Police Bikes

Our police story is changing for good. Days of our cops roamed the streets in their shiny Harley or Indian cruisers are going to be a thing of the past. They were huge and bulky and weren’t much practical for police duties. A few Japanese models and Beemers were incorporated by few of the departments in different states now, and the trend seems to be catching on hard.

Introducing the Yamaha FJR1300P, America’s newest cop bike. Taking a fresh take on a century-old concept, this new police bike is coming to change the picture from broad and bulky to a new, stylish sleeker image. This bike already taken on police duty for many European and Australian forces, and is now jumping the pond to this side.

A trial to test Suzuki’s hydrogen-powered Burgman scooters launched on September 4, 2017 with the Metropolitan Police’s Fleet Services in London. On trial are seven Suzuki Burgman scooters equipped with the “Burgman Fuel Cell.” The cell is an integral part of a zero-emission hydrogen fueled scooter that is part of a green movement to reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels. The folks at the Met aim to have 550 green vehicles by 2020 and these scooters will go toward testing the viability of the hydrogen cell. The Burgman Fuel Cell was developed as a joint effort between Suzuki and Intelligent Energy Ltd, a provider of clean power technologies that aims to meet the market demand for more environmentally-friendly products.

Continue reading for more on the Burgman Fuel Cell.

When we hear the word “drone,” most think of either the military version currently in use various theaters of operation around the world, or the small, “spy on your neighbor” variety popping up through retailers everywhere. To be fair, those craft are remotely controlled by a human pilot somewhere in the world, but what we have here is actually an autonomous, two-wheel vehicle — not quite the same thing — but for ease of conversation we’ll just call it a drone, and it is intended for use by the police in your neighborhood.

Continue reading for a look at the Interceptor drone.

While it doesn’t exactly match the level of extravagance of the Dupai Police department, the Barcelona Police Department was the recipient of 30 BMW C Evolution maxi scooters from the German automaker, making it the first time the local police force in the Spanish city would be using electrically powered vehicles.

This is important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is giving officers of the Barcelona PD an alternative vehicle to use for their everyday duties. That is an alternative that has had an increased importance in recent years because of the city’s growing acceptance of eco-friendly vehicles.

You can already see the transformation towards an more environment-friendly way of living throughout the city. The use of these electric scooters is just the latest step towards an environmental urban progression. It’s unclear how many of these electric maxi scooters BMW will end up delivering to the Barcelona police department, but I wouldn’t be surprised if more of these scooters are delivered to the police department in the coming months or years. After all, when you’re talking about a city as big as Barcelona, I reckon that you’re going to need more than 30 electric maxi scooters to patrol its busy streets.

BMW’s delivery of these bikes isn’t the only positive development coming out of Bavaria. On the business end, BMW Motorrad scored another impressive sales growth in the month of February. During that time, the German firm reported selling 9,195 motorcycles and scooters. That’s an impressive increase of 13.5 percent compared to the same time period a year ago. It’s a nice haul for BMW as it continues its sales ascendancy in 2015. In fact, the company’s sales volume for the first two months of the year has already hit 13,536 units, a number that according to the company’s head of sales and marketing Heiner Faust represents a 14.2 percent growth in sales volume in the first two months of 2015.

Click "continue reading" to read more about BMW’s delivery of electric scooters to the Barcelona PD and its Feb. 2015 sales results.

Recalls in the motorcycle industry can strike anytime without warning. You can be riding your bike one day and then wake up the next to news that you’re bike is being recalled because of a problem in the fuel tank or wherever. But don’t worry, problems like this aren’t just exclusive to private consumers. As a number of police officers have found out recently, it also extends to them.

Yup. Law enforcement authorities are being advised by Kawasaki that the Concours 14 patrol bike might be recalled because of possible electrical problems that could plague certain until of the Concours 14 and 14ABS bikes. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority, the specific issue lies in added police accessories that could cause the bike’s 30-amp main fuse to blow and the wiring harness to chafe. This could result in a short-circuit that could lead to the engine stalling and increase the risk of a crash.

A total of 194 units of the Concours14 and 14ABS made between May 8, 2008 and February 23, 2013 are affected by the recall. Kawasaki has already notified affected police departments of the issue and have promised to send trained personnel to repair the bikes at no cost to the departments.

Should a police department have any of these two bikes, they’re also invited to ring up Kawasaki so they can address the issue.

Click “continue reading” to read more about the Kawasaki Concours 14 Police bike recalls.

I’ve always been proud of the fact that I’m a law-abiding citizen. I don’t get into a lot of trouble and I certainly don’t intend to get into anything that will result in me getting apprehended by a police officer. That’s a sentiment a lot of people share.

There are a number of reasons behind this. For one, none of us want to deal with the hassle of having to pay road fines or worse, appear in court to face charges of traffic violations. But most importantly, none of us want to have to look at our side mirrors and see a police officer performing a stunt like this.

Seriously, is there anything scarier than a police officer standing menacingly on the foot pegs of his Harley-Davidson with a rifle pointed directly at your back? If there is, I don’t know what it would look like and quite frankly, I don’t even want to find out.

The sight of a cop doing something like this is scary enough on its own. But if you’re not the offending party, this kind of stunt looks really cool, especially with the way the officer seems to be in full control of the bike and the rifle he has on his hands. I don’t know if the officer has any background doing motorcycle stunts, but from the looks of things, he really seems to know what he’s doing.

I feel sorry for anybody who somehow finds himself with this cop on his tail. I’d freak out if it was me, as I’m sure a lot of you would too.

If you want to talk about a true one-of-a-kind classic Ducati, it doesn’t get any better than the Ducati 860 GT Polizia. On the same vein that the American police rode Harley-Davidsons for years, its European counterpart used Ducatis.

This particular 860 GT Polizia, which was put on auction at the 2012 RM Auctions in Monaco, was built on a 750GT frame, with 750 tanks and side covers. In addition, it carried a powerful 864 cc SOHC V-twin engine that was mated to a five-speed transmission.

As a 1981 model, this 860 GT Polizia - CN: DM750S/755495 - was used by the Bologna Police Department and came with a windshield, leg shields, and side panniers, as well as a black paint and chrome finish.

Its condition is still impeccable even after all these years, and is highlighted by a relatively low mileage considering its age and the purpose it was used for (patrolling the mean streets of Bologna, Italy back in the 80’s).

Expected bid price for this 1981 Ducati 860 GT Polizia was pegged at around €4,000 - €6,000, which is about $5,200 - $7,800 based on current exchange rates. Actual selling price was $10,606.

There’s nothing quite like combining work with relaxation and during our short trip to Constanta, Romania we happen to come across a Kawasaki VN900 Police Bike, which simply couldn’t miss from our vacation picture album. I started sharing impressions about the bike with the policeman and then asked him if he was kind enough to let us get a few pics of the bike that he was so proudly riding and he was ok with it.

Apart from Harley-Davidson, we didn’t happen to see any cruiser type police bikes so this Kawi got our complete attention before another police officer radioed in a hazardous situation and our point of admiration hit the road with the sirens on.

As you can see, this motorcycle police officer has found a new, interesting, unique, but extremely efficient method to stop those who break the law. It all consists in attracting the outlaws like a magnet rather than chasing them all over the highway.

I can imagine drivers waiting in line to beg for a biiig ticket. I’m not sure what they’re going to receive although I could make a few remarks regarding to what could there be in that spacious trunk that she rests her elbow on.

If there’s one thing any law enforcement officer needs to know, abusing your power can sometimes lead to your victims fighting back.

That’s the predicament highway patrol officers in Upstate New York now find themselves in after a motorcyclist named Mitchell Proner – who also happens to be a personal injury attorney – sued the New York State Police and the New York State and county authorities over what he claims to be the "misuse of safety inspections to delay and harass motorcyclists without any reasonable belief that any laws are being broken."

We don’t exactly know how many times Proner himself has been pulled by the fuzz, but it must have been enough to light a hot enough fire under him to go after these guys.

Continued after the jump.

The 13th Annual Southwest Police Motorcycle Training and Competition Event Held in Phoenix, Arizona showed once again how skilful the guys in uniforms are in maneuvering those big Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Even if spending the full working schedule on the seats of their bikes, the policeman participating sure did their homework before signing in for the competition. Just take a look at this perfect run.

Michael Jackson will sell his police spec Harley-Davidson Road King together with more than 2000 items from his Neverland ranch during a five-day auction in Beverly Hills, California. Julien’s Auctions organizez the event which will take place between April 22 and 25.

As reported, part of the money will go to charity, but most will end up in the pop star’s continuously shrinking pocket.

A couple on a motorcycle in Europe (most likely in the Czech Republic, by the “policie” trim on the policeman’s jacket) gets pulled over by a motorcycle police officer for public unbecoming. Apparently, the policeman was coming from behind, got a close look of the “issue” and decided to pull these guys over.

I can imagine their conversation:

Policeman: “License and registration please!”

Rider: “What’s wrong officer, you didn’t liked the view?”