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The motorcycle ban on Jalan Thamrin went into full effect yesterday and police have started handing out Rp. 500,000 tickets. While some commentators have complained that the ban discriminates against the lower classes, as they are the most likely to ride motorcycles, an incident on Sunday proved that even the owners of large, expensive imported motorcycles such as Harley Davidsons are not immune to the ban.
Unless, of course, they simply burn rubber and run away from the police.
On Sunday, Jakarta Traffic Police officer Fathur Roji said he saw a large Harley Davidson motorcycle entering Thamrin from Jalan Kebon Kacang. When the officer saw the Harley entering the no-go zone, he quickly stopped the big bike.
“I stopped the driver because he entered into the motorcycle ban area,” Fathur said on Sunday, as quoted by Kompas.
Fathur stopped the vehicle and asked for the rider’s documents, but the Harley biker said he didn’t have them. He then asked permission to get his documents, and the motorcycle’s warranty from Plaza Indonesia.
When the owner of the large motorcycle returned, Fathur was accompanied by three of his fellow officers. The biker asked the officers for permission to move the vehicle to Jalan Kebun Kacang.
The officers granted the request but one officer was assigned to ride on the back of Harley to make sure it went where it was supposed to go and got ticketed.
But the Harley rider had other ideas. When he saw that the other two police officers were busy dealing with other motorcycles, the owner of the Harley hogg pulled the throttle just as the third officer was getting onto the back of his bike and sped away.
“Our officers nearly fell down while getting on the suspect’s motorcycle,” Fathur said.
Other officers who saw the perpetrator flee immediately gave chase but unfortunately the suspect managed to escape towards Kebon Kacang.
Fathur said the police were tracking down the Harley rider using the bike’s license plate (B 6168, in case you happen to see it) and said the biker would be charged with numerous offenses.
