RE: Plane tickets and Cross-Country driving (longish)

["Al & Andrea Porter" <alpo4@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Bill Bergman wrote:

> Chris said: "However, if officer "A" makes the observation and officer
> "B" writes the citation, officer "B" can only provide "hear say"
> testimony, which is illegal."
>
> Just my opinion, but I would guess that the CHP airplane would simply
> radio the color of the Alfa, along with a general location, and the CHP
> car on the ground would track the offending Alfa, guage the speed and
> pull it over. No hearsay involved. Not that any Alfa owner would ever
> speed!
>
> I must have missed something on this one, but I will keep my top down.
>

>Your assumption ain't right. The plane measures the speed and radios it
>to the parked cars--they pull out bewhind, ask the air if the car they
>are tailing is the miscreant, then turn on their lights and stop him---At
>least that's what the CHP officer who ticketed me told me!

Additionally, in my case, the officer in the plane had pre-signed the
tickets and was the one who would appear in court.  My buddy and I were on
motorcycles, and never saw the plane--he was using the sun to hide in!  We
saw the ground troopers well in advance, and were surprised that they pulled
us over for going the speed limit, along with nearly everyone else in the
two mile stretch of I-5 near Corning, well north of Sacramento. They did
write us up for less than the clocked speed after I asked nicely.

And it seems that every time I drive the 164 (wife's main ride), I get a
ticket.  Got two one month before leaving California within 3 days of each
other, and one 1 week after arriving in North Carolina.  Damn!  Need to
paint it a different color (it's already black, what else do I do?).  I'm a
slow learner, or it's the car's fault.

While we're on the subject, I may as well talk about our cross-country
drive. You may recall that my family and I were leaving CA for NC at the
beginning of July.  We drove in a 91 164S and an 85 GTV6.  Left Sacramento
in late afternoon and had a last casino fling in Reno--superb!  Took the
"Lonliest Road in America," Hwy 50, instead of the more travelled I-80.  The
early morning in the desert allowed triple digit speeds on the deserted
2-lane road. Again, superb!  Now, before all you eco-Nazi/Naders say that
this was irresponsible, we spent 6 years cruising the Autobahns and
Autostradas at high speeds in European cars.  So, it was natural.

The 164 seemed to heat up the faster we went.  Operating temp hovered around
225 and would cool down if you kept it under 85.  If ambient temp was under
75, as it was in the early morning, it wasn't too much of a problem.  But,
overheating was on our minds the whole way across the country.  Preventive
maintenance had already been accomplished:  new hoses all around, flush, new
coolant, both fan speeds work, Redline Water Wetter installed.  Still, it
pushed the temp limit.  With everyone else on the digest with a 164
experiencing heat problems, I would think that the Italians would have
experienced the problem as well.  Why didn't they do something about it?

The GTV6 screamed on. And I mean screamed.  Ear defenders or ear plugs were
required equipment.  Stebro exhaust with euro down pipes is cool around
town, but deafening on the open road.  Pulls 6500 in 5th gear--I think it's
around 135 mph--and feels better at any speed over 90.  So, we cruised at
100 to 115, with the 164 dropping back once in a while to cool off.  Wife
loved it! Of course, I didn't get to drive the 164. (Did have it pushing 148
indicated on an earlier drive, though.)

164 got 26-27 mpg, while the GTV6 got 24-25 (US gallons), over 3200 miles.
Not too shabby, with the speeds involved!  The heat was miserable--108 in
the shade in Oklahoma, 108 with 98% humidity in Arkansas--sheesh! With two
black cars! The a/c in the 164 just can't keep up.  I need to paint it white
or add a rear evaporator/fan.

Enough of that. Both cars get lots of attention in eastern North Carolina.
"Whazzat??" "Alfy Romero? Who makesatt?  BMW??  Cool!"

Al Porter
Goldsboro, NC (formerly Sacramento, CA)

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