at us from maybe half a mile away. This flashing kept going and as he got nearer he got more annoying, until just as he was about 100m away me and the mate both hit the main beam. We could then see the car weaving and as we passed each other we then discovered it was a little Renault 4 police car as it slid into the grass verge at the roadside. We were cruising about 60mph and 5 minutes later we heard the sirens behind us as the little Renault slowly tried to catch us. We lifted the speed to 100mph and as the Renault headlights eventually disappeared behind us, we slowed to a nice touring speed again. Twenty minutes later and there's the lights and sirens again behind us, so up the speed again and once again left him far behind. So next thing we're going through a tiny village and as we're about to exit it, there's a field of two metre high corn crop. So we ride the bikes down a little track through the corn, switch off, and sure enough 3 minutes later, there's the little Renault cop car, lights and sirens blaring, flat out through the village and disappearing into the distance. We waited about twenty minutes before safely making it to a nearby campsite.

 

[78jotadave]

Not a chase, we were speeding but the CHP was at a loss of what to do with us.
It was in California in 1981 maybe 82, definitely, summer as it was hotter than Hades as we Motodd Rob his girlfriend Anita, and I rode out of the inferno of Palm Springs. On the other side of the mountains we hit the super slab, Interstate 5 just after the morning rush hour, we were Mexico bound.
Riding south on the interstate picking up the pace and passing everything in sight pretty soon we are sitting up near the ton. Rob on his SF2 me on my 3C both bikes locked and loaded, we were flying side by side, young and reckless in the fast lane of course. Out of nowhere (probably the last onramp), a CHP Crown Vic all lit up pulled alongside us the trooper waving his arms, clearly a very excited fellow.
"Licences and registrations, do you have any idea how fast you were going' we say nothing. We hand the trooper the requested documents and he looks rather pissed. 'Are you guys from Washington state?' "No", both bikes had WA (Western Australia)plates.
The cop is not happy with our documents, let me explain. Back in those carefree days, a WA driver's license was a single small piece of paper with your name and address on it no photo ID. He asked for a photo ID so we showed him our International Driving Permits which matched the address on the WA license
Another CHP Crown Vic pulls up. interrogation time, good cop, stupid cop.
'Where do you live?
Nowhere.
'This is your license?
Yeah.
There is no photo on it!
Yeah, that's the way they are issued in Western Australia.
Where is that?
In Australia.
Where do you live
Nowhere, we are traveling
Where do you work
We don't we are traveling
You don't work?
Not now, we are traveling.
Where do you get your mail?
An American Express office
Where?
Depends
On what?
Where we are going
Where are you going now?
Mexico City
In Mexico?
Yeah Mexico City
Why?
To pick up the mail, smiling.
So you have no job, no permanent address?
Yep, pretty good eh

So after explaining the plan of travel for the foreseeable future, and the likelihood we would never be available for traffic summons via American Express, haha good cop sent us on our way with a warning and a "have fun". The stupid cop drove away for his day on the super slab clearly disappointed.
See the attached photo, would you ticket these fine young men?

 

[Vince]

There is a Youtuber I watch who lives in Canada and travels to California a lot for car stuff, you should see the hassles he has with his International license with the CHP, I saw another German bloke have the same issue, seems some in the CHP don't know there are International Travelling Laws for non-residents passing through California or anywhere else in the world. These uneducated cops can create chaos for tourists on temporary vehicle imports.

 

[Dellortoman]

seems some in the CHP don't know there are International Travelling Laws

I suspect a lot of Americans know nothing of the world beyond USA borders.

I've travelled in USA a few times, and when I tell people I'm from Tasmania, most of them have no clue where that is. Some will ask where it is, but many just have a blank look on their faces. Occasionally there will be a glimmer of recognition, but it turns out they're thinking of Tanzania or Transylvania. I remember someone saying "Isn't that where Vampires come from?" I've had people mention the Tasmanian Devil because of a Looney Tunes cartoon character, but they thought the animal and the place were fictional. Another woman was impressed by my spoken English and asked what language we speak in Tasmania. I jokingly told her we speak a Tasmanian dialect of Australian, to which she replied "Ooh, say something in Australian". FFS

 

[motoddrob]

After crossing from Canada into Washington State It took less than an hour before I got stopped by a state trooper questioning me about the WA plate attached to the SF2. Never seen one like that before so thought it may be false plate. Didn't believe my drivers license I handed it to him as Dave said just a piece of paper no photo but backed up with an international license he finally accepted it. Got away with heaps having a foreign license and rego. Since then I've always said that whereever you are it pays to be from somewhere else. 3 years in Europe riding on a Californian license and rego I got away with lots. The world is so much smaller these days and bureaucracy has put an end to the days of roaming freely around the world without piles of paperwork.

 

[martymoose]

Copper on the Wakehurst Parkway still looking for a skinny bloke in brown leathers..................

 

[Tippie]

Hey Dave, I was waiting for your recount of being unknowingly chased be several cop cars in outback NSW on your way back to Perth not long before heading off on the big trip.
Quentin and I got done west of Eucla by a cop who made no ground on the two-up SF2 for 20 minutes in his V8 after zapping us with radar as we passed the speed limit zone. I spotted a white speck way behind us so we slowed down luckily. He said he heard us coming from in the office so went out to the car and put the radar to us. Was pleasant and just did Q for that radar reading, his engine then barely started, almost cooked.

 

[Vince]

My Utube comments about California Cops not knowing about International Licences were within the last 2 years, one complaint made it to court before the penny dropped. Once they have a bone admitting defeat or Ignorance of the law appears to be impossible. And this is where International tourists who ship expensive cars for holidays are a dime a dozen. No Californian Licace = law breaking

 

[SFCRex]

I've been chased a few times. Actually got away with it once or twice. Not on a Laverda though.

On one occasion, I was heading home from university way back when I was a student in the early 70's. Was on my Honda 750/4 and giving a mate a lift on the pillion seat. We were on a bit of highway on the outskirts of town, and I was definitely well above the speed limit. When a cop car appeared in my mirrors from some concealed spot, with lights and siren going, I did a quick mental assessment of the relative capabilities of my bike vs his car, and made a decision to go for it. I yelled to my mate to hang on. He wrapped his arms around my waist, I kicked back a gear and twisted the throttle all the way open. We left the cop car quite a way behind in the first 10 seconds or so, then came into a built-up area with a 60kph limit. I did a bit of ducking and weaving around traffic through the suburban streets at some ridiculous speed, then spotted a house that had a garage with an open roller door. I had no idea whose house it was but the garage was empty. Hoping we were far enough ahead of the cop that he wouldn't see, I dived in the garage. My mate jumped off the bike as quick as a flash and pulled the roller door down. A few seconds later we heard the cop go past with siren wailing. So far so good - he obviously hadn't seen where we went! We waited a little while, maybe 15 mins, without hearing the siren again. We lifted the roller door enough for one of us to duck under and have a look up and down the road. No sign of the cop. We figured the owner of the garage had left the door open because they were only going to be away for a short time. Probably just gone to the shops or something. We didn't want them to return, block us in and call the cops, so we made an exit and crept as quietly as possible via all the little back streets to my place which wasn't far away. I was expecting a knock on the door for the next few days, but it never came. Apparently the cop never got close enough to read the bike's number plate.

We got away with it that time, but there's no way I'd pull such an idiotic stunt now just to avoid a speeding ticket. I was young, stupid and thought I was invincible in those days.

Then there was another time when
(story for another day)

Hahahahahahahaha!!! I pulled that "hide in a strangers garage" trick one time down in Austin, Texas back in the 70's! Was late to work, but once I told my story, my Boss called bullshit, and told me to not be late again. I was sweating bullets while in that garage, but the owners did not return while I was there!

 

[Bottler]

About 10 years ago when I was posted to the Australian High Commission in South Africa as the police liaison officer, I took a week off and rode my Jota from Pretoria down through the Eastern Cape to see Mandela's home village before he died. The potholes over there are large and sometimes lethal so not wise to flog it. Anyway I was heading down a long straight bit of patched pot holes when this cop steps out from behind a bush and waves me over. I pull up and he checks the registration plate.

Him: "What country is that plate from?"

Me: "yours."

Him:" You sure?"

Me:" Yep, it is a diplomatic number plate."

Him: " In any case you were speeding."

Me: " Nah mate, the road isn't fit for speeding."

Him: "It is really hot out here and I could use a drink."

Me: " I can't help you with that."

Him: " You have to wait here until you buy me a drink."

Me: "Nah, I don't do bribes mate, and you can't do me for speeding anyway."

Him: " Well you'll have to wait."

Me:" Look I am a fellow cop, and I am going."

Him:"Ok, I will give you the benefit of the doubt."

I stupidly told him there was no doubt which cost me another half an hour by the roadside arguing with one of the Eastern Cape's finest. I am happy to report no money changed hands, and I got to Mandela's home town well before he died.

 

[MonkeyTS]

Many moons ago, on my Laverda 1200TS riding the A515 Ashbourne to Buxton road, with an old friend on his newly acquired Ducati 600 Pantera. I decided to mildly open the taps up, to put some distance apart, as I hurtled right past an old black Ford Sierra, parked up in a layby. to which he then trailed me for many miles. I assumed he was no cop, especially with such an old car, but I hadn't taken into account Derbyshire Constabulary where skint, thus using old unmarked bangers. So the result was, I was clocked at 92mph in a 60 zone. No concession was given, other that the 92 speed was consistent! So what followed, was a one Month ban! plus a hefty fine, delivered to me, by a frosty old magistrate in Ashbourne, months later. To this day, it's my good old Laverda which has delivered my only motoring Ban, loss of licence!! despite having many other & considerably quicker machines. .

 

[sideshow]

We only have one policeman in New Zealand, luckily he was sick on the day I was speeding

My father, back in the day was a MOT bike guy, he and my uncle joined so they could ride fast without getting fines, eventually they were busted down to foot patrol men, when they were seen surfing on their bike seats on the motorway into wellington.

 

[Eurocycleguy]

Many moons ago I was riding North On I(nterstate)-57 in Illinois doing about 70 or 80 mph (at this time the speed limit was 55 mph) in the hammer lane passing a line of Semi-trucks. I went past a cross over lane between the two sets of lanes and there sat a State trooper. Oh shite. So I picked up the speed a bit and contemplated crossing between the trucks and riding on the shoulder to, you know sort of hide.
Well I didn't and I wicked it up a bit further and in a couple of miles I took the next interchange onto I-74 East then took the first exit, and guess who/what was right behind me.
I stopped and took off my helmet and waited for the trooper. He came over and did all his stuff. I noticed his name was D. Jackson; well I worked with a D. Jackson that was also a State Trooper and asked if this fine fellow knew my fine co-worker. He did. He asked me if I knew how fast I was going and why. "Why no sir , I was late for a friend's Birthday party." " Well you were doing 105 mph and now you have a good reason for being late."
He wrote me a ticket and LET ME GO.
Side-note: If you are doing more than 20 mph over the limit "they" are suppose to arrest you and take you in. I guess I got the present that day.

 

[Beucars]

I suspect a lot of Americans know nothing of the world beyond USA borders.

I've travelled in USA a few times, and when I tell people I'm from Tasmania, most of them have no clue where that is. Some will ask where it is, but many just have a blank look on their faces. Occasionally there will be a glimmer of recognition, but it turns out they're thinking of Tanzania or Transylvania. I remember someone saying "Isn't that where Vampires come from?" I've had people mention the Tasmanian Devil because of a Looney Tunes cartoon character, but they thought the animal and the place were fictional. Another woman was impressed by my spoken English and asked what language we speak in Tasmania. I jokingly told her we speak a Tasmanian dialect of Australian, to which she replied "Ooh, say something in Australian". FFS

Tasmania, set foot on and named after a bloke from Holland (Abel Tasman) who travelled the world around, but who forgot to discover Australia...

 

[Andy J]

I don’t know if any cop has ever tried chasing me when I’ve been riding my Laverda because, to date, none of caught up with me.
However, I have been flagged down a couple of times by coppers standing in the road, but fortunately only been given a lecture about riding too fast/on the racing line etc.etc.
Oh, and I did witness the moment the ‘old duffer’ nearly ran an Austrian traffic cop down on his 1200 on the way to Breganze a few years back.

 

[Dellortoman]

Tasmania, set foot on and named after a bloke from Holland (Abel Tasman) who travelled the world around, but who forgot to discover Australia...

Just to be pedantic, Abel Tasman never actually set foot on Tasmanian soil himself. He certainly sent a party ashore at a spot I know quite well, but the shore party was, quoting from Tasman's journal: "seventeen men fully armed under the command of Pilot-Major Visscher". Tasman stayed with the ships at anchor, presumably aboard the Heemskerk.

 

[Diablo Loco]

Having been caught in a chase in 1985 I resolved never to get caught again. I fell off. Chase fail.

So no interesting Laverda chase stories however how would I know if that car going in the opposite direction to me in the back blocks was chasing or not?