With all the major cop bashing threads in full swing, let's hear some personal experiences.
I used to live in a tiny town. I was riding a motorcycle on a permit only as I had no other transportation. A riding buddy with a license has to be within 100 feet to be legal. I got pulled over speeding once, and one of the officers would have a go at me any time he saw me riding alone. I got a few "out of class" tickets. My only other transpo at the time was a bicycle, and sometimes I didn't feel like pedaling all day.
While moving from NY to FL on my bike, I got pulled over in GA for doing 85 in a 65 (a bit lucky as I was slowing from doing ~110). The officer apparently thought my story sounded sketchy (going cross country alone on a sportbike). He looked real nervous, talked in a shaky and elevated voice, and covered his gun with a trembling hand. Having my hands in my pockets made it even worse (didn't think about it as it was cold morning and I was still half wet). Amazingly I got let go with a warning, but it was a needlessly intense stop.
While in Orlando I had to commute from Kissimmee to Orlando frequently and on a tight schedule. My youthful exuberance combined with a feeling of invulnerability meant I was often hauling ass inches from other vehicles. I found a back road that allowed some 120+mph riding with little traffic. I got stopped one day exiting this road. I was scared shitless, as I had passed a police car on the side of the road a few days prior and made no attempt to slow down. The cop paced around, took my ID, and stepped into his car. Several minutes passed until a backup car arrived. Now with a female officer, these two looked over my bike scrutinizing a few equipment violations and tallying them up. My wife happened to be driving by and pulls over across the street to observe. My heart just sinks at this point. I'm thinking loss of license, bike impounded, and angry wife. I figured I'd at least have a ride home. Profuse sweating begins. After what seems like an endless razzing, the male cop asks, "do you know why you were pulled over?" I told them that I had a good idea. "Slow it down," he says, "I just wanted to see what you were riding." I've never been so mad and relieved at the same time.
The last one was a more blatant disregard for the law. My motorcycle had just received a performance rebuild and did power wheelies with complete ease and control. On the weekend I'd take a shortcut through the empty mall on my way to work, lofting the front off every stop, setting it down at the next stop sign. My heart jumped into my throat as I came over a small rise and saw a police car in a depression beside the road. Nothing happened. It became a regular thing to do a wheelie in front of this police car...until it was in a different place. I thought nothing of it. A block or two down the road and there are two police cars in pursuit. I pulled off at the first parking lot. The two cars come to a screeching halt beside me and the occupants immediately start yelling as I shut off my bike and start taking off my helmet. "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP" "WHY WERE YOU RUNNING" "DO YOU WANT TO GO TO JAIL?!" I told them calmly that I pulled off as soon as I saw the lights. They continued to threaten putting me in jail and claiming that I had ran from them, with me ignoring them and letting them do their thing. It was a hefty couple of tickets, but I kept my license and the bike didn't get towed.
I have never been drawn down on, even when being blatantly stupid, and always being armed. I usually end up better than expected under the circumstances. These days I still get the occasional ticket, but tend to move a lot slower, take much less risks, and keep the stunts to a minimum and in unpopulated, no traffic areas.