Has anyone's radar detector ever failed them?

[Gixxer 4 ever]

To get ticketed twice on the same day for the same thing is just stupidity.

Come on you two, just kiss and make up. So much aggression on here.
Da thread will get you and infractionate you

[oldrider]

After not one but two dumbarse chickenshit speeding tickets on the weekend from Highway Patrol boys trawlin' the straights on the Napier-Taupo road with their radars on (I know because I asked) I've decided to bite the bullet and get a radar detector.

I can pinch the budget real hard and pay $900 new, plus a screamer and cost of installation, for the radar detector du jour, the Beltronics STi (or $660-ish plus the hassle of getting it back from the USA), or I can look for something cheaper and/or secondhand from one of the reputable brands, like the Beltronics RX65, a model which I've been assured is 'pretty good'.

Frankly, if it wasn't for the demerit points angle, I wouldn't consider a $1,000-ish radar detector worth the hassle. A grand pays a lot of speeding tickets.

However, I'm about to endure a three-month licence suspension and don't want to endure another one in the future. You can't put a dollar value on not having to use the pushbike every day.

Now, I know that plenty of you have had good experiences with radar detectors. My question is, though, have any of you ever had a radar detector, of any brand, fail to save you from a ticket?

If so, what were the circumstances, and do you think a more expensive model might have saved your arse where the one you had didn't?

PS: A certain KBer fuckin' well owes me about ten pints, and they know who they are.

Well jrandom, 166 posts later, how would you summarize your thread?

Are you any wiser as to which is the most reliable radar detector?

Or which brand is most liable to fail you?

Personally I don't feel any more certain than when you raised the question!

Maybe they are all just as reliable/dodgy as each other, just choose one and run with it! Cheers John.

[jrandom]

broke the law... FAULT... self-righteousness...

Mr Free Man, the deal is, I abide by the law when I agree with it.

Not just because it's there.

It's folk like you who put on the brown shirts and swastikas and threw Jewish children into the railway carriages... because that's the law, right?

You gotta learn to think laterally, man. The law is not always right. The law can never always be right; life's too complex to be bound up in rules and regulations.

Sometimes the best way to deal with that fact is public protest and political agitation, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to quietly step around the rules and regulations without bothering anyone.

This thread is all about my search for technology to help me achieve that latter goal.

To get ticketed twice on the same day for the same thing is just stupidity.

Well, it was twice within three days, but you're right; it doesn't reflect very well on my awareness level.

Anyway, might I suggest you try to be less irritable on the forum? Agitation is bad for your health, and makes you come across quite unpleasantly. It's just not necessary.

[jrandom]

Well jrandom, 166 posts later, how would you summarize your thread?

1. Some people don't grasp the moral subtlety of accepting responsibility for Breaking The Law (tm) whilst still looking for ways to do so without consequence. Those people don't seem to like me very much. They would probably get on well with my mother.

2. No radar detector will save you from a cop who has bounced a signal off you and has a finger on the button. You gotta hope for stray reflections setting it off before he's actually thinking about you, or you're toast.

3. That said, radar detectors can still be invaluable tools when used intelligently as part of a safe approach to open-road riding.

Are you any wiser as to which is the most reliable radar detector?

The Beltronics STi has emerged as the clear leader, and I plan on purchasing one forthwith.

On the whole, it's been a useful thread, and I thank the KB community for sharing its wisdom.

[BBzz]

I don't think it's the Radar Detector It’s the not playing by the rules
The Problem is that they don't leave there Lasers on all the time. Which means your Detector no matter how “good” it is can’t pick them up until they flick it on.
Cost me 40 Demerit points. I don’t trust it now.

[kiwifruit]

Speed kills, slow down.

[Patrick]

I don't think it's the Radar Detector It’s the not playing by the rules
The Problem is that they don't leave there Lasers on all the time. Which means your Detector no matter how “good” it is can’t pick them up until they flick it on.
Cost me 40 Demerit points. I don’t trust it now.

Say what???

Its the cops fault people speed????

Bananas in pyjamas just are not colourful enough for some folk.....

Don't forget it also cost you the amount of the fine and of purchasing the device, (which let you down), too...

[jrandom]

Don't forget it also cost you the amount of the fine and of purchasing the device, (which let you down), too...

Well, one of the main points of this thread has been that money is just money, but losing one's driver's licence is a serious pain in the arse.

What's your take on it, Patrick?

Do you think that radar detectors are a valid tool in certain circumstances, or do you think that anything which gives people an enhanced ability to Break The Law (tm) and remain undetected is a Bad Thing (tm)?

[Ixion]

Say what???

Its the cops fault people speed????

Bananas in pyjamas just are not colourful enough for some folk.....

Don't forget it also cost you the amount of the fine and of purchasing the device, (which let you down), too...

's a matter of fair play. Like the Rules of Engagement in war, the Navy isn't supposed to lay minefields without warning shipping that they're there. And merchant crews are supposed to be given the opportunity to take to the boats before sinking their ship. That sort of thing. And in the never ending war betwixt the motorist and the snake, there are also unwritten rules: radars are supposed to be left on; no cops on state highways with numbers above 10. And others. Not saying that every snake always respects the rules of engagement . But a gentleman does. Sneaky ain't cricket.

'Tis my task to get safely from A to B as quickly as conditions permit. 'Tis the snake's task to try to catch me out, and give me a ticket. Thus it ever has been. And when both sides play fair and square, if I get caught then it is a meeting between honourable adversaries. But noone respects a cheat.

[1 Free Man]

Mr Free Man, the deal is, I abide by the law when I agree with it.

Not just because it's there.

It's folk like you who put on the brown shirts and swastikas and threw Jewish children into the railway carriages... because that's the law, right?

You gotta learn to think laterally, man. The law is not always right. The law can never always be right; life's too complex to be bound up in rules and regulations.

Sometimes the best way to deal with that fact is public protest and political agitation, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to quietly step around the rules and regulations without bothering anyone.

This thread is all about my search for technology to help me achieve that latter goal.



Well, it was twice within three days, but you're right; it doesn't reflect very well on my awareness level.

Anyway, might I suggest you try to be less irritable on the forum? Agitation is bad for your health, and makes you come across quite unpleasantly. It's just not necessary.

Thank you Mr Jrandom for this friendly bit of cyber sparing.
Please come back to us with a new thread after you have done your 3 months on the pedocycle and tell us if you still hold dear to your outlook on the law.
You are quite right the law isn't always right and no one would agree with you on that point more than me. I will go so far as to say I have in my younger years been as strong headed as you with regard to the law and did my share of trying to beat the system, but the fact of the matter is that I have learned to think laterally and it is easier and cheaper to live within the bounds of the law and be a lot more discreet about where and when you choose to stretch the point and trust your luck. This of course come back to your point about "quietly stepping around the rules and regulation without bothering anyone." You obviously weren't quiety stepping around anything if you attracted the attention of the Plod on two occasions in three days and on both occasions it did bother someone THE PLOD.
Stop and reflect on the cost to you of your indiscretion
1. loss of licence
2. pedocycling for period as determined by 1.
3. Fine/Fines. For sure plod won't miss out on this revenue gathering opertunity. Both of them.
4. Summers coming and all of that good riding weather going to waste while you make your point against the laws of the land.

"Ah grasshopper, one day the student will become the teacher."
Good Luck Jrandom, Go hard man. You show those dictatorial law making pricks that they have got it all wrong.
Anarchy should rule supreme!!!!!

Regards
1 Free man
Older and wiser

PS. Gave up on burning Jews long time ago. Just got to the stage where it wasn't fun anymore.

[Mikkel]

Picks up the old instant on in plenty of time too provided there's a car within a kay or two ahead of me for the Pleeceman to give the game away.

It's always the lack of traffic that is the problem down here on the South Island

What aload of sanctimonious clap trap. Suck it up man. ya broke the law becaues you were riding above the recommended limit and you are blaming you electronic goodies for your dilemma.
The VL 250 is well capable of exceeding the speed limit and the thing that I have found that causes it to do that it the Hand that does the twisty thing on the right hand grip that makes it do so.

He's right - you may find out eventually. And while there are plenty of 250s that can land you a roadside suspension - none of them are capable of doing it in 1st gear (at least not on the open road)

So far I haven't met a motorcyclist who doesn't enjoy speed - speed is relative though... However, having the means to go ridiculously fast tends to tempt you a bit.

IT'S STILL YOUR FAULT you were the dude twisting the wrist. YES???? NO????
I will agree to differ on the self-righteous front.
I think my self-righteousness will help me survive VL 250 or 109.
How many times were you ticketed on that day????
To get ticketed once in a day is, to be sure, a shame. To get ticketed twice on the same day for the same thing is just stupidity.

I didn't see this thread as a bid for sympathy, a whine or cop-bashing in anyway. Of course you'd be gutted getting hit twice inside 3 days - doesn't mean that you don't stand by your actions though. I don't think it happens that often that somebody decides to speed knowing that they are about to collect a ticket.

It is sensible however to ask if chucking a significant amount of dollars at a radar detector is actually going to be worthwhile or not.

Mr Free Man, the deal is, I abide by the law when I agree with it.

Not just because it's there.

It's folk like you who put on the brown shirts and swastikas and threw Jewish children into the railway carriages... because that's the law, right?

You gotta learn to think laterally, man. The law is not always right. The law can never always be right; life's too complex to be bound up in rules and regulations.

Sometimes the best way to deal with that fact is public protest and political agitation, and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to quietly step around the rules and regulations without bothering anyone.

While I agree 100% mate, unfortunately that argument is going to be wasted on a significant percentage of the population - as was proven quite spectacularly by the nazis.

Speed kills, slow down.

Speed kills, go faster!

[1 Free Man]

Speed kills, slow down.

Hey kiwifruit. try a larger font in red!!!
your message isn't getting across!!!
CAPITALS ARE GOOD TO!!!

[Mikkel]

Stop and reflect on the cost to you of your indiscretion
1. loss of licence
2. pedocycling for period as determined by 1.
3. Fine/Fines. For sure plod won't miss out on this revenue gathering opertunity. Both of them.
4. Summers coming and all of that good riding weather going to waste while you make your point against the laws of the land.

Sinners repent!

[McJim]

thank the KB community for sharing its wisdom.

I can't decide whether this is sarcasm or an oxymoron....I think we need a poll.

[jrandom]

Good Luck Jrandom, Go hard man. You show those dictatorial law making pricks that they have got it all wrong.

You have difficulty thinking in non-absolutes, don't you?

I wonder if you're such a smarmy prick in real life, too, or whether it's the internet anonymity that brings it out in you.