Myself, Loftybob, AndyK and a number of the Adelaide BACA members met today to go on the Jokers Wild Poker run. Day started off great we met at the Caltex servo at Bolivar, day was overcast but clearing and temerature wasn't too bad a tad on the cooler side but comfortable. We set off from Bolivar at about 10:30am to head for the Old Spot hotel at Gawler to join the run 12:00pm. Well about 15 minutes into our journey we were stopped by what would be the first of two Police roadblocks, police numbered about 30, they checked licenses, helmets and of course pipes, all of us got done for loud pipes, most receiving a $200 fine and a defect notice. A couple got done for other things such as helmets and number plates. After being delayed at the first roadblock for what must have been about 45 minutes we set off once again to head for Gawler. All the while we were heading to Gawler we were accompanied by a helicopter.
Once arriving at Gawler we parked and waited about another 45 minutes for the run to start. Run finally started and about 5 minutes into the run we hit the second Police roadblock. As there were many more bikes on the run at this stage we were held up for over an hour as the Police checked bikes again one by one. Those of us who had already been defected and fined were not spared a second interrogation. I was even photographed right to my face while having my bike inspected a second time. We were finally free to go and set off on the first stop of the run. Because of all the delays I was running late and had to return home, so I didn't even make it to the first stop.
All in all I felt like I had been treated like a criminal for doing nothing more than going on a ride.
TO SERVE AND PROTECT
OR
TO HARASS & DESCRIMINATE
What a fucken joke SA Police Farce. Being held up for over 2 hours, having your photo taken, and being questioned like a criminal just for wanting to go out and ride your bike.
You wont stop me riding where I want to and with whom I want to.
WHEN INJUSTICE BECOMES LAW RESISTANCE BECOMES DUTY
I am going to take my fine for loud pipes to court, as they are suposed to rev your bike to a certain RPM range, right? well how do they know how high they are reving your bike when they don't have a tacho fitted??
Fight the fines in court fellow riders. I have allready been on the phone to my lawyer and he's confident It will get thrown out of court.
Thanks for the pics KC.
they kept it up all day till the third stop at roseworthy where they brethod after that i think they all went to maccas to hand out gold stars to the cop who handed out the most defects
what a joke i think there was more cops than bikes
not happy with my fine and defect
thats just FUCKT and i was pist of to think i had to go to vic and miss the run, got my 1st call about it at 1145 od about it all, its a fucking discrase , and a big waste of tax payers $$$$$$$$$$
i heard there were 50 cops and star there as well
its preaty fuck when a group like BIKERS AGAINST CHILD ABUSE gets followed by the helicopter , makes ya wonder
ran is inforcing this shit and i cant wait till it back fires on him, i have no dought it will the last poker run here in SA , any1 would think there crap new laws were in already
cant wait to move to vic and get outa this police state
new laws arnt out as yet ,may i think it hits higher house
The first stage of the South Australian Government's tougher legislation against outlaw motorcycle clubs has passed State Parliament's Lower House.
The Government says it wants to force outlaw motorcycle club members to quit their memberships or leave the state.
Attorney-General Michael Atkinson introduced the bill last November but claims its passage has been stalled because of Opposition division.
The bill now goes to the Upper House for debate where it's expected to pass with little (if any) alteration.
The Government says it is keen for the new laws to be in place by the middle of the year
Friday, 28 March 2008
State law-makers are examining proposals to tackle outlaw motorcycle clubs. But some states remain opposed to South Australia's proposed tough anti-biker laws, described by some as "draconian".
The planned laws include making it illegal to associate with known bikers six or more times a year, banning bikers from specified locations, making it illegal to wear club "colours", giving courts the power to determine where bikers can go and who they associate with, and introducing coercive investigation powers.
Club members would also no longer be given a presumption of bail if accused of serious violent offences or breaches of control orders under the Bill, which is before Parliament.
SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson outlined the state's proposed anti-biker Bill to his federal and state colleagues at yesterday's Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.
But a spokesman for Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron said the state would not sign up.
He said Victoria's strong organised crime laws, which arose from the state's gangland killings, were sufficient to deal with clubs and their members.
"We don't have the big issue with bikies that other states have," the spokesman said.
"We see bikies as a subset of organised crime, and tackle it through those legislations."
Victoria Police said it had a "flexible arrangement" when investigating the activities of outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Spokeswoman Marika Fengler said Victoria responded to issues as they emerged.
Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus's spokesman said the Commonwealth did not have a response, as the proposal was not officially on the meeting agenda.
Mr Atkinson said some states considered the laws to be "draconian" but claimed it would be a social experiment that other states would monitor.
see that VROD silver in the 3rd pic , was told today it was defected for being to shinie
MY MIRRORS ARE TO SHARP, SO THEY SAY ,WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP
KC,
I hope that the events of the last week is not going to stop you guys from enjoying each others company and riding in a group, I know it won't stop us here. There are a number of real contradictions. We are told by all and sundry to be visable, have headlights on, wear bright clothing (COLOURS) and travel in groups all because dumb car drivers have trouble seeing us.
So we wear colour, have all sorts of lights on, have an exhaust that is loud so that car drivers and pedestians hear us coming. What do we get for that effort, we are visable and hearable for the cops to identify us quicker, and when we travel together we are a biker menace that needs to be dealt with.
We in Australia are slowly being policed to the point where we will need permits to ride anywhere and will no longer be able to ride Harleys because thats what 1%ers prefer to ride.
Police harassment is becoming a real threat to our civil liberties and indeed may force us to join together more to have numbers for what could be a long and protracted fight.
It would be good if we could have a seperate heading on this forum for anyone to post what problems they have encountered with the authorities and we need some accurate information about what each state has in the way of laws and upcoming legislation re traffic & noise abatement and associations with whomever.
Just my O2c
To be informed is to be prepared.
Bt
the worthless exercise by the police has not and will not prevent me from going on any future poker runs or rides has done the opposite there should be more ,its a good time to check out bikes ,meet up with people ,have a bit of a ride,etc even the public like them they take pics of the bikes ,ask about the bikes ,mingle and chat its all good ,i have never heard of any trouble on a poker run the only one,s that want to cause trouble is the police. My wife and kids were standing in the main street to watch the bikes take off and heard a lot of negative comments from the people towards the police i dont think they (police and rahn) did themselves any favours spending taxpayers money on a worthless exercise trying to ruin the poker run all it did was waste a bit of time and change public opinion of them
Keep riding and dont let this crap stop you
I was returning from the riverland on Saturday morning with my brother. I forgot the Poker run was on. Coming off the Gawler bypass we saw three Harleys, nice bikes I thought. Then saw four motorcycle cops. Hmmm, that odd don't usually see that many together and Easter was last weekend. Turned onto Angle Vale road then another eight or nine bike cops. Somethings up I thought then noticed the large group in front of the Evanson Park Primary School. I must admit my initial thoughts were that these guys were being harrassed. Recogonised some of the guys stuck there. This is the first time I have been able to get to the forums and it is a disgrace to read this thread.
If you have a sniff of being able to beat the fines go for it. Maybe a class action is in order, spread the load across all that were affected.
I heard about this at work last night, thanks for the article, gives me the shits.
The new legislation is being pushed through Parliament this week, and the laws are draconian, especially the mixing with a bikie more than 6 times a year. Bloody bizzare, how are they going to know, do we have to carry a clockcard.
What happens if you work with a bloke in a patch club, after 6 days you risk being nabbed by the plod when you leave work, bloody stupid.
I have experienced this heavy handedness by the SA coppers a couple of times. 3 months after I bought my new 2003 Softail I was defected for loud pipes and a braided line. We have a cop up here that hates Harleys, a real dickwad. Had to get the defect removed and pay the fine, the Roads bloke was actually sympathetic and thought the laws then were a crock of shit. After I paid the fine and had the sticker removed his words were, "I suppose you will be putting the other pipes back on tonight"........which I did.
Recently, about a month before I sold the Softail I was quietly puttering into town to go to the Boat Shop and was followed and checked over by 2 more dickheads. The batteries fell out of the "Breath Tester" unit so they passed on that. I think they presumed I was one of the patch blokes that have moved into town. They are watching them very closely, in the meantime us ordinary bike lovers are being harrassed. Part of the reason why I moved to a RK, with not so loud pipes.
Recently they were talking about the crackdown on the radio talkback and a girl called up complaining to the plod on air about everyone being targetted in SA roads, ( she had been pulled over for no apparant reason) , he denied it of course..............
I havent read all of this but it sounds like typical dirty piggy tricks just to piss everyone off.looks like they have succeeded
dont know how this run was organised ,but im willing to bet it was monitored by some piggys to put the resources in to have many piglets around.
maybe groups like BACA and ourselves should use personal messaging to post final run details,post your run,day and time to start.then interested partys
can get details of where and when to meet through PM.
sounds like a shitfight i know,but you have to look at how to get around this problem..
Well, there's another grounds for the fines being withdrawn. All 10 bikes in our group were parked within 1 foot of each other (see 1st photo)
Don't pay the fines, fight em.
