Before you read the rest of this, please note that I am not cop bashing in this thread, so don't flame me!

On my wayto work yesterday I got pulled over. Here's what happened: My neighborhood empties onto a busy 4-lane highway. The speed limit on that road is 50MPH. The road is straight for the most part. I left home, pulled out onto the highway, and started to slowly weave back and forth to warm up my tires. After I get off the highway about 2 miles up the road I have to go through some curves (which I don't want to do with cold tires). So I'm plodding along in the left lane, not paying attention to how fast I'm going, then I see blue lights in my mirror. The highway has a large grass median in the middle, and I was already in the left lane, so I slowed and pulled over left thinking maybe he just wanted to go by me. Wrong. Sherriff's deputy pulled me over. Here's what happened after I took off my helmet and he approached the bike:
Cop: Headphones while riding?! Illegal!
Me: Really? Wow I didn't know that.
Cop: Swerving in your lane?! Illegal!
Me: I didn't know that either. I was trying to warm my tires.
Cop: Going 72 in a 50?! Definitely illegal!
Me: Yes sir.
Cop: When you took your license test, which side of the road should you have learned to stop on? You trying to get me killed by stopping over here?
Me: The right side, sir.
Cop: Let me see your license and proof of insurance. You still live at this address?
Me: Yes sir.
Cop: Give me your headphones. I would take your iPod too, but I can't. Be careful, son. I know these things are fun to ride, but you need to be more careful. Have a nice day!

Holy shyte I didn't even get a ticket! I was so relieved. A pair of headphones is a small price to pay, especially since I just went to court for a speeding ticket! Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share this weird experience.

 

Damn you're lucky... he really coulda dinged ya BIG TIME!

I was just thinking about the whole "swerving to warm up the tires" - and clean em up a bit - thing this morning on I-75. I thought "I could probably get pulled over for this, but why? I mean, I am staying between the lines of my lane. I am being less dangerous than the guy in front of me who isn't paying attention and drifting from one lane to the next. Why doesn't HE get pulled over?" Hmmmm, food for thought.

And for what it's worth, it's NOT illegal to listen to music here in Michigan. Maybe you should install speakers in your helmet so they would never know you had some tunes on in the first place.

 

ahhahahhahahha funny stuff. here in ca u can only have something in one ear. both = "Illegal!"

 

texas there is no restriction. i can go lid-less, ipod, 2 speakers, dunno about the weaving, although i do it behind slow traffic anywho. guess a $20 pair of headphones beats $400 in tickets anday...still seemed a bit abrasive to me though....maybe just real honory?

 

Interesting. I've never given much thought to the earplug / earphone thing. Earplugs are used anytime I'm on the road. I've tried earphones a time or two, but they're a hassle, so gave them up. As for swerving back and forth, I'm not sure it's needed unless you're going to really strafe corners. After ten miles or so of 60 to 70 mph my Metzler Z6 Roadtechs are hot to the touch. Maybe if you're concerned about junk on the tires? Sounds like a track-only thing to me, but whatever. I agree it doesn't seem to be an unsafe practice. Stopping on the left? Would he have accused you of running had you taken the time to safely move across lanes to the right? That's a paranoid thought, it can be ignored. It sounds like you lucked out. As you say, a set of earphones is much cheaper than the tickets he could have given you.

 

wow, im gonna have to look into the earbud/music thing here in MD b/c i wanted to start taking my Zune w/ me when i went riding.

 

I can understand the argument of how headphones while riding can be dangerous. If it's illegal though, why do cars come with stereos? I seriously didn't know it was illegal, and I think I got lucky for not getting some tickets.

 

they totaly cover your ears thats how making it way harder for u to hear. with stereos u can still hear you surroundings.

 

Wow, that's weird! I'd say you got pretty lucky though with no tickets or whatever. The speeding thing really seems to be the only justifiable thing though. I think dano just wanted a new pair of headphones Hopefully they were earbuds with lots of wax on them!

 

well to keep that aguement that if you have both ears covered so you cant hear then they would make it illegal for the deaf to ride motorcycles .......but they cant since that would be a major discrimination