The other side?

My first post to that site:

First off.....hello fellow LEOs
I have been an officer for 7 years so far and honestly can't think of another career I would currently prefer more. Over the course of that time I have taken WAYYY too many classes in learned how to do my job. One thing that I excel in is traffic collision investigations. Over the years I have worked numerous motorcycle wrecks and most of them have been cruiser style bikes and at least have been under the influence of some type of intoxicant. Of the sportbike collisions I have worked the majority were new riders that had no clue as to what they were doing with the smallest amount of the wrecks came from squid-like actions. The highest percentage of the wrecks came from other motorsists not paying enough attention to their driving and causing the motorcyclist to wreck.

Now for the interesting part. I ride a Daytona 600 sportbike! I wear full leather gear from the neck down and race quality helmets and carry fully coverage insurance on the bike just as my POVs have on them. I also just got into racing these bikes as well! I am 31 now and spent the majority of my life either racing dirtbikes or quads and riding street bikes (since age 5). Just because a person chooses to ride a sportbike does not make them a squid and mean they are out to terrorize the general population. Many people choose the sportbikes because the are a performance vehicle, no different than someone buying a Mustang Cobra SVT, Camaro SS with the LT1 package or even a Dodge Viper!! Sportbikes are far different from a cruiser. A cruiser pushing 50-60 hp and weighing upwards of 900 lbs compared to a sportbike that weighs 360 lbs. and running around 110 hp. In hard turns the cruiser will drag parts and alot of times hit the pavement, the sportbike can just lean a little more and carry on through the same corner at the same speed. A Harley coming of the line at normal cruising speed will generate more than enough exhaust noise to put them well over the dB level that most states have where the SS bike does not.

I hate to break the news.....but squids ride cruisers as well as sportbikes! If one rider is breaking the law then by all means enforce it.......but enforce it equally! Last time I checked were supposed to enforce the law and be impartial in doing so. Attitudes like the ones I have seen in this thread are why ALL bikers have a resentment for law enforcement officers. I have folks on cruiser riding down the road talking on cell phones....ever tried that on a sportbike with a full faced helmet? I have also seen non sportbikes popping wheelies riding down the road as well.

To sit and stack tickets against someone just because of the type of vehicle they operate is just plain assanine. If you stop a rider for doing something fine, write them and if you uncover more....that's fine too but don't stack charges for the wrong reasons. I am not about some other officers but I have my hands full with other aspects of the job to do rather writing someone a butt load of tickets because of what they drive.

Now as far as how I ride my bike(s)? Yes I ride over the speed limit a little bit, if not then the guy on the cell phone driving behind me will more than likely run me over! But I also drive my POVs the same way. On the track? My bike will be wide open as safely as possible. I don't ride the wheelies down the interstate at 80 mph, I don't sit in parking lots doing 3 min. burnouts, I don't hang off the side of the bike at 90 mph with both feet on the ground "skating", now 200 ft stoppies or anything else like that. But since I do ride a sportbike then I must be a squid that does nothing but stunt all the time and endanger everyone else's life even though I do wear a badge too.

BTW, there must be some justification for the use of sportbikes......some Euro law enforcement agencies are running Ducati SS bikes for patrol bikes, some U.S. agencies are running Yamaha R1s, Ducati is trying to get themselves into the U.S. market and provide sportbikes for other depts. also