Ducati Monster Forum

Donnie Williams - 2nd run [url=http://www.NTMSC.com]http://www.NTMSC.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJxOsYh12yY#)[/url]

 :o

Jeebus.

"Who says Harleys can't handle....."

Not me, I've surprised lots of squids while on my Roadking (and formerly on the Sportster I no longer own or the Heritage I no longer own) by using proper riding technique.  Of course then we'd hit the straight and they'd blast away, proving how much better they are than me... [roll]

The lower center of gravity make cruiser much, much easier to handle than sportbikes, especially at low speeds.  They aren't better for racing, however, because of a lack of ground clearance to lean, as well as higher mass.

I actually find myself carrying more speed through turns on my Wide Glide than the Monster simply because it's so much more stable.

The last 15 seconds or so were just amazing - it seemed like there was no way he was going to make those 8's.


mitt

 :o  wow ... i took a training course with an ex-cop who could ride like that.
i'm in awe watching these guys. 

Awesome mad skills! [clap] I loved hearing the floorboards scrape on the ground, kinda like curb feelers! [laugh] Pretty damn impressive stuff. Note to self: don't try and run from that cop! [leo] ;D

I took my Electra Glide to the advanced class a year ago given by the popo dep here and tried my hand at the same stuff.  Yes I knocked over three cones but passed the course and ours was not nearly that long.  All I kept thinking is how much money it would cost if I tumbled.   I too was impressed with how nimble that beast was and increased my confidence considerably.  It was amazing to watch them do the runs.

Impressive stuff to be sure.

I almost crashed my desk chair just watching it.

Neato. [thumbsup]

Also helpful, it appears the Harley has a meaningful amount of steering lock. The Duc would turn many of those into 3(ish) point turns.

 [clap] impressive! i woudnt want that guy chasing after me  [leo] [Dolph] ;D

impressive yes, but take those floor boards off and see how well he does. He was using them like training wheels.

and?  they are just like pegs, they give and you know you've reached your limits.

Holy Crap. I couldnt do that walking.

 [clap]

 [clap] [clap]

The  [leo] rider has great skill  [bow_down]. 

Despite being hindered by that ancient museum piece, he makes the task appear easy  [clap] [clap].

And he'll need all of that skill, given the crap riding gear he's equipped with.

Is this really what  [leo] gets to ride and wear in America in 2011??

Wrong, the floorboards fold up.  I believe the mufflers would be the first hard thing scraping if you leaned it that far.

when you practice as much as those guys do you can't help but become great and do stuff like that.

also they do the same thing on the bmw bikes in cali, and if you watch the whole japanese sportbike parking lot stuff they do that someone else posted one time you can pull just as tight of turns on a sport bike you just have to be willing to drag knees on those same courses, its insane what people can do if they practice hours every day.

I agree about the riding gear. I know that their job requires things that normal riders don't have to deal with. And I am sure the issue of full face helmets vs the open face lids has been discussed over and over among police departments. But the only thing local motor cops in my town seem to have that is mildly protective are the tall boots. They actually look like the tall riding boots the horseback officers wear. Not sure how much protection they would offer in a bike crash. I would certainly think some sort of riding jacket with CE padding is possible. And considering some of the high speed riding they do through traffic to chase a speeder they are much more at risk than most of us are running errands or on our daily cummute to work.

Yup. We've been over the issue at least once or twice, and moto-cop gear is pretty cringe-worthy when you think about a crash.

yup... if nothing else, these guys know the limitations of their vehicle(s) and know how to set up for the next obstacle (or two) in advance.

Who says Harleys can't handle...?

me.  A big bike might handle well, but only with the disclaimer "handles well for a big bike".  the same holds true for any big bike, not just harleys.

 [laugh] [laugh]
Another "gear patrol" infiltration.  And, practice or not these guys know how to ride........period!

I came back from a hot summer ride a couple of years ago and noticed the same motor cop working radar on a boulevard near my house. He was there when I left and still there when I came back hours later. I hit the nearby 7-11 to grab a bottle of cold water and thought what the hell, I'll grab one for the officer and drop it off on the way to the house. I stopped and gave him the water and he just about fell out. Said no one has ever done that for him.

Well that opened the door for some good bike conversation. He took a break from busting speeders and we stood in the shade and cooled down. Great guy! He admired the 999 and yes he actually knew what it was. Said he noticed me coming and going. He was a Honda Goldwing guy and had a shit load of miles on it and had been damn near everywhere! Deals Gap, the Rock Store, up Highway 1, Daytona, Sturgis, etc. A real bike rider who also gets to do it every day for work.

He said the bike division is one of the hardest to get into on the Dallas PD. He waited over 10 years! He said someone has to die or retire for there to be an opening. It's that popular of a division. And he also said they only have about 50 bikes all based out of the downtown station. I was shocked, I figured they had twice that many... or more. He said they wished. I figured a town this big could easily use 100+ motor cops. With all the shitty drivers they damn sure need it!

Anyway, very cool guy. If you ever get the chance buy one a cold Coke or bottle of water and shake their hand and tell them thanks. We both seemd to enjoy the chat and for a few minutes he wasn't just a cop... he was a fellow bike rider. [thumbsup] [Dolph]

Very cool story. [thumbsup]

If one were to take a poll, I wonder what sort of setup most American bike cops would want, if they had their druthers?

Do they find the Harley the ideal tool for the job? What about the BMW K-bikes that seem to be the norm in Planet Europe? Commission a police bike version of the new Motus?

My town seems to be moving toward the Harley cop bike. Not exactly sure which model that is. I see more and more of them. They have used the venerable Kawi KZ1000 type cop scooters forever and there are still a lot of them out there. The officer I chatted up was on the Kawi. We didn't even really talk about his bike. Just his Honda and my bikes and all the place he has ridden to with his wife on the back. Dude liked to rack up the miles for sure.

Harley must have cut the city a pretty good deal for them to switch brands. Like all towns mine is hard up for cash. In fact they just forced the police dept. to sell off their biggest and best chopper this past week. The chopper division chief is a friend of ours. His wife worked with my wife in the county's probation department. He is always pregnant doging about how they are squeezing him to death on expenses... like parts and maintenance. Ahhhh, isn't that stuff kind of important so the helos stay in the air? [bang] Wonder if the police dept. does their own bike maintenance in house or do they farm it out to the local Kawi and HD shops?

Anyway, I'd love to go see one of those cop bike rodeos. I can always appreciate great bike handling skills. Might even pick up a tip or two. [Dolph]

Price and maintenance is the driving force along with it's "agility."  Three primary competitors:  BMW, Harley & Kawasaki.  Lately I've seen a couple of my clients get some hits from Honda too.
Nearby town has the beemer, stay away from Addison BTW.  They will stop you for three over the limit - I argued after being stopped and he still gave me a ticket so off to court..........and I won.  [Dolph]

Shit! Three over? Damn. There's a town that's trying to get it's budget balanced! [bang] That's BS.

how'd you win?

Depending on speed, I imagine 3mph is well within normally accepted bounds for speedo discrepancy based on different tire sizes or profiles.

Judge agreed that it was bullshit

;D
My local bike cops seem to manage to dress in appropriate riding gear whilst managing their policing duties...
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/-X_Mx65MWJKg/TU68D5HQUII/AAAAAAABv7Y/fiarxxX9jNc/s800/Victorian_Police_Motorcycle%25252C_Geelong%25252C_Aust%25252C_jjron%25252C_30.9.2010.jpg)

No doubt about it.

Pretty much the common police gear.  Sometimes you see textile jackets but that's about it.

JM

That's a proper look. What's wrong with American motor cops dressing like that? I would if I were a bike mounted officer. [Dolph]

there are a couple "small towns" in the dfw area where you should just do exactly what the signs say.

addison
dalworthington gardens
pantego

of these, addison is the largest and they "do quite well for themselves"...

When I lived in Austin in the 70s there was a little town just outside of San Antonio on I-35 that set the bench mark for speeding tickets. Addison, etc probably are just following their lead from all those many years ago. Can't remember the name right now but at the time probably 95% of the drivers that ever passed by that town got a ticket. I think just about everyone I knew got at least one, if not several, tickets from the local cops. It was bad.

If you had more than one wheel on the ground you were getting pulled over and ticketed. Everyone swore the officers just made up the speed you were allegedly going. And I am sure most folks didn't travel all the way back to the town to fight the ticket in their municipal court. The judge was probably the Mayor and Police Chief's brother! :P

Back to cops riding motorcycles... and I will avoid Addison if possible. ;)

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv......true

 :-X   you're perilously close to politics. 

Do any Police departments still use Harleys?  They all ride BMWs here in SoCal and Kawasaki before that.  Those guys can definitely ride though...bike doesn't really matter I suspect.

A lot of departments on the east coast, especially big cities like Philly or NYC still use Harleys.

Actually, thought the floorboards fold up, the floor board mounts are often the next thing to hit (as oppossed to the mufflers). Depends on the model and also the camber of road.


Actually, at least on the east coat, we don't see many motor cops used for traffic enforcement per se (at least not highway stuff). They are more inner city usage, parade or VIP escort, crowd control usage etc. Not a lot of high speed chases occur in the big crowded cities on this coast.


Harley used to offer uber-cheap lease programs to the PD. Part of the reason they could get away with it was their tremendous resale value, so with that leveling off finally I don't know if they still do. But then again, one of the local dealers here has about a dozen 2007 Police bikes for sale at $13k each, so there wasn't too much depreciation there.

lax airport police are still on harleys. i've seen lapd on both harleys and bmws recently.

Tustin PD and several LA County PD's ride Harleys. Huntington Beach PD rides Hondas.

Damn.  I gotta get out there and practice.  On occasion I watch the NYPD Hwy guys train and practice on the HD's.  Some riders have it and some just don't. Id like to say I have it, but after watching that vid, I can humbly say, I don't.

SELMA, TX, yep it's no longer there, I believe the Feds got involved as well as the Rangers on corruption charges.  Got stopped there in early 80's, and I lived just north.  I knew about Selma, and drove 5 under still got a ticket.  I did not bother going to court.

Probably the reason Fastwin now inhabits Dallas, unfortunate for us  [evil]