I am a member of the American Voyager Association forums, as well as a couple of others, and posted the short(?) story below, only to be pounced on by what turned out to be a bunch of LEO's for my stupidity. Maybe that was like casting pearls before swine? Maybe all the hackers here can understand my position.
The Spyder is a 165lb car and hooked to a 900lb Voyager is very easy to fly. The heavier a car is the less this story applies, IMO.
"Date- sometime in the spring of 1985.
Motorcycle- 1983 Voyager 1300 with a Motorvation Spyder sidecar.
Scene- headed south on Myrtle Ave. in Arcadia, CA., turned right onto Live Oak.
Situation- decided to "float' the sidecar over the curb in the turn for fun, then kept it flying for a couple of blocks. A local Sheriff's deputy was parked under a tree eating his lunch and saw me flying the hack. He stopped me a couple of blocks down the street. He wouldn't talk to me at all except to ask for my license, etc. After sitting in his car for about 45 minutes he came back and handed me a ticket with the usual secret codes for the infraction. He still wouldn't talk to me until I told him he was wrong in reporting that I was northbound making a left turn. All he said was that I could challenge it in court.
Sheriff's deputies don't often get involved in minor traffic stops when there is a local police department.
So, the day of court comes and I had done my homework. The code he used pertained to pulling out into traffic from being parallel parked. The judge caught that immediately but asked him for his explanation. Then she asked me to speak, but cut me off when she recognized where I was going in explaining the false accusation. DAMN! I was all prepared to show her my diagrams and all the United Sidecar Association descriptions of how a sidecar affects a motorcycle's balance and handling.
She dismissed the ticket but then laid into him like the Tasmanian devil about going off half-cocked and writing bogus citations to waste everybody's time! It made it all worthwhile missing that day of work, and several people in the courtroom were enjoying it, too!
After we walked out, the officer asked me to explain how I could make the sidecar lift if I was making a RIGHT turn! He said "It just doesn't look safe!". Sheesh! It just goes to show that ignorance, and lack of common sense, can sure cause problems.
For those not familiar with driving a sidecar rig, it's no big deal to lift and fly the 'car once you get that "feel". Think of it this way, it's very much the same as if you loaded three or four bowling balls into just the right saddlebag. It will cause you to lean to the left to regain your balance. After a few minutes of practice you can fly the hack indefinitely. I once won a $100 bet that I could ride 20 miles without the sidecar's tire, or my feet, touching the ground. Stoplights were the hardest part of the bet.
Anybody else had a bogus citation on your bike, and beat it in court? An attorney once told me to at least verify the traffic code that they write down to be sure it matches the written description. Often they will intentionally give you an invisible "out" if you will simply verify the code (intentionally wrong!) and take the time to go to court. Better than racking up points and upping your insurance rates!"
When riding with the rig all pull outs from cops were for to have a closer look and small talk...sometimes the interest is from both sides, as here you still find cops with HD's from the 60tees.
From 1986 to today I can not recall any ticket with the rig.
Last solo motorcycle ticket in 1984 for overtaking on right hand side on the Autobahn...the same cop blocked the left lane with 80kmh = 50mph building up a jam of 2 km = 1 1/4 mile.
For cars, I better do not count.
Anyway, the treatment with any cop has much to do with: How you call into the forest, that way will shout back the echo.
Did you perhaps play too agressive?
(By the way the best training of "messenger style" riding I got from a border control police driving teacher. (BGS Bundesgrenzschutz.) Stuttgart Hockenheimring to Ratzeburg close to Lübeck in something like 5 hours over secondary roads and no autobahn. Average must have been something like 140kmh = 88mph or higher with only 50hp bikes )
Sven
My only words with the cop before I signed the ticket were to let him know he was incorrect about my direction of travel and which way I turned. He said I can present that to the judge. His ignorance made him make an assumption that since motorcycles lean into turns I HAD to have turned left, which meant I was traveling north. He couldn't actually see the corner. All he saw was me traveling down the street with the car in the air. I know better than to argue with a LEO at the scene!
Here in the States, especially in larger cities like L.A., a cop can get into big trouble for just pulling a vehicle over to chat or to have a look-see! I've had a few cops roll their window down at a red light to ask if I would mind if they looked at my rig, but never pulled over using the lights except that one time.
I haven't been pulled over while on a sidecar rig, yet, but a couple of years ago a deputy followed me for a couple of miles 'til we reached a red light, where he promptly pulled over into a gas station parking lot to the right. I presumed he was "cutting thru" the gas station to turn right 'cause he was frustrated following the Sportster rig at ~44mph in a 45mph limit, which initially aggravated me that a deputy would do such. Oh no, he quickly stopped the patrol car, pulled out his camera and took a photo of Maddie in the sidecar.
This was a good day for Maddie as earlier in the ride we stopped near a busy highway intersection where Maddie used her canine charm to lure-in a scared dog that had gotten off leash and was in danger of being run-over.
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
