Breaking News!

California Highway Patrol is moving from BMW to Harley Davidson motorcycles.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/11/12/4231664/fresno-area-chp-office-receives.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-california-highway-patrol-harley-davidson-20140519-story.html

My neighbor is a retired CHP sergeant and he said that the motor cops he has talked to are not happy about the switch. Apparently they really liked the BMW. Further, he said that they were originally going to purchase Kawasaki's (Concours?) but there were some supply problems. Kawasaki did deliver a few to the CHP. Back in the '60'sand '70's the Harleys were taken out of service at 40,000 miles and they were pretty much worn out. I realize that the current Harleys are probably better.
John

I think the Colorado Highway Patrol has gone back to Harleys after a few of them rode BMWs for a few years. The Loveland, CO, police force has some Concours and really like them. I think the Colorado Springs police are still on ST1300s.

I think the HDis probably the best looking PD bike in my humble opinion. I was the proud owner of a 1962 ex PD Harley FL Pan Head engine powered bike. It was a very comfortable ride with the Police solo Pogo stick system and it sure did a good job for me, KICK START ONLY , but even so was very dependable as long as you did everything right the first time around with spark advance and throttle setting and followed the correct starting drill.

I would have a available 1964 version of the same bike right now, but my back will not handle the kick start drill even on a good day, event though that bike does keep calling out to me!

Eldon

I've gone to two Police Motor Competitions in Redding, California. Usually held in October each year. Police bikes consisted mostly of Harley's, but there were good representations of BMW R1200 RT-P's, Honda ST 1300's, and a single Kawasaki C14. The competition ended up between a sheriff on a Harley and an officer on a BMW. The sheriff on the Harley won the event. These motor officers are very good riders, especially at very slow speeds! Goes to show it is more about rider skill than the bike they ride. olice1:

I have to believe that the Jap PD bikes are much more maneuverable than the Harleys. Having said that however, I have seen some amazing riding done by those officers on their Harley's.

Mike

Michigan State Police test both cars and motorcycles for use a vehicles. BMW was faster, ready out of package, and less cost.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/msp/2015_MY_Police_Vehicle_Evaluation_Test_Book_Compressed_479059_7.pdf

I suppose the BMW might be cheaper , but the one thing I am certain of is that I a stock set of cloths it will given two riders of equal profieciency the BMW will definatly out handle the Hd on a teisty canyon road. BUt the Hd can be made to handle too. . in my opinion I would really rather have the new HD than the new BMW no mater which BMW whether the K16 or the R-1200 RT, but that is just me. besides even with the superior BMW handling as compared to the HD, you can't outrun that radio regardless.

Eldon

Would have loved to see how the police versions of the FJR and C-14 compared.

In my former life, I had some insight into the selection process used by various law enforcement agencies to pick a police motorcycle.

Being able to have a PD motorcycle serviced quickly and without too much hassle is critical. Big H-D dealers far outnumber those selling the Honda, Kawasaki, and especially BMW. And I'd guess the H-D dealership would be more willing to put the PD motorcycle at the front of the line for service, where Honda & Kawasaki dealers may not; especially, if they were a multi-line store.

I thought I read somewhere that the maintenance and repair costs were a major factor in why so many Harleys are used and why some police departments that switched to other brands have gone back to them. I would also think for city use the Harleys would be better for chugging around town where you seldom need high speed acceleration or maneuverability. On the other hand you would think State Highway Patrols would prefer bikes with increased performance like the BMW or ST1300.

Our small town PD had a HD after having an old Kawasaki PD version. But there were a lot of $$$ of incentive from Harley involved in that deal.

My little hometown has 5 or 6 K14 Kawasaki's and one ST13, pryor to them was a HD fleet,before that Kaw K1000's. One of my classmates son is a motor officer here and has been for quite awhile. He is on a K14 and loves the power etc that it has, but says it seems to take a long time for service event though it goes to the head of the line. at the local Honda / Kawaski shop . two reasons for tis are only one A tech to work on it and the sometimes long wait for other than routine maint parts. he still thinks his HD was great in that respect and the sop that maintained them ws normally very quick on repair's and service. them he smiles about the old K1999,s and says those bikes were really great and did everything very well. HIs personal ride is a old Kaw 1200 ofur cyl touring KAW I cant recall the model designation, but it was quite comparable to the earlier goldwings of the 1200 cc era.

AS earlier stated I too have seen Training films of motor officer training and tough they were on older HD units those guys really put them through their paces! No way I would want one of them chasing me regardless of their mount. As for quickness I will speculate the new HD's with their water cooled engines , ABS and 103 CI engines will hold tier own with all the others and for those they don't for what ever reason catch up to the radio will be hard to get away from.

Here in Baton Rouge, the Harley dealer pays for the factory training of the City-Parish mechanics on their bikes. Maintenance not a problem. Of course that is an incentive to buy HD products.

My guess is that pursuit performance is more about torque than horsepower so the H-D does well.

When the CA Highway Patrol used H-Ds prior to BMWs they got a real sweetheart deal. In addition to a very good price and other perks, the state was able to sell back their used bikes to H-D at a prearranged price so there was no way to lose. That was during the period when demand far outstripped supply so dealers were clamoring for anything to put on their showroom floors.

By the way, the Rushmore project "water-cooled H-D" only has water around the exhaust valve seats in the cylinder head. It doesn't have any water cooling in the rest of the cylinder head nor around the cylinders, as is normal. Retaining the air-cooled look was a high priority in the redesign so it has two well hidden radiators, one on each side, probably smaller than those fitted to 250 cc motocross bikes.

And on the flip side...

July 24, 2012
Why Michigan State Police moved from Harley-Davidson to foreign-made BMW motorcycles

As the Detroit Free Press first reported, the state agency earlier this year leased nine new BMW bikes, moving away from a long-standing relationship with Harley-Davidson.

State police spokeswoman Shannon Banner said the decision to lease the German-made bikes was not easy, but in the end was informed by performance rather than place.

"It was based on what's the best tool for the troopers," she said. "We knew there would be criticism for purchasing non-American made motorcycles, and that was in the forefront of our minds. But data for two years showed that BMW outperformed Harley-Davidson."

They say they still have a need for Harley's

It's really a question of what the mission is," Banner said. "Harleys are used for escorts in parades and ceremonial-type things. There are needs for those bikes."

From a performance standpoint the BMW's pretty much ran rings around Harley and got better fuel mileage as well. What a surprise.

Warren said:

They say they still have a need for Harley's

It's really a question of what the mission is," Banner said. "Harleys are used for escorts in parades and ceremonial-type things. There are needs for those bikes."

From a performance standpoint the BMW's pretty much ran rings around Harley and got better fuel mileage as well. What a surprise.

Click to expand...

Bikes are cheap vehicles compared to the cost of your typical Car/SUV cruiser to be fitted out and cheaper to run/maintain as well. That being said, at the end of the day, each city will make whatever deal they can to pick the cheapest and best option those in charge feel is a good one.

You don't really need a full cruiser for most traffic stops but you wouldn't want to chase anyone down on a MC as you aren't in a superior situation at that point, no matter what motorcycle you're on. So, for most basic duty and some more specialized stuff, almost any motorcycle will do.

The cost-per-mile on PD motorcycles can take a big hit in the northern climes where use during winter is either greatly curtailed or stopped completely. At least from my viewpoint, PD motorcycles are ideally suited for work in the cities and not so much in rural locations.

Probably will be alot of auction bikes on the market once they take delivery of the hardleys....Cop shocks, cop brakes, cop tires......Lol. .thats good for us blues brother wanna be's