An interesting moment on the road

[quickbuck]

Going a little off topic but what bikes to cops ride? I've only ever seen the beemers but the other day I'm SURE I saw one out of the corner of my eye riding past on a vfr800

Beemers and Honda ST1100's.... left over from APEC.
They have a longitudinal V4 in them. And it is joked that if you do the Rider Training Course on a Honda rather than a BMW, you are cheating!
I assure you that it doesn't make it much easier.... Hell, I was still challenged on my little CBR600.

Not sure if they have any other models in their fleet... but will find out.

I always wave to the Bikie Cops. Done a bit of training with them, and they often come to work for training, so get to meet many.
The skills course they do is well worth the time.... You just have to be in the right place to be able to do one though......

[Big Dave]

You just have to be in the right place to be able to do one though......

The instructors will run a training session for organised groups.
They ran a very good session at a recent RAT raid in Masterton.

[quickbuck]

The instructors will run a training session for organised groups.
They ran a very good session at a recent RAT raid in Masterton.

Correct, they do.....
Just I'm not in the position to be able to say where and when....
Will be getting them up to Ohakea for us before summer is out for another one.

I know they did one for HOG on Ohakea back in November.

[86GSXR]

If they do the course down this way I would sign up in an instant. I wouldn't join up though, I'm a bit old for that now, prefer to just fire up and go at a whim

[quickbuck]

If they do the course down this way I would sign up in an instant. I wouldn't join up though, I'm a bit old for that now, prefer to just fire up and go at a whim

Well, actually for them it is UP.
The Police College is in Wellington, and that is where the instructor is based.

I might look and see if we can get the public involved in the next one if it is under subscribed......

Funny how many people are too scared to demonstrate their riding skills in front of a Police Officer.....
I was amazed.... Then realised that the people who get all flustered actually do lack a lot of confidence!
They appear to have it when the helmet is on and visor is down, but when being "watched" they crumble!
Scary to think what would happen when it hits the fan on the road.

I'm telling you, it is a great course, and they will not be issuing tickets for anything! My bike wasn't even road legal.... Doesn't have to be on an airfield

Oh, about APEC time I had a desire to join the Police so I could ride the bikes....
Then I realised what part of the job entails.......
The bikes are the vehicles that get through to the traffic jam to the cause.... and I hate the sight of leaking bodies.....
So I continue to fix things that don't feel pain

[eelracing]

I did a track day some years back at Manfield and there were about 5 or 6 coppers racing around as well.Man they could punt those fat old tourers too.

Back in the day i even contemplated joining as the thought of being payed to ride bikes was quite appealing.But around the same time the then Govt slashed the traffic cop division,so that put payed to that idea.

[quickbuck]

Back in the day i even contemplated joining as the thought of being payed to ride bikes was quite appealing.But around the same time the then Govt slashed the traffic cop division,so that put payed to that idea.

Yep, the bean counters hated the bikes as they were far too expensive to maintain. It cost more to run a bike than a commodore.

Silly things caused this though... Things like the copper dropping his bike.
Hence the tough training they do now.
Also all the bikes would be lined up in a row, and then the one on the end falls over and causes all the dominoes to fall...... The headlights would get broken at over $1000 a piece.....
Of course all of this is hearsay

[86GSXR]

I hate blood too, but with the right training I'd be there as quickly as I could, if I could. I love life and wish I could save them. Death is too instantaneous sometimes and I can't go into the finer details of averting it. Simply because I don't know, who does?

Bikes are expensive, sometimes it's better to write them off than to repair, although it's even better to avoid ooop'ss altogether........

[WuZards-Eugene]

about a month ago I was on Cruisy Wednesday ride, stopped to see what was happening with sams bike, then since there were another 5 people there helping I buggered off up the rimutakas. Daringly I caught up to a Copper on his beemer. Once he hit the hill he went ballistic, couldnt believe what I was seeing. I cautiously kept up with him on my ZX10, passing cars left right and center. We catch up to richie from tss, then stop at the top. The cop pulls in as well an has a friendly chat with us, jesus who would have thought. Only when he said that its a pain in his arse to ride the bike all the time was when I stopped liking him. Seemed like a good bloke tho.

[eelracing]

Only when he said that its a pain in his arse to ride the bike all the time was when I stopped liking him. Seemed like a good bloke tho.

If he meant riding a fat ol beemer i can understand.

But if he meant bikes in general then he's a waste of space.Prob drives a commondore too.

[Winston001]

Only when he said that its a pain in his arse to ride the bike all the time was when I stopped liking him. Seemed like a good bloke tho.

Its probably fine in good weather but in rain, wind, heavy traffic etc, riding could get a bit tedious. Taking gloves on and off, always having to put stuff securely away as compared with just tossing it in a car. Most cops I've ever talked to who liked bikes enjoyed riding on the job. The weather was the biggest minus. Hot city conditions as bad as anything.

[nico]

Going a little off topic but what bikes to cops ride? I've only ever seen the beemers but the other day I'm SURE I saw one out of the corner of my eye riding past on a vfr800

they used to ride st1100's i think
before they got the contract with bmw

[jrandom]

Only when he said that its a pain in his arse to ride the bike all the time was when I stopped liking him.

But riding a bike all the time is a pain in the arse.

[Sparrowhawk]

Only when he said that its a pain in his arse to ride the bike all the time was when I stopped liking him.

Once you have to do anything every day, it becomes tedious. Instead of being free to jump on the bike for a blat, you have to get on the bike, for an 8 hour shift of work. And, despite all the shit the cops get around here, I don't think anyone would suggest that a bike cop has an easy job (or any cop really).

I know a guy that works on NZV8 engines. I thought he was the luckiest bastard I met that week. But he said, "nah, I'm over it. The engines are all the same, and the time pressures are huge". What I'm saying is anything you enjoy, no matter how much, can turn into a chore when you do it 40+ hours a week, every week.

[JimO]

we dont have bike cops here