Roadside stops by police

After a very cheerful and alcohol-intense birthday party, my mate Willy and I decided to go for a little ride around midday. About 5 minutes in, still in town, a patrol car appeared behind us, Willy was leading the way on his old SF1. Knowing we were still both way over any acceptable blood alcohol limits, I decided it was of no use that the cops nab both of us so I simply turned right at the next possible occasion. Bad luck for me, they turned right as well... it came as it must, they pulled me over within the next couple of hundred metres.

I tried to act as fuckin' cool as possible, taking my time removing my helmet, searching for and sorting vehicle documents. The young officers were apparently quite excited about nabbing a too loud and obviously modified motorcycle that they forgot the alcohol questions. I explained to them all mods had been documented in the vehicle papers, as required by law. One of them asked "What about the 4-1 exhaust system?" I stared at him like he'd just dropped from the moon and replied (as cooly as I could without sounding too snotty) "The bike has only got 3 cylinders...!" His face turned sort of reddish, looked at his hapless and perplexed collegue, turned back to me as if I had just fallen from the moon, folded the documents, handed them back and wished me a nice day. The officers then took off in search of more gullible victims. Of course the Cico 3-1 system was not approved. 🤫

Willy had noticed I had vanished from his mirror and had turned around. He watched from a distance without disturbing proceedings and we had a good laugh after the cops had left. We decided that continuing our ride would be pushing our luck a bit so opted to return to his place for a couple more beers.

This was in the mid 1980s, a time when roadside checks were very common. I'm sure that on a whole, these checks did contribute to road safety, the cops required legitimate reasons to pull you over. Excessive alcohol consumption was commonplace back then and drinking/driving rules were scorned upon by a wide part of German society. Willy and I had absolutely no right to be riding that day due to our drunkenness, but they forgot to ask.

A big "mille grazie" to Moto Laverda for bulding a triple!:ROFLMAO:

piet
 
I was caught speeding with my then my 900SS and pulled over. The following discussion ensued between the two police officers:

Officer 1: Beside you exceeded the speed limit your motorcycle is far too loud!
Officer 2: I like it, sounds great!
Officer 1: It's too loud!
Officer 2: The exhaust system looks stock to me and the bike sounds good!
Officer 1: Well, okay then …

My 900SS had the A04/B04 dampers installed – at that time not legal in Germany anymore.

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I got pulled over on my bike one night by a couple of cops in a patrol car, American action movie style. They hurtled past me with lights and siren blaring and swerved in front of me, forcing me to the kerb in the middle of the city. Two young cops jumped out and baled me up. I reckon they would have had guns drawn if they'd had any (Tassie cops didn't carry guns until years later). They told me I'd been seen speeding all over town for the last half hour. I told them I'd just left my mates place 2 minutes ago, gave them his phone number and invited them to check my alibi. They didn't, but they seemed pretty keen to get me for something. I hadn't been drinking, but one of them said he could smell alcohol on my breath. I told him I could smell it too but it wasn't my breath, it was his fellow officer's. They looked at each other and must have realised they could get into big trouble for being drunk while driving around on duty in a cop car - something I would have immediately reported to their station if they'd taken matters any further. So they got in their car and buggered off. In hindsight, I probably should have called it in and reported them anyway, but I was more than a little rattled by the encounter and was glad just to get home rather than end up handcuffed in the back of a cop car.
 
It takes all kinds, also in the police force. There are always those who go bananas when able to demonstrate their power over others. We could philosophize about the fact that humans aren't good at handling power, but perhaps this negative side is simply part of our being. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that not all police officers are like that.
 
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Jo said:
It takes all kinds, also in the police force. There are always those who go bananas when able to demonstrate their power over others. We could philosophize about the fact that humans aren't good at handling power, but perhaps this negative side is simply part of our being. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that not all police officers are like that.
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If you live in an area like I do, you pic the routes on weekends to avoid any encounter with the police. None of cops are ever in a good mood, which I can understand, having been detailed to work on Saturday or Sunday. Discussions about noise levels of our old air cooled bikes and questionable roadside noise tests only lead to disputes on site. Cops wanted to seize and impound my mates 1950 BMW R25 recently during a roadside check.
Apparently to noisy. He was lucky that a TÜV engineer was on site who told the cops to eff off! Many more War stories come to mind when I hear about bike roadside checks in Germany and the German Road Traffic Regulation doesn't help much either.
 
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In my first year of legally riding I was nabbed by a motorcycle patrol on Parramatta road for 'threading between cars' coming to a stop light.
Being all of 17, I was not gifted at explaining myself. I did manage to convince him to not cite me since I was "looking for a safe space" ahead of the traffic instead of between. Then he asked me if the bike was over 250cc, the limit for provisional license (or P plate). At the time I had the DT400D Yamaha dirt bike. I fortunately had the good sense to carefully peel the 400 decals for this reason. To my amazement and relief the guy let me on my way despite the dubious look on his face. So another 'good cop' story, rare as they are.
I traded that and an XL175 that I had traded for my stereo for the black and gold '79 Jota 6263. Sold it years later after refinishing in dark candy apple red and gold pinstriping. I often wonder what became of it, since it must have been the last one sold before they all went orange.
 
The son of one of my good mates has recently graduated from the police academy and is now a constable. You couldn't meet a nicer more level headed and responsible young bloke. He has a strong sense of social justice and has a remarkable ability to de-escalate hostile confrontations. I'm sure he'll be a very good cop. He's the kind of bloke who'll do some good in the job. At present he's enjoying the work and I'm pretty confident he's smart and dedicated enough to steer clear of corruption in the police force. But my concern on his behalf is that cops are regularly exposed to some pretty awful situations and often have to deal with people who are having the worst day of their life. I hope the stress of all that doesn't get too much for him and lead to emotional burn-out before he's had a chance to forge a career path.
 
I've had the full spectrum of good and bad coppers over my 53 years on the road.

Good cop: driving the old beaten-up Volvo 145 on an overnighter up the Newell from Melbourne to Byron with my mum - probably about 70 at the time. I'd fitted a reco'd Borg Warner trannie and hadn't tightened the speedo drive spindle sufficiently, so the speedo under-read. I told my old cheese to just keep it around 90kph on the speedo and that would be about 100-105 (100kph speed limit). Rolling on through the night and up from behind come the flashing blue lights. Mum pulls over, cop comes to her window and nearly falls over when he sees this grey haired grannie at the wheel. Asks her why she's doing 130kph and I immediately jump in and explain the story. He explains that on the entire route north you can sit on 115kph without a hassle and even 120 through his ares, but 130 is a bit too quick!! He lets her off and away we go again. Cool story about a sensible and very fair cop.

Just the admission that you could speed if you were sensible I thought was fantastic PR, and on a deserted highway made very good sense.

Good cop: Apologies for repeating this one. Just got the SF back on the road, up the deserted Eastern Fwy at about 2am, wind it up a bit. Blue lights appear in the median strip and I immediately pull over, helmet off and licence out when he arrives. Asks how fast i think I was going, I say 'about 160(kph)' he says, ;close, 165'. Asks if I need my licence for work - said I'm a drummer (which I was, and actually making a living out of it!), no car, no work. Went to the car and came back with a fine for 25kph over - punishment, but fair.

Bad cop: driving to a bike race in Yarra Glen on a country road that had a year earlier dropped from 100kph to 80kph speed limit. Downhill to a sign ROADWORK AHEAD 60. Still downhill but long right curve, slow down gradually and hit the ROADWORK 60 sign at 60. Cope hiding down the hill, pulls me over,. Ticket to 91 in a 60. I say, no, I was doing 91 in the 80 zone after the advisory of coming into the roadworks (which BTW were complete, not a shovel in sight - and it was a Saturday arvo anyway). Won't listen, won't even call it 89 so I keep my licence. I say absolutely will see you in court.

I returned the next day, took photos of the signs, sent the ticket back with the box 'I wish to have the matter settled in court', include a letter detailing exactly what happened. Hear nothing - the powers that be must have seen reason. Years go by, many years. I get a letter in the mail about 5 year later from the Sherriff's (yes, we have them, Wyatt!! :ROFLMAO: ) saying I have an unpaid fine of $450 for said offence and it I don't pay up my rego and licence will be cancelled. Reply with the sorry tale explained again - reply, no go, too serious an offence to overlook. Write to the cops, asking how this could happen - they say when I didn't hear back I should have contacted them!!!!!!! I fukn kid you not. So where did my returned ticked fine and letter and photos end up??? Contact the State Ombudsman, they say too much time has passed and they won't get involved. Only way out is pay the fine, but I still feel the rage even now writing about it. A total stitch-up.

Strange one: pulled over with 6-months pregnant missus in the car, Eastern Fwy again, 9pm, bugger all traffic. 'You didn't indicate when changing lanes'. Wha? I ALWAYS indicate - hop out, check the indicator, all good. No go, gives me a ticket, I say I'll see you in court. Same deal, tick the box to contest, write the letter. Get a reply stating that they believe the offence sticks and a summons will be forthcoming. Never heard another word about it.

Ah, there are many tales of woe and joy to be told!
 
Ah the ombudsman! Had his representative over my residence with typewriter when I got arrested on the freeway riding my girls' (long story, she was co signer on a mates loan that went default) RGS on a dark lonely stretch of highway somewhere between Sydney and Bega. Posted story here a year or so ago. Got beat up pretty good. Went to court. Kangaroo court basically. I should thank my brother Frank who loaned me his license for a year!
 
I was watching the local TV show about Hy Cops, based in Victoria, a night or 2 back. The first story busted for 112 in a 100-zone in the middle of nowhere; the second story busted for 128 in a 100-zone. Both got the same $450ish fine and 3 points. How is that reasonable? My tactic is always staying 10ish over when on a bike; it keeps you separated from traffic and not so easily missed. Plus, you can argue a slight error, sorry, Mr Police. So in Victoria, 12 over gets the same penalty as 28 over, just so dumb. It's this ever-k over is a killer crap that causes distrust in their so-called safety system. Q Your story about your Mum shows real-world experience in a proper Country Cop, sadly is a rare thing these days.
 
A memorable combination of police stops back in the late '80's.

I was two up with camping gear leaving a pub at night, Police car follows... My rear light flickers and quits, I'm pulled over.

"Good evening, sir, do you know why I've pulled you over?"
"No, but you have been following since the pub."
"Your rear light stopped working. Have you been drinking?"

We ascertained the had bulb failed, and as expected I passed the breath test, he gave me the breathalyser tube as a souvenir...

The next time I was pulled over and asked to do a breathalyser I waited until she was un-wrapping the (disposable) tube before pulling the souvenir out of my jacket pocket and saying, ever so gauchely: "Its fine, I have my own." I knew that I would pass, her discombobulation was priceless. :D
 
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Whilst proceeding at a sedate 60/65mph heading north on the M40 with my Jota and trailer, I was being tailed by a motorway patrol car. It pulled off and straight back on to the motorway, and then pulled me over. They had done radio info checks...

In my experience it is best to park up quick, remove helmet, and then go to them rather than waiting for them to come to you...

We met half way. She said: "Can I see your tax disc please, sir?"
Of course, I reached into that same jacket pocket... And, hey presto, my task disc. She gave me a "get-it-fixed" notice for not having mudguards. The attached pics are after I made mudguards to get the notice rescinded.

At 100+ mph my Jota/trailer combo set into a really groovy weave, easy to get into the rhythm of. Happy days in the early '90's
 

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Many years ago, at the Easter Bathurst Bike races, I saw parked up on the mountain a Ducati SS Bevel with a trailer mounted on that. I, too, like my comfort when camping. What's the deal with the big knee divots on the fuel tank?
 
1st time I was stopped and breathalysed was on the Camden Holloway Rd. in London on a Honda H100, student on L plates.

Orifice: " You have obviously been drinking heavily, when the meter goes red you WILL be arrested."

Some minutes later...

Orifice is hitting the meter and muttering that it must be faulty. It wasn't.
 
Vince said:
Many years ago, at the Easter Bathurst Bike races, I saw parked up on the mountain a Ducati SS Bevel with a trailer mounted on that. I, too, like my comfort when camping. What's the deal with the big knee divots on the fuel tank?
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The tank was made by Bartel Aluminium, north London, relocated to the north or Ireland but all but certain retired now.

Originally commissioned to make, maybe 20 tanks for the 120's SFC, RGS?? Uwe Witt?

Tank only holds 15L, a bit limiting.
 
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