Well, I have been the proud owner of a new '05 RR for less than one week and already I am in deep ****. I was on one the back stretches and I opened it up a little, hitting about 75 in a 55 zone and a cop going the other way turned on his lights and stopped me. He thanked me for stopping since I could have run but I am not THAT stupid. I told him the truth and said that I knew how fast I was going and also I have to renew my permit which will be done next week, when I get me new glasses since I appear to have stigmatism. When I went for the permit, I failed the vision and they told me that I can either accept a restriction for daylight driving only, or wait and get glasses and take the test again with glasses. Right after I went to the DMV, I got my eyes checked and sure enough, I have stigmatism. Now my glasses are on their way and I just hope that they arrive before I go to court or I may be screwed. Well, the cop and I were talking a bit about bikes and some of the wrecks he has seen first hand, mostly involving high rates of speed. He could have impounded my bike but instead, he just had it towed back to my house. Now I have to go to court and explain why I was riding at a high rate of speed without a permit or should I say an expired permit. Hopefully I can pay a fine and go home. I have proof that I did indeed try and obtain a permit prior to my ticket as well as going and getting my eyes checked. It was just a case of bad timing and riding the best bike of the 600 class. I have a problem with speeding on those things but I can't help it.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that while we were on our way back to my house with my bike on a towtruck, the driver nearly got into a wreck by almost running a red light! We were about ten feet from crashing into another car, which would have totalled the car since the truck was a beast. Then perhaps we would have had to go to court together, huh? Life is truly funny sometimes. I'm out...

 

Sounds like the cop was decent with you though. It's very easy to be cruising along and notice that you are 15 mph over the limit, let alone opening it up. That is the hardest thing about riding these bikes, keeping out of trouble! Good luck with the ticket.

 

it is hard to not open up your throttle esp on open road. a lot of times i don't even realize that i'm speeding until i look down or notice that i'v been passing quite a few cars next to me.

good luck with your ticket man.

 

Damn Elta, that didn't take long. I saw you just posted up a few days ago how much you liked the 600s and AZ thought it was a litre bike. C now you know what I was talkin' 'bout, twitchy throttle hand. Imagine if you were on a 1000RR

Anyway, good luck in court.

Similar incident happened to me, but with a better outcome. I was cruisin' a familar road and I past a State Trooper as I was slowin' down. He proceeded to follow me for about 5 miles. When I exited to a highway he flashed his lights 'cause he thought I was going to take off, but no. This is where I had my paper work in order though. He asked for my license I showed it to him, he let me go and sped away.

 

Having a license is always a plus...u should be ok i mean your permit was only expired and u did have a restriction for daylight driving only and you were speeding..youll be lucky to get off with a fine.I could go on and on...best of luck..

 

Hey man dont worry it happends to everyone sooner or later. I just happend to be runnin 62 in a 35 one mornin goin to work and a State trooper happend to be ridin another cars butt and i didnt see him until it was too late but i stopped and he was cool bout it and let me go.Glad i didnt run cuz soon as i rolled into town i met 2 Sherffs[&:]

 

What's funny is that we started to talk about some serious stuff while I was sitting with this guy in the FRONT of his cruiser, as opposed to being locked up in the back behind a cage. He told me that he hates to stop bikes and that he used to work around Myrtle Beach and such. Well, then he proceeded to tell me that the Harley riders down there would spit on guys riding sportbikes and that if he was riding a sportbike, he would get off and do some serious damage to anyone who messed with him or his bike. I was glad that I didn't run from this guy since he seemed to be on my level. Can you imagine a Harley dude throwing rocks and beer cans at your bike as you rode past or worse? I am a very violent man when it comes to defending my life and property regardless of what our man-made laws say about it. Well, the cop told me that he would show up in court and not be a ***** about anything since I did stop and I did admit that I was speeding. Tomorrow I will stay away from that area but I am truly addicted to my new motorcycle and realize that I have found something else in life that I can consider as something positive rather than being a bit of a glass-half-empty kind of guy, which I was before I started to ride seriously. Hell, it's legal to have four kids and work at Wal-Mart for $7 dollars an hour but I can't open my throttle up now and again with a bike that has a 15,000 RPM redline! Plus, I was not tailgating anyone and the nearest car was about 1/4 of a mile away in front of me. When I ride, I stay away from all cages if I can help it. There will be no tailgating and no passing unless I can see at least a half mile ahead... Three years of riding and no problems whatsoever. I must be doing something right....

 

Consider getting an attorney. If you haven't been to the MSF course, ask to do that in lieu of getting points, etc. Anything to keep it off your license early on. Your attitude with him went a long ways. Congrats on that.

 

Although you were speeding, you weren't speed wasn't out of control. My guess is that they guy would have given you a warning if it weren't for your expired permit. My advice: DON'T RIDE THE BIKE UNTIL YOU GET YOUR PERMIT STRAIGHTENED OUT! If you get pulled over again you're going to lose your bike dude. It isn't worth it, just wait a bit.

As for the vision problems, I'm in the same boat. It's no big deal to have the vision correction stipulation on your license. I have to have my contacts or glasses if I'm riding or driving. But to be honest, especially on a bike I want to have all the vision I can get for safety's sake. I've never ridden without my contacts, never will.

Showing up in court, showing respect to the law and admitting your mistake will go a long way. Commit to a rider safety class in court, and with a little help from the cop, you will probably walk out with a fine.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

From your posts, your attitude, and they way you've handled everything I would say that you are the type of rider that I hope to encounter when making a stop. With everything you've related..you did everything right after getting caught and I can almost guarantee you that everything will work out in the end (provided you have a good driving record).

My advice to you is:

1) Get a lawyer, a good one, that serves as a buffer between you and the Court, and shows the Judge you are taking the matter very seriously.

2) Renew your permit as soon as possible and bring all of the supporting documentation (your application for a renewal PRIOR to the stop, and your renewal reciept) Its shows you are being proactive.

3) As others have said, take an MSF course and bring the certificate with you to court. If the next course is too far out (past your expected court date) bring a copy of your course registration receipt showing that you have paid the money to attend and WILL be going.

4) Have your lawyer speak with the Trooper and ask if he's willing to testify about how cooperative you were, how you immediately stopped, and admitted that you were speeding. Its nice to have a lawyer do this for you during mitigation but its even better to have the officer do it. From the way you described him I feel that he wouldn't have a problem doing that. I know that I wouldn't.

Also, I want to point out that your speed, while definitely over the posted limit, isn't that bad. There will most likely be people in court that were cited for 25, 30, 35, 40+ miles over the speed limit and as a result..it will make you look like a choir boy in comparison.

If you don't live in a commonwealth state, and your Court is known for being lenient, you might consider appearing without a lawyer. If money is tight there's a good chance you can get the best deal by yourself and save some $$$. If your are from Virginia by any chance, ummm yeah, you need a lawyer. I won't even do 5mph over in that state.

To close, I want to thank you for handling yourself the way you did with the officer. Believe me (IMO), when someone stops right away, mans up and admits that they were wrong, and acts like a decent person it makes our day. Seriously. When you stop dozens of people a day, most with attitudes, getting someone that's a good egg is like a ray of sunlight and gives me hope for humanity.

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out.