So I've been riding motorcycles for over 35 years and in that entire time I do not recall being stopped by police a single time. So today, the Georgia State patrol stopped me not once, not twice, but three times in the North Georgia Mountains on the same day. All for being on a motorcycle and riding safely I guess.
I was on the road at 8:30AM and it was barely 45 degrees outside so the roads were pretty empty. I had just filled up at a gas station and came around a sweeping turn when I looked ahead and all of the cars were being slowed down while a line of maybe 10 GSP Troopers looked in every car and asked the drivers for their ID. My first thought was that there was an escaped convict or one of those Amber Alerts or something. So I flipped up the visor on my helmet and as I rode up the line one of the troopers told me to pull to the side and show my license. No problem. I turned off the bike, flashed my license to him and he says something like "Just need to see your cee-yam". I said "Huh? You want my license and what else?" fishing for my insurance card, registration and I even pulled out my BMW MOA membership card. He says "You got your cee-yam, you good to go". So I said "My what? I'm sorry. What do you need?" Then he points to my motorcycle endorsement, the letters CM printed on my license. Got it...CM. Buh-bye.
So I rode another 15 or 20 miles and was planning to head north on Highway 60 to Morganton when I ran into yet another GSP road block. This time they asked me to pull over (on an inclined road nonetheless) near an intersection and asked me to show them my insurance card. I explained that it was my lucky day since I had just presented my credentials to another pack of troopers. After flashing my insurance card I was off in another direction than I had planned since the troopers were basically blocking my planned route and I did not think it was a good idea to tell them all to get the heck out of my way.
At this point I headed east and took highway 19 up to Blairsville and then Murphy, NC. I stopped in Murphy, had a quick lunch and then rode back to Blairsville alongside another rider on a BMW GS 1100. At Blairsville I headed west to Morganton, caught Highway 60 South and then ended up behind a bunch of pokey Harley riders and some trucks for most of the way. As I neared the elementary school in Suches, I met yet another GSP patrol. This time they asked all the bikers to pull off into the elementary school parking lot so they could check to see if we were wearing DOT approved helmets. I removed my Shoei and let the trooper inspect it. It was kinda funny when the H-D riders that were moving so slowly had trouble finding the DOT sticker on their helmets. I think one of them even swapped out their carnival brain bucket for a real DOT helmet while the trooper was inspecting someone else.
After my third stop of the day I decided to ride back and stopped at Rider's Hill and had a chili dog at the Six Gap Cafe in the dealership. I looked at the Aprilias and Moto Guzzi's on the showroom floor and tried on a few jackets but didn't buy anything. I did end up talking to some guy and I asked him if he ran into any of the road blocks. All the sudden he seems shocked and asked where they were located since he was actually just heading up in to the mountains. I explained that they were all over and that I had been stopped three separate times.
So I had been thinking, why in the heck are State Troopers wasting taxpayer money running these roadblocks and guess what? The guy I am talking to tells me that he is not wearing a DOT helmet, and that his son is riding his brand new motorcycle and he doesn't have an endorsement. The guy asks me what will happen if they get caught. I said "I'd imagine anything from being fined, having the bike impounded, being forced to take a basic riders course...who knows..but they're not pinning medals on people".
I rode back south to Atlanta, fully decked out in ATGATT and watched the various riders heading north. It was now about 65 degrees out and sunny, the fair weather bikers were out for their late afternoon ride and many were in for a big surprise !
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