What was you’re first or most memorable interface with an LEO while riding?

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

This is the first of a long list for me. Sorry that I get off the subject a time or two here.

At the age of 6 or so I was on vacation with my folks in Florida, Flagler beach I think. I noticed small step-through frame scooters being rented on the beach but when I tried to rent one I was told I was too young. So I went to Mom for help. She and I went back and they agreed to rent her a scooter for an hour and I was allowed to drive it as long as she rode on the back. We headed out with me driving what I assume was a clutch less scooter down the beach with Mom on the back. We get a mile or two and we have flashing lights behind us. I pull over and we are told that I am too young to be driving this scooter and Mom will have to drive it back to the rental business. She explained that she could not drive a motorcycle and was told she would have to learn. Ha! Mom could do most anything but driving a motorcycle was not one of them. I walked beside her as she eventually got it back to the rental stand and asked WTH they didn’t tell her we would get pulled over. That would have been in the mid to early 60’s I guess.

Dad’s been gone 32 years, Mom departed just a few years ago.. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them and miss them.

My oldest brother Larry (who was killed in his vet in 82) was the first of the Frye boys to own a motorcycle. He bought an HD street bike at the age of 14 and rode it everywhere without a license before I was born. Mom and Dad used to ride it too. Larry rear ended a cage in the fog one morning, lost some teeth and broke his shoulder. When he got out of the hospital Mom had already sold his bike!! He didn’t own another one till he was out on his own. Then he had many. A 3 cylinder Kawasaki 2-stroke, a bunch of dirt bikes and lastly a Beemer which he still had when he was killed.

Waking up my Mom in the middle of the night to tell her Larry had been killed was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I was cursed careful riding when she was alive because I never wanted her to have that kind of heartbreak again.

[fudgie]

I was pulled over when I 16 and this was the only time I got a ticket. That was 1992. In 2002 Me and the X got pulled over in Whitewood SD for flipping a u-turn with the Valk. My radar went off and I just stopped. He came up and said I can't do that and said get outta here before the storm hits. Never did take my liscence. Haven't been stopped since. I think my FF plates and job status helps! Even have FF plates on the bike! Now, I have had close calls!

[Normandog]

Waking your Mom to tell her your brother had been killed must have been very tuff on you Frye.
A couple of years ago I was flying down I-40 on my way to take the MSF experienced rider course. Got pulled by the North Carolina hiway patrol who never go easy on ya. When the officer asked if there was some reason why I was speeding I replied " Yes sir and you're gonna like this one. I am on my way to Mitchell College to take a motorcycle safety course and I'm running late" He took my licsense to run them but stopped, turned around and said "student or Instructor?" When I replied "student", he smiled and said "I'm glad to hear that" Well, he was gone so long I knew I was getting a ticket. He had not told me what he clocked me at but I had been running as fast as 95+ so I was rather worried. Finally came back and said he had run my licsnese all the way back to 1980 and I had no speeding tickets and he was not gonna make my insurance go up today. Handed me a warning ticket and was on his way. When I got home, I called my sister and thanked her for the two speeding tickets she had got me out of. 

[Strider]

Frye, that must have been rough brother.

But to answer your question, when I went to get my driver's license, I had 4 tickets already on my record - all for driving a motorcycle without a license.  WAIT - NO, I HAD 5 TICKETS - That is why my Dad made me park the Honda 175 that I was driving at that time until I got a license.  Told the officer that I had a license (at home - did the whole search your wallet and unfold every scrap of paper) and he actually followed me home.  Took the ticket and parked the bike until I got my license a couple of days later.  I was old enough to get one - just didn't do it.  Then I failed the first time because I asked my brother to show me how to parallel park and he said they wouldn't even ask me - what was the VERY FIRST THING THEY ASKED - YEP, YOU GOT IT - Parallel Park - guy told me to just go back and park the car - I failed.

Yep, 5 tickets come to think of it.  1 on a Honda 50 - 3 on the 70 and 1 on the 175.  In Morristown, Tennessee, just getting back from Panther Creek trails - home almost meant a ticket there for awhile.  It was a set up I tell ya!!!!! 

Plus, let's see, by the time I got my license, I had totalled about 4 times.  Not totalled the bike, but had walked back home and asked for some gauze or some bandaids without the bike under me.

[ArmyValker]

Ehh, I feel like a sissy. My first run in with a LEO was this small town cop pulled me over after a stop sign and declared that he was a motorcyclist too, and he knew for a fact that you cannot make a complete stop with both feet up. I argued with him. He won.
I still think he's wrong.

However, even now, I make a point to put a foot down at stop signs.

[3fan4life]

I got my very first speeding ticket riding my 74 Honda 125 Elsinore.

I was 16 and hadn't had my liscense for two full months.

But, The most memorable would be on my 82 Honda CB750F.

It was 1985 and I had just got out of the Army after 3yrs of active duty.

That summer I bought an 82 still "new" in the crate.

I was riding down the interstate when a Mercedes 450SL came up on me very fast.

Being the young 21 yr old that I was, I decide that could only mean that he wanted to race.

I rolled back the throttle and it was on.

We were running side by side at nearly 115mph when we passed through radar.

The Mercedes fell back, I stayed in the gas.

I eventually slowed down when it didn't look like I was being chased.

Several miles later I was taking an exit when I noticed a Single red "bubblegum" light in my rear view mirror.

It was the State Trooper that I'd passed 10mi or more back and he had me.

He asked for my liscense and went back to his car.

A few minutes later he came back and began talking to me.

I still had 30 day tags on the bike and he asked me alot of questions about it.

Then he asked me how fast that I'd been going.

I thought for a minute, and stated that I really didn't know.

I explained that I was just, "keeping up with traffic", but that I did see 70 a time or two (the speed limit was still 55 then).

He laughed and said, " You and I both know that you were going a 7734've a lot faster than that. But, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to write you a Citation for 70 in a 55".      

As fate would have it couple of years later I would have his sister in law as one of my college instructors. I told her about my encounter with her brother in law and she couldn't belive that he had cut me so much slack. She told me that he had written his own wife a speeding ticket.

[Strider]

Those were my first - my most MEMORABLE one was in West Louisinan in the early 70's.  Had long hair and made the mistake of driving through a certain town.  Me and my buddy were pulled over and taken to jail.  After two days or so, when we were brought out for questioning, I told them that I wanted to make a phone call to my parents and let them know that "as of this minute, we are alive".  I was told No and when I reached for the phone, the LEO grabbed my arm and when I pulled back, the Billy Club came out and I was told, "I will crack your head open right now boy!!!"  We were only 17 or so at the time.

I informed the officer that I just wanted to let my family know I was OK.  Back to the cell with me.  Spent 3 days in a cell with no phone calls allowed, took my cigarettes and when my buddy got the drunk in the cell next to him to pass him two and threw one through the slatted roof of my cell, the LEO's wouldn't give us a light.

No sheets - burnt mattress - water overflowing from the toilet - one meal a day.

They let us out and counted all the money in our wallet after a couple of days and let us keep like $5 for gas and told us that the rest was our bail and if we didn't show up for court, that was our fine.  We asked what we had been charged with?  They informed us, that what we had was our fine, "If you want to see what you are charged with, come back and find out!!!!  Our advice is to pay the fine and stay out of ####, Louisiana!"

I kept my part of the bargain!!!!!!! ( Ya gotta remember where Easy Rider ended!) 

Actually, I didn't......I visited a friend of mine out in west Louisiana and we found ourself at a place at about 2 in the morning and it looked like a disco place - LIGHT SHINING out through all these bullet holes in the walls of this bar.  I asked where we were and informed that we were in ####, Louisiana - I TOLD HIM - LET'S GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE - I lived up to my part of the bargain!!!!!!  

[3fan4life]

Just How, does a fellow go from this:


To this anyway??? 


 

[Strider]

6 years of interesting living and loss of the pink hair gel.... 

It was the times........Interesting to say the least, and the youngsters that didn't live through it, will never know it.

Man, it was a different time...........

God bless the folks that were a couple of years younger than me.....They did the period .....All I can say is God Bless You and Ya Done Good. (Welcome home!)

Mark Knopfler - Brothers in Arms	powered by Aeva

[3fan4life]

6 years of interesting living and loss of the pink hair gel.... 

It was the times........Interesting to say the least, and the youngsters that didn't live through it, will never know it.

Man, it was a different time...........

You came through it just fine Brother Strider.....

You is definately "Good People"!

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Mine was not on a bike but in a VW Baja bug. It was far from stock and I rounded a curve and met up with a local  Leo  officer going the other way. Lights come on and I'm already running a little over a hundred so I just threw in neutral and let in slow down until the officer gets close and I pull over. The female officer is reading me the riot act while the other officer is drulling over my engine, I give the ladies my lis. and insurance paper and me and the other guy start talking gearhead stuff. By the time she gets back we're old friends (the other cop and I).Since I hadn't had a ticket in about 20 years I got off with a warning .

[Brad]

Back in 1978 I was heading north on I-15 in Utah around Nephi,  got pulled over for going 85 when the limit was still 55.  Trooper took my licence to his cruiser to call it in and check things out when he got a call to assist another trooper up the hiway a bit.  He came back to me and told me that he was going to keep my licence and I was to continue heading north on the interstate at the posted speed until I saw his car.  I was then supposed to pull over and wait for him to finish what he was doing to get my ticket.  Well I did as I was told and found him about 8 miles up the road, pulled over behind his cruiser, he and the other trooper were across the median on the other side of the freeway with 2 guys cuffed, face down, on the shoulder, while they were taking their car apart.  I sat on the hood of the cruiser (not as smart back then) while I waited.  After about 10 minutes the cop got on the PA system of the other cruiser and told me that my licence was on the front seat of his car and to get it, don't touch anything else, and get out of here.  I yelled thank you grabbed my licence and took off.

[Brad]

Another good one happened in 1979, I was working around Victoria Texas and had to visit a bunch of small accounts in small towns in the area.  Once again the posted limit at that time was 55.  I was on a farm road with no traffic at all and I came over a small rise in the road at close to 100.  As I crested the hill I noticed a DPS trooper near the top of the next hill.  I slowed down and came to a stop about 100 yards in front of him.  I got off the bike, removed my helmet and pulled the seat and side cover on the bike.  Got down on my knees and started tinkering around when he turned on his lights pulled forward and did a U  turn and pulled in behind me.  He asked me what the problem was and I told him the bike was running poorly and I was having a hard time keeping it running.  He smiled and said bull$hit!  Nice story though.  Made me follow him to the next town to meet the Justice of the Peace, said due to the speed he couldn't just write me a ticket.  The J.P. after hearing the story just fined me $20 and let me go.  The trooper couldn't believe it, neither could I but I wasn't about to stick around and give them a chance to change their mind.

[Michael K (Az.)]

Just How, does a fellow go from this:


To this anyway??? 


 

Yeah, go figure!! 

[R J]

Damn Boy, ain't ya got no good barbers in Arizona?

 

[Strider]

May get out to Arizona next time in. Gotta meet with Bear either next time in or the time after.  Gonna ride out west - just don't know where or when yet.

If I can get out anywhere near there - would love to meet up with you brother - and Des and Kendall again (and Katmandu, etc....).  Let me see how things work out........

Should be able to know when I leave out this time on what I can do next time in........

Would love to share some wind with you bro!!!!

[R J]

I was 12 when I started riding my dad's 4 cylinder Indian.  I had harped at him for quite awhile to let me ride it.   One day to shut me up he said if you can get it started you can ride it.  He thought he was safe........

Told dad's younger brother, what he said and asked him to start it for me.

He started it and I rode it uptown.

Lived in a small town, 1,100 population and they didn't have a real town cop, he was a night watchman.  Only worked from like 4:00 PM to 6:00 AM for a whoopin $20 a week.

Got uptown, stopped at the stop sign, and killed it when I let the clutch out.   Claudie, saw what happened, he came over and asked if I had a license, he knew I wasn't old enough, I said no.

Claudie asked if my dad knew I had the bike out.  I told him what dad had said about getting it started, and how I did it.

He looked at me kind of funny, yeah, Claudie was a biker also, said get off so I can start it for ya.  He started it, got off, told me to get on it and head it for home, he would follow me.  We got her home and dad was coming up the alley from the other end as I turned into the alley for our garage...........   Oh damn was the fire coming out of his head.    Lucky for me, his brother was there and reminded him of what he had told me.

So, everyday till dad went in the service, I got to ride it all the time around the field at the farm.   He got drafted, and went into the USMC.    When he got killed on Iwo Jima, mom sold the bike so that ended my riding days for awhile.....

She remarried about 1948 or 49 and he was a biker, so we got another bike in the family.   I would love to have the Indian  today.  That was one sweet smooth machine for a 4 cylinder job.........

Dad had got it as a basket case for some work he had done for a farmer.   He took it the rest of the way apart, fixed everything that need fixed and put it together.   He only had an 8th grade education, but he could make any engine run.....

[fiddle mike]

Another good one happened in 1979, I was working around Victoria Texas and had to visit a bunch of small accounts in small town  The J.P. after hearing the story just fined me $20 and let me go.  The trooper couldn't believe it, neither could I but I wasn't about to stick around and give them a chance to change their mind.

DPS in Victoria used to be hell on motorcycles.  Along about '71, they hung me and my brother and my red motorcycle up for hours because two minors on a blue motorcycle had run away from Corpus Christi.

[fiddle mike]

 
On my way to Paducah, an Arkansas county sheriff stopped me for speeding, 15 mph over.  He was a nice guy who finally wrote me a warning for the 8 mos expired drivers license I carried and tipped me to a State Police speed trap at the county line. I saved the ticket.
Other than than its been mostly a series of badge heavy jerks tailgating me with their brights on, or otherwise flexing and posing. I guess they need some dangerous police work to brag about while they're munching tacos and preening for the cop groupies at the convenience store.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

As an early teen I had an 80cc, dual-sprocket 2-stroke Suzuki which I rode in various fields around the small town of Brazil where I grew up. We would of course ride the city streets to get to these fields and to the railroad tracks South of Brazil which was another riding local riding Mecca.

My buddy and neighbor had a Honda 100 scrambler. He was low on gas and had ridden across the highway to a service station to fill it with me on the back. As we were waiting on traffic so we could re-cross the highway the local police drove by, spotted us and started to turn around.  Randy, who was recovering from leg surgery and wearing a cast killed the scrambler in his excitement and could not kick start it because of his leg. I jumped in front, started it just as the police were pulling back on the highway headed our way and tried to outrun them.

We hauled A$$ through some yards, across a church yard and up the ally which ran behind both our houses. At his house we quickly pulled the scrambler into his garage and pulled the door down thinking we were kings. HA!

The police were very familiar with us and drove up the road at a leisurely pace and pulled into his driveway. They went in and suggested to his folks that we use more common sense and left.

[rmrc51]

I have a little bit of a twist for a LEO story.

I was only pulled over once that was motorcycle related.

It was the day I was trailing my 97 Valk Trike home. As I was entering my area, I see flashing lights behind me. I pull over and it happened to be the chief of police of my area. I asked him what the problem was and what I did wrong. He smiled and said the only problem he knew of was that we was going to be late for his meeting because he had never seen a Valkyrie Trike and just had to look at mine. Turns out he's also a bike guy. We've already met a few times since then. 

[hubcapsc]

I can't decide... 

I grew up in a neighborhood, I could walk to all my schools. There were acres
of woods between my house and Wade Hampton high school. By 1972 those woods
were our dirt bike haunt. I was riding my Yamaha 100 near the high school, too young
to have a license, when a policeman spotted me and started my way. Like the genius I
was I headed for the woods. My (clouded?) memory is that he was right on my taillight
as I disappeared down the trail. For the next few days I was sure the police were going
to show up at my house any second.

Later, when I had a license and a 185 Suzuki, I was sitting at a stop sign in a nearby
neighborhood. As I pulled away from the stop sign, I did a long balance wheelie through
several (4th?) gears. There was a policeman sitting behind me at the stop sign. Duh.

Later, an apartment complex was built near my house. A policeman moved in. I had a TM125
by then. It wasn't long before I was standing in front of my house with the policeman, my father
and the 125...

And Strider... I ran a stop sign on my first driving test, so I bet my instructor was way
more terrified than yours 

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

So I'm in college in '71 and have a street-legal 360 Yami enduro, I use to get around and groceries, and motocross.  I live in a new dorm up on the hill away from campus.  While getting ready to ride the long way around down to campus, a sweetheart of a coed asks if I will give her a lift.  Youbetcha, but I only have the one helmet, so being a gentleman I take it off and have her put it on, and take off with her on the back.  But wearing no helmet, I go down to campus via the paved path for foot traffic rather than the long way around on the streets.  She is holding on tight and I am having a nice warm experience.  I just roll along easy, almost no one walking on the path, and as I get down to campus the one old redneck campus cop that writes all the parking tickets and hates the students, sees me and flips on the lights.  I tell her this is as far as I can go, she is sorry for my trouble, I smile and take the helmet back and put it on, and run over the grass to a giant parking area.  The cop thinks I will run from him and drives like a maniac the long way around to "catch" me.  I continue going slow, do not run away (I could have easily), but as he goes down one lane of cars, I go up another (I act as if I don't see him).  Up and down the long lanes of parked cars four or five times, I know he is mad enough to kill.  I finally let him catch me and he is livid.   I treat him very respectfully with a smile which makes him even angrier.  I get three tickets;  riding with no helmet, driving on campus property, and failure to promptly stop (not fleeing/eluding) (I later go to court and pay one and get the other two dismissed).  I didn't get another moving vio on a bike for the next 36 years.  

This was the same old boy who would sit out in front of the dorms in the fall and ticket students when they couldn't get their cars unloaded of all their wordly possessions in the 15 minutes the meters there allowed.  I always loved "Cool Hand Luke", but didn't have the proper pipe cutter to drop all the meters, so I went out that night and spray painted all the clear parking meter lenses, front and back, with flat black spray paint, so you couldn't see if they were paid or not.  It was free parking out there for some weeks until they got them repaired.  

That was the year naked-streaking swept the county, and I should tell about the night 15-20 coeds crawled out on the roof of their dorm lobby in nightys to try a little naked dancing..... but that's another story.  

[rmrc51]

Great story Jess 

[RedValk]

i have several REAL good stories.....which includes the FIRST time i dealt with the law while on a bike...and ....eh....several other ones since then. But i'm going to plead the 5th. I figure, what LITTLE GOOD REPUTATION....i might have left on this board....is best left in tact...by NOT telling those several other stories...............

but.............you might pry one or two of them out of me over a few cold drinks OFF LINE??????????? 

[Big IV]

and I must say that usually they were professional. Only twice do I think that the cops were in the wrong. I earned most of the speeding tickets that I recieved.

I once stopped at a stop sign to turn left across a divided highway, let traffic pass in both directions, pulled into the median, stopped again appropriately, and then went on.  It was at that point that I saw the blue lights come on at the bottom of the hill. He pulled me over and said that I ran the stop sign. I tried to be nice when I pointed out that in that traffic if I had ran the stop sign I would have been fender decoration.  He was insistent and told me that I didn't even slow down as I approached the sign. 
I don't mind getting tickets for the things I've done, but that was horrible to get one that I couldn't fight.
I went to court and they reduced it, but they didn't beleive that the cop was wrong!

Mostly though, the LEOs I've dealt with other the years have been great. Cops are like waitresses. IF you have a great waitress you forget about it. If you have a bad waitress you tell everyone about it for years and stop eating there.

[Black Dog]

Well, I've only had one face to face, with the law on two wheels, and one close call...

The first was when I was about 13 or 14.  Most of my riding was done on my Grandmothers farm, in Milford MI (we lived in Milwaukee WI), during holidays like Thanksgiving, Easter, and a few weeks in the summer.  Closer to home, we had a 'Nike site' run by the military, that had acres and acres of hills, woods, streams, and trails.  It was a Mecca for those of us that had anything two wheeled and motor driven.  This was back around '69 or '70, so there weren't too many folks worried about us maiming or killing ourselves...  It was fun, and that was that.  Like Strider, gauze and band-aids were often used, in abundance, at the end of the day.

My dad was a Milwaukee cop, and a well known one at that.  The rule was that if we took the bike (125 Yamaha enduro) to the field, we had to walk it there, and back...  We're talkin a bit over a mile.  My mom also had a rule...  Never be late for supper.  On one late afternoon, I noticed that it had gotten way later than I thought, and no way was I gonna make it home on time, unless...  I rode the bike home. 

I get about half way home, using city streets, and I come to a stop sign.  I'm wearing my helmet, goggles, jeans, and a T-shirt, on a bike that is not even close to street legal.  At the 4 way stop sign, you guessed it, a cop car is on my left.  I see him. I nod. I continue on my way home...  He lights me up, asks for my license, and when I tell him I don't have one, he invites me to have a seat in his car.  He starts to fill out the paper work, and when he asks my name, he stops, looks at me and says "Is your dad detective so and so?"  When I say yes, he gets all pissed off, and says that I of all people should know better.  He tells me to get home, tell my dad what just happened, and that he would talk to my dad about our encounter later.

I go home (now very late for supper) tell my dad what happened, and was grounded for a few weeks, and couldn't ride the bike for a month.  Best part is, that cop never said a word to my dad...  He just knew I'd hang myself.

The one close call was in '79 or '80, when I was on my way to see my then girlfriend (now my wife) in Lacrosse WI (she went to school there).  It was about a 200 mile ride, with one very desolate stretch between Sparta and Lacrosse.  I was on my '77 Gold Wing, and decided it was time to make some time...  I tucked in behind the Vetter Fairing, and twisted the wick.  Kept it dialed in to about 95-100 mph, for a good long time.  It was dark, and when I checked my mirrors, I could see 'red' lights waaaay behind me.  I took the next exit (a long sweeper, that went around and under the freeway), got under the freeway and shut it down.  About a minute later, I hear the trooper (and see the lights reflecting off the trees) go over me on the freeway, and keep going.  I decided that now would be a good time for a pee break, and maybe a bite to eat.  I killed about a half hour, and was on my way...  Free and Clear

Black Dog

[Popeye]

I had been in Colorado at a Honda Sport Touring Association rally in the early 90's. My buddy wanted to ride into Wyoming.
At the time of this ride, my hair was long and I had a bandana on. We pulled into a real small town, don't remember the name.  As we pulled over to look for a place to eat, Barney Fife was me like white on rice.
I shut off the bike and he proclaimed "No U-turns in my town". I told him that wouldn't be a problem but it was quite obvious that he didn't like me in his town.  Wearing full leathers and long hair, might as well had a target painted on my back.

We walked across the street to one of the two diners in town. I sat facing the street, I wanted to keep an eye on Barney.  Remember the old carnival arcade shooting gallery with the small duck races back and forth as you shoot it?  Barney was like that, he was back and forth the whole time we ate, each time he passed, he looked in the diner.  I know he couldn't see me but I think he knew I was probably watching him.

We finsihed our lunch and walked back to the bikes. Barney was sitting about half  a block down the street,waiting to see which direction we were heading. As we fired up the bikes, he slowly crept up behind us. He proceeded to follow us til we were out of his jurisdiction.

Called home that night to talk to the family. Told Lizzie about my encounter with Barney.  She said "I told you that you look scary dressed like that".  I replied that he was judging a book by it's cover. He doesn't know that I'm a family man, football and baseball coach,  and raise money for pediatric brain tumor research or that I've had a steady job since I was 19, so screw him.  All she said was be careful.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful.  Not a big deal in the long run but I was a little pissed at first.

[Big IV]

I was at a sad little wedding for a high school friend.  He was marrying a woman that was trying to fix him (who would later burn some of his things to help correct him) and he was losing his humor. I showed up early wearing my chaps and leather jacket over dress clothes so that I could shove them into the saddle bag. Another buddy, who was in the wedding, wanted me to go back home and fetch the wedding present he'd left. I hadn't budgeted a 50 mile run around in my being early, but I was in an accomodating mood. I re-leathered and went quickly back to my buddy's house, grabbed the card, and then headed back.

As I jumped on the interstate I came off the on-ramp as fast as my CB750 could. A LEO was parked in the median facing my direction.  His blue lights came on and he screeched forward. The CB750 was already speeding and I wanted to make the wedding so I opened it all the way up. I opened it all the way up and held it there.

I came off the interstate at full throttle, cut through a yellow light, and hard righted at nearly full speed into the church parking lot like a smoking gun barrell.

I sat through the entire sad wedding waiting for the cops to raid it, but they didn't.
The sad wedding party was going to be carried off in a horse drawn carriage while we few gathered guests waited to pelt bubbles or rice.   The horse was beautiful and had a bar code on its neck. I convinced the brides nephew that the horse had been in prison which is where the tattoo came from.  The brides side of the family has no sense of humor.
At the wedding reception I convinced most of the groom's family that we had met in jail one night, despite the fact they knew he'd never been arrested in his life, they still fell for it.

I took the long way home driving at a respectable speed.  It was a sad wedding, without a interuption by LEOs.

[Master Blaster]

Well wasnt on a bike, but back in the late 60s I was in the military and had just got out of Flight School.  Being as I was now a Hotshot Cobra Pilot, of course I had to have a Corvette.  It was a 67, red with white top and interior 427 roadster.  I was on my way to advanced maintenance officer course and was doing some back road two lane stuff, think it may have been in really rural Alabama.  Anyway background music was Dueling Banjos.  I got behind some old farmer doing about 30, and had to follow for miles it seemed like, as the road was so crooked. Finally got a chance and barreled around only to find some Barney local constable had appeared from nowhere behind me.  Wouldnt give a ticket, but I must follow him to the local JP.  Well I did, and the JP wasnt there, but at home eating lunch.  They had a couple of cells there and put me in one untill the JP got back.  I was carrying too, I had a Baby Browning 25 in my boot, and there I sat.  JP took about a 4 hour lunch break.  When he finally showed up, he hollered in "How much money you got Boy?"  I hemmed and hawed and acted contrite, and stuttered out "I may have 20 bucks on me."  He said thats your fine now get out of here.  Nothing ever written down, no request to see license or anything.  I paid with no receipt, and  boogied, had several hundred on me, and was happy to donate 20. I figured the constable and JP split my 20 and wondered how many times they had pulled that scam.

[hubcapsc]

 * When he finally showed up, he hollered in "How much money you got Boy?"

Well that remark reminds me of another run-in...

I was working at the Greenville Suzuki shop, and the Mauldin Suzuki shop had just folded.

The G'ville shop bought a bunch of the bikes that were at the Mauldin shop, and sent
me with a trailer to fetch some of them.

So I'm just a teen-age gopher, I was unaware of all the... stuff... swirling around the
closing of the Mauldin shop. Apparently the police were on the lookout in case the
Mauldin shop tried to sneak away with some of the inventory. I'm loading bikes
in the parking lot when a police cruiser screams into the parking lot and
(literally) screeches to a halt right next to me. A giant cop jumps out, spits
a big old blob of tobacco spit out at my feet and exclaims "you're in a heap of
trouble, boy!"


-Mike "Sounds funny now, I was suitably impressed then    "

[Jabba]

I pulled up next to an LEO on a HD at a stop light a few years ago, and we had the following conversation:

Jabba:  Wow... even cop Harleys are loud huh?
LEO:  huh?
Jabba: I SAID... WOW, EVEN COP HARLEY'S ARE LOUD HUH?
LEO:  Yeah.  Hey, is THAT thing (my Valk) fast?
Jabba: It does pretty good from 0-70 mph.
LEO:  What about above that?
Jabba: I dunno, I have never been on a road where the speed limit was higher than that.
LEO: LOL!!  MF'er... You're alright!

VROOOOOOOMMM!

Jabba

[Michael K (Az.)]

Good one, Jabba! 

[bsnicely]

I have only had one contact with LEO's while riding. Got a speeding ticket years ago on my 1979 CB750F.  He was very profssional and I was guilty. No complaints.

[Oss]

we were doing stuff that one should not be doing running sort of north along the St John river when I saw the lights go on a good long distance behind me. He must have been on a side road I hadnt seen him and I had great vision back then

The evening before we had picked up a hitchiker who was a disabled vet and in return for takin him home a good couple of hours from orlando  we were put up for the nite by him and his wife, fed dinner and breakfast and given beer and herb for the trip home  That car could really fly 277 hp,  and I had a sony stereo and 2 6x9 speakers and in between on the rear deck was a fake speaker that used to be for the am/fm radio

Now that fake rear speaker was really the emergency garbage and beer disposal chute and all beer and lit illicit substances went down there and the power windows open  Cigarettes were lit and puffed on furiously.

I pulled over got out and waited for the officer

Is that a 57 he asked   
 Yes sir it is
  Is that a 4bll or the 6 pack (3 2bll) under there
Would you like to see sir its the 4 with the oil bath     (the engine was spotless)

Wow son said the officer you have a great car my dad had one of those and the coopertone brown is beautiful but  please drive slower in this county as the roads have hairpin turns we wouldnt want you folks from Buffalo to get hurt  You go off in the water may never find you.  He musta seen my buffalo bumper sticker  If it said NYC I would probably still be in jail

He made a k turn and left, we lit up and opened fresh brew and off we go

not 15 minutes later see a light far in back.  Dispose of perfectly fine beer again and pull over at 1st safe place

A minute later the officer is in back of me parked and I am again standing next to the car

Thank you for stopping boy  My brother in law told me he was lookin at your 57 and I just had to see it before you left the county   So I opened the hood, opened the hidden gas filler door in the left taillight and we talked for a spell  I thought he was very courteous and was happy that I had gotten a real short haircut before leaving for vacation.

Then he left   I did not have a beer the rest of the way home.  The other stuff...............

[Super Santa]

I had gotten out of the Navy in 1962 and upon coming home found that my Dad had a new Honda CB350.  He had even spent a few extra dollars putting nice Harley fishtail mufflers on it.  Really dressed it up nice.

We lived in Santa Cruz, CA and I borrowed the bike and rode down to the main drag along the boardwalk and parked to watch the cars and girls parading by.

A HD riding patrolman rode by, pulled up, parked, and started talking and admiring the bike.

Acting like he was getting ready to leave, he pulled out his ticket book and gave me a ticket for a 'modified exhaust'.  He did not appreciate the Harley mufflers on a Honda, no matter how nice they looked.

My Dad said I could either pay the ticket myself or pay to replace the mufflers.  Ticket was cheaper.

[PAVALKER]

While in the Navy one winter in Norfolk Va, a buddy and I were going to see a friend about collecting on a Super Bowl bet.... and we both were riding our bikes.  We were going a bit faster than the speed limit, but an officer stopped us claiming he had to do 120 to catch us.  My reply was... of course if you take time to put down a coffee and doughnut and get your car rolling you could have gone 200 or even 300 mph to catch us, that doesn't mean we were doing 120, 200 or 300.  Then we were cuffed and place in his back seat while he wrote the tickets. No radar was used but the judge was more believing the officer than me.  My license got suspended for 6 months with a small fine and court costs.... and the following day I was going out to sea for.... yep, 6 months.  When I returned I had to go get my license and all was well with the world.

The second time I got stopped while riding was a few years ago..... had a 1st date on the back seat and followed a car thru a left turn on a red light with another light right next to it that was green... very confusing light and more than one person did that (so we were told by the officer).  The girl pleaded to the officer to give me a "first date break" and ... he did.  Fortunately the bike and my license was legal etc.  Later that evening I asked for the  "first date break" and all was well then too.   

[hubcapsc]

While in the Navy one winter in Norfolk Va, a buddy and I were going to see a friend about collecting on a Super Bowl bet.... and we both were riding our bikes.  We were going a bit faster than the speed limit, but an officer stopped us claiming he had to do 120 to catch us.  My reply was... of course if you take time to put down a coffee and doughnut and get your car rolling you could have gone 200 or even 300 mph to catch us, that doesn't mean we were doing 120, 200 or 300.  Then we were cuffed and place in his back seat while he wrote the tickets.

Hee hee... they really hate it when you're not respectful.

I was with my girlfriend at a movie in Greenville once, it was dark when we were leaving, and way
over across the parking lot, I could see a police car driving along. It reminded me of a story (which I
have since forgotten) that involved making one of those hand signs where you put your hand under
your chin and wave. I made the sign while I was telling the story, and unknown to me the policeman saw me. Next
thing I knew, we were a half mile down the road and he was pulling us over...

"Did you do this?", he asked, as he made that sign where you put your thumb on your nose and
wiggle your hand. I said, "no sir, I did this", and I made the hand waving under the chin sign for
him...

Handcuffs were not involved, though...

-Mike

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

My luckiest incident with an LEO was in a car in the fog over 30 years ago.

I was running late for work as usual and was driving much faster than was safe or legal in some really think fog. (not very smart but I was only 20 or so).

I met an LEO as I rounded a corner and saw his brake lights as he disappeared in the fog. He would have to go quite a ways to turn around so I turned on the first county road and tired to give him time to turn around and go on by looking for me. Then I planned to pull back on the main road and go into town behind him.

When I got back to the main road the fog was even worse than before. I mean, really bad. I couldn’t see anything coming so I pulled out and suddenly heard squealing tires behind me. Oh man, it was the LEO with tires smoking trying not to rear end me as I finished turning in front of him!!

I pull over, heart pounding, expecting to go to jail. He jogs up to my window and says “I’m going to let you go this time, I’m after somebody!” Then he runs back to his car and hauls a$$ around me, looking for me!

Some days you get lucky I guess.

And that’s the last one I’m going to put in print.