Colorado Cops HOLY $&*%!!!

[Justin]

Joe - were you at the BMW rally? I'm going to have to join you next year, now that I'm in the club and know the secret handshake  

[bikerfish1100]

yes indeed,on all counts.

good time, yet did very little riding other than there and back.

[sfarson]

Pass few days saw a sheriff east of Hotchkiss, and one near the Colorado National Monument, but that was it, including typically enforcement infested Park County.  Justin... Ohio Pass with the parting clouds was stunning on the way to the rally, but I'm not sure your rig can handle the challenging Ohio Creek Rd.  May need to bring next year your Columbine Pass conquering Busa.  

[Justin]

Steve - is that pic from Ohio pass road? Nice shot  

[SalsaShark]

Spent the weekend out near Powderhorn (Mesa, CO Nat. Monument, Gateway, Million Dollar highway). Our group got pulled over near Montrose for doing 72 in a 65, then not slowing down fast enough as the posted limit dropped to 55...  

No tickets, just a stern warning about slowing down through town as well as a word of caution about beating the rain out of the mountains... we didn't do either.  

Can't wait to get back to the western slope... too much fun out there!


Oh, and riding back on Sunday, no less that 10 Staties on I-70 between Glenwood Springs and Frisco! I had enough and took a back way home.

[Powder Addict]

I-70 and 82 are crawling with CSP.  That's my commute, I see people pulled over all the time.

I know plenty of fun windy roads that I don't believe have ever seen any of our Western Slope finest.  The Debeque Cutoff is epic to ride, has little traffic, and I've never seen a LEO on it.

[sfarson]

Steve - is that pic from Ohio pass road? Nice shot  

Yes, a stunningly beautiful pass.  The approach is distracting.  So is the West Elks Wilderness to the DW.  The clouds had just parted, but a few were still creating shadows with the searing sun.  The yellow of those fields of wildflowers will migrate to the yellow of aspen in about 70 days.  What a sight that will be.

[zer0netgain]

Failure #1 - Going that fast.

Failure #2 - Going that fast without first researching where the cops tend to hang out to catch speeders.

There's reason I don't ride certain roads anymore.  If I have to watch the speedometer more than the road, it's not going to be a fun ride.

[Clovis]

From May 2011 to April 2012 I got 5 speeding tickets.

Yes, 5! After that I got a radar detector and so far so good.

I have a escort 9500ix which has GPS filtering (when you drive past a spot that the unit picks up radar, it checks it's memory to see if it previously detected the same signal in the same location before and if yes, it filters it out.

It's $500 retail but the escort 8500 is the same but without the GPS and runs $300.

For the mount, I used a Ram Mount radar plate -- mounted to my break reservior and I super glued the metal plate to the radar detector itself. Mounts via magnets.

The alerts are the biggest thing. I tried a VizAlert and it was a total peice of shit. never worked. I got my last ticket with it never going off.

I changed over to a radar screamer and 2 LED visual alerts attached to my mirrors. They're brght, loud and really get your attention. The unit also has a switch I installed to turn the lights/screamer from High/Off/Low (low = night).

With a direct wire cable the alert system is another $200.

The mount was around $50 so figure $550-750 total investment. Kind of expensive but when you only have 2 points left...

[Justin]

Kind of expensive but when you only have 2 points left...

You could always try slowing down  

[FJR1300]

You could always try slowing down  

It's no fun to be a law abiding citizen.    

[JimWilliamson]

Just take one of those alert triggers and have it clip your ignition circuit - instant reduction in speed - no 2 second body/mind delay.

[bikerfish1100]

You could always try slowing down  

Justin, coming from you, that is damn funny chit.

and you do realize, slowing down is not a practical option.

[Justin]

Justin, coming from you, that is damn funny chit.

and you do realize, slowing down is not a practical option.

Well, to be fair, I don't have any points on my license  

But I should rephrase "You could always try slowing down where you get tickets"

[bikerfish1100]

But I should rephrase "You could always try slowing down where you are likely to get tickets- in town, and on major connector roads that carry heavy traffic loads."

fify

[RodeRash]

I-70 and 82 are crawling with CSP.  That's my commute, I see people pulled over all the time.

I know plenty of fun windy roads that I don't believe have ever seen any of our Western Slope finest.  The Debeque Cutoff is epic to ride, has little traffic, and I've never seen a LEO on it.

I have.

[Bounce]

I had been closely watching my speed the whole day they nailed me right where it drops from 45 to 35 coasting down the hill.

53 isn't 45 at that point the judge has already made up his mind and is only considering how much to charge. "Coasting" isn't an excuse either.

[Hugh Manley]

i too live in fort collins since 05...

i have been a professional driver since 74 and riding motorcycles since high school, so i have spent a lot of time on the road. learning to recognize likley radar spots is helpful; using my v1 is essential.

however, just buying one doesn't help much. until you learn how to use it, it may even confound you.

nobody is immune from speed tickets, however experience and common sense will surely dramatically reduce risk. colorado is notorious for low speed limits in the mountains and the terrain is favorable to speed traps.

my experience tells me that a good radar detector (used correctly), knowledge of the roads you are on, and road sense are your best hope of riding ticket free.

your mileage may vary...  

[Windblown]

Knowing the locality has a lot to do with it. There are areas that look tempting that I DO NOT speed through. Other areas I know I can run whatever pace I feel like because history has shown me they have no history of having patrols pass though much less any speed traps.

That's one of the advantages of riding on the WV/VA state line. Neither state wants to invest the time or money to patrol close to the border on many of the roads that cross back and forth.