Good LEO Story

ibified

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So I get a call from my friend Mark, the guy who bought the raven edition R6 last summer. he was riding home from work (after dark) and got pulled over because of his red LED lights. Well, he only had his permit, and in Indiana, you can't ride legally after dark on just your permit. Also, he didnt have his insurance with him.

Realistically, the LEO coud have ticketed him for riding after dark, for not having his registration, and for his lights. They also could have impounded the bike.

The officer gave him a ticket for the "riding after dark" and let him off on the lights and registration. The LEO waited there for me to get there to ride it home for him, since he coudnt legally ride it himself, instead of just having it towed and impounded.

When I got there, the LEO thanked me for coming to help him out, ran my license to make sure I was valid, and let us go on our way.
 
Thats the good thing about my job. I'm the one whos been in a situation like this before, and I REMEMBER what it was like to be treated nastily. I remember how that felt, and that is exactly why I do things my way now which is completely opposite. Trust me, when you put on this clown costume (police uniform), people treat you differently. Some for the better, most for the worse. There are enough jerk offs in this world to write your tickets to. That way the nice people get sent on their way with warnings and help if they need it. Once I sense a bad attitude from someone I stop, I smile inside of my head knowing that since I am going to write this guy at least 3 tickets, that means I can let more nice people off with none. Im glad you not only had a decently nice dealing with a police officer, but that you also took the time to share it here. Our job aint easy. Everyone has bad days and it sometimes may leak out on traffic stops etc, but there is no need for it, and most of us do our best to stay on peoples good sides. Im nice until I dont have to be. If that happens, have a seat. Takes a while to write multiple tickets!
 
+1 I had the same treatment from an Indiana State Trooper out on US24...

What red LED's did he have that were not legal? was unaware that they were not legal..(well unless they were on the front of the bike)
 
glad you were able to save your friend some dough ibified. im sure that kind of friend would return a similar favor like that if you ever needed it. I like hayabusas. I like hayabusa.org. And I like the fact that some of you guys spend thousands of dollars just to make your bikes look and perform better for me to droozle at everyday on this site. My poor wife. She has no idea about my level of addiction. I keep it tucked away. Be safe!
 
Good for you(and Mark) for sharing that story Andrew. "Good people that happen to be cops" are out there,,, just like "skinny guys that happen to be on Hayabusas" and "humble guys that happen to be on Harleys".

I took my normal testride route one day on my GSXR 1000(remember now, that I wrench on for a living as well as ride and race Harleys normally, including working on our Sheriff's Dept's bikes and many of the deputie's personal rides), and very few LEO's or others see me ride this unless going to the track or running around with Dahmurf on her Hayabusa. Well I give the 1000 a little gas leaving a stop sign and I'm going to check the speedo healer calibration to what the speedo says when I get back to the shop. I pull off from a stop in first, shift to second and by the time I'm getting ready to pull 3rd... I get those hairs that those of us that have ridden long enough know all too well standing up on the back of my neck. I pull in the clutch and drop the throttle as eye the cars in the oncoming lane and see nothing out of the ordinary. I take it a bit easy and look behind me for a sec or two and see nothing... "ok, flase alarm I supose", ease bakc into it and around the corner I go(still thinking something was wrong so just cruise on outta here and get back to the shop. Then I see a car sitting on the left and think it must be an unmarked.. nope, noone in it. I go on a little ways beore I see some jackass coming up on me quick and before I know it the blues are on... "----, when did they get one of them new Dodges?". I finally pull over, step off the bike and see the deputy getting out of the car.... "Hey deputy so and so, when the hell did you get that?". As he looks confused while I'm offing my helmet... he then sees my face and says.. "you son of a -----". We go back and forth about this and that, he asks how fast I think I was going and I hit recall on my speedo while asking him what he got me at. He states 90+ locked in as I was slowing and I state"then I'm not telling you any faster then that"! I find he was hoping for a little chase to check out his new car... lol, I tell him I can arrange that - he doens't bite and lets me go with a verbal, blah blah blah(he knows it's one of my "safe" testing zones for the Sheriff's bikes etc. etc. - and hey, he would eventually like his bike back no matter how much he does like that car). Off we go our seperate ways.

Later in the week(in jest), he says he has me under a barrel as he has the whole thing on his dash cam.... well little did he excpect the come back from me stating "yeah, well I have you on my video also(actually it's just the audio and the reflection of his car in my dash)... yep, a full verbal of you letting me off the hook at that speed"(which I did since my cam was on the whole time because I wanted to verify my speedo with my data-aq for my healer calibration).

Well, needless to say, we each shared our vids and both agreed to keep them from those that mattered.

I've never met a bad cop... but I have met some "bad people that happen to be cops",
Todd

PS(Mr Bogus): unlesss the lights on the rear of your bike were red from the factory they have been outlawed(since mid 70's I believe). Only brake lights can be red, blinkers are supposed to be amber. My 1965 came with red rear signal lenses which is fine(treated just liek the seatbelt laws), but to replace them on somehting that's not grandfathered is not legal and what some leo's would consider "probable cause".
 
Right. he has LEDS in the side fairings and a strobe in the air intake.

But yeah, I dont mind sharing a story about a good LEO. There are pkenty out there, and I'll be the first to say that I've never seen anyone get a ticket they didn't deserve. if the officer lets you off with a warning say "thank you" and remember that they didnt have to do that. if an officer gives you a ticket, say "thank you" and be glad he wasnt an a$$hat who tried to harass you.

it's always been my finding that police officers will give me the EXACT same treatment I give them, so it's in my best interest to be nice. After all, they do an EXTREMELY demanding job for not a lot of money, and I for one am glad they're there and willing to do it.
 
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It would have to be something about the side lights I guess, all bikes have red tail lights...(I have an abundance of RED LED's on the back of my bike just for getting the attention of cagers)
 
A tail light and a brake light are normally under the same lens and therefore legal. I should of stated, "rear turn signals" or anything else that doens't fall under a brake light lense(as far as I know) are not "legally" supposed to be red anymore(most all used to be red from the factory).
Todd
 
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