Had a run-in with The Man two days ago. Seems like the group I was riding with was wreaking havoc on the roadways above Tillamook, Oregon. Being Motorcycle USA’s Cruiser Editor, you’d figure I was rumbling up Hwy 101 with a bunch of Vagos riding Harleys with obnoxiously loud straight pipes. On the contrary, I was riding sport touring motorcycles with Motorcycle USA’s Managing Editor, Bart Madson, photographer and former Medford policeman Tom Lavine, and another photographer and former 30-year Medford Police veteran named Don. Not your usual group of suspected rabble rousers.

It appears that we were doing dangerous high-speed passes over double yellow lines, dodging in and out of traffic at breakneck speed, evening cutting off a small, yellow bus filled with school kids. One truck felt compelled to follow us while dialing 911, fuming beneath the collar that a bunch of bikes with out-of-state plates was up here in his Oregon driving like maniacs on his roads. Damn bikers. Run the lot of ‘em to jail.

Truth be told, I hate idiots who ride like I mentioned above as much as the next guy. But that wasn’t us. Sure, we passed a few cars. Legally. Sure, we may have blitzed by a few people, but when you have two-way traffic and short opportunities in which to pass and you’re riding a bike like the BMW K1300GT or Yamaha FJR1300, then cars are only going to see a flash before you’re by them. But at the time the sheriff pulled over to talk to us, we had barely ridden a couple of miles after visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and the guy they singled out, Don, was the most conservative rider of the bunch and was always bringing up the rear. Not only that, being a former cop, I’m pretty sure he knows the rules of the road.

It boils down to two things. This guy was pissed off that a group of motorcyclists passed his big truck like it was standing still. To boot, the bikes had California plates on them, which makes them even more of a target. Funniest part is, it was a bunch of Oregonians riding them. Fortunately, the young sheriff pieced together what was going on and was able to mediate the situation between the guy who was ready to place us all under citizen’s arrest. When the sheriff pulled over, we happened to be stopped on the side of the road checking camera equipment, not terrorizing traffic down the highway like it was reported.
 
I’m just curious as to how many false reports because of people's prejudice against motorcyclists police departments get now that everybody has a cell phone? Talk about wasted time and resources. Since the rise in popularity of cell phones, seems like every other person these days has the Barney Fife syndrome. Citizens on patrol. They’re out there, and they don’t like us. Damn bikers.