Pulled by the rozzers

[tricol]

First time being pulled on the bike. Headed out for a nice ride on Sunday, first road was up the Cat n Fiddle to head out towards Buxton. Just passed the cafe and I'd already spotted a few police bikes. Anyway, was enjoying the quiet ride when an officer is behind me. Follows me for a couple of minutes and then pulls me. He was actually dead on, and says he pulled me as my plate didn't look legal. Anyway, small talk completed and he has the measuring tape out. All in order. I mean, it was a brand new plate supplied by the dealer not that long ago. Mentions about lots of people riding with illegal plates, and I tell him I'm not arsed about having a small plate, so there was no need to worry. All in all a fairly pleasant exchange and he was asking about the bike and had I done any track days as he noticed the brake lever guard.

I bet they had a fairly busy day pulling people as there were loads of bikes out yesterday, plenty with small plates on.

Does that kind of thing annoy people? Being pulled for things like small plates, loud exhausts? On one of the MT owners pages I'm on, they're forever having a go at the police about this kind of thing.

[Rockburner]

Normally the "small plate" things is an excuse to go over the bike and see if there's anything else illegal, or an extra charge to throw at you when you've been silly.

I'm not sure I've ever had a small plate, well - I've had "slightly smaller than normal, but still legal" - certainly never one of the stupidly, blatantly illegal tiny ones with illegible text ones (which are just for attention whores - honestly sometimes I think some bike riders actually like being pulled over...)

[Horse]

Does that kind of thing annoy people? Being pulled for things like small plates, loud exhausts? On one of the MT owners pages I'm on, they're forever having a go at the police about this kind of thing.

Sounds like you were lucky not to get nicked for wasting police time

I suppose there might be justification in that if you're prepared to ignore one law then you might ignore others too. Although he probably knew about your licence, tax and insurance before stopping you.

[Horse]

Plus *fail* for not hurtling off so he could get the neenaws going. They see it as a sign of weakness if you give in too soon

[MrLongbeard]

Doesn't bother me as I don't frequent the types of places that would get me pulled over, so, touch wood, I never have.
I always go for a 7" x 5" plate, theoretically the numbers are bloody close to, if not actually, legal size, but of course the distance to the border is probably below legal requirements, but fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

[KungFooBob]

I run a black/silver plate on my Bullet, I've been followed by the five-o and not pulled. It's got a mad loud pipe too, I think I get away with it because the bike looks a lot like a classic.

[dern]

Small plates, loud pipes, etc increase the chance of being pulled and this is something everyone knows but hopes they get away with. Complaining when they don't get away with it and get pulled doesn't make sense to me.

[DefTrap]

It annoys me a little bit when police pull you over because they feel like it. "I thought you might have been going a bit fast." I either was or I wasn't, make your mind up.

Over here they don't even bother to make up a reason, they just wave you down for the hell of it just so you can prove how innocent you are. To their credit though, they're not super-bothered about speeding (not for bikes anyway) or bothering to check the numerous things you're supposed to be carrying with you. But they do like to check tyres, paperwork and give you a whistle on the booze-bag.

[Taipan]

I've run a 8x6 plate on most of my bikes for over 25 years and have never been stopped for it. If I did and got a fine i'd answer to myself for that as I made the decision to fit an illegal sized plate. Dont think I've ever been stopped for a loud exhaust either, despite running them on most of my bikes?

[rodbargee]

Hawes in the dales resembled Squires cafe yesterday.

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[tricol]

Hawes in the dales resembled Squires cafe yesterday.

\

I almost went that direction, but needed to be back mid afternoon at the latest. Some great roads up there.

I think he noticed the short plate holder and maybe just took a punt that I also had an illegal plate. No chance he could suss out the size of the characters from a glance in the mirror.

[Skub]

If you avoid biking haunts you usually avoid police. Those are places you can be punished for someone else's crime,as their behaviour has drawn attention. If those are the places you enjoy,then you'd best be legit.

[Cousin Jack]

Never bothered changing a plate, the original works fine.

Ditto exhausts, although if I had a bike with a huge heavy thing I might be tempted. The current standard Honda one on the CB500F has a bit of a bark on it, I preferred the VFR which was sneaky quiet at low revs.

[Couchy]

Does that kind of thing annoy people? Being pulled for things like small plates, loud exhausts? On one of the MT owners pages I'm on, they're forever having a go at the police about this kind of thing.

Yup, he will have known it was legal if it was a dealer plate. It's a bollox excuse to pull you over. There's honestly far more they could be doing to help society but it doesn't generate the figures as easy as this stuff does. Not the coppers fault he's only doing as he's told although legally it's a lot more complicated than that as they should have some autonomy. All it does is create bad feelings, I don't have a problem with the coppers themselves as all those I know are decent people but the way they are told to police is bollox, you couldn't pay me enough to do their job

[mangocrazy]

I remember getting pulled over in 1980 cos the bike fuzz wanted to have a close look at my (then very) new 350LC. Mine was in the first shipment from Japan, so for a while it was a rarity. He was actually a bit apologetic and said if I was in a hurry, then carry on.

Agree with Skub's comment about biking haunts. I have no idea why people go to the Cat and Fiddle - it stopped being a road you could ride for fun in the early 1990s. There are far better roads in the vicinity with zero police presence.

[David]

Painful, almost as bad as being lifted by the fuzz.

[Yorick]

Two women are sitting on a bench in the park.
First woman says

“Have you ever been picked up by the fuzz before?”

Second woman replies

“No, but I have been swung around by my tits”

[tricol]

Agree with Skub's comment about biking haunts. I have no idea why people go to the Cat and Fiddle - it stopped being a road you could ride for fun in the early 1990s. There are far better roads in the vicinity with zero police presence.

Well, quite true. I actually don't mind it if you go early on or late on. I still think it's a nice road to ride despite the restriction. Also, I wasn't actually at the Cat n Fiddle, it was shut anyway and often is. So there never tends to be anyone at it. Simply riding passed on my way to somewhere else.

[mangocrazy]

Sorry, that wasn't meant as a pop at you, Col. It is actually a good road in good scenery but it's become its own worst enemy in some ways. I'm not sure where you live, but I'm in Sheffield, right on the edge of the Peak District and we're really spoiled for choice for good biking roads. The best ones are the little B roads that join little villages. Some days I just go out with a mission to try roads I've never been down before. I nearly always find one or two that get filed away for future reference.

[Dodgy69]

9 x 7 plates are obvious, he would definitely have known your plate was good. He just wanted to have a good look over the bike. I think the single line plates and maybe 7x5 are a bit too risky. Imo 8x6 are fine and if you can't see it from correct distance, you need an eye test.

Outside of box thinking required, go somewhere quieter.