Letter From a Pal:

[Wild Will]

This is from a guy I've known for many years, with whom I've hooked up at Laguna Seca since about '88. His brother is the guy who lost his fiance 5 months ago to a gnary turn on her first bike, a CBR 600. Her name was Catherine. ANYWAY, Steve's letter contains a story you MUST READ!

...We had a great ride down this year - we actually trailered to
Susanville and parked the trailer there for a week and headed for the
high country - we rode in the mountains and remote areas for three days
before reaching Monterey on Thursday evening - had a fabulous time -
great roads and no cops - - as an aside a Doctor friend of mine from
Spokane who was not part of our group joined up with us for a part of
one day running into us in Susanville. He joined up with us telling his pals he'd meet up with them
that evening at their pre agreed on destination ( unlike our group he
knew where he was going apparently) - after riding with Jon, Brad,
Karl, Roger and me he decided he didn't like the pace (I thought we
were riding very moderately actually as we were on a stretch of highway
49 and it was hellishly twisty and we didn't know the road at all) so
he stopped me and said he was turning around to re join his buddies - I
said ok no sweat -

He took off and about a half hour later he apparently passed some dude
on a double yellow and just as he's pulling into his lane a CHP sees
his rear tire over the double yellow - he puts on the blue lights and
my buddy says oh shit and fucking takes off - (he was on a Yamaha FZ1)
- and decides to make a run for it - he puts some distance on the cop
and figures he'd find a dirt road to pull into but never does locate a
suitable one - about 10 miles up the road he encounters a roadblock and
pulls a fucking U TURN on the guy - now they are both after him - he
finds a road pulls to go up and moments later the CHP is there with his
pistol drawn saying "if you move I'll shoot you" - long story short -
75K bail later he is awaiting going to court in late Oct - the
prosecutor won't deal with his attorney at all and they have him for
about four offenses - he is pretty bummed to say the least - ironically
he didn't even have a parking ticket on his record - what a dumb shit -

We told him if our riding group had officers we'd have elected him
president for life - he thought that was pretty funny and managed a
laugh in spite of the ugliness of the situation - he figures he might
get up to three months in jail but is hoping for some kind of community
service -

I bought a new DR 650 - I love it !!! What a great bike - since buying
it, it's about all I've been riding - I did about 400 miles on the
gravel and dirt the first week along with about 400 miles on the
canyons and twisties - I'm putting a few mods on it right now and
hopefully will get a bit more out of it - what a fine bike - the nice
thing is it will extend my riding by about 2 more months up here as I
can ride it well into Nov when it's raining some and take it out in
March when the roads are still ugly when I don't want to mess up the
Multistrada - I've got an "adventure" trip planned for next week into
OR and ID which is into some really spectacular country only accessible
by jet boat, airplane or motorcycle/atv's. I'm not a very accomplished
dirt rider having never done any of it as a kid but it's fun learning
and getting used to it - it definitely will help my street riding I'm
sure- hell at 66 we're just now entering the last half of our life
these days.

The Moral of this story? You decide, but it's obvious that a little testosterone when mixed with high HP and riding with hooligans can make a guy sorry he ever pushed the starter button! Don't let this happen to you! I'd never run from a cop; you just cannot win, and this guy is a physician!

[geechie]

Bad decisions can happen awfully fast. They catch you when you're not looking. I don't think I'd ever run from a cop either.

George

[DJ Down Under]

Don't let this happen to you! I'd never run from a cop; you just cannot win
I remember the days that you could win...btw great story Will..and thanks for posting it for us.

That story reminds me of some of my old 'Chased by the cops' adventures...here's one of them.

My best friend..Brad..and I were doing a ride down to great riding area in Frankstone..it's about an hours ride away..on this day we decided to take our girlfriends along for the ride..just for the fun of it.

Our bikes were..a 250 Can-Am that Brad had..and a 250 Bultaco Frontera that I had..I don't think either of us had rear footpegs..the girls just had there legs hanging back..and they would hang on tight around our waist.

There was a long back way to get there or a quick freeway..I said lets take the freeway..less chance of cops..and less time to get caught..I thought.

We made it down the freeway..btw we stopped once on the freeway to show the girls how we could ride up the steep grassy sides were the freeway was cut in to a hill...we left nice big ruts up and down..it was great fun.

We got off the freeway and had a few miles of back roads to get to the off road area..I was watching my mirrors like a hawk..something that Brad never does..and sure enough..about half a mile from dirt I spot a cop car coming up behind us with lights flashing..you couldn't hear a siren because our bikes were so loud.

I take off as fast as I can...Brad takes off alongside me..his front wheel about 3' in the air..smiles on their faces as I re pass them after he backs off from his wheelie..the cops were right on our tail when we got to the gap in the fence..we bounce up the curb and thought the gap in the fence.

About 100 yards inside the fence I stopped and watched my mirror thinking 'that' will stop them..but..the cop car bounced up the curb and smashed through the gap in the fence..I couldn't believe it.

I took off again up this bumpy dirt track..Brad passes me again with his girlfriend hanging on for her life..and then he then slows..I'm thinking "come on Brad"..I look back and the cop car is bouncing its way along the track behind us.

I overtake Brad again and he speeds up again as if we are racing each other..I race to get ahead again..I was always a better rider than Brad..but geees..he was making it hard for me..I knew that he didn't know the track very well so I had to lead.

I was heading for a big hill climb up ahead..I knew this would stop the cops for sure..I look behind and the cop car is still smashing its way through the bush behind us..we head up this big hill..it was very rutted at the top and a bit tricky with the girls on the back.

We both made it to the top..I lift up my googles..and Brad yells the me.."That was great..I'm going back down to do it again"...I yell back..what about the cops you idiot..they'll be waiting down at the bottom of the hill.

He yells back..."What cops"

True story.

DJ

[Bones]

Will,
Things may get even worse for the guy. In CA, (as in all other states), the State Medical Board is very sensitive to physicians having run ins with the law. It is possible that he could lose his medical license. I have heard of that happening related to motor vehicle issues if they are heinous enough.


Jeff

[DarthRider]

In 49 years I have "run from the cops" 5, maybe 6 times...twice in the last year.
But...I have no amazing, amusing or even mildly interesting stories to tell about any of them.
Why? For the same reason I have never been caught at this foolishness. I have only one rule about running: "If you do it, be absolutely, positively *certain* that the circumstances will allow you to get away with it, and that you *will* get away with it."
If there is a shadow of a doubt, I just stop and take my ticket or ass-chewing, or whatever, then deal with that.
I'm not advocating this for anyone else, this is just what I do. Not proud of it, not ashamed of it either. It's just the way it is...
If I lived in La-La Land I doubt I'd consider it at all.

[Dallara]

~


I've done it...

A lot more when I was young, but not always, and not always only when I was young...

Like Big D said, don't do it unless you are literally positive you can get away with it. Like a wonderful mentor of mine - Jack Connolly - once said:

"If you run from 'em in a car and they catch you, that's okay. If you run from 'em on a motorcycle and they catch you... Well, it's your own fault."

Been true for me, anyway.

Not that I necessarily condone the practice, but I don't condemn it, either.

I figure it's fair for all the time the constabulary's time is spent giving out tickets as a revenue generating exercise - literally taxation without representation - instead of trying to find the a**hole punks who snuck up on and mugged, beat, and robbed the security guard at our dealership a few nights ago, or the ones who broke into my buddy's house and the cops said they probably would never catch so it wasn't worth trying, or the ones who killed a neighbor's pet no that long ago for no apparent reason...

As long as the powers that be treat traffic enforcement as a game only they get to win then I will happily use my radar detectors, scanners, etc. to try and foil 'em... and yes, if they are trying to nab me, and I see a way clear, I'm gone.

Cheers!

Allan (Dallara - NAABSPCOROBCD)





~

[TorqueMonsterMT-01]

This is a great thread. Good stories Will and DJ.

I used to run from cops a lot when I was a kid. In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma we had one motorcycle cop. A smallish slim guy with a huge mustache.

One day I came flying around a Dairy Queen parking lot only to come within six feet of this guy. He started yelling for me to stop while he tried and tried to kick start his hog. It didn't start and I just kept going. I went home and painted my bike with Krylon after that one. The goggles and full face Bell prevented me from being exposed.

[Ed K]

Well, let's see...

When I was 13 year old I tried to escape from a cop in my housing development on what we then called a "motorbike."

In our neighborhood in NY, at that time, a "motorbike" was defined as a lawn-mower engine bolted to the frame of a bicycle attached with some angle iron, that used a sawed-off baseball bat for direct-drive from the crankshaft to the tire, and used the hand-brake lever as the throttle. Oh yeah, on the advanced models we added an air scoop, but it still had no brakes. No problem! And, of course, the bicycle MUST be a Stingray with a banana seat, ape hangers, and would be cool to have a sissy bar too!

It actually worked very well. Needed just enough slip between the sawed-off baseball bat end, and the tire for maximum acceleration. Of course, it had to be a B&S engine. We did have a tendency to burn-up tires pretty quick.

Anyway, back to the great escape... it didn't work... he caught me in the neighbor's yard, where I ditched the bike, and took me home to my parents. (I actually got away, and was hiding in the backyard. Then as I was leaving the backyard, saw a guy in plain clothes walking toward me, and I thought it was the guy who lived there. And I said, "Sorry for tearing up you yard a bit, I was running from the cops." And he said, "I AM A COP."

He had already caught my buddy, and had my buddie's motorbike in the cop car trunk. So guess what? They was no room for mine in the trunk, and the funny thing was that I had to ride it home in front of cop car. The cop was a bit worried about this procedure, and scolded me not to take off (which I did not). A police escort home!

Now my parents could be pretty tough on me at times... but after the cop talked with them... I never heard another word about it.

And we were never caught again, although we continued to roam the suburban streets, in our little "motobike" gangs.

[Tassie Devil]

If my Mum finds out how bad you guys are she won't let me play with you anymore...

You really are a scream. I must lead a pretty dull life.

Cheers,

JQ.

[DarthRider]

John Quincy, I bet you are a "closet hoon"!

[BobFV1]

You guys are a bunch of scofflaws....

I can't believe we have a "ran from the cops" thread here in the cafe!

I had a badge for many years, so I just stopped. Now I use the "ex-police" thing to my great advantage. Haven't had a ticket in over 20 years.....

[Moose]

When I was 14, our neighborhood gang decided to jump the fence into the city pound. Several vehicles had the keys in them, so off we went racing around the yard. Cops came by, took notice and we booked. Some of us ran around the corner of the Aveni Construction Co. building smack into the side of a cop car. After the back seat interrogation, last question was "How'd the '55 Pontiac run?" I don't even tempt the posse chase anymore.

[Dallara]

~



Some of these *moments* with the local constabulary had their humorous side...

Many moons ago, having had a new Honda 750 for only a couple of days and it having only about 200 miles on it I found myself just getting on one of our local freeways. It was nearly 2:00 am and the road looked deserted so I decided to run the big four up through the gears to give the rings a chance to seat. This went oh-so-well and I looped off to connect to our crosstown expressway. Little did I notice that merging behind me from another feeder was one our city's finest. I was actually just beginning to slow back down to legal velocites when I saw his bubble-gum machine lights in the rearview...

Looked ahead, roadway clear... Looked behind, nobody but John Law... Paper tag still on the bike, so even if he got close no *paper trail*...

So I laid down on the tank and gassed it. The cops' Ford around our parts in those days were woefully anemic and the Honda quickly opened up a gap. I was thinking "This is gonna' be too easy..." but not so long after that I noticed another cop car on the access road up ahead of me who was going to merge onto the freeway. I would be ahead of him when I got there, but I hadn't figured on two cops... I was definitely spooked, but stayed under the paint and started trying to figure out how and where to get off the freeway as it seemed more like a trap now than anything else.

Actually picked up a third cop when he was up the road blocking an exit ramp, but fortunately for me a wonderful exit was coming up in the middle of an interchange that literally couldn't be blocked so I bailed off there, immediately turning off on a surface street, down to a corner, and into a residential area where several of my friends lived.

I made to one buddy's house, parked the bike in front of his pick-up truck, between it and the fence up his driveway to his backyard so it couldn't be seen from the street. Went to their front door and rang the bell... Meanwhile you could hear sirens blaring and my hands were shaking, and no answer at the door. I heard one car getting very, very close so I gave up on the front door and jumped in the back of my buddy's pick-up truck and laid down so I couldn't be seen from the street either.

I could see the red and blue flashes of one of the cop cars whiz by the connector street as his siren damn near deafened me, but I stayed low. Not long after this I heard my buddy's front door open and heard him also open the screen door and walk outside... He was muttering "What the f**k is going on...", etc. and I sat up in the bed of the truck and said "Dick, am I glad to see you!"

Geez, I damn near gave him a heart attack!!! I surprised and scared him so bad I thought he was going to keel over right there... His eyes were as big as saucers and he yelled out "Damn it! You scared the sh*t out of me!" and so on...

We got all these driveway pleasantries out of the way and went in his house where we both had a shot or two of his best whisky while we listened to police cars whiz around for a few minutes. His wife was none too impressed by the whole thing, but April was a good soul and she fixed a late breakfast and made me stay there until she was positive the coast was clear to head home.

I swear I have never seen anyone so spooked in my life as Dick was when that full-face Bell Star popped out of the back of his truck at 2:00 am!


On another note, about strategies for escape... Keep the chase SHORT! The longer it goes on the better chance they have to get ya'. As Jack used to also say "You can't outrun a Motorola..."

And often, dual-purpose bikes are your best weapon... Even ancient old '72 Honda XL-250's, but that's another story.

Cheers!

Allan (Dallara - NAABSPCOROBCD)





~

[geechie]

So, Bob.

Is there like an ex-cop, secret handshake or something you can teach us so we can all use that rather clever ruse? I mean just in the highly unlikely event it should ever become necessary.

George

[Sir Limpsalot]

after a few days away on holiday. First thing I read is this thread. Man, I love this place and all the nutters who come here!
Si.

[Deans BMW]

I have only done it once............................that I can remember. Being chased at very high speeds130 plus when I went over a slight hill, hit the binders as hard as I could did a U turn and hammered it as hard as I could,I passed him at well over 130 going in the opposite direction and he was prolly at 120 or so, we passed each other at prolly in the 250's closure speed or over 4 miles per min. I was 5 or 6 miles away, or more before he was able to stop, turn around and resume the chase. Scared the S**t out of me.

[BobFV1]

So, Bob.

Is there like an ex-cop, secret handshake or something you can teach us so we can all use that rather clever ruse? I mean just in the highly unlikely event it should ever become necessary.

George

George -

It's powerful juju, and the danger of being called out is so great I dare not reveal the secret...

[DarthRider]

The funniest true “run from the cops” story I ever heard happened to one of my old local heroes, Ward “Iron Butt” Hogue. Wardy is in his mid-70’s now, in poor health, and just completed a 3,000 mile trip on his new Suzuki Burgman Super-Scooter…he had to switch to a scooter that was easier to ride and maneuver than a “straddle bike”, but he will NEVER stop. He is nearing the 1,000,000 mile milestone and I’m sure he’ll make it.

Anyway, on the second of his three “3 -Flags Classic” rides that goes from Mexico to Canada a few years ago, he was riding his freshly restored ’70 Bonneville (the 3-Flags is not a race, more like a rally).

When he completed the run he was in a bar, yakking with strangers…he does that a lot. He was recounting a very strange incident he had seen on the way across Montana or Wyoming.

He and the 4 guys he was riding with had to pull over in the middle of nowhere to take a squirt or something. The last guy in line blew on by them and had to stop and make a U-turn to go back where they were, pass them again, the make another U-turn to pull up behind in the tail slot.
When he was making his 2nd U-turn a cop car came upon them (from the direction in which they were headed). He was running code 3 and was going over 100 MPH, but they didn’t see him coming and he didn’t see the guy making the U-turn and almost hit him. The cop ran off the shoulder and nearly rolled the car but got stopped and came back to see if the guy was OK. He was.
The Indian Reservation Cop hurriedly apologized and said he was racing to the scene of a major accident 10 miles behind them with burning vehicles and bodies in the road, and took off again, hauling ass. They all wondered what could have happened as they’d just passed that area 15 minutes before and had seen nothing.
So they continued on to destination Calgary without incident.

Back to Ward telling the story in the bar…
After he finished telling this, a Harley rider came over from 2-bar stools down and was laughing his ass-off! Ward asked him what was so funny and, just like Paul Harvey, the biker gave them “the other side of the story”.
The biker was traveling alone, also on the 3-Flags; he was running over 90, just blowin’ through the huge grassland area that, he learned, was also an Indian reservation.
He didn’t see the oncoming Reservation cop until it was too late to slow. The cop flipped on the lights as he made a fast U-turn to intercept the biker, who knew he could not outrun him and was in for trouble. The biker, in a stroke of genius, and one of those things that “if you do this it had damn well BETTER work, quick-stopped, threw the sidestand down and sprinted back to the approaching Injun Cruiser. He franticly told the cop, “Officer, I’m so glad I found you, I’ve been looking for help! There is a big wreck 15 miles back…cars on fire, one on its top, a body in the road, people hurt bad! Please get them some help, please!!”
The dazed cop said, “Well, OK thanks…you slow down!” and roared back down the road to the scene of the “big wreck”.
And met Wardy & friends on the way!

I’ve often wondered which route the Harley rider took back home…

[Wild Will]

My and Dean's pal, San Francisco David, one of the gnarliest riders on the infamous Sunday Morning Ride, where several have "gone to their reward":

"I read that story from Stan's brother. Leading cops on a high-speed chase is historically how many innocent motorists get killed, and they endanger the cops' lives as well. So lots of prosecutors won't bargain on this due to political pressure from the CHP and the LEO community generally. The guy probably turned a $300 ticket (at worst) into a felony conviction and jail time. Bad decision. It's one thing if you can legitimately claim not to have seen the cop and continue on your way. Running from a car filling your mirrors and evading a road block are quite another . . .

This happened more than a few times on the Sunday Morning Ride, and the chases rarely had happy endings. There were exceptions though. Like the time the CHP thought it would be a good idea to post a couple of those stealth-pursuit 5.0 liter Mustangs out on the cliff roads trolling for violators. They were black and unmarked, with not even a light-bar visible inside. Well, one morning one of the faster riders on a GSXR-750 went right around one of these cars with his knee on the ground and a speed differential of at least 40 mph. The officer took off in pursuit, and within about a half-dozen corners put a wheel wrong and went right off the road and down a pretty steep embankment towards the ocean. Luckily, it was not a sheer cliff face, and the officer was unhurt. But the Mustang was a total write-off. About a dozen of us thought we'd have some grins watching the tow truck try to haul the wrecked car from about 150 yards down an embankment, so we rode back to the spot after breakfast to watch the retrieval process. I'm pretty sure that was the last time the CHP used pursuit cars out there. Soon after that, they went to radar traps on the straight sections with a roadblock 1/4 mile further down the road.

They also tried motorcycle officers, until one day one of the cops though it would be a good idea to show us all he really knew how to ride. So he trolled slowly by about 30 of us riders stopped at the side of the road above Stinson Beach for the ritual "smoke break" and hoiked up a really nice wheelie on his R1100RT. Pretty good form too, except that one of the guys had a camera and quickly snapped a photo just as Officer Rossi got the front wheel to about 30 degrees. The photo was then sent to CHP headquarters (and the local press) with a mock letter of complaint from an outraged West Marin resident. We didn't see a cop bike out there for at least 6 months after that.

Man, I do miss some of that shit, but I had the misfortune to grow up. What a curse that can be sometimes."

David's moving back to Boston next week; damn! I'm going to miss him.

[Promethean]

That is the funniest story I've heard in a long time. :rofl:

Thanks for sharing.


The dazed cop said, “Well, OK thanks…you slow down!” and roared back down the road to the scene of the “big wreck”.
And met Wardy & friends on the way!

I’ve often wondered which route the Harley rider took back home…

[socalrob]

DJ posted:
He yells back..."What cops"

Thats pretty damn funny DJ.

Run from the cops in LA, I don't think so. Too many helicopters, too much chance of causing a bad injury accident for bystanders or cops. Like WW says, the down side isn't worth it, and I don't see how I'd have a 100 percent chance of getting away anyway.

Rodney King was running. LA cop I knew said it used to be standard practice to beat the crap out of anyone that ran. I'm pretty sure in an urban area in California its most likely doing time someplace if you get caught. Fines I can afford, but would like to stay out of the bighouse.

Now if I had plausable deniability, maybe...

[Wild Will]

We have a young local deputy, born here and a bit unsure of himself. There was a domestic abuse call at the Pomo reservation just as he was tooling past the entrance in the Mendo 4X4 squad SUV. Jamey pulls up to the mobile home teepee and gets out of the truck, asking "what seems to be wrong here? to 4 "ladies", who collectively could have formed the Raiders' offensive line. They responded to Dep'ty Jamey "you come alone?", at which time they all jumped him, stole his service revolver and utility belt, beat him up pretty good, took his regulation uniform pants, and threw his keys into the pond. When the squad car got there from Ukiah 90 minutes later, Jamey was locked in the truck, shivering and crying.

They transferred the poor bastage the next week; where there's no respect, there's no law and order! The "squaws" were never charged, domestic abuse calls are pretty much ignored unless there's gunfire reported, and deputies now never go to the reservation solo.