NYS Troopers targeting motorcyclists or ensuring safety..

[Grn99Kawi]

I heard about this on a car forum I am on...

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/n...oint-1.1373360

"State Police from Troop L had set up a motorcycle safety checkpoint early yesterday morning on the parkway, about two miles south of the Merrick Road exit.

At least 10 troopers, three investigators from the Department of Motor Vehicles and an inspector from the National Insurance Crime Bureau descended on the parkway at 5:30 a.m. and began stopping all southbound motorcyclists to inspect their bikes.

In the span of four hours, 156 bikes were inspected, 88 tickets were issued and one bike was towed because the rider didn't have the proper license."

While I do appreciate teh fact they they (the troopers) are making sure that all is what it should be... pulling over every bike... I dunno.. seems unfair. if you pull over a bike and the inspection is not current that's one thing.. but they pulled over everyone....

I drive that way when i go to the beach on Sunday mornings... I know I'm all good.. but I dunno.. torn on this one whether its good or unfair.. maybe a bit of each...

[sombo]

It's totally unfair until the day you see them pull over every car, truck, suv, van and minivan to do the same thing, followed by when they pull over every tractor trailer to do the same. Until then it's 100% prejudice and I hope the AMA fights with the state on this unfair treatment of motorcyclists. I guarantee you that if they did the same thing to cars they'd get 10x the response in illegal drivers.

[P1NDLESK1N]

A big ol' **** YOU goes out to whoever decided to target motorcycles only. That was probably nothing but a way to give out tickets for the extremely common undertail license plates or aftermarket exhausts.

If there's going to be a police checkpoint, don't profile. I'd love to see a list of what was pulled over and the tickets issued.

[Greg_E]

Truck drivers are regularly pulled off the road for various levels of inspection, from tags and weights to real long mechanical inspections. Truck drivers must be subject to random drug testing too and physicals to make sure they are fit enough to drive. Yup I have a CDL and have driven different types of trucks through these types of random stops.

All that said they should have been pulling every car over to check things too. Normally this kind of thing happens on secondary roads. With the timing they must need to raise cash to support their stay at the State Fair in a couple weeks.

[Grn99Kawi]

Some background info for those not from the area... the primary group of people that would be on the Meadowbrook parkway on an early Sunday (especially summer) morning are those headed to cruise or hangout in performance cars, hobby cars and motorcycles.. I have brought both of my Mustangs down there on occasion, and I have taken teh Ninja twice.. there would not typically be "soccer moms" and "grocery getters" in the area at this time. It's not like they chose a random weekday afternoon.

[sombo]

Perhaps, but it's also not the first time I've heard of NY targeting only motorcycles. I heard about it last year and a few months ago as well. For some reason NY seems to have a notion that it's perfectly fine to get away with illegal things with your car. However, ride a bike and they seem to start treating you like some hardened criminal. I've been to plenty of car meets and shows myself and know just how loud their exhausts can be (louder then most bikes tyvm) yet you don't hear about them targeting them specifically. You only ever hear of them targeting the bikes.

Prejudice is prejudice no matter how you try to spin and this is clearly prejudice against bikers. We are the most misunderstood group of drivers on the road. Of course it's doesn't help that there's tons of idiots out there helping to bring about the bad image of bikers.

[capt_bugaloo]

My guess is that local residents there have complained about loud exhausts or racing.
Unfortunately a few dumbasses behaving badly have likely brought this heat down on the majority of motorcyclists who ride in a reasonable fashion.

[Banzai]

Nationally, fatalities on motorcycles, and single vehicle accidents with motorcycles, are on the rise.

If you think you're being targeted or singled out while on a bike, YOU ARE. If you're 100%, you're good.

That being said, I just read an article in the local paper about how motorcycle deaths are up over twice of last year (but overall registrations are DOWN), and some 60% (more than three times that of cars/trucks) of stops result in either non-registered vehicle charges and/or unlicensed operator charges and/or no insurance, so law enforcement targeting bikes is absolutely valid.

When you're on a bike, you are in the minority, so have voluntarily singled yourself out for additional scrutiny. Like it or not, but accept it.

Any money any lobby groups spends fighting this type of profiling is money wasted when you look at the statistics of infractions per stop compared to cars/trucks.

Not saying it's fair, or that I like it, but it IS a valid. I've been through my share of "Bike only" checkpoints, always been 100%. Not much different from them having checkpoints at 2AM at every road that leads from the area of town where all the bars are.

[hybridxx]

so anyone with a aftermarket exhaust gets a ticket? >.>;

[Grn99Kawi]

Originally Posted by capt_bugaloo

My guess is that local residents there have complained about loud exhausts or racing.
Unfortunately a few dumbasses behaving badly have likely brought this heat down on the majority of motorcyclists who ride in a reasonable fashion.

Dumbasses sure... there is a good amount of speeding and racing.. but there are no residents on the parkway, near the beach or whatever.. any houses are pretty far away from the roadway (on the other side of the beach).

[sombo]

My issue with NY's dealings is how they are making it illegal to have ANY modifications to the exhaust. However, they are not making the same ruling for cars. Anyone that has ever hung out with motorheads knows that they can be waaayyy louder then any bike. Take a 383cu inch V8 with 4inch cat back exhaust and run it up to 5k rpm and tell me that a bike is that loud.

[BlackRain]

This was from last years Americade Rally in NY.

"Police see the event as an opportunity to issue thousands of traffic citations. Friday's roadblock forced 123 participants traveling on the Adirondack Northway into a rest area near Exit 18 where they were searched. State troopers succeeded in issuing 48 tickets for the most minor of violations. Fifteen were for using helmets not approved by the state, nine for modified exhausts, four for not having a motorcycle endorsement and the remainder were for other minor infractions. Seven car owners caught up in the roadblock received tickets for choosing not to wear a seatbelt.

Even though the Americade event does not focus on high-performance sport bikes, police kept a helicopter hovering above the roadblock to "discourage" attendees from attempting to continue on their way without being subjected to a search. The roadblocks will continue through June 5."

[AnarchoMoltov]

There needs to be probable cause to pull some one over, and inspect/search a private citizens property...As u can see from this post, and there are all kinds of other examples, that we are no longer free, and we truly arent entitled to anything anymore..REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if u think a Republican or a Democrat are gonna change anything your BRAINDEAD!!!

[muffinman]

NYS Troopers targeting motorcyclists or ensuring REVENUE

Fixed. The economic downturn has dried up the state coffers.

[dimeified]

I wrote a whole 3 paragraphs here and deleted it all to sum it up in one question. "How hard is it to comply with the rules?"

[Greg_E]

What is this talk about no after market exhausts in NY? Is this officially posted somewhere? Last I heard there was only a loudness level that must be met and I think that is 88db but I might be wrong.

[M]

Originally Posted by dimeified

I wrote a whole 3 paragraphs here and deleted it all to sum it up in one question. "How hard is it to comply with the rules?"

I have to agree with this statement. I went through a NC state police check point just West of Robbinsville, heading towards the Cherohala Skyway this spring. The 30 second stop didn't bother me at all.

[M]

Here's the scoop on Denver and New York. No EPA stamp will cause you $$$ pains.

[Greg_E]

NYC seems to be a little more harsh, but if you look at #11 here it says not louder than stock for the rest of the state.

http://abateny.org/mclaws.html

Guess that rules out the AP 2:1 I was thinking about since it is 3db louder at idle. Kind of sucks big time.

[randomwalk101]

you can't pull over people for no apparent reason (just for "checking"). But again, they can make up some lame excuses like "you look suspicious, you were sweaving etc..or bike appears too be blah blah" and that would do it.
Hey, this is a free country...you have a right to sue them...hell people sue for a hot cup of coffee...burglar entered a home, tripped over something, fell and broke his foot & sue the owner of the house...why not?

[dimeified]

Originally Posted by Greg_E

NYC seems to be a little more harsh, but if you look at #11 here it says not louder than stock for the rest of the state.

http://abateny.org/mclaws.html

Guess that rules out the AP 2:1 I was thinking about since it is 3db louder at idle. Kind of sucks big time.

Dude humans generally can't detect a 1 or 2db gain or cut in volume. 3db is right where it is perceivable. But when your out in the open air all around, with other traffic, there is no way in hell a cop will single out your exhaust for being 3db from what the bike should be, There are other bikes are way louder in stock form, and i'm sure thats what they're used to hearing.

[Greg_E]

It won't have the EPA rating on the side, that's enough if they want to get picky. Even worse on the 09 since it has a catalyst in the exhaust, that's an emissions controlled machine then.

[beowuff]

Originally Posted by dimeified

I wrote a whole 3 paragraphs here and deleted it all to sum it up in one question. "How hard is it to comply with the rules?"

You mean unlawful search and seizure without probable cause, right? Sounds like the cops were doing something illegal to me!

First thing I would ask is why I was pulled over. Pulling over all motorcycles? Sounds like they pulled me over without probable cause, as "riding a motorcycle" should not be sufficient. I'd take names and badge numbers for harassment and submit them to a lawyer.

[Sailariel]

For the past several weeks, the police have been pulling motorcycles over because of excessive noise. People living on the coast are paying many $$$ in taxes and are getting tired of the helmetless leather vested cruisers roaring up and down the street with their straight pipes blaring. One article in the paper described a person sitting at a table in a sidewalk cafe and having their cup of coffee vibrate off the table when a group of straight piped machines roared by. Two cruisers were pulled over yesterday. I was behind them and was waved by. I was in full gear and run the stock exhaust.

[DarkNinja52]

said it before, i'll say it again, and many more times after today
f*ck the police

I'd love to see them stop every car and issue tickets almost 100% of the time. there are so many cars that barely pass the yearly inspection and then after a month have so many things wrong with them that don't get fixed until they have to pass inspection again. They can issue tickets for not wearing seatbelts to about 50% of people, tickets for anything hanging on the rear view mirror, maybe a tailight just went out or have a crack in the windshield.
as far as complying with the rules... if the cops are gona stop every bike and check it, then whats next? have them follow you around until you do something wrong? its not about following the rules or not, even if they issued 0 tickets, they can still go **** themselves. taxes are high as hell around here, if they really have nothing else better to do, then fire them and drop the taxes.
if you comply with the rules 100% of the time would you still want a police officer following you all the time? the cops around here are paid an insane amount of money for doing nearly next to nothing. meanwhile a drunk driver can crash her car on my front lawn and not have a cop around for miles (true story) and another drunk driver can hit my car while im parked sitting in my car on the side of the road and not have a cop around for miles (true story) and im not about to get into what happens when the cops ARE around
/rant

[SF-Dug]

Another reason to target motorcycle riders and pull them over. A lot of folks ride without a M1 license and have no insurance which includes many motorcycle thieves. I don't know where you guys live but in the Bay Area nice looking and popular motorcycles do not last very long being parked on city streets. A lot of stolen bikes are recovered by cops doing simple traffic stops.

Originally Posted by randomwalk101

you can't pull over people for no apparent reason (just for "checking"). But again, they can make up some lame excuses like "you look suspicious, you were sweaving etc..or bike appears too be blah blah" and that would do it.
Hey, this is a free country...you have a right to sue them...hell people sue for a hot cup of coffee...burglar entered a home, tripped over something, fell and broke his foot & sue the owner of the house...why not?

If you modded your bike so that it does no longer conform to the safety standards of your state (under tail mods FTL ) you basically given the cops a "FREE" pull me over card. This is especially true if you are speeding when you roll through their area.

[AnarchoMoltov]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

For the past several weeks, the police have been pulling motorcycles over because of excessive noise. People living on the coast are paying many $$$ in taxes and are getting tired of the helmetless leather vested cruisers roaring up and down the street with their straight pipes blaring. One article in the paper described a person sitting at a table in a sidewalk cafe and having their cup of coffee vibrate off the table when a group of straight piped machines roared by. Two cruisers were pulled over yesterday. I was behind them and was waved by. I was in full gear and run the stock exhaust.

Fu#* those yuppies