Ducati Monster Forum

Michigan State Police did a round of test on two HD models, a BMW, A kawi and two Victory models for a new bike supply contract. BMW won the contract

Test result sheet which makes for some interesting reading
http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4192395722.PDF (http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4192395722.PDF)

0-60 and 0-100 times are a bit shocking. The American bikes made 100 in no less than 18 (and change) seconds. The Electra Glide made 100 in a whopping 31.60 seconds

Article
"July 23, 2012, 2:24 p.m. EDT
Detroit Free Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State Police may be saying bye-bye to the American-made Harley-Davidson and Vroom! Vroom! to BMW as its motorcycle of choice.
Nine BMW R1200s were purchased in April and joined the Harley-Davidsons on the department's fleet of 24 motorcycles, the Detroit Free Press reported (Michigan State Police fleet is no longer all-American, as BMWs move in on Harleys | Michigan news | Detroit Free Press | freep.com ) Monday.
The German-made police bikes simply performed better in annual tests, state police spokeswoman Shannon Banner said.
"It was something we put a lot of consideration into," Banner said. "We are Americans, after all; we're in Michigan, home of the auto industry. It was all about safety and performance. That's what the whole vehicle-testing program is about. We really could no longer ignore what we were seeing in the tests."
The Detroit Police Department received the company's first police motorcycle in 1908, according to the Harley-Davidson website.
A performance test from last fall ranked the BMW R1200 faster with superior handling and better safety features. The motorcycle's top speed is 131 mph. The Harley's top speed is 104.
It also costs less. BMW bid $23,549 and $24,022 this year. Harley-Davidson's bids were $24,406 and $24,791.
Motorcycles are re-evaluated each time the state police decide to buy more, Banner added.
A state police analysis also said a Harley is a "capable vehicle for parade and ceremonial use."
Harley-Davidson is based in Wisconsin. It has 23 dealerships in Michigan, said Vince Consiglio, Harley owner and president of a motorcyclist rights group.
"I was surprised to hear that the people who brought us the Pure Michigan campaign would not buy bikes made by our neighbors in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania," Consiglio said.
Pure Michigan is a marketing and advertising campaign promoting Michigan-made products and the state as a tourist destination.
BMW's motorcycles are used by state police in a number of states and other police agencies in Michigan, according to BMW Motorcycles of Southeast Michigan spokesman John Horner.
The dealer sold the R1200s to the Michigan State Police."

Cool find.

mitt

Well, hopefully I won't see any when I go home for a visit.  Not going to sit well with a lot of the folks back there.  About time though!  Most of the departments back in AZ use BMWs and Kawis.  I see a lot of here in Austin though. 

One would think that they would have DQ'd the Victory on looks alone.

Eeesh.

That Victory Vision just hurts my eyes. Nothing about that bike says quick or nimble just by looking at it.

Well, I just hope that they don't go that route with the car fleet.. Its already become difficult to spot them with the new unmarked chargers/challengers/mustangs  [coffee]

tis a shame they didn't consider the Honda ST1300.

CA has had them for more than a decade now.  Great bikes, ABS standard, reasonably fast and very safe.

The BMW dealer here is right down the street from my Ducati dealer.  I swing by there from time to time and they always seem to have a few CHP motorcycles in for maintenance.

They're going BMW here in Utah, too.

I wonder how being the de facto standard for police use has affected HD's business planning over the years. How large is this govt market? If HD had to make an effort to get the police business, maybe it would have pushed its product lines toward better performance...

For the whole US? You're talking thousands of bikes country wide. Of course, there's a much smaller segment for new purchases for any expansion or retirement of currently in service vehicles.

But it's still probably a decent unit volume per year. With HD loosing their (seemingly) sole supplier role smart folks there have gotta note the change in the way the winds are blowing... Though they really don't seem to, historically, pay much attention to that.

Don't want to stray into the topic of "politics" - but I always thought this country, and indeed capitalism, was founded under the belief of "may the best man win."

HD is a very well marketed company, sadly that doesn't translate to product.

Cheers,
Adam

I read my post you quoted and I was missing "HD" in that last sentence.  I see a lot of them here in Austin still.  HD won the "best man" contest with the military though against Indian and now it's their turn.

QFT [thumbsup]

The whole purpose of a "best man" competition is to outline the specs that are highly desired by the agency, and then choosing the product that best meets or exceeds those specs. HD can either get butt hurt over losing the contract and try to build a PR mess about the agency choosing products that weren't made in America, or they can go back to the drawing board and learn from these defeats and retool their offering.

They did have Eric Buell for a while.  He knows a thing or two about performance... 

Oh wait, they fired him.  Oh well. 

Rest assured, however, that Michigan can still use the HD fleet for parade and ceremonial use.   [laugh]

(Side-Factoid: When last I lived in MI (1999), Detroit PD still had a small fleet of Honda Rebel 450's.)

What the heck did they use the 450s for? Chasing kids on pedal bikes?

Urban PDs use them a good amount. MPD - DCs police has Rebels. Much smaller profile bikes can get where the big ones can't. And in an urban environment you're generally not going fast

Not around here.  You need to hit 80mph just to keep up with the flow of traffic on the freeways and good luck getting anywhere without getting on the freeway.

A department tested some BMWs nearby here.  I know the local mechanic.  I don't know if the police are extra rough on clutches or if the BMW clutches are weak but when they go the bike has to be basically broke in half to get to it.  He was complaining about how many clutches and how hard they were to change.  I wonder if they will do any long term studies in MI.

Hmm, government officials growing a brain or cops pregnant doging enough about outdated inefficient equipment.  I'll pick the latter.

Hmm, it seems that CA is phasing out the BWMs in favor of the new Kawasaki police cruiser.  They will be gradually phasing out the higher mileage BWMs and phasing in the Kawasakis.  I haven't seen any yet though.

http://www.government-fleet.com/News/Story/2010/09/CHP-Adopts-Kawasaki-s-Concours-14-P-Motorcycle.aspx?prestitial=1 (http://www.government-fleet.com/News/Story/2010/09/CHP-Adopts-Kawasaki-s-Concours-14-P-Motorcycle.aspx?prestitial=1)

I'm kind of surprised Michigan didn't go with the Kawasaki.  I’m surprised ANYONE opts for the Harley.  It just looks like a complete dog next to the other two.

Kawasaki
HP: 155hp
Torque: 102 ft lbs @ 6200rpm
Shaft Drive
Traction Control: Standard
Weight: 679lbs
1/4 mile: 10.78@125.44mph

BMW
HP: 110hp
Torque: 85 ft lbs @ 6000rpm
Shaft Drive
Traction Control: Optional
Weight: 650lbs
1/4 mile: 12.85@109.5mph

Harley-Davidson
HP: N/A
Torque: 78.3 ft lbs @ 2500rpm
Belt Drive
Traction Control: Not available
Weight: 811lbs
1/4 mile: 14.57@87.9mph

Honda BMW Harley Police Motorcycle Barrel Racing Competition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN6OOWEStLM&feature=youtube_gdata_player#)

Timp-Harley Police Motorcycle Competition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3DtCiqp9d8&feature=youtube_gdata_player#)

My the non HD bikes in those look a lot more fluid

Make no mistake, there is nothing more American than having the freedom to buy the best available product at the best price.  Competition creates a better product.  Companies that don't innovate and evolve, go bye-bye.

A friend has a Kawasaki C-14 and that is one stout machine - including the clutch.  Not that I would want a police C-14 chasing me but I think it would make a great police bike.

same thing that DC Metro uses Rebel 250's for...alley chases and small close quarter manueverability that exceeds the HD....funniest thing in the world IMHO is seeing a 300lb motor cop on a lil Rebel 250 with side cases riding like he is serious with the HD's in formations and so forth...

basically it is a ZX14 slightly detuned...

 [laugh]

You can't drop the Harleys due to the scraping hard parts holding you up. 

How do the Kawasaki's compare with maneuverability and ground clearance? Those are two big factors for police bikes... Also how much gear they can hold, comfort, and ease of use. Speed/power aren't always the most important thing. Consider that a cop is on those thing 8+ hours a day, in heat/cold, wearing all their standard gear. They need a bike that is easy and comfortable to use, not necessarily the fastest. They need to be able to go off road at times, up over curbs, through alleys, between cars and other tight spaces, etc. Also maintenance costs, durability, and how easy they are to repair is also a factor. The bikes might be idling for long periods of time, and they will get dropped often as well.

Around here it's been BMW's for as long as I can remember. Seems every agency uses them and they really like them. Probably a little under powered, but they get the job done.

I'm sure that they were faster, braked better, much lighter and more reliable than the HD's.

Sounds like a GS/Versys/Vstrom would be way more up to cop duties actually.

The tested bimmer was listed as having a single plate dry clutch - so a cars clutch? Wonder if they over heat/burn out the dry clutch faster than wet ones.

Don't forget all the equipment that cops have to haul around.  That adds weight so you'd probably want a bike that is setup and capable of carrying that weight.  Not sure a budget bike like the GS/Versys/Vstrom is up to that task.

Pretty sure the GS could handle the weight...isn't very "budget" either.

Berkeley cops rode dual sports, and wore dark blue fatigues with combat boots. Seemed to be the most practical set-up I've seen for a moto cop that didn't need to ride on the freeway.

I'd say that all modern literbike dual sports are more than up to the task of taking care of the battery drain, luggage space, and weight of a cops standard bike gear.  In fact I'm pretty sure that they are all using the same engine as the ones offered... smaller in the case of the kawi c14 though.

They probably would take a beating better than most of the street bikes... I think that only major issue would be with the ride height.  With the touring bikes they use currently the seat height prob is rarely an issue.  The dual sport bikes would be a hassle for shorter cops.

Most UK forces use either BMW RTs  or Honda ST1300 but the Honda is not likedby many  for its dangerous handling at high speed which has killed a lot of riders

in Thailand the traffic and escort cops use some BMW RT models and Yamaha FJR 1300 or FJ900/600

the local thai cops use varios 125 stepthrus or honda CBR150

best time were when UK cops had Norton commandos and Guzzi 850s lovely bikes

CHP used to ride Guzzis. 

(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh173/WTFitch/FitchWilliamT1975CHP-CentralLA.jpg)

A friend of mine back home (also a cop) bought an old one to restore.  Has it set up now period correct with working lights and siren.   [thumbsup]

Hey! That's like 3 miles from me.  Very cool building-most of the steel is reclaimed from the old steel mill just down the street.

Utah's finest (and motorcycle cops in general) can freaking ride.

I thought you were talking GS500...

Interesting pics and discussion -
http://forums.cycleworld.com/showthread.php?t=130456 (http://forums.cycleworld.com/showthread.php?t=130456)

That is ugly...

What's a BWM?

 ;D

reading is fundamental... ;D

Fixed that for you.

Thats what I'm talking about..

http://www.thefickeadventure.com/WorldTrip/Wedding/Honeymoon/images/PoliceDucati.jpg (http://www.thefickeadventure.com/WorldTrip/Wedding/Honeymoon/images/PoliceDucati.jpg)

All this talk of bigger more powerful police bikes. I like the idea of them using slow HDs and not the below

(http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4137/4827215193_1a79971afc_z.jpg)
(http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/13886/wm/pd2554695.jpg)
(http://photos.imageevent.com/motorbiker/newspics3/Police-Motorcycle-UK-5.jpg)
(http://thekneeslider.com/images/ohphayabusa1.jpg)

It's about time they got up with the times.  When I was in SC the troopers had BMW's and one of the downtown Charleston cops rode a Nighthawk 250 [laugh] but honestly you wouldn't get away downtown from it.  Now back in TN, I see mainly Harley's up here but Sullivan County has some nice Hondas.

Raux, that's awesome [clap] (just not if they're behind you) [laugh]

Fairfax county in Northern VA has a liveried R1.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2737111738_f5d3910ce4.jpg)

It was a seizure bike they kitted up. There's been some sighings on the roads - but mostly it's a promo piece. Obviously unique as it came by way of legal action, not business contracts for a fleet

(http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/attachments/fz6/126325d1181687871-next-cop-bike-dougmo-chp-rider.jpg)

From my understanding on BARF, that is not an actual police officer or service bike.  It is very cool though, I remember those pics from '03.

my understanding was that he is/was in fact a real officer, it just was not a service vehicle in any way shape or form except for PR, but was his own bike and idea and money and for the leathers as well...

Around DC and other areas some PDs have a 'Run what ya brung' type drag car that they take to nights at the strip as a PR/outreach thing. Legally race a cop as fast as you can manage.

I knew he was a riding instructor, but he may be a PO as well.  Someone had mentioned the livery was part of a movement to make full face helmets and leathers part of the uniform since officers ride out there with basically no protection.