Police pulling me over.........

[Spinney]

Back in my early 20s I used to drive a small ex post office van (in the days when they were bright yellow).
In about 2 years of driving it, I was never stopped by the police.
I lent it to my brother to move his student stuff. In a trip up and down the M5/M6 he was stopped twice by a copper wanting to check he was legit.

One of the advantages of being female?

 

[Dec66]

I don't think it is justifiable unless the person is clearly young enough to need L plates. If OP looks younger than 19 and/or is riding in a way that is likely to pose a threat to the safety of himself or others, then yes, stop him. Otherwise it's not ok. There needs to be confounding factors to make it a legitimate "I've got a hunch" stop. Simply saying that most 125 riders are learners and therefore OP is a non-compliant learner is not reason enough.

Also, 125s aren't "usually more expensive" to insure. Based on experience, if you have a full license like OP does, they are either similarly priced or cheaper insurance-wise than for a larger bike of the same age and/or value.

I just did quotes on, aptly enough, Confused.com for a pair of bikes, for a 50-year-old man with a clean bike licence and full NCD:

Honda CBR 125 R - £93.75 fully comp
Honda VFR 800 F - £162.18 fully comp

Which is what I would expect.

 

[Dec66]

Same as a 50 year old man would pay more to insure a corsa that is regularly driven and crashed by 17 year olds than a big more powerful Volvo than is driven generally by more mature people and involved in less incidents.

They wouldn't, though, would they?

Run some quotes through.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I just did quotes on, aptly enough, Confused.com for a pair of bikes, for a 50-year-old man with a clean bike licence and full NCD:

Honda CBR 125 R - £93.75 fully comp
Honda VFR 800 F - £162.18 fully comp

Which is what I would expect.

Fair enough. Obviously a different risk profile to me and those I associate with.

 

[Electric_Andy]

How do you do this without stopping the rider?

That's my point. If it's not obvious by sight or behaviour that they are 19 or under then the traffic stop is discriminatory.

 

[Dec66]

Fair enough. Obviously a different risk profile to me and those I associate with.

I'd change your insurer. If they're looking purely at the motorbike and taking no account for the rider's age, record, experience or physical condition, they don't deserve to be in business.

I could understand if you lived somewhere where a 125cc bike is more likely to get nicked than a 750cc bike, but surely that's not the case these days?

 

[Dec66]

How exactly is it discriminatory if you can't tell what the age of the rider is? What are the police discriminating against?

In fact. if they were stopping people purely on the basis that they appeared to under 19 that in itself would be discriminatory.

It's discriminatory on the basis that a rider of a motorcycle of 125cc below is automatically deemed worthy of suspicion for not displaying L-plates.

It's not all about convenient silos such as age, colour, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or class.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

That's my point. If it's not obvious by sight or behaviour that they are 19 or under then the traffic stop is discriminatory.

You know people learn to ride motorcycles at much older ages than that, don't you?

 

[John the Monkey]

How do you do this without stopping the rider?

shout "What about that Taylor Swift then?" and if they shrug and look blank...

 

[mjr]

Isn't that a bit like saying black people are to be regarded as suspicious because a minority of black people have committed criminal acts?

No. One can stop riding a small motorcycle but one cannot stop being black as easily.

Are we saying that somebody simply wishing to save money on fuel and insurance is to be treated suspiciously for doing so?

It seems so, but I think that's probably wrong. If I were the OP, I'd be collecting whatever stop notices, leaving the handlebar/helmet camera running and filing a formal complaint if it was becoming too frequent, then if that didn't work, going to the press, maybe with help from a group like MAG if they would.

 

[Drago]

I once got stopped on the M20 while riding my KMX125 only a few weeks from passing my test.

"Don't see many one two fives on the motorway, Sir", said the moustachioed copper.

"I bet you don't see many Lamborghinis either, but you don't automatically stop one when you do" was my rebellious spotty mouthed reply. That earned me a thorough walk around while he scrutinised the bike, but as it was only three months old and totally standard that served only to waste more of his time.

 

[Dec66]

I once got stopped on the M20 while riding my KMX125 only a few weeks from passing my test.

"Don't see many one two fives on the motorway, Sir", said the moustachioed copper.

"I bet you don't see many Lamborghinis either, but you don't automatically stop one when you do" was my rebellious spotty mouthed reply. That earned me a thorough walk around while he scrutinised the bike, but as it was only three months old and totally standard that served only to waste more of his time.

I didn't think learners were allowed on motorways?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

125+no L plates=stops by plod.

Ask your local station Sargent to out a word for you.

And yes it is discriminatory. Perfectly legal justified discrimination.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I didn't think learners were allowed on motorways?

from=after

 

[Dec66]

It seems so, but I think that's probably wrong. If I were the OP, I'd be collecting whatever stop notices, leaving the handlebar/helmet camera running and filing a formal complaint if it was becoming too frequent, then if that didn't work, going to the press, maybe with help from a group like MAG if they would.

Why does it have to come to that, though?