Motors

We promised a series on police motorcycles, and this is the first installment. It’s an article that appeared in Rider magazine in January 2010, and the research for it was a lot of fun. Police officers love to tell stories, and I think motor officers have the best ones. With apologies in advance for the fine print, here you go, folks…

I staged one of the photos above to show a couple of San Fernando Valley police officers stopping me on my Triumph Tiger. That was one of the most interesting parts of the research. I interviewed the two SFV officers in the police station and they were regular guys. Joking, telling stories, you know the drill. I was having fun listening to them and trying to capture it all in my notes. One of the officers suggested going outside for more photos, and with that, both of them put on their helmets and sunglasses. The transformation was dramatic. With their helmets off, they were two regular (and different) guys. When the helmets and shades went on, they became RoboCop. They were indistinguishable, all business, no room for nonsense. Serious. Emotionless. No more smoking and joking. The real deal.

We parked the bikes like you see in that photo above, and one of the motor officers asked for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. All the fun and games disappeared. This was a traffic stop, and I was the object of it. Like I said above, it was serious. I knew we were doing this just to get a photo, but the tension was real. I felt like I’d somehow been caught committing a felony. Hell, had I remembered to bring my registration and insurance card with me? I couldn’t remember. I thought it might be in one of my saddlebags and I started to open it. Both officers’ hands instantly went to their sidearms. “Step away from the vehicle, sir!” Damn, this was scary business.

After the above story ran, a series of letters to the editor appeared in the subsequent edition of Rider magazine from several motor officers…

Fun times, to be sure. I really enjoyed doing that story, and before we wrap up this blog, here’s another bit of trivia: I first saw “Motors” in print while recovering from a motorcycle accident (I got busted up pretty good and I had a lot of time to catch up on my reading). The first responder on that one was Jim Royal, a La Verne, California, motor officer. Just a few weeks before my crash I shot photos of Jim for this very story. One had Jim holding a radar gun; it’s the photo you see in the article above.