I can tell about a recent incident I had with a Highway Patrol car.
This happened three weeks ago, two weeks BEFORE I got my Busa. It was a Sunday afternoon, late, I was riding my ZX11 down my favorite twisty road close to my home. I'm on my way back and coming around a long left hand sweeper, moving at a fairly high rate of speed. I had the bike leaned way over on its left, probably less than an inch of ground clearance left(the ZX11 has footpegs that touch down early). As I went around the sweeper I see a parked California Highway Patrol car on the left side of the road. I don't make eye contact with the guy inside but it's obvious how fast I'm going just by the lean angle. Plus, this road is notorious for speeding sportbikers and the CHP knows it as they conduct regular patrols. So I blast by the CHP car, and as I stand my bike up for the next right hand bend, I get a second or two to look at my rear views. I see a cloud of dust as the CHP car whips around to make U. I don't see the car switch on its lights however although it's obvious what that cop wanted to do. I guess I went by so fast the cop didn't get the chance to turn on his lights. Maybe he was eating his freakin' donut and spilled his freakin' coffee as I surprised the s h i t out of him. Who knows?
So it's decision time for me. Do I slow it down and wait for the CHP to pull me over like a good citizen? Like a man? Or should I keep going at the same pace then wait for the CHP to pull me over? Afterall, why should I give him the satisfaction of not even letting him catch up? I choose the latter....except I increase the pace a little. Why the dumbs h i t choice? A month prior, I got a stupid speeding ticket for going 68 on a 50 at 7AM in the middle of nowhere with nobody else around but me and a motorcop. I didn't think I deserve that ticket for I was not endangering anyone or even came close to being reckless. I was being a good citizen, only breaking the speed limit by so much in a road where everyone, including cars go fast in. The motorcop seemed happy to give me a ticket. Must be some kind of trophy thing for him to give a guy on a ZX11 a ticket for he joked about how my bike isn't fast enough for the local Sheriff. I was p i s s e d for having to pay $200 bucks for a minor offense that everybody else committs. I paid my dues to society and this is how society pays me back by hiring a motorcop with an attitude trained to go after me for more money out of my pocket? I swallowed that bitter pill. But this time, I won't make it that easy.
So I increase the pace to build some distance between me and the CHP. Luckily, the road I was on had many sweepers and lots of cars and there's only one lane going each way. Piece of cake on a bike like the ZX11 to simply slice through slow moving traffic. And the sweepers where exactly the kind of turns, the only kind of turns actually that the ZX11 really favors. I was moving at 95 through the sweepers, each time I saw a car I'd simply swing around them, using them as an obstacle for the CHP to deal with. I never saw that f u c k i n' CHP car again.
The road I was on ends in a busy town with a busy interstate running across it. Luckily for me, there were no helo's flying that day, and there were no other cops patrolling the area. I avoided the interstate(too obvious and is the mainstay of the CHP's) and went into town. I made a bunch of right & left turns and went down some residential streets at a sane speed, then I took the loooong way home.
I would never advocate my actions to anyone. However, I saw an opportunity to slip past without putting myself and others in much of a danger so I took it. I never panicked all that time although my heart was pounding pretty hard. I was in total control at every turn, thinking things through very clearly. I figure, if they set up a road block or I see a cop up ahead signalling me to pull over, I'd do it right away and say, "I'm sorry officer! I didn't know you're partner wanted me to pull over 'cause I never saw him turn on his lights."
That was my lucky day.
