Do All Cops Hate Bikers?

[geoxr]

Is it just me, or is it a universal trend for cops to pick on bikers? Here in the UK they pick on bikes for small license plates, loud exhausts but mostly i think cos they just dont like motorcyclists, they pick on you for riding on the road & then they pick on you for riding off road.

Here in the UK the local police in my area are having a crackdown on bikes with small license plates, they say bikes with small plates are more prone to speeding! I never realised the size of your license plate affected the speed of the bike!

But hey picking on bikers is easier than catching murderers/rapists/thieves etc!

[ThumperGirl]

Most of the cops I know ride either street bikes or dirt bikes. ? I used to be a cop and I only "picked on" people who were riding their street bikes like idiots.

Maybe it's YOU! ?

[velosapiens]

Is it just me, or is it a universal trend for cops to pick on bikers?

try to see it from their side. imagine yourself as a fat old donut-eating couch potato whose wife is cheating on you. you would probably be pretty jealous of the guys with the R1's who are young, healthy, and attracting all the hotties. what would you expect?

seriously, i suspect that some of these guys get tired of cleaning up the pieces of stupid sportbike riders, and some of them are just d!ckweeds. unfortunately it only takes a handful of d!ckweeds to make life pretty annoying for everyone else.

-mark

[rebel1916]

i find they usually tend to cut me a break on the bike. be polite to them and having a pba courtesy card really helps

[Wrfrk]

I don't get it, why would they pick on you for having a small plate. Don't you get the plates from your local government agencies? Can you just make your own plates or something?

[berkeman]

i find they usually tend to cut me a break on the bike. be polite to them and having a pba courtesy card really helps

Same here. I think it's different in the UK, though. I subscribe to the UK magazine "Superbike" (great mag, BTW), and they are often complaining about hassles with the cops. Especially those pesky "Gatso" cameras for automated speeding tickets. Sounds like those are all over the place!

[slodsm]

berkeman, I read that mag as well and do they ever cuss at the gatsos lol.

I too have never had a problem with cops and have been riding sportbikes for more than 10 years. Never had a single ticket on one and every time I have been pulled, they were just checking my ID and registration to ensure it was not stolen as that is very prevelant in this area. I have no problem with that either because at least they are trying to slow the theft down.

[ToyMan]

I think you have it wrong. Most cops I know ride. My brother-in-law is a California Highway Patrol motorcylce officer. He rides both street and dirt bikes. I ride with him all the time. I think he represents the attitude of most CHP officers and would not mess with someone unless they are doing something stupid.

[cardiffdrz]

Sorry man, i have to disagree too, i have never had 1 problem while on my bike, infact i just got off the fone from the old bill about my DT that was stolen last year, looks like they may have recovered it? , but can only narrow it down to 3 possible owners, we were talking for a good half hour about bikes and he said he is cool with bikers unless they ride like a$$holes then he makes it a bit if a crusade to give them $hit every time he sees them he even did me a favour and checked out the new PW80 i bought to see if there was any history on the bike "unofficially". I can only think that maybe you have pi$$ed 'em off in the past and your card is now marked with them or maybe you are a young guy that don't look quite right on your bike ? What ever it is tho, just bite your tongue and be polite and courteous you will NEVER beat them, so work with them, as time goes by maybe they will get off your back ?

Ref: Those damn Gatzo cameras, yeah they are every where it pi$$es me off so much, it is dangerous on the roads where they are, 'cos every motorist is looking down at there speedo not at the road ?? how is that a safety measure ? while on my bike and approaching a speed cam i deliberately set them off with eiter 1 wheel in the air or a well placed middle finger at the cam

[SM610]

My dislike for cops stems from being beaten without reason for years, as a kid and as a young adult in Chicago. I'm not sure that cops being dicks has anything to do w/ motorcycles,they're just dicks until they prove otherwise. I have always been respectful, even during a beating. In many cases it didn't make any difference, but I'll continue to be friendly outwardly,hatefull inwardlly!KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER!!!

[KLX_RAMBO]

I ride with two cops. They are really cool. Ironically, they are always trying to take us to some new illegal spot to ride. As for other cops, I have never really had a problem. I'm a clean cut kind of guy - no earrings, tattoos, etc. I think that makes a difference.

[mommyrider]

try to see it from their side. imagine yourself as a fat old donut-eating couch potato whose wife is cheating on you. you would probably be pretty jealous of the guys with the R1's who are young, healthy, and attracting all the hotties. what would you expect?

seriously, i suspect that some of these guys get tired of cleaning up the pieces of stupid sportbike riders, and some of them are just d!ckweeds. unfortunately it only takes a handful of d!ckweeds to make life pretty annoying for everyone else.

-mark

? Ah no. Husabnd is a cop here, and no I am not cheating on him, no he is not a donut-eating, couch potato,fat ass either. My hubby is 26 years old, in better shape than most triathaletes, and DAMN good looking.....That is quite the stereo type......

[mommyrider]

Oh, BTW... He is an AVID dirt rider and supports the sport while wearing the badge.....

[Doug.]

I'm pretty sure thats just a problem in the United Kingdom. Sucks to be you!

Out here in Vegas, the cops treat me and my riding buddies very well. When we have to ride on the street to get up to the desert we see cops all the time, shit...we even ride right next to them sometimes. They just wave and give a motion like "cool" and "keep it safe", just dumb stuff like that. Since I live in the desert though, alot of cops, firefighters, etc. also ride. Its a popular pastime.

[KTM265]

I'm a cop and I ride, street and dirt. I don't have a problem with bikes. I sometimes raise an eyebrow to the loud Harleys. I have even written a few for noise. As for the off-road...keep it off the street and there is no problem. Around here that isn't a big issue.

[beezer]

The whole idea here is to work the system to your advantage.

Like it or not police have power over you and can make you miserable. I have been pulled over loads of times and get let go most of the time.

Don't mouth off, be polite. Don't lie. I have a good sense of humor and I use that. I have been told loads of time to just go home and sin no more.

If that didn't work I would go in front of the judge wearing a suit and tie. Lots of time he would let me off.

[cardiffdrz]

I am not sure that the UK has a bigger problem with cops than the USA infact i would even say they are more easy going than the USA, problem here is that even riding off road the bike needs to be road legal. Remember that all land in the UK is owned by someone so it is therefore private and not allowed to be ridden on, when we do go off road technically it is still a highway only difference it is just an ancient road that has not been in main stream use for a few hundred years therefore the bike still needs to be a road legal bike. It is all to do with our history, having kings and queens that sort of thing. So when a cop sees some kid riding "offroad" technically he is breaking the law as he can't be road legal. Also i do think that attitude has got a lot to do with it, at the end of the day a cop is just an ordinary guy that wears a uniform as part of his job, they are not some external species from another planet

[Hondaracing915g]

Half of the cops ride around here..but the other half...well they are brutual on us! ?

[Ccarl]

Most police officers are probably tired of cleaning up mangled dead idiots who ride out of control, and just have a chip on their shoulder for all motorcyclists.

[Chris_from_Oz]

Most police officers are probably tired of cleaning up mangled dead idiots who ride out of control, and just have a chip on their shoulder for all motorcyclists.

I know this is true of most of the cops up around our favorite 'twistie' roads over here. There is a very popular stretch that I used to take my last street bike at least once a month, and having been stopped (well, I was actually already stopped outside a shop getting a drink) for a license check by a local m/cycle cop, he quickly checked my licence, then apologised for wasting my time. He then chatted for a while, and told me he was checking for underage riders on overly powerful bikes. (There is a 250cc limit here for a probationary period). He explained how groups of mostly young guys come up to the mountains on a sunny Sat' or Sunday, and more often that not, someone will overcook a corner, and he's the one to pick up the pieces, sometimes literally. I don't think all cops have a chip on their shoulder for bike riders, just the idiot bike riders, who screw it up for us all, on and off-road. ? As I said, I used to head up the mountains at least once a month, and I can't recall NOT seeing a m/cycle crash at some stage of the day, including more than one fatal. ? Local city cops, I have come across both good and bad. I just treat 'em how they treat me, never been locked up yet..... ?