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Motorcycles, speeding, and radar

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 11:00 am
by DoubleDuc
I'm wondering your thoughts on this: Do you think cops are a little more forgiving when it comes to motorcycles and the speed limit, in terms of highway speeds. I went thru radar yesterday on the Interstate at 90 in a 65 (didn't get pulled), but I was in heavy traffic and found a little area to accelerate and behold a copper when I didn't need one. Or could it be that amongst traffic radar profiles (for bikes) are obscure.

Re: Motorcycles, speeding, and radar

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:24 pm
by fasterdammit
Hard to say, but when I think of the times I've been pulled over on a motorcycle vs. the times I've been pulled over in a car - I'm pretty sure that I've avoided a ticket that I should've gotten on a motorcycle more often than I've avoided the same situation while driving a car.

On a motorcycle, I've either not been pulled over or have been let off with merely a warning many times when I knew I was busted, that I was clearly in the wrong and they had me dead-to-rights; yet I've gotten tickets for lesser infractions in a car for which I think could've been overlooked or let off with a warning. Prime examples: pulled over for doing 90+ in a 55 on my uninspected bike (on a backroad), and instead of two easy tickets had a nice conversation about bikes; vs. getting a ticket for 34 in a 30 (in a notoriously strict village) in the car.

I will say that the few times I've been pulled over while riding the Paso have generated more conversations that begin "I've never seen one of these ..." and did not result in a ticket. :) However, I did get pulled over in Indianapolis, on our way to the MotoGP races, picked out of a slew of cars all going the same speed ... so maybe there was a bit of motorcycle prejudice in the city that weekend (as over 20,000 motorcycles descended on the city that weekend). However, even being out-of-staters, we couldn't get them to forgive the tickets. Bureau of Tourism, padding their coffers ...

Re: Motorcycles, speeding, and radar

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:43 am
by Derek
In the UK I'd say you are definitely more likely to be hauled up on a bike than in a car. I've seen the police selectively pull a bike for speeding yet ignore the cars before and after it. It's not uncommon to be stopped for a "routine check". Unfortunately a large anti-bike contingent still exists in the UK.