[52602]

I was very surprised the other day to see the Cambridge, MA police on a shiny new BMW. It actually looked very cool.



In Europe the BMW's are most common police bikes.

 

[50639]

Will the honda will certainly be faster than the Harley.

 

[Mollygrubber]

Seems that the English police are worried about the high speed stability of the Hondas (over 100mph). They should buy some Harleys ... problem solved (wink wink)

 

[17416]

I've had my BMW well over 100 mph (never mind where) and it felt rock steady. While I'm not a big Honda fan, it's surprising to read of any particular problem with the Pan European (isn't that what they call it?). I wonder about whether the lights, radio, sirens and all the other add-on police gear make a difference. Seems like it would if no attention is paid to balance.

 

[56599]

Gen X and Y officers will just say no to Harley

King County WA Sheriff--Switched from Kawasaki to BMW... Renton WA has a few Gold Wings...WA State Patrol have BMWs.. Issaquah WA has Harleys just a matter of time till Harley is gone.. Gen Y and Gen X officers will want performance over Baby Boomer traditions.. They will make their own mark

 

[3983]

Nowhere outside the US uses Harleys as cop bikes (that I know of). In more recent years ST1100s were common over here, with BMW twins taking the rest of the market. I think the ST13 problem over here was that Honda would not guarantee that the ST13 would be stable at higher speeds fully loaded, whereas BMW would (from a current cop biker).



I have a police spec ST11, seems stable at beyond harlety speeds to me, so wish I only had Harley shod coppers after me!

 

[35244]

BMW RA "OTL" (newsletter) mentions that BMW will shortly have a 900cc version of the R12RT for euro insurance brackets AND "authority" market.

 

[mikeodial]

Last year I was at a BMW track day with those guys (the Cambridge cops) just before they were taking delivery of the bikes. I have never seen cops "hanging off" as they were on that day on the track. Mucho scraped pegs on those machines. They were very enthusiastic about their new rides.

 

[mikeodial]

Last year I was at a BMW track day with those guys (the Cambridge cops) just before they were taking delivery of the bikes. I have never seen cops "hanging off" as they were on that day on the track. Mucho scraped pegs on those machines. They were very enthusiastic about their new rides.

 

[Buzglyd]

Re: Gen X and Y officers will just say no to Harley

It's Feb. 2nd every day in your little world, isn't it?

 

[PVJIM]

I used to work on police bikes for the LA County Sheriff's department. They were disappointed in the high cost associated with using BMW's (they had 19 at the time I was there) over the rest of the fleet which were Kawasaki's. A simple tip over on a beemer was a couple of thousand to fix where as on a Kawasaki it was a couple of hundred. The deputies I spoke to also prefer the Kawasaki's handling over the BMW. Changing a clutch on a Kawasaki took abour 30 minutes...On a Beemer it is a good 8 hour job if you are fast, The whole rear half of the bike has to come loose as it is a dry clutch which the officers seemed to fry all the time with all the low speed in traffic type work that they do. If it were my decision I'd stick with Honda on this one. The only way BMW is getting these departments to use their bikes is that they offer a very attractive "buy back" program after 60,000 miles. If Honda offered such a program, you would not see ANY BMW police bikes over here as BMW's are overrated and overpriced.

 

[51629]

Years ago, the Tijuana Mexico cops rode new Harley police bikes. They bought them on their $140/month salaries - so they said. Three or four years ago, the FBI canvassed Tijuana cars. About 25% were stolen from the US. The TJ police chief had a new SUV in his parking space that had been stolen in the previous week from the US. He told the FBI "so what?".

 

[43093]

I wouldn't look for a massive change from HD to metrics of any brand in law enforcement. You can bet HD will give those agencies even better pricing to keep the image, even if they have to practically give them away.

 

[demanufacture]

Harley cop bikes are hideous and slow anyway. I don't see why they're used... oh, and those 3/4 helmets look retarded too! Put a full-face on, you goofs.

 

[sarnali]

Re: Gen X and Y officers will just say no to Harley

That's true, KP and the two motor-officers I know personaly as neighbors get off their work bike BMW's and ride home on their personal bikes, Harleys. My immediate neighbor is a King Co. Detective who builds hot rods out of Japanese cars with his sons, their current project is a 5.0L Mustang that sounds like a funny car. Through a fluke of houseing prices and income levels I think half the people in my sub-division are LEO's of one type or another. The ones that ride for fun ride Harleys.

Seattle Police have Harleys, Tacoma police have Harleys, WSP has a mix including Harleys and Renton PD is pretty unhappy with their BMW's and will be switching over to HD as soon as Harley has an ABS option. With the breaks that Harley and the local dealerships give them Harleys are way cheaper in the long run.

( I suppose I should add an insult here to counter your standard GPTB brainwashing response.......Ummm...)

Your mother wears army boots...

 

[sarnali]

A basic outline of what Seattle PD gets is, buy the bike. Free upgrade to 95 in. free routine maintainance. guarenteed buy-back with minimal charge for milage. Rinse, Repeat.

 

[tpoppa]

Looks like the officer is providing his own spare tire.

 

[47558]

Here in Nevada, the NHP has some of the BMW's, but there are still quite a few Harleys in the cities. I like the looks of the Beemers, and they are faster, with better brakes. OTOH, the Harleys might be more comfortable after a number of hours in the saddle. It would be good to hear from officers who have made the transition (from Harley to BMW/Honda/Kawasaki) and see what they have to say. Maybe an article idea?

 

[cruiz-euro]

If I was a highway cop I would get FJR. Any other duties I would get a H-D.



- cruiz-euro

 

[navair]

Here in Coronado, SoCal, the local ticket monkeys have a couple of ST1300's- this for a town with a 25 mph speed limit and average age of 65....