phidauex

Hah, yesterday I was pulled over while riding my tall bike! I had actually stopped to talk to a guy on a fixie, and while we were talking a cop 'whoop whoop's his siren and pulls up. He gives me the crooked finger 'come here' motion. I had been propped up on a street sign, and so I climbed down and went over to the car.

"You know, when they say "Share the Road", they mean you have to share with motorists, too."
"Of course, officer."
-- I'm not sure why he said that, since I was actually riding quite reasonably with traffic. I did make a U-turn in the street to talk to the guy on the fixie, but since we were in a downtown area with plenty of foot traffic, cars were moving very slow, and two cars actually stopped to allow me to make the turn when I signaled, since they obviously were enjoying seeing me ride the tall bike around. He probably saw the u-turn and assumed I had just darted out there.
"I assume you know how to ride that thing?"
"I'm a professional, sir."
"I don't want to see anyone else riding that thing, ok?"
"No problem, I don't want them breaking it!"
"I don't know what the guidelines are for something like that.. Are you wearing all your safety gear, helmet, wrist guards, shin protectors, elbow protectors, knee pads?"
"Well, sir, its just a bicycle, so I am wearing a helmet."
"Ok.. Well.. Unless my sargent says different, I'll leave you alone now.."
"Thanks, have a good day, sir!"

It was quite odd, and the dude on the fixie thought the whole thing was pretty fricken funny.

Anyone else been hassled for their bizarre bike?

peace,
sam

lala

Hah! That's awesome. Glad you had a helmet!

EnigManiac

Sounds like the cop was more curious about the bike than anything else. He just needed an excuse to check it out and the freak that was riding it (LOL - I is a freak too). He's probably still telling the story to his colleagues, friends and family today about this weirdo and his seven foot tall (?) bike.

Cops have never hassled me. I never wear a helmet (but it's not law here either) but my bike(s) are properly outfitted with lights, reflectors and horns, so they have no cause to look at me funny...other than the fact that my bikes are a distraction.

koffee brown

The cop sounded bored. You probably gave him some good entertainment.

Koffee

Kestrelman

I'm curious about your bike. Got a picture? If not, can you describe it?

'nother

I have kind of been wondering about this kind of thing in general . . . here in CA, there's a law, "No person shall operate on the highway any bicycle equipped with handlebars so raised that the operator must elevate his hands above the level of his shoulders in order to grasp the normal steering grip area" (link to that and other interesting equipment laws) but I see these kind of "chopper handlebars" all the time. Do other states have similar laws, and are they enforced? Doesn't appear to be enforced here, judging from the number of cycles I see with this configuration.

pcsanity1

Dare I ask what is a "tall bike?"

aadhils

Wanna know all about his bike? Check here hehe

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=101641

Expatriate

Snip

Originally Posted by 'nother

I have kind of been wondering about this kind of thing in general . . . here in CA,

Ah yes, the California Vehicle Code book. A great source of amusement.

slagjumper

Last Friday at the Critical Mass ride in in Pittsburgh there where 65 bikes, 2 tall bikes, 1 lowrider and 0 cops for the whole ride! One idiot lexus driver who crossed the double yellow for a half a block. Where the hell are the cops when you need them?

Sooowee

Ooo...I had no idea there was a code section prohibiting ape hangers on bicycles too...I have been ticketed for apes on my motorcycle, even when it was just parked. I haven't heard of people getting ticketed for anything other than lack of lights when riding at night (at U.C. Davis). I guess I should be careful...I just got some 25" apes for my stretch cruiser.

phidauex

Just a little update... It seems most cops like the tall bike, instead of dislike it like the one cop... I talked for probably 20 minutes with a bike cop the other day who was admiring the tall bike. We talked about bikes in general, he asked about how I made it, mused about the internal hub, etc. He was a cool guy. I guess not ALL cops are a**es.

peace,
sam

GrodyGeek

Every state I believe has laws against noise.

Yet, I've never heard of anyone getting pulled over and successfully given a ticket for riding one of those freaking HDs with absolutley no mufflers whatsoever.

Loud pipes saves lives, my butt.

Let them act like the rest of us, sanely and appropriately to the laws. (rant off)

Expatriate

That's because the law usually states they can only be a certain db, as measured at 1 metre. Not every cop carries an SPL meter. And really, you hope they have better things to do. We saw 4 cops running an RBT today. Noon, Sunday, at the beach. Not likely to catch too many drunks, but I suppose it was easy work.