my old department had BMWs..but it was only because someone wrote a great grant paper.....

the grant for the traffic unit had to buy American made cars...when one guy picked out a Mustang, the staff shot it down because of "optics"

it was FREE!!! who cares if someone thinks it was expensive....it was FREE....

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
In Brazil they use dual sports and they are damn hard to get away from. In my neck of the woods they recently switched to BMW. I read recently that Virginia State Police also made the switch to BMW as well, there were a lot of sad/angry HD fans in the Virginian pilots comments section to that article.

I think you are correct,


some depts here (central VA) used Kawasaki's for a bit,

I think Henrico may have BMW's ,

I think police departments use Harleys because of "the Look". A lot of people just have a mental image of motor cops on Harleys and it engendered a feeling of respect for their authority. I don't think the same feeling would be triggered by a dirt bike or café racer type. It's that big chugging Harley that gets the respect.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
It's that big chugging Harley that gets the respect.

LOL, if you say so.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
my old department had BMWs..but it was only because someone wrote a great grant paper.....

the grant for the traffic unit had to buy American made cars...when one guy picked out a Mustang, the staff shot it down because of "optics"

it was FREE!!! who cares if someone thinks it was expensive....it was FREE....

NOTHING is free. That's Socialist talk. Someone, somewhere, somehow has to pay for it.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
my old department had BMWs..but it was only because someone wrote a great grant paper.....

the grant for the traffic unit had to buy American made cars...when one guy picked out a Mustang, the staff shot it down because of "optics"

it was FREE!!! who cares if someone thinks it was expensive....it was FREE....

NOTHING is free. That's Socialist talk. Someone, somewhere, somehow has to pay for it.

Beat me to it. No such thing as a free lunch.....

I question the sanity of any person that chooses to ride a motorcycle to enforce the law. I guess I saw too many mangled bodies in my early years as a firefighter/paramedic and completely dissuaded myself of the idea of riding a motorcycle other than a dirtbike on the farm.

My department uses dirt bikes or whatever they are called, but they are at the division level--officers who are assigned to patrol functions but have been certified to ride these bikes and their command lets them do that as their main gig. My training officer at my current department was one. Was. He got nailed by a woman with no license or insurance while driving back from court a few months ago, still not back to work yet. Refer to Paragraph No. 1.

Our Motor Unit, the full-time traffic motorcycle guys, drive some kind of heavy street bike. Harley? Dunno...they all look the same to me.

Minor drift and HD anecdote: Many years ago I attended a manufacturing seminar that included a lunch. At each table of 10 or so attendees was one speaker. I sat at the table with the then CEO of HD.HD had just gone through a quality improvement initiative based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award program and they had won the award - quite an accomplishment at the time. He told us a supposedly true story that some investors and analysts (typically banker-types and somewhat stuffy and maybe even a bit prissy) were touring the factory. One guy approached a big, burly, tattooed Harley employee and very politely asked how much scrap he produced in a day. The employee glared at him & said "They don't pay me to make fucking scrap!" The visitor cringed, thanked the employee, and returned to the group. The CEO laughed as he told us the story.

I bet it is tradition, mostly.

And I also agree that certainly in the city, many other bikes would be better suited to the task.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
Seems to me that a dual sport or an adventure bike would be much better suited for the task. More maneuverable, faster, able to take on different road and off road conditions better. Likely more reliable as well. Something like the new Honda Africa Twin seems like it would do the trick. The fact that it can be had in a dual clutch automatic is also a plus for slow traffic conditions.

I have a 2015 Harley Road King as well as an Africa Twin DCT and if I were patrolling roads around here I'd certainly prefer doing it on the Africa Twin. The Africa Twin has two shortcomings though..... it foolishly uses wheels requiring inner tubes making blow outs much more of a possibility. The other negative is more involved servicing, checking and setting the valves is called for every 12,000 miles and doing that requires something like 5 shop hours ($500) labor due to all the panels and components which must be removed to get to them. This is a non-problem on the Harley just as with most cars because they use hydraulic lifters. I don't know why Honda did this?

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
I think police departments use Harleys because of "the Look". A lot of people just have a mental image of motor cops on Harleys and it engendered a feeling of respect for their authority. I don't think the same feeling would be triggered by a dirt bike or café racer type. It's that big chugging Harley that gets the respect.flashguy

I don't know about the first sentence, but I agree with the rest.

because loud pipes save lives!
( so Iam told)

My department went to Harley from Kawasaki years ago because they did not hold up. Officers who ride them 8 hours a day believed the Harley didn't beat them up as much. Then there was that thing about buying American. We wouldn't buy Japanese or German patrol cars, why would we buy their motorcycles.

The comnent about fat lazy officers is insulting and uncalled for. There are certainly overweight officers but most are not and you should not make such general statements.

That wasn't the first time that I've seen the video of the officer on the motorcycle course. I thought I was a competent rider until I watched that video. No way could I have made it through when I had my Ultra Classic.

quote:

Originally posted by gw3971:
Police departments are tough to change. We get stuck in tradition. My Agency has been trying to get rid of the Harleys for the last five years. Resistance from city council, administration, and even citizens. After all so many citizens ride Harleys why do the police need something different? Ponch and John seemed happy with the big street cruiser.

Once the Utah highway patrol made the change the BMW's we did so as well.

My buddy retired recently from the UHP. He said the BMW's have been a joy compared to the Harleys. Superior in every way from an operations point of view.

They still retain some Harleys as ceremonial bikes. You'll see them when they ride detail on big events.

The ST1300 Defender makes a nice bike. but they are significantly more than departments can get the HD Road King or Electra Police bikes. As pointed out and is the custom around here, dealers lease or sell, provide a maintence program and certified motor officer training.


The cost is much less. As far as BMW, they would have to look much harder find a dealer in BMW bikes. When you do, they will sell and maintain the bike but provide no other services related to that specific use.


One up side to the HD is working on them. Pulling all that plastic off is a pain in the butt.


But the BMW and ST1300 are outstanding bikes. Much of the time it comes down to the bids submitted and nothing more.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
A motor cop told me that a Harley cop bike can be set up to push a disabled car. Never seen it done.
If you want to see some impressive cop bike skills, there are YT videos of German and English cops on the BMW cop bikes.

I think that motor has been sniffing too much in exhaust fumes. I've worked in Harley dealerships since 1999 and never heard of that
or seen anything like before. And the two shops I have worked at have serviced many different municipal,county and State Police bikes.

And I've researched some pretty obscure things in Harley Davidson parts. For example Saree guards, an Indian market requirement. And why would I research that? I was asked what it was by a customer who wanted to know.

CHP was one of the first to adopt the BMW's with the R1100 in late 90's. Easier to lane-split, better top-speed, better acceleration & handling, and maintenance/readiness was much improved over the Harley's at the time.

Upgrades continued but, many locations ran their bikes into the ground and larger maintence became an issue. Harley dealerships offered much lower pricing than what BMW offered, and a heavy dose of nostalgia within many decision makers pushed to go back to Harley. It's analogous to the 1911 debates amongst the military or, some PD's are ardent S&W users. Some of the bigger city PD's still utilize Kawasaki's, which has been a long-time third option.

quote:

think that motor has been sniffing too much in exhaust fumes. I've worked in Harley dealerships since 1999 and never heard of that before.

You're not old enough to remember the HD Servicar. It was designed to do just that. I friend had one in mint condition in his garage until he passed away.



http://theoldmotor.com/?p=171067

I think Ponch and John rode Kawasakis.