• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Canada and Radar Detectors

RTRandy

New member
Do I understand right that radar detectors are illegal in Canada ? Bob-Tourungo was kind enough to send me maps of Nova Scotia with surrounding area and the map of Prince Edward Island says "Radar detectors are illegal and will be confiscated". Holy Crap !!

My Valentine is hard wired on my shelf so it's a big pain to remove.

So here's the question: What if I put black electrical tape across the face of it while I'm in Canada? I have so many gadgets going on and hopefully it won't look like a radar detector after being taped. I know . . kind of a stretch isn't it? Most cops won't get the fact that I monitor the thing with the audio in my helmet anyway.

I'm really not a speeder. There are times on the open roads where it's easy to go somewhat over the limit and avoid cops making a sport out of trapping drivers. Truthfully, I have no desire to speed across Prince Edward Island, in fact the sights are so beautiful, this wouldn't be the time for me to practice my MotoGP skills riding through all the quaint towns.

I'm just wondering if this can be a problem crossing the border with border guards taking radar detectors. :deal
 
You are correct, they are illegal in Canada. You should not have trouble when crossing into or out of the country. I am more than dubious about how an constable would react to a tapped over unit.

I have not seen BlueKnight on the forum for a while. He is one of the "Queen's Cowboys". You might pm him and see what he thinks.
 
Automobile Radar Detectors

Three provinces do not prohibit radar detectors. They are British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. All the rest (including the territories) do prohibit radar detectors. The police will confiscate radar detectors, whether in use or not, and may impose fines up to $1000.
 
Just my .02 which isn't worth much on this becuase I gave up using them years ago. In Virginia where they are illegal and they use Radar-Detector-Detectors as long as it was off (read: visably unplugged and turned off they didn't care if was was still mounted, if you didn't have Virginia Plates) They understood passers through.

I would fashion a cover for it, disconnect the power cable and explain that it's really difficult to remove while visiting your great country for such a short time, and oh by the way where is the best food around here and a place to stay for the night.

I've have yet to be strip-searched going into Canada, but coming back into the US, well that's almost a different story. Gee, sure is nice to be home again, thanks for the rolling out the 'Welcome' mat. :doh Here's my Washington DL, US Passport, can I go home now? No, I don't have any pot with me....what did I do? I went for a ride and got lost, yes I bought some refrigerator magnets and a T-Shirt, would you like to see them??????????????????????????????????????????????????

But seriously Radar-Detector-Detectors are pretty cool they tell the person using it that the vehicle has an active detector, so don't use it. :nyah
 
Story that's probably an urban legend, but it's cool enough (even if not strictly true) that I'll share it anyway:

Seems that a cager was driving thru Virginia, where radar detectors are illegal, back in the days before radar detector detectors. Back then, LEOs had a less high-tech way to tell if you were using illegal gadgetry: if your brake lights went on when the radar got turned on, odds were pretty good that you'd been being bad. "License, registration, insurance, detector please."

So the cager thinks to himself, "I like to go fast, as long as I don't get caught I'm OK, all I have to do is make sure they don't find the box."

So on a road built for going faster than the posted limit, a LEO pulls behind a cager who seems to be moving at a speed that shows more respect for engineering than for statutes. LEO turns on his radar; the driver mashes on his brakes -- and the LEO rear-ends him, because the cager had disconnected his tail-lights to avoid detection.

Not a good day for the cager.
 
How much of a pain could it possibly be? The V-1 uses phone cord connectors. Just leave the wires on the shelf, but pull the unit. And, if you think the customs people won't look at your bike and know what they're looking at when you enter Canada, you are mistaken. It just isn't worth the potential hassle.

They don't spend much time on speed enforcement in Canada anyway; at least not out in the country.
 
Burnszilla said:
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have radar detector detectors.

Are you and SFDOC messing with my mind? I never knew there was such a thing as dectector dectectors. My guess these are used when radar detectors are "illegal" ?

and SFDOC, customs should be a piece of cake. Our airport security has gotten so tough around here, they make you take your shoes off and get in the Abu Grave Pyramid as well.
 
Radar detector detectors are real. The V-1 is invisible to them until very close, though, so powering down as soon as one sees a cop might allow one to evade detection.
 
Emoto said:
They don't spend much time on speed enforcement in Canada anyway; at least not out in the country.

When we visited New Brunswick and Nova Scotia a couple of summers ago we were impressed that there didn't seem to be much need for heavy speed enforcement. Most cages stayed within 5 or 10 km/hr of the limit, although there were some logging trucks that really let it roll!
 
Emoto said:
Radar detector detectors are real. The V-1 is invisible to them until very close, though, so powering down as soon as one sees a cop might allow one to evade detection.

Detector detectors look for the local oscillator inside the radar detector. So the V1 tries to shield the detector carefully so as to prevent the LO signal from being emitted. When you have an antenna on something though, it works both ways and can transmit the LO depending on the design and precautions by the manufacturer. So, anyway, at close distances, a detector detector may still detect.
 
cjack said:
Detector detectors look for the local oscillator inside the radar detector. So the V1 tries to shield the detector carefully so as to prevent the LO signal from being emitted. When you have an antenna on something though, it works both ways and can transmit the LO depending on the design and precautions by the manufacturer. So, anyway, at close distances, a detector detector may still detect.

Yeah, one of the magazine comparison tests of radar detectors a few years back got ahold of one of the detector detectors and published distances for how close one had to be to get picked up. The V-1 was a pretty close distance, but I don't recall what it was. I try to avoid US areas where detectors are illegal, and in Canada, I do not try to use one at all. I mean, if i get a speeding ticket, I will pay the fine and that will be the end of it, unlike here where my insurance will get dinged. Border state residents may not be as immune, though, so caution is advised.

Edited to add: one time in the backwoods of Quebec, a friend and I were blasting along for an extended time at over 100mph, when around the corner came a RCMP marked car. We jumped on the brakes, but all he did was stick his arm out the window and wave it in a "slow down" type of motion. He jsut kept going. I'm sure if we had been in a populous area he would have reacted differently, but this is why I don't worry about using a detector in Canada. :thumb

Bob
 
RTRandy said:
Our ayrfort secruity has gotten so tough around here, they make you take your shoes off and get in the Abu Grave Pyramid as well.

Don't even get me started on ayrfort insecrutiy! You only have to worry if you are a card carrying mamber of the AARP or look like someone who won't sue the TSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. It's a freakin joke. Things may have been better five-years ago than they are today.

SOrry for the Hijack, pun intended :banghead

It's not the pyramid position it's the assume the 'Crusifix' position.
 
V1 - Quebec

I went to Ontario Province a few years ago and saw the signs about no radar dectectors, etc. I used mine anyway as I was zipping North & East on hwy 11 (basically no mans land) I was in my cage going to pick up some equipment and had the hammer down most of the time, if I saw the police I'd slow down but if the V1 went off, I'd just turn it off right away and slow down, :dance about a mile after passing them I'd fire it back up and keep on flying.

It was pretty through there and in the town of Hearst I saw a tire bigger than my entire car with chains on it. I stopped and took a picture, that was pretty neat and unforutately I lost the pict to a crashed HD :doh
 
Emoto said:
How much of a pain could it possibly be? The V-1 uses phone cord connectors. Just leave the wires on the shelf, but pull the unit. And, if you think the customs people won't look at your bike and know what they're looking at when you enter Canada, you are mistaken. It just isn't worth the potential hassle.

They don't spend much time on speed enforcement in Canada anyway; at least not out in the country.

I just called our fed police (RCMP) and they pretty much echo what many have said: if you can leave it home then leave it. However, they said that a strong arguement can be made if you have disconnected it and tucked the connector away in your pack (for example). The only way to detect is if it is on. A standard check point stop might give the opportunity to see the unit but if connector packed away then defence possible. Customs? not likely unless maybe they have you pulled over for a random check. There's no 'witch hunt' going on up here around detectors but I wouldn't want to be the one caught with it in operation. :nono We are pretty reasonable folks up here. :thumb
-Bob
 
Back
Top