Does anybody here bother to nod them? I nod everybody on a bike, don't get any joy out of these lot...especially on the blade. Sometimes they'll wave or nod if I'm on the GS.
I nod. See them quite a bit round here as they do bikesafe course up and down my road, they nod back then. Did bikesafe last year, worth a go if they do them where you live..
Nope nor to anyone else either as some days you'd be like a nodding dog, that's not to say I wouldn't stop to offer help if someone looked like they needed it.
you never know, that bike cop you see might just be a member on here - and as my pal puts it "you get paid to sit in an office on a sunny day, I get paid to ride my Police VIP Escort bike, or perhaps an unmarked bike, or an undercover covert bike - somebody else (you in your taxes) pays me, my fuel and fixed the bike if it goes wrong" Sometimes I think he's got it good - then I hear what he has to deal with when it goes wrong and seen the impact on him at times
I know what you mean, it does get to a point where there's no point nodding. I never ride my bikes at the weekend as I'm lucky enough to have plenty of days off during the week. The difference between a midweek ride and a Sunday ride is night and day...I only see a handful of others out in the week.
Not a job I would fancy to be honest. The amount of crap they have to put up with is outstanding. Not to mention long hours for little money. Much respect for them....although I'm going to give up nodding at them I think, getting bored of just getting stared at
I always nod, they always seem to nod first I'm sure 99% of them are human. I still can't help running a mental check immediately afterwards Am I insured? Taxed? Tyres ok? Speed ok? Did he see that wheelie?
I was very lucky to spend the last 7 years of my Police service as a Sergeant on a dedicated Bike team in Cleveland, before I retired in 2011. We put an immense amount of time and energy into breaking down barriers with motorcyclists and engaged in a positive way. We ran an annual Bike show called Ridewell that used to attract up to about 15,000 people to the one day event, we ran our own observed ride programme alongside Bikesafe. It wasn't pure Bikesafe because we refused to charge for it. We used to do escorted (VIP style) rides for national Ride to Work day with a bikers breakfast at the end of that. In terms of nodding, we went away from that and replaced it with a large wave. We worked with Yamaha, Honda and Harley Davidson who each gave us a couple of loan bikes every year which we liveried and used as ice breakers, however, they were NEVER used for enforcement. When all said and done, every member of our team were riders on their days off, all of us were human and just enjoyed a bit of craic with people at bike events that we attended. We worked well with our neighbouring bike team in Durham who had the same outlook as we did and since my retirement the two sections have merged. The Ridewell event has closed down but Durhams Bikewise event still runs. It was clear that one of the events would have to give in terms of efficiencies. This years Bikewise event is on Sunday 24th July. Get yourselves along and you can see how some forces really make an effort to make bikers welcome. So, nod, wave, whatever, if they don't give you one, get in first and chances are, you'll get one back.
After 25 years riding a Police bike, in my opininion it is still the best job I could have ever done. Even despite the bad crash that left me disabled and put me out to grass, I still loved every minute, and if I could wind the clock back, I would do it all over again in an instance. There are some unpleasant things that have to be dealt with, that applies to all the emergency services, but I also got to do and see things that the average member of the biking public can only dream about, on top of which I got qualifications and experience that has allowed me to continue making my living in motorcycles to this day. It is a lot different today as most Police riders are coppers riding a bike rather than motorcyclists who happen to be coppers, they don't have ethics of years gone by, so I no longer bother to acknowledge them.
You're right in many respects there Tony. Yep, the skills and quals have allowed me to stay in the industry. We were fortunate to be a dedicated team with our own individual bikes, rather than traffic officers who rode a bike now and again. That said, I find that most bikers will generally get a better deal from a bike cop than one in a car.
That is for sure. We also had a dedicated team and our own personal issue bikes. Even our car crews had their own personal issue. There were 42 of us who were full time riders, now in my old force there are maybe 6 part time riders. But then, Traffic policing in many forces is no longer considered important or even front line policing, hence numbers and budgets slashed, hence the reason we no longer have professional traffic cops and very few if any have a class 1 qualification. Makes me glad sometimes that I am old and a member of the old school
I have done in the past but in bucks they tend to take no notice at all, the last time I did that he did a u turn and I ended up with a 100 quid ticket for a small plate
There is a reason for that. You are in Bucks, which is Thames Valley, which is my old force, and they no longer have the likes of me and they no longer have a dedicated motorcycle wing. I started in Aylesbury in 1975, went to Chesham and then Marlow before going back into the Royal County In all seriousness, it is a different breed now.
Not sure if you meant to type "nob at them" but it certainly made me chuckle To answer the original question, I personally nod or wave at all bikers, no matter what they rider or wear, unless its a cock on a bike on a hot summers day in shorts and a t-shirt, they shouldn't own a bike IMHO, either that or they have not fallen of as yet dressed like that, you only ever do it the once
Having spent the last 25 years helping others drive and ride through observing for a safety organisation, I can honestly say we have met and cooperated with some fantastically skilled and trained bike and car coppers, with the same ethos, to improve rider and driver skills and road safety, not only that they are great guys. They have all retired now, those that still work within the safety industry are just the same, but the serving plods are a totally different breed of arrogant superior twats who you can have no empathy with or respect, hence I would not cross the road to p*ss on them if they were on fire, let alone nod to them. No wonder they are totally alienated from most sections of society.
Yep, that about sums it up. Still a few good ones, but not many. In answer to the original question yes I do, but there again I am a bit of a nod tart [emoji1]
