Busted on a Bike



 



It's been a while since I wrote about one of my past motorcycle experiences, so here's one that recently came up in a conversation.

A friend of mine had just purchased a brand new Yamaha R1. For those that don't know, this is a bike that was (and still is) near the pinnacle of performance and handling. He bought it in the winter and I ran into him in April. He mentioned that he had just got the bike back from its break-in service, which meant that it could be ridden to its limit. He asked if I'd like to take it for a ride.

It was around dusk, and I had missed a huge part of the previous riding season after having a run in with a deer at dusk (a story I’ll probably share at some point). Knowing that I would not have the restraint to take it easy, I turned him down. He persisted and with just a little more convincing, I accepted his offer.

I had a plan - there was a nearby straight stretch of road that I would test out the speed of the R1. I’d spend the rest of the ride obeying all traffic laws.

I did just that, I didn't speed until I was at my specific location. I won't say exactly how fast I went, but let's say it was way faster than most humans should ever go on a motorcycle. I neared the place where I was going to turn around to head back. There was a car pulling out of the side road I was turning into and the guy driving was focused on something behind me. It was the police with the lights flashing. Oh shit!!!

Now, the first thing a lot of douchebags say at this point in the story is, "You should've taken off! There's no way they could catch you!" That is the dumbest thing anyone could do! It wasn’t as if I robbed a bank or killed anyone! A police chase would make a bad situation catastrophic!

After I pulled over, the officer walked up to me and asked, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Normally I say that I don't know (no sense in confessing to something the officer didn't notice). In this case I absolutely knew what it was; I was definitely going too fast. He asked how fast I thought I was going. Not wanting to incriminate myself, I replied that I wasn't sure.

He said he clocked me at 90 mph. An overwhelming relief came over me. He must've noticed me while I was slowing down. I remained as respectful and polite as I could, but he said that he had to write me a ticket. He wrote it for only 20 mph over the limit (still a few points against my license, but nothing that'd get it taken away). He was actually pretty cool; we had a little conversation about motorcycles before he let me go.

I returned to meet my friend and he immediately asked how I liked the ride. I responded by pulling the ticket out of my pocket. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense and I think I learned my lesson. Remember…cops are everywhere!

“There’s a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there’s a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.” – Johnny Cash