Good Morning! 58F @ 6:30AM. A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Leave that car alone, Drew! Usta have a Yellow Norton Commando, and I've lost track of the number of times I got pulled over while riding it. Almost always the cop just wanted to look at it, as it was a rarer Fastback and very easy on the eyes.
I remember one trip in particular, nust'a been back in the early '80s, through the Four Corners area of the southwest. The speedo cable broke the first day, so I generally followed the other three that were along. We were somewhere south of Mexican Hat, and the leader had already passed a slower car in front of us. As we came over a rise I did the same. As I cleared the slow poke I spotted a white car off in the distance coming our way. I finished my pass and kept speed to catch up, but noticed the other two following didn't keep up with me. As that white car got closer I could see the light bar on top, and an arm sticking out the window flailing around in the air. No clue what the signal meant, but the cop attached to the arm was obviously upset about something. I kept going (no sense making it easy on him) and watched as he went past the other two, then pulled to the side of the road and made a U-turn, stirring up a huge cloud of dust in the process. Didn't take him long to pass all three of us and take off after our leader. He didn't make it easy, either, as he saw what was going on and was trying to make good time so as not to get caught. Since we were in Arizona and the road we were on was one of the few in the area, it was either keep going and ride into an ambush, or figure out some way around. I pulled over to the shoulder and stopped, just under the brow of the next rise. I asked the other two what they thought, so one named Harvey reaches down into a fairing pocket and pulls out a pair of binoculars. So we roll up the road a little bit until we can just see over the crest of the hill. Just like a cavalry scout in an old western.
"What do you see, Harv?"
"Well, Gene's down there, and so's the cop. He's got his ticket book out, and is standing in the middle of the road looking back this way."
After confirming on a map that any detour would add a lot of miles and cost us our leader, we decided to keep going. But we changed up the order we were in, me now going last. As the first rider approached the cop, up came the ticket book in a signal to slow, but he was waved through. Next rider, same thing. But when my turn came the signal was to pull over, so I rolled up behind Gene's bike, took my helmet off and earplugs out, then owing to the 100 degree temps, my leather jacket as well. By then the cop was back over talking to Gene, so I went over there to find out what my fate would be.
The cop asks Gene if he knew those other two guys that went by. Gene says Yes. The cop asks how come they didn't stop? Gene says "We have an understanding. If one guy gets pulled over, there's no sense stopping so everyone gets a ticket."
The cop says "Well I wouldn't give everybody a ticket just 'cause one guy was going too fast."
To which Gene replies "May be, but we don't know that!"
Then the cop asks Gene if he knows how fast he was going, and Gene says No.
Then he turns to me and says "Do you know how fast you were goin'?"
"Officer" i says, "I have no idea. My speedometer cable broke the first day, and I don't have a map, so I've just been trying to keep up with him this whole trip!"
So he turns back to Gene and says "You were doin' 80." Then to me "And you were going 85!"
I figure at this point we're both in pretty hot water, and I'm probably gonna get hit with a big fine. But the cop keeps talkin' to Gene: "I know there's nothin' out here, and how much fun it can be ridin' a motorcycle, but that's no excuse for breaking the law." As he's talking, he's filling out a ticket. "I'm gonna have to make an example out of one of you, and I hope you'll all get the message." With that he rips the ticket out of his book, and hands it over to Gene. He continues "Slow down! If you get stopped again in Arizona you'll all get taken in!"
Simultaneously we replied with "Yes Sir!" and "Thank you, sir, we'll be more careful" or some such malarkey. He got back in his car, we strapped our helmets back on, and headed up the road to find the other two. They'd found an ice cream stand in the next town, and were comfortably seated under a shady tree enjoying a couple of cones.
"Hey, how come you guys didn't follow me around that car back there?" I asked. "There was plenty of room to pass."
"Didn't you hear that guy at the last gas station warn us about cops on this piece of road?" says Harvey. Gene and I look at each other and say NO!
"Thanks for lettin' us know!" says Gene.
Larry and Harvey say they did tell us, then how sorry they are that Gene got a ticket. Gene says don't worry about it, since with all the miles and all the high speeds, passing over double yellows, illegal U turns and such on the trip, a sixty dollar ticket was no big deal. We all offer to split it with him, but he'll have none of it, but I get him to let me at least pay for his ice cream cone. We pass along the cop's good behavior warning, and we do play by the rules, at least until the New Mexico border later that day...
Finished drilling spot welds yesterday on the van, and cut the roof loose from the two front pillars. But it's bound up at the next two pillars for some reason, so more cutting and prying are on the agenda for today.
Happy Monday everyone!
