Alt Bike Culture - Whoop Whooop! Pulled over!

Hah, yesterday I was pulled over while riding my tall bike! I had actually stopped to talk to a guy on a fixie, and while we were talking a cop 'whoop whoop's his siren and pulls up. He gives me the crooked finger 'come here' motion. I had been propped up on a street sign, and so I climbed down and went over to the car.

"You know, when they say "Share the Road", they mean you have to share with motorists, too."
"Of course, officer."
-- I'm not sure why he said that, since I was actually riding quite reasonably with traffic. I did make a U-turn in the street to talk to the guy on the fixie, but since we were in a downtown area with plenty of foot traffic, cars were moving very slow, and two cars actually stopped to allow me to make the turn when I signaled, since they obviously were enjoying seeing me ride the tall bike around. He probably saw the u-turn and assumed I had just darted out there.
"I assume you know how to ride that thing?"
"I'm a professional, sir."
"I don't want to see anyone else riding that thing, ok?"
"No problem, I don't want them breaking it!"
"I don't know what the guidelines are for something like that.. Are you wearing all your safety gear, helmet, wrist guards, shin protectors, elbow protectors, knee pads?"
"Well, sir, its just a bicycle, so I am wearing a helmet."
"Ok.. Well.. Unless my sargent says different, I'll leave you alone now.."
"Thanks, have a good day, sir!"

It was quite odd, and the dude on the fixie thought the whole thing was pretty fricken funny.

Anyone else been hassled for their bizarre bike?

peace,
sam

Hah! That's awesome. Glad you had a helmet!

Sounds like the cop was more curious about the bike than anything else. He just needed an excuse to check it out and the freak that was riding it (LOL - I is a freak too). He's probably still telling the story to his colleagues, friends and family today about this weirdo and his seven foot tall (?) bike.

Cops have never hassled me. I never wear a helmet (but it's not law here either) but my bike(s) are properly outfitted with lights, reflectors and horns, so they have no cause to look at me funny...other than the fact that my bikes are a distraction. :D

The cop sounded bored. You probably gave him some good entertainment. ;)

Koffee

I'm curious about your bike. Got a picture? If not, can you describe it?

I have kind of been wondering about this kind of thing in general . . . here in CA, there's a law, "No person shall operate on the highway any bicycle equipped with handlebars so raised that the operator must elevate his hands above the level of his shoulders in order to grasp the normal steering grip area" (link to that and other interesting equipment laws) (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21201.htm) but I see these kind of "chopper handlebars" all the time. Do other states have similar laws, and are they enforced? Doesn't appear to be enforced here, judging from the number of cycles I see with this configuration.

Dare I ask what is a "tall bike?"

Wanna know all about his bike? Check here hehe :rolleyes:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=101641

Snip
I have kind of been wondering about this kind of thing in general . . . here in CA,

Ah yes, the California Vehicle Code book. A great source of amusement.

Last Friday at the Critical Mass ride in in Pittsburgh there where 65 bikes, 2 tall bikes, 1 lowrider and 0 cops for the whole ride! One idiot lexus driver who crossed the double yellow for a half a block. Where the hell are the cops when you need them?

Ooo...I had no idea there was a code section prohibiting ape hangers on bicycles too...I have been ticketed for apes on my motorcycle, even when it was just parked. I haven't heard of people getting ticketed for anything other than lack of lights when riding at night (at U.C. Davis). I guess I should be careful...I just got some 25" apes for my stretch cruiser. :p

Just a little update... It seems most cops like the tall bike, instead of dislike it like the one cop... I talked for probably 20 minutes with a bike cop the other day who was admiring the tall bike. We talked about bikes in general, he asked about how I made it, mused about the internal hub, etc. He was a cool guy. I guess not ALL cops are a**es. ;)

peace,
sam

Every state I believe has laws against noise.

Yet, I've never heard of anyone getting pulled over and successfully given a ticket for riding one of those freaking HDs with absolutley no mufflers whatsoever.

Loud pipes saves lives, my butt.

Let them act like the rest of us, sanely and appropriately to the laws. (rant off)

That's because the law usually states they can only be a certain db, as measured at 1 metre. Not every cop carries an SPL meter. And really, you hope they have better things to do. We saw 4 cops running an RBT today. Noon, Sunday, at the beach. Not likely to catch too many drunks, but I suppose it was easy work.

Nice build. Ever try building a bike for performance cycling?

I guess not ALL cops are a**es. ;)
peace,
sam

Sunday morning, 3:30 am last week while commuting home from a club I work in I trashed myself.
The worksite no-longer allows us to store bikes inside the building, and it is a nightclub - so I don't feel safe leaving my 'real' bike outside where some drunk can kick it.

The bike I borrowed runs 175mm or 180? -long cranks compared to the 170mm I use...anyway..
A police car stopped me just out of town for a check, they were scrambled everywhere chasing someone. I just gave my name, where I was coming from -what I was doing -commuting. So off he goes looking for some badguy.

2 blocks later I pedal strike going around a corner -hard enough to lift the rear tire off the ground -I go down right onto my knee. After a moment I do a check..not broken\cracked but HELLA sore.
And useless...so I start home walking the bike -like I have 2.5 miles to go...

Guess who pulls up, the same officer who had checked me 5 minutes ago -he can see I'm not doing well, inquires? Asks if i need to go to the ER, Naw..I tell him I've hit my knees many times and I'm sure it has no permanent damage, just needs ice.
He asks my destination....pretty far.
So he calls the switchboard and tells them he's going to take his break...and tells me he is going to give me a ride home!
We QR the tire, stuff the bike and off we go to my home..WOW!

When we get there, he puts the tire on, scoots the bike to the side of the house and then helps me walk up the stairs. After sitting in the car, my knee froze and I was really having a hard time going up.

What a prince....The statement in quote really makes me upset. What the hell did the police do to you that makes you consider them all '@sses'. An emoticon means nothing, jokes a joke? Really.
If your post had any gravity or sense of injustice...well sure, call it out.
I see none..all I see is that last guote.

It says that only the cops that like your freaky bike are o.k...the rest are '@sses'.
If you want to make waves or get attention riding a piece of performance art -cool, but
take your flack, coming off as a tough guy calling them that makes you nothing.

Not cool, not punk or tough.

I got really upset reading that. I'm kinda sorry about the crass post, perhaps this is more to the point.

After reading several posts here, I wonder if the cops are sickened by having to scoop up cyclists who have crashed. Maybe they're trying to prevent an accident.

Nice recovery, Mr. Williams. I agree that it's best not to generalize, which is a close cousin of being racist. Judge each individual based on their own actions. Except maybe for politicians.

What the hell did the police do to you that makes you consider them all '@sses'. An emoticon means nothing, jokes a joke? Really.
If your post had any gravity or sense of injustice...well sure, call it out.
I see none..all I see is that last guote.

Well, the comment was meant mostly as a jest, since this thread was largely about a negative police experience, which tends to bring out a lot of cop-bashing. So I jokingly got into it.

However, as to the reason that some might feel that cops aren't always the nicest people (though most often are), please understand that some people have had experiences such as sexual abuse at the hands of police, violence at the hands of police, complete disinterest in pursuing charges from that cop's department, followed by more violence by the cop's other cop buddies who've learned you are trying to rat out their friend, ultimately resulting in having to flee a city.

Most people don't have those experiences, thank god, but some do, and it may leave a sour taste in their mouths, which I can't fault.

Of course, the cop who gave you a ride home is a great guy, and I think most police-people are that way, since they got into police work because they love to help. But just a tiny few got into police work because you get a badge and a gun and a license to kill, and once you've been touched by those tiny few, you may never see the boys in blue quite the same way again.

peace,
sam

Nice build. Ever try building a bike for performance cycling?

I've been looking into building up a road frame, and a friend of mine in CO has some tubing and lugs from an extra project of his that never came together, so once I've figured out exactly how I want things sized, I'll finally put one together. I just haven't done a ton of road cycling, so I'm still learning how all the different angles and lengths affect the ride, and what will be just right for me, but once I've got that nailed down, I'll build up the frame, and then start parting it together as I run into good parts deals. Should be a fun project. :)

peace,
sam

I've been looking into building up a road frame, and a friend of mine in CO has some tubing and lugs from an extra project of his that never came together, so once I've figured out exactly how I want things sized, I'll finally put one together. I just haven't done a ton of road cycling, so I'm still learning how all the different angles and lengths affect the ride, and what will be just right for me, but once I've got that nailed down, I'll build up the frame, and then start parting it together as I run into good parts deals. Should be a fun project. :)

peace,
sam

Cheap -if you mean steel, to cut dropouts from nice old broken road bikes.

Well, the comment was meant mostly as a jest, since this thread was largely about a negative police experience, which tends to bring out a lot of cop-bashing. So I jokingly got into it.

However, as to the reason that some might feel that cops aren't always the nicest people (though most often are), please understand that some people have had experiences such as sexual abuse at the hands of police, violence at the hands of police, complete disinterest in pursuing charges from that cop's department, followed by more violence by the cop's other cop buddies who've learned you are trying to rat out their friend, ultimately resulting in having to flee a city.

Most people don't have those experiences, thank god, but some do, and it may leave a sour taste in their mouths, which I can't fault.

Of course, the cop who gave you a ride home is a great guy, and I think most police-people are that way, since they got into police work because they love to help. But just a tiny few got into police work because you get a badge and a gun and a license to kill, and once you've been touched by those tiny few, you may never see the boys in blue quite the same way again.

peace,
sam

Sure, I had a cop lie in court, and after the judge tossed it and admonished the officer, he\she threatened me outside the courtroom.
The PERSON was a tool, not the force. Best judge persons on a personal basis.

I would love photos of you mounting/dismounting this bike! :eek: ;)

Good reasons for tall bikes:

You have the high ground when in battle. 'Nuff said.

You can mount advertising signage that is guaranteed to be noticed.

Build a tricycle with seating for two, rent them out for a deposit in a public park. You'd make enough money to support your habit.

Build same with two seats for lovebirds and a third for the gondolier.

Did I mention that you have the high ground in battle?

I would love photos of you mounting/dismounting this bike! :eek: ;)

How bout a video?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=105797

Good reasons for tall bikes:

You have the high ground when in battle. 'Nuff said.

You can mount advertising signage that is guaranteed to be noticed.

Build a tricycle with seating for two, rent them out for a deposit in a public park. You'd make enough money to support your habit.

Build same with two seats for lovebirds and a third for the gondolier.

Did I mention that you have the high ground in battle?

I won an impromptu jousting match the other day on mine, so the high ground argument is quite valid! Plus you have good water balloon range. :)

I've considered using the bike for advertising, but I don't really like being a billboard. However, I love the rental trike idea, because the rentals could have ads on them! I'll have to look into that...

peace,
sam