How does a ticket affect your riding?

[karmakillernz]

In fact the one negative aspect is that people spend too much time watching the dial instead of the road.

That is exactly what I have always thought. Ever since I got a ticket (63 in a 50 area) it has caused me to constantly check the speedo every couple seconds or so in case there's a cop just around the corner.

It takes time to switch focus from the road to the speedo, confirm your speed or adjust as needed, then refocus on the road and it's surroundings. Do this every couple of seconds and you're spending much less time on riding safely and much more time on trying to keep to some arbitrary limit.

I reckon I was much safer at 63kph than I am trying to stay under 50kph all the time.

[mbazza]

Keeping near the speed limit feeds the paranoid part of my brain! Cheers.

[rphenix]

I always ride presuming someone is out to ticket me and earlier this week was literally 50-100meters from my letterbox as I came around the last blind corner so did a cop from the other way I wasn't even doing 50 at the time due to the heavy as rain I was taking it "easy" (already damp) the wife was straight behind me soon as I seen the cop I was like yep here we go, noticed the break lights going hard on (he was already cruising so he didn't need to break for the corner) so I wound it up, screamed up the driveway and parked in the shed, wife did the same and said she seen the cop start to attempt to turn around lucky its a nice narrow bit of road and we came across him early in the corner so he had mostly gone around it thus we were gone before he had managed that u-turn.

What annoys me we weren't doing anything wrong hell if it wasn't pissing down I might have been tempted to let him pull me over, If i was in our car and had gone around the corner at 60k probably would have been a non event!

Some police are fantastic however just depends on the person one policeman I was following behind once on a new bit of chip seal wound his window down pointed out some loose gravel thought that was pretty cool even though I had it all sorted

As for a ticket might slow me down a bit that day and cripple me financially that month but lets be real it wont stop anyone driving differently for long its about as effective as "morality classes"

[cowboyz]

last year I got booked coming out of oakune doing 59km in a 50 past the bridge as you are heading out of town on the south side. I was fucking pissed off even though it was a $30 fine. Then a couple of months later I am back up there and find they have changed the speed limit to 70k on that road. Blah

Anyway. I sat on 90 points for 2 years and got away with it. Didnt really effect my riding but had a few moments when seeing a cop from a distance. I usually sit between 120-140km unless I get a spidey sense to slow down.

[Coldrider]

I have been pinged once for alleged speeding, cost me $120 back in 1995.
Whoop whoop, big deal.

[canarlee]

well after i got "pinged" almost 2 weeks ago (117 in a 100 zone), i can honestly say, no it hasent changed my riding at all.

[cynna]

i learnt my lesson when i lost my licence 6 or 7 yeras ago for too many speeding demerit points

have only had one fine since and that was in my new car by a speed camera

now i am more cautious when and where i speed

[discotex]

I usually sit between 120-140km unless I get a spidey sense to slow down.

My spidey sense has stood me well in the 14 years I've been driving (and the 8 months I've been riding). Not one speeding ticket (touch wood).

9/10 times I get the feeling I should slow down a cop comes around the next bend and I'm already back under 110 or 60 etc.

I guess if I routinely travelled 30km/h over the limit it wouldn't help which is why I don't. +10km/h is enough 99% of the time. I mostly save the speed for controlled bursts. That said the bike does seem to encourage me to speed...

[vifferman]

I got pulled today for 132, my first ticket, and am curious to see if my behaviour after was normal.
After the pull and ticket, I sat at or about 110 all the way up the Desert Road, and possibly touched 120 between Turangi and Taupo.
Now, without lectures please, does a ticket affect your riding, and if so, for how long?

My first ticket in over 30 years was also for 132, and like you it slowed me down a bit. My most recent one was 73 in a 50km/h zone, and to be frank, it was a wake-up call for me. Even though I was speeding because I was over an hour late for work, it made me realise I was becoming careless. I'm definitely more careful now, as I don't want to lose my licence or risk higher insurance fees. Plus now that I'm a certified killer, it's a lot more effort keeping my gear clean with all that blood on it.

[peasea]

I always ride presuming someone is out to ticket me and earlier this week was literally 50-100meters from my letterbox as I came around the last blind corner so did a cop from the other way I wasn't even doing 50 at the time due to the heavy as rain I was taking it "easy" (already damp) the wife was straight behind me soon as I seen the cop I was like yep here we go, noticed the break lights going hard on (he was already cruising so he didn't need to break for the corner) so I wound it up, screamed up the driveway and parked in the shed, wife did the same and said she seen the cop start to attempt to turn around lucky its a nice narrow bit of road and we came across him early in the corner so he had mostly gone around it thus we were gone before he had managed that u-turn.

What annoys me we weren't doing anything wrong hell if it wasn't pissing down I might have been tempted to let him pull me over, If i was in our car and had gone around the corner at 60k probably would have been a non event!

Some police are fantastic however just depends on the person one policeman I was following behind once on a new bit of chip seal wound his window down pointed out some loose gravel thought that was pretty cool even though I had it all sorted

As for a ticket might slow me down a bit that day and cripple me financially that month but lets be real it wont stop anyone driving differently for long its about as effective as "morality classes"

Hiding from the law eh? Tut, tut.

Back in 1981 I had a reasonably quick Pontiac and got stopped in Wellington with a full complement of drunk passengers, I was ok to drive, strangely enough. Anyways... the newbie cop couldn't decide what she was going to when she thought that I was disqualified (which, at 1am that day I actually wasn't any more, I'd got it back at midnight). While she was farting about I leapt back in the car, nailed it, did some silly mph down Island Bay Parade and swung into the drive so hard I lost both right-hand wheel trims. Turned in behind the house and a few moments later the cop car zapped past.

The next day I rang to get my license mailed back to me and they reckoned they wanted to 'talk' to me; I declined and the license arrived in the mail at my previous address about a week later, no charges, nothing.

[SPman]

Some police are fantastic however just depends on the person one policeman I was following behind once on a new bit of chip seal wound his window down pointed out some loose gravel thought that was pretty cool even though I had it all sorted

Some Police actually take their jobs seriously - ie - road safety in all it's forms and are reasonably conversant with all vehicle types and how they can be affected by conditions, etc.

For others, it's just chalking up "contacts" on their time sheets, the easiest and quickest way they can - a requirement foisted on most of them by the vagaries of police funding and the requirements of their bosses to show "results", to their lords and masters!

This was enough of a wake up call for me to realise that I didn't have the self control required to ride a sports bike at legal speeds on the road so I've bought a nekkid bike instead which has helped somewhat.

and this has slowed you down that much??????????

My last ticket south of Taumaranui - the "dangerous" 117 kph in the middle of nowhere, I think I was back up to speed about 5 miles down the road - just even more wary.....

[peasea]

My last ticket south of Taumaranui - the "dangerous" 117 kph in the middle of nowhere, I think I was back up to speed about 5 miles down the road - just even more wary.....

And not as focussed on the road, perhaps?

[kinger]

I'm glad this has raised debate on both sides of the argument.
I just hope NZ doesn't go the way of UK where speeding is now seen as a bigger crime than drink driving.
I was zapped on a UK motorway at 86mph, the limit's 70. Fair enough, I'm over the limit, but on a dead straight 6 lane highway with literally no other traffic a mile in front or behind me.
And as a pointer, I personally feel that at slightly quicker speeds, I am aware of the hazards, and my road awareness gets conciously heightened as opposed to the mental switch off of ticking along.

[Goblin]

And as a pointer, I personally feel that at slightly quicker speeds, I am aware of the hazards, and my road awareness gets conciously heightened as opposed to the mental switch off of ticking along.

Same here! Try telling a cop that tho.

[cowboyz]

That said the bike does seem to encourage me to speed...

You should try it on a bike 3 times bigger on a clear sunday afternoon and seeing a sign that says "twisty road next 10km" Bloody near impossible to stay under the speed limit.