[Ducati] Ticket stories (and a first bike spot, though I'm definitely not first!)

[Tom Russ]

I too have gotten off a few times for no real reason other than having a grey beard :-)  Best one, or I should say luckiest one, was just a few months ago leading a few friends on a very tame ride, as a couple of the guys were pretty green riders.  We'd gotten stuck behind a pickup pulling a horse trailer doing about 50 in a 65.  Now normally I would have jetted around the guy long before, but like I said I was leading some newbies.  Anyway we finally hit a break in the double yellow and I squirt around the truck followed by the other three sportbikes.  Just as I'm pulling back into the lane, with the 1098's speedo still climbing rapidly, I pass a cop hiding off the side of the road.  Aw sheet! Sure enough he turns on his lights and pulls out after us, passes everyone and gets behind me.  When I found a decent spot to pull over, I did and my buddies pulled in behind but he waved them on...I thought, now this is not good!  He takes my license and registration and asks a few questions.  I said your not going to believe this, but we've been riding near the limit all day long with some new riders in our group and just got a bit frustrated behind that horse trailer when we blasted around.  He goes to his car, makes me sweat for at least 10 minutes, comes back out and asks me how fast I was going.  I said when I saw you and looked down and my speedo said 111 (but it was still climbing rather quickly!).  I remember thinking 'that was the dumbest thing I've ever done admitting to triple digit speeds to a cop' cause he immediately wrote something down on his clipboard. So he asked a few more questions about how I'd fair in a crash at 111, etc, etc, and gave me a bit of a lecture, then said "here, sign this" IT was a freakin warning!!!  I had to be doing at least a buck and a quarter and earned a warning! I figure he respected my honesty :-)  

Tom Russ
'07 1098S
'07 Daytona 675
'97 916
'96 900SS
'94 900SS/SP

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott Cloninger 
  To: Ducati Owners Group 
  Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 8:08 AM
  Subject: RE: [Ducati] Ticket stories (and a first bike spot,though I'm definitely not first!)


  In the spring of 2004 I met a few guys in Chattanooga, TN for a ride over to Suches, GA.  This was our first ride of the year and we were all ready to get moving and get the show on the road.  We decided we'd take the interstate to Dalton, then hit the North Dalton Bypass and cross Fort Mountain on our way to Suches.  As a show of exuberance, I decided to make our entrance onto the interstate memorable by demonstrating my single axle riding skills!  I turned onto the entrance ramp and lifted the front.  The bike felt really strong on this cool, crisp morning and I was very comfortable as I shifted into second, then third gears.  The bike was on its balance point and everything felt perfect.  It was just after the shift to third gear when I decided I should look around to make sure I had room to merge onto the interstate.  I looked left and saw the motorist in the right lane move over to make room....and turn on his blue lights.  Dohhhh.

  I gently settled the front wheel to the pavement and pulled to the shoulder, then watched as the Tennessee State Trooper pulled in behind.  "CRAP", I thought, "How stupid", as I watched my friends ride by...laughing inside their helmets.

  The Trooper exited his vehicle and this guy was HUGE.  He stood all of 6'-6" tall and had to weigh all of 300 pounds....every ounce of it muscle!  He walked to the side of the bike and asked for my license and registration, which I promptly rendered in hopes of avoiding a towing bill.  As he looked at my license and registration he looked at me with a look of disdain and asked "Exactly what in the hell do you think you're doing?".  I answered frankly, "I guess I'm just showing my ass."  

  I guess it was the right thing to say, as the Trooper's scowl turned to a smile and he said, "Well, I guess that sounds about right", after which he turned and walked to his car to check my credentials and commence his ticket writing.  He returned a few minutes later and began the lecture about how "this was neither the time, nor the .....blah, blah, blah..."  When he had finished he handed me the clipboard and asked me to sign a WARNING TICKET.  "A warning ticket?", I asked, to which the Trooper answered "Well, it's either a warning ticket or a reckless driving ticket....which would you prefer?"  I signed the warning ticket and the Trooper took his clip board, tore off my copy and handed it to me.

  It was at this point that the conversation went from unbelievable to surreal, as the Trooper then said with a grin, "Now that we have the business part of our day over with, I gotta know something.  I've been riding a motorcycle for nearly 30 years, and I could never do a wheelie like that.  How do you keep it in the air so long?"  I told the trooper you simply need a twin with lots of torque, then strapped on my helmet and went on my merry way to Suches.

  How's that for a ticket story?

  Meanwhile, just to make myself feel not nearly as old as Jimmy C, the first bike I spent my own money on was a 1982 Suzuki GS650GL.  This was quickly followed by a 1985 V-Max, a 1985 GSXR 750 (my first race bike), a Honda Hawk, and a host of other sundry scooters leading up to my current meager tow-bike stable of a '95 900 SP and a '67 Aermacchi Sprint SS masquerading as a CRTT racer.  I've got a real woody for an MH900E and I think I'll indulge that fetish next, as soon as I get a few other things settled (we have a house under construction that should be ready sometime in September).

  Those are my 2 cents,

  Cloner
  ABQ, NM