La Conner Not Friendly To Motorcyclists--My Weekend Adventure

[choco]

So I take a nice loop Friday and Saturday, from my house in Duvall, catch the ferry in Edmonds, barely made it, then off in Kingston and make haste to Port Angeles, get on the Black Ball ferry with little time to spare, get half way to Victoria and ferry turns around because of a medical emergency. Eventually back to Victoria, great weather, nice trip. Meet my future son-in-law on his Harley Dyna Fat Bob. We head off to Port Renfrew, he has to push his bike like never before to keep me in sight, but he's doing very well, I'm impressed. The road from Sooke to Port Renfrew is scenic and twisty but way rougher than a year ago. Lot's of bumps and we are riding in and out of shadows to make it worse. I hit an unmarked bump at about 95 mph and leave the seat, the front hits another bump, high speed wobble, soon straightens out and he pretty much did the same, we slow it down, to about 80. Arrive at Coastal Kitchen Café, power is out almost everywhere, but we get beer and clam chowder from the propane stove. Take off to Duncan on one of the best roads ever.

So on the way home, I get on the ferry in Sydney, pull up behind a new Gold Wing and see from the license plate holder that the couple bought it at Ride Motorsports in Woodinville, where I bought my VFR in 2004. We chat and a Harley rider hears us talking about Bothell and chimes in with his memories of the community that he lived in 15 years ago. So just about to Anacortes and we all gather back at the bikes and the Harley guy says he just discovered that he is on the wrong ferry, he thought he was on the Blackball ferry and was heading to Olympia. He took it in good humor though. Then it was time to ride off and his Harley wouldn't start. Probably a kill switch thing, who knows.

I'm getting to it.

So I cruise down the Reservation Road, a back way to La Conner, a tourist town, art shops, restaurants, and a brew pub. I don't see any speed limit signs and am actually relaxed and taking in the sights. A cop car is heading north while I'm heading south, I look down my speedo says 60 or so MPH. Suddenly I hear a siren, see lights and pull over. So instead of repeating my story I will copy the letter I sent to the La Conner town council, chamber of commerce, Sheriff's dept. and my State Legislators.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

July 7, 2013

Dear Sirs,

I would like to express my concern over the traffic control in or near La Conner. I felt I was harassed by two separate police officers. I was on my Honda VFR sport touring motorcycle coming into town from the Reservation Road, as I had just got off the ferry in Anacortes and was heading home. I always try to stop off at La Conner and spend money in the shops and restaurants and the brew pub. I was cruising into town across the bay when I heard a siren and was stopped by an agitated police officer. I saw him driving north as I was driving south, I looked at my speedo and thought I was fine as my speedo said 60 or so MPH. I did not see any speed limits signs, the road was dry, sunlit, very little traffic and I passed no one, just cruising and taking in the sights. The officer said I was doing 62 in a 50 zone, he let me off with a lecture andwarning but threatened to give me a ticket if I argued. I was in no way arguing, just stating my case. I was in no way driving recklessly. He on the other hand said he reached “triple digits” after he turned around and pursued me. I think it was the officer who was driving recklessly not me. So I proceeded across the orange bridge and into town, I decided I had seen enough of La Conner so cruised on through town, BTW, I noticed the same police officer stopped a car behind me. I entered the round-a-bout heading toward Conway and was suddenly pulled over by another officer in a black suburban or some similar vehicle. I couldn’t imagine what I was being stopped for. He said I had an “obstructed license plate.” I had fabricated an aluminum bar to hold my tank bags away from my mufflers and he said it was obstructing the view of my plates. You can read my license plates with or without the bar in place. He also warned me and threatened to give me a ticket. I had to remove my saddle bags, then my seat to dig out my registration. While this was going on the first officer showed up and continued his scolding grimace.

So I have to suspect that your town council has decided La Conner does not want to be a motorcycle rider friendly town. I noticed there were far fewer motorcycles parked in front of the merchant’s shops than usual, and this was Saturday afternoon, prime tourist time.

I am a member of several motorcycle blogs and I intend to get the word out that La Conner is not a motorcycle friendly town, better to stick to Conway and Anacortes. You must understand that most motorcyclists, whether they drive a Harley or not, are respectable citizens with good jobs and tend to spend money in destination towns. I also had to conclude that since I ended up talking to three officers (a Native female officer was with the first officer or may have had her own vehicle, I didn’t notice, but she also came up and talked to me, although she was nice enough). I have to conclude that perhaps If one lowly slow cruising motorcycle rider can attract so much attention in your little town then perhaps there is a redundancy in your police force and you chamber of commerce and town council members should convene and discuss the option of saving some tax payer money by laying off one or two bored officers.

You would save taxpayers money and the town of La Conner would begin to attract more motorcycle riders who will spend money in your lovely little town.

Thank you for hearing my concerns.

Lee Anderson

Duvall, WA

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What I didn't elaborate on was the confrontational power tripping attitude of both officers. So, with this post, I am following up on my word in the letter to the La Conner folks. If you live or ride in the Pacific Northwest, avoid La Conner.

[Duc2V4]

This is not an uncommon thing happening. Several cities in So. Cal are cracking down on motorcyclist and are pulling them over for any discrepancy they can spot (or hear), and in some cases, just because they can. Most of the time it is to catch those who have modified exhaust, but like many of us, we tend to not stop there with modifications, i.e. Fender eliminators, removal of reflectors, different blinkers, etc. So any item that the officer spots he can write a "fix-it" ticket. Long Beach actually had a section of road where they had a sound meter going and you would be pulled over if your exhaust was above the allowable limit, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach were doing the "random" stops for those they felt were modified motorcycles. Now personally I have never experienced any hassle from any law enforcement but I usually do not do much riding in these cities even though I am in the heart of them. I used to do a lot of PCH rides thought HB amd CM, but I have not recently nor have I been since these "crackdowns" were implemented.

I believe these types of law enforcement actions are based on the public and/or city councils impression of motorcyclist, from the Harley's with loud pipes, the "Stunters" stopping freeway traffic to perform their stunts and the wanna be "MotoGP" riders racing down the boulevards, I'm sure the public is getting the wrong impression of motorcyclist such as these and want something done about it. Unfortunately, the public (or city council members for that matter) do not or can not distinguish between the types of riders like we can/do. They do not see them as 1%'ers, Stunters or Squids, they see them as motorcyclist,

[Cogswell]

Lee - sorry to hear of these incidents. I've been up that way a few times to hit Chuckanut Drive in to Bellingham. I had a similar incident on the Going to the Sun Highway up to Whistler in my car. The LEO said I was going 57 in a 50 (KPH), less than 5 mph over the limit. You'd think I had threatened the Canadian Prime Minister - he held me there nearly 45 mins. An experience like that can really sour a person on a locale. My guess is that type of philosophy flows down from the top - many small town councils and mayors are addicted to the revenue that brings in and figure that even with the negative publicity, there are plenty more out there that are unaware.

[MeyekulBayrd]

And more reasons I could never live in Kalifornia..

[Monk]

You should contact the AMA, that's what they do. I've seen in the past where they've changed some N. Eastern states and areas that were giving MC's a lot of crap like this.

And, It would help for MC'ist to join the AMA.

[Belfry]

Lee - sorry to hear of these incidents. I've been up that way a few times to hit Chuckanut Drive in to Bellingham. I had a similar incident on the Going to the Sun Highway up to Whistler in my car. The LEO said I was going 57 in a 50 (KPH), less than 5 mph over the limit. You'd think I had threatened the Canadian Prime Minister - he held me there nearly 45 mins.

Sorry to hear you ran into problems up here Cogswell. I think you're referring to the Sea to Sky Highway (Going to the Sun is in Glacier National Park). I lived up that way briefly in the '90s when the highway was two lanes, no divider, very twisty and often covered with rockfall and occasionally mudslides. Prior to the Olympics in 2010 the provincial government invested $795 million straightening and four-laning the road all the way from North Vancouver to Whistler. Many sections now also have a concrete divider. This has really reduced the number of fatalities on the road (many were due to head-on collisions as people lost control on icy roads after skiing and drinking at Whistler), but a new scourge has developed: 20-somethings racing tuner cars. A couple of months ago the highway patrol impounded eight cars for racing. Its been a couple of years since I was up that way on a bike, but I haven't heard of the police targeting bikes on the Sea to Sky--just people flagrantly breaking the speed limit on bikes or in cars. You must have drawn their attention with your flashy wheels.

[choco]

Good comments here. I wouldn't have made a big deal out of it had not the second officer stopped me. That's when I felt they were looking for motorcycles to harass. It's strange because on any other weekend La Conner has many motorcycles parked in the streets and cruising through and everybody that rides seems friendly and they're spending money in town.

[Cogswell]

Lee - sorry to hear of these incidents. I've been up that way a few times to hit Chuckanut Drive in to Bellingham. I had a similar incident on the Going to the Sun Highway up to Whistler in my car. The LEO said I was going 57 in a 50 (KPH), less than 5 mph over the limit. You'd think I had threatened the Canadian Prime Minister - he held me there nearly 45 mins.

Sorry to hear you ran into problems up here Cogswell. I think you're referring to the Sea to Sky Highway (Going to the Sun is in Glacier National Park). I lived up that way briefly in the '90s when the highway was two lanes, no divider, very twisty and often covered with rockfall and occasionally mudslides. Prior to the Olympics in 2010 the provincial government invested billions straightening and four-laning the road all the way from North Vancouver to Whistler. Many sections now also have a concrete divider. This has really reduced the number of fatalities on the road (many were due to head-on collisions as people lost control on icy roads after skiing and drinking at Whistler), but a new scourge has developed: 20-somethings racing tuner cars. A couple of months ago the highway patrol impounded eight cars for racing. Its been a couple of years since I was up that way on a bike, but I haven't heard of the police targeting bikes on the Sea to Sky--just people flagrantly breaking the speed limit on bikes or in cars. You must have drawn their attention with your flashy wheels.

" I think you're referring to the Sea to Sky Highway (Going to the Sun is in Glacier National Park). "

Wow - my brain was up and locked on that one! I definitely had that mixed up. Yeah - it was on the Sea to Sky to Whistler.

"You must have drawn their attention with your flashy wheels. :wink:"

I guess I'll have to tone it down a bit . . .

[HispanicSlammer]

I once had a cop tell me I had no business riding on HIS road. State patrol officer in Hot Springs - stopped us on our way to Walden. I looked at him with disbelief, what business is it of his what I am doing there - yea I was speeding so what, not triple digits just 5 mph over jeez - he is a public servant of Colorado my state my taxes pay his salary. NO its not HIS road! It is mine as much as it is his? Jackass, " shut up and give me the damn ticket so I can go" I said. I was being polite and good up to that point, he had already wrote it and said he was giving it to me. He did not like that but you know what - assholes are assholes no matter what they are wearing. He tore it off and shoved it at me. I said "thanks goodbye" and he followed us another 10 miles before he turned around at the county line. Most cops are cool but every once in a while you get a jackass!

[Dutchy]

Hello Douglasthecook!

I would advise you to stay way from Washington.......

[douglasthecook]

Hello Douglasthecook!

I would advise you to stay way from Washington.......

fine.jpg

Actually I'm from Everett, WA, not too far south of La Conner. My dad takes his boat there on the weekends, and yes, it is a tourist trap, very scenic, but I tend to stay away. I haven't been back to QA since '04 as a matter of fact. There are some really nice rides up in that area, like the Cascade Loop, or the Olympic Peninsula. Abouht the only thing I miss from there is the fresh seafood! Even in Bothell, the cops don't like motorcyclists, fortunately my military I.D. was able to get me out with a warning. I still have the tickets from that weekend on the way to the races, and are going on my wall!!!

[dalesvfr]

In one paragraph you say you were doing 90 and stopped for a beer. If you plan on letting local government know about your writings on blogs you might want to delete that bit.

[RollinAgain]

I once had a cop pull me over and tell me that I was doing 85 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Such a liar.....I was doing at least 100 mph

I wish I had told him that I was on the way to the local pub to generate some tax revenue for the town. Maybe he would have gave me an escort to the pub instead of a ticket

Rollin

[vanion2]

When I do get pulled over I make sure to ask that they legibly print their name and badge number on the ticket/warning early on, never argue, and remain polite admitting to nothing. To date I have never got a lecture from any LEO and the warning/ticket process is usually pretty quick.

And if there were no posted speed limit signs even if they had written you a ticket that's grounds for dismissal since you can't violate a speed limit that isn't posted. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a discrete micro recorder in your pocket for these types of scenarios either. Just "accidentally" but discretely start recording the conversation where you get the LEO to state their name and badge number and let them do the rest. The beauty of the internet is you can really get the message out their with some bad publicity and even a stuck up town council would have to take action in a touristy area. That and it really helps your case when your lawyer plays it back in court.

[TimC]

Sorry to hear about the bad LEO encounters. There are bad apples in every bunch, and unfortunately you met two of them in one day. I have much respect for police officers, but some of them really are head cases on mega power trips. Yes, I was speeding. No, it's not a capital offense, and I don't need your condescending attitude. Do your job quickly and efficiently and we'll part ways without incident.

BTW, I have to say the most professional officers I've met have been state patrol officers - one in Indiana and a couple in Ohio. Courteous, respectful, and businesslike. I hated getting the tickets, but they never treated me badly.

Glad to see you took action by writing the letter, Choco. That's more than most people do. The authorities (in this case legislators and LEO brass) have no idea there's a problem if people don't speak up. Good job!

[Rice]

Your two references to riding and having a beer jumped out at me as a red flag - Maybe I've read it wrong, but I would rephrase these bits.

Regardless, this does not take away from the fact that you were harrassed and that this behavior of public servants must be brought to the public's attention.

I am sure that we all had these run-ins with bad apples in traffic enforcement. Having had my share, I saw more good ones than bad, which to me means that there is not a systemic issue, but your regular human factor at play here.

[RED RUNNER]

I wonder if most of these questionable practices are because the police are getting pressure to increase revenue. I have been stopped in my car twice and ticketed for not having a front license plate. On one occasion the cop kind of apologized for having to do it. We also have cops roving the public parking lots looking for absent front license plates. Frankly I'd rather have them patrolling the streets.

[Monk]

For the sake of ppl that think no posted speed is an out for speeding, remember that there is a state speed limit when not posted, and that iignorance of the law is no excuse. There are signs around here that say end of 35 mph(or whatever), then give no speed limit, this State is 55 when not posted.

I agree with vanion2 be nice don't say anything negative(save it for court), even when you know the ticket is being written, remember that they will add notes of what you say, and do on the back of their copy. You might have a better worked out story for court, but if you run your mouth to the leo, they now have two different statements.

[luvtoleanit]

When I lived in Bothell I never made it up to Anacortes, guess I missed out. I did get to ride, several times, with a gentleman who lived across the sound in Port Orchard. We did several rides around the Peninsula on the 101 through Port Angeles. There was one stretch of road for something like 55 or 60 miles with no lights or stop signs and we were flying through there, motorcycle bliss. The best part of the rides were getting back to the Ferry to get me back to the Seattle area. He'd guide me back to the boat and we'd be absolutely flying. He would routinely pass 20 cars at once on his Ducati. It was something to behold.

[NorthernVFRDave]

You guys all missed the real issue with this post... Didn't you see, he said he was going to meet his future son-in-law who rides a Harley...

All west coast riders report, this man needs help....

All kidding aside, some towns don't like bikes, can't tell you the number of times I've been stopped in a city 10 mins from here. Stupid stuff, like spring time paperwork checks, is that exhaust legal and other dumb questions. Best one was last year to see if I had a MC rating on my DL. Every time, the stop is because someone reported a bike like mine driving in an unsafe manner. A lie most likely, so I just avoid the place.

[Switchblade]

The one that stands out in my mind when this subject comes up is as follows about 3 31/2 years ago when the road construction work wa on going in Asheville N.C. Headed down the interstate on the VFR after riding all day. Orange contruction signs look up N.C. State High patrol sitting in the median you guess it shooting radar. Pull's me over ask me

Officer; "do you why I stop you today

Me:" Oh NO."

Officer: you were doing 65mph in a contruction zone and your the third one this afternoon.

Me: SO !!!!

Officer: In this state thats automatic $250 fine plus 20 over speeding ticket and i was setting right at the speed limit sign so "DONT SAY YOU DIDN'T SEE THE SIGN".

Me: NO I SEEN THE SPEED LIMIT SIGN AND READS 65mph

Officer: NO NO YOUR WRONG ..

I'M pissed by now I turn and look and sure enough the speed limit on his side is 45mph.

Me: Buddy the posted speed in that direction is 65 mph.

Cop: under his breath " WHAT THE HELL "

Me: Tell you what will do I follow you to next exit and will turn around and then will go past the speed limit sign and will turn around again and you tell me what the sign says. Oh yeah AND HOW MANY TICKETS HAVE YOU WRITEN THIS AFTERNOON.

Cop: ARE YOU SURE?

Me: Yeah officer I am postived

Cop: DAM you have nice day.

So the speed limit was 45mph incoming but out going it was 65mph .

[swfarrar]

I'm completely sympathetic about the harassment issue but it may not be completely a revenue issue. Anacortes had become a total cluster-fuck on weekends, not from the occasional VFR but from huge groups of Harleys that completely occupied the town. I'm sure they contributed a lot of revenue in the bars and restaurants but I expect the sheer numbers of them and the noise had driven out almost any other kind of visitor. I've ridden through there quite a few times and I wouldn't blame the locals for trying to calm things down a bit.

My favorite LEO encounter in that part of the world was on the road north of Whistler, headed for Pemberton and LIllooet. I got pulled over by two cops in a green unmarked Subaru Forester. They were concerned because the fog lights I had on my Magna were a sort of iridescent yellow and they weren't sure that was legal in Canada. After they spent quite a while arguing among themselves they let me off with a stern warning to look into it.

[Cogswell]

I once had a cop tell me I had no business riding on HIS road. State patrol officer in Hot Springs - stopped us on our way to Walden. I looked at him with disbelief, what business is it of his what I am doing there - yea I was speeding so what, not triple digits just 5 mph over jeez - he is a public servant of Colorado my state my taxes pay his salary. NO its not HIS road! It is mine as much as it is his? Jackass, " shut up and give me the damn ticket so I can go" I said. I was being polite and good up to that point, he had already wrote it and said he was giving it to me. He did not like that but you know what - assholes are assholes no matter what they are wearing. He tore it off and shoved it at me. I said "thanks goodbye" and he followed us another 10 miles before he turned around at the county line. Most cops are cool but every once in a while you get a jackass!

Sounds like that guy had watched the scene in 'Smokey and the Bandit' where Sheriff Justice meets the state trooper a few too many times. "I don't care what it is . . . you can't drive this P.O.S. on MY highway!"

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-xixt4bt7uhbJmm/smokey_and_the_bandit_1977_sheriff_justice_encounters_state_trooper/

fast forward to 1:10:20

[2thdr]

I'm completely sympathetic about the harassment issue but it may not be completely a revenue issue. Anacortes had become a total cluster-fuck on weekends, not from the occasional VFR but from huge groups of Harleys that completely occupied the town. I'm sure they contributed a lot of revenue in the bars and restaurants but I expect the sheer numbers of them and the noise had driven out almost any other kind of visitor. I've ridden through there quite a few times and I wouldn't blame the locals for trying to calm things down a bit.

My favorite LEO encounter in that part of the world was on the road north of Whistler, headed for Pemberton and LIllooet. I got pulled over by two cops in a green unmarked Subaru Forester. They were concerned because the fog lights I had on my Magna were a sort of iridescent yellow and they weren't sure that was legal in Canada. After they spent quite a while arguing among themselves they let me off with a stern warning to look into it.

Sounds like you were being a real threat to the well-being of the motoring public!

[Sparrow75]

Lee, sucks to hear about that. All these accounts might slow me down a bit more in these small touristy towns.

On the other hand, I had a rather positive encounter a couple years ago with a state trooper on the west coast of Washington, south of Forks. I was slowing not fast enough into a small bridge repair area. Did 30 mph when I should have been at 20 mph or something and came to full stop at the bridge.. After traffic was let through the construction zone, he immediately pulled me over. Speeding was mentioned, then after like 30 min of him talking with his office and putting passport info and licence info into his system he came back, with the ticket in hand.

Apologized for having taken so long to process. He then ripped the ticket up and said the wait was payment enough. I was impressed.