Dealing with police and border guards seems to vary not only from country to country but also from person to person - how you deal with other people inevitably has a big impact on how they deal with you. Best advice I can offer is be patient, be friendly and roll with the punches when appropriate. I always say that taking your helmet and glove off and shaking hands with an officer when they stop you disarms them, and not being in a hurry means that even if they were going to try and sting you for cash they either change their mind or give up.
This is a big bonus of solo travel, you can lose all your expectations of what will happen, where you have to be, any concept of 'late' and just travel along with an open (blank??) mind. It was this forced mindstate of 'almost zen' that I found most liberating when on a bike. I met a couple on the road that had plans and expectations and found a lot of countries infuriating and stressful, they seemed to be having constant 'problems' although the experiences were the same.....
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