Feature Story
1st Feature
MOTO GUZZI MEMORIES
Story and photos by Neale Bayly
“We voyaged by steamer down the Lago di Lecco, through wild mountain scenery, and by hamlets and villas, and disembarked at the town of Lecco.
“They said it was two hours, by carriage to the ancient city of Bergamo, and that we would arrive there in good season for  the railway train. We got an open barouche and a wild, boisterous driver, and set out. It was delightful.
“We had a fast team and a perfectly smooth road. There were towering cliffs on our left, and the pretty Lago di Lecco on our right, and every now and then it rained on us.”
Unlike Mark Twain in Innocents Abroad, I arrived in Lecco by taxi after a short train ride from Milan. The small town situated on the shores of Lake Como, or to  be geographically correct along the banks of the River Adda, was also bathed in brilliant sunshine, and the skyline was dominated by the gleaming, snowcapped Bergamo Alps across the sparkling water.
Taking a stroll alongside the picturesque lake, the air was filled with the sound of flapping sails, small outboard engines, and lots of birds singing their hectic springtime songs as they busied themselves. Twisting alongside the lakeside road there was also a nearly endless stream of brightly colored motorcycles, which drew my thoughts to my mission for the following day: A visit to the world famous Moto Guzzi factory a few kilometers up the train line in the town of Mandello del Lario.
2nd Feature
LOOKING BACK
THE PASADENA MOTORCYCLE CLUB TURNS 100
A semi-frantic e-mail from a friend who collects vintage Italian bikes alerted me to the fast-approaching 100th Anniversary celebration of the Pasadena Motorcycle Club. Fast-approaching as in it was happening right as I read the e-mail. It wasn’t taking place in my Los Angeles neighborhood, either, but at the famous Rose Bowl.
Nonetheless, I quickly spooned down  my breakfast bowl of lumpy oatmeal and fresh blueberries (for the antioxidants, of course) and, thus fortified, threw on my riding gear, rustled up my digital camera and tape recorder, and slung a leg over my trusty 30-year-old Beemer, not that old when considering I was heading out to a Southern California bike club that has clocked 100 years in the saddle circa 1907-2007. Boy, that’s a lot of candles.
The club was geared originally for off-road and enduro activities, focusing on Hare and Hound races that zipped around and through the local orange groves, which have long since been paved over. But by the 1990’s, the Pasadena M.C. had evolved,  by dint of local regulations and politically correct restraints, into a street- riding organization that now focuses on monthly meetings and two annual rides--one being the PMC Poker Run, the 30th annual version of which attracted some 200 fans in February last year. The other major club event, past its 60th year now, is the well-known Greenhorn Road Tour. Be aware that you don’t have to wear green horns or be a newbie rider to join the fun.
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Ask the Sergeant:
I was riding home the other afternoon from work and I came upon a motor officer from a city jurisdiction who was riding on the freeway. I didn’t want to pass him for fear of getting a ticket, so I did the speed limit all the way home. As I rode slowly, I got to wondering: Can an officer from a city write tickets on the freeway and can a Highway Patrol officer write tickets on city streets? To carry it further, does a city police officer have the right to stop someone outside his city?
Steve Clarkson, Newhall
I know my predecessor discussed this topic some time ago, but I do hear this question quite often while working in the field. I often wonder to myself how the perception came into being that, because I am employed by one city, I have no power to enforce laws outside of my place of employment. I have heard that in some states, a peace officer is limited to his specific jurisdiction but, without full knowledge of each individual state’s laws, I can’t speak about them. I can only suppose that situations like those must be the reason why people here in California seem to hold the belief that the ability of a peace officer to enforce the law ends at some imaginary and arbitrary line drawn in the sand. That is not correct. And, to help you understand the situation, think about this: Would a fireman stop working a fire line because the fire burned through from Kern County into Ventura County? Of course not, and it is the same with law enforcement.
Last week I was riding along the freeway in our city going across the town to the west-end. I was in the number two lane (the second lane from the left) at just a little over 65, looking ahead of me for the “Rocket Man” that you always see weaving in and out of traffic lanes when there is never a cop around. I checked my mirrors, and, closing in on me from behind, was a new sports sedan from the “Ultimate Driving Machine” Company. I estimated that the car had 15 mph on me while closing. It slowed momentarily, then resumed its 80 mph speed and went right on past. I paced him briefly, riding right alongside the car as we maintained those “extra-legal” speeds. After about a mile, I dropped behind the young man and made a stop. His first words to me were that I couldn’t stop him because he was on the freeway where the Highway Patrol has jurisdiction. After a brief conversation, me pointing to the word “California” on my badge, and him receiving a “traffic school coupon,” he was suitably convinced that Police Officers can enforce the laws any-where within the state of California.
California Penal Code Sections 830 through 830.5 specifically spell out who a Peace Officer is, and they use the terminology “whose authority extends to any place in the state for the purpose of performing their duties…” with regards to their primary job assignment.
This means that CHP Officers, City Police Officers, County Sheriffs, certain Rangers, State University Police Officers, and even DA Investigators can en-force the laws of the State of California anywhere in the state. We are allowed to carry our firearms off-duty and, as “Full-time Sworn Peace Officers,” we are even OBLIGATED, within the scope of our training and capabilities, to act in certain instances where the immediate threat to life exists. We can be charged criminally if we fail to act when we should have.
As you can see, California law is very specific in stating that a Peace Officer is a Peace Officer and can enforce the laws anywhere in the state. The trouble lies in the practical application of the law.
Within police work, we refer to things by jurisdiction. We further break that down to Physical Jurisdiction and Administrative Jurisdiction. Often times, these two overlap and there is no issue or confusion. If you speed down Ventura Boulevard in Encino, for example, and get stopped by one of the LAPD’s finest, you are in both his physical jurisdiction in the City of L.A. and in the administrative jurisdiction of the streets maintained and patrolled by the LAPD. If you and your significant other have a domestic dispute on the 405 and the 105, you have now crossed over between administrative and physical jurisdictions. The fight occurred on the freeway, which is the physical responsibility of the CHP, but the act of the fight is the administrative responsibility of the LAPD. The most obvious examples of this change of responsibility between agencies are displayed on TV nearly every week with televised pursuits. A local city will have a suspect flee after a crime committed within their city. This act gives the city the physical jurisdiction over the criminal. The city can maintain that jurisdiction, and maintain the administrative jurisdiction, as long as its officers are in pursuit of the suspect. When the pursuit enters the freeway, the CHP will not take over unless it is given administrative jurisdiction by the initiating agency. Most agencies release this and allow the CHP to take over because the CHP is better suited for long, drawn-out pursuits than a local agency that has to deal with refueling, radio communications and manpower concerns in far-away towns.
Another concern, on a small scale, concerns court appearances for actions taken outside an officer’s administrative jurisdiction. Usually, if the action is taken within the same county as your own jurisdiction, it is very easy to cite someone into the court but if action is taken outside of the officer’s “home,” things can be very confusing. On a few occasions, I was heading home from my work in Ventura County to L.A. County, where I used to live. I was riding a marked Police Motorcycle and found myself staring at a blatant traffic violator, stopped and blocking an intersection that prevented people from exiting the freeway. They failed to act when reminded over the public address speaker and continued to block the freeway exit. I made a traffic stop and issued a citation but didn’t know where or when to cite the driver to court. This makes things tougher, but not impossible. The citation was perfectly legal and it just took our records unit a few days to figure out which court to send the offen-er to and when.
To answer your question, yes, a Peace Officer in California can make a traffic stop, issue a citation, make an arrest, or perform any of their duties, anywhere in the state. If you see a Long Beach motor officer cruising the freeway in Orange County, don’t test the law and whiz past him. You may not like the result.
Ride safe, keep smiling, and take care of yourselves and each other out there..
For more on this story, pick up a current issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.
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Scuttle Putt:
is it that time already? Yep, the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows series dates are out, and this year’s So. Cal. show at the Long Beach Convention Center is slated for the weekend of December 7 to December 9. Please make a note of it.
Big news this year, which is the show’s 27th annual by the way, is that KTM will return this December after a five-year hiatus and will display its full lineup of recently unveiled street and off-road motorcycles, as well as its new Sport ATVs.
“The International Motorcycle Shows provide us a great opportunity to debut our new line-up of off-road motorcycles, new Sport ATVs and our exciting street machines like the new 990 Super Duke,” said Jeff Salamon, Director of Marketing for KTM North America. “The 13-stop U.S. tour allows us to showcase our motorcycles in important markets throughout the country to a qualified audience that the shows are known for producing.”
Interview:
EDDIE PAULTHE BOSSEST OF THE BOSS HOSSES AND BEYOND
You might have heard the story about Icarus flying too close to the sun, his feathered wing contraption held together by wax. Sun, heat and melted wax equals whoops!
 Stepping out of myth and into reality, something similar to that scenario took place back in the early 1970s when a Southern California teenager named Eddie Paul leaped into the skies to test fly a new-fangled hang glider he had designed, the sport just taking off, so to speak. Atop a 100-foot hill above Torrance Beach, Paul launched himself into the wind, a violently high wind as it turned out. Rocketing to 360 feet in the blink of an eye, he had a great view until he heard a loud snap and found himself falling out of the hang glider, the ground spinning toward him.  Free falling at 120 miles per hour, his last thought was, “Please God, for the sake of my family, don’t let me land on my face.”
He didn’t. He landed feet first, instead, to the sound of breaking bones. Lots of them.
Surprisingly, Paul remained conscious and was feeling no pain. In fact, as he looked at the crowd gathering around, he said: “You are all wondering why I called you together.”
For more on this story, pick up a current issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.
SEEING RED
ARIZONA SUPRISES: PART 2
Story and photos by Bob Kaufman
Where is the most beautiful spot in America? Obviously, this is a question that has no objective answer. We each have our own  opinions and emotions elicited by unique experiences.
Nevertheless, publications have attempted to select just such a place. Take, for example, the USA Weekend’s “Annual Travel Report” for 2003 (USA Weekend.com, May 18, 2003), in which the editors had a panel of experts come up with the “10 Most Beautiful Places in America.” Sedona, Arizona, and the surrounding Red Rock Country was ranked number one.
It was by pure coincidence that Sedona was the mid-point of my recent Arizona trip. It was only in looking up some facts about the town that I found it had been honored as America’s loveliest of the lovely. But USA Today’s ranking did confirm my choice of Sedona as a good place to reserve a room.
 And there are a few other reasons, in addition to the scenery, why Sedona should be on the short list of destinations for us Southern California motorcyclists. First of all, it’s not too far away--only about 400 miles away from my own home in the Inland Empire. Secondly, it’s more than just a pretty face. Sedona has art galleries, resorts, health spas, great hiking, and--if you’re into it--new age culture related to its so-called “energy vortexes.” I’ll go into these a bit later.
But the best reason to visit Sedona is the chance to take a great ride. I admit that the first road segment, from Southern California to Wickenburg, Arizona, can be a bit taxing, as I pointed out in my last article (see Free 2 Wheel, July 2007); but the ride from Wickenburg, through Sedona, and on to Flagstaff is as good as any I’ve taken..
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