Our local CHP's station a cruiser with a radar gun and a radio to dispatch 'pick-up' calls to a small fleet of 2-6 motor cops for citations. They love to catch small groups of cars or bikes that are pushing each other ON. It pays to know and observe the Hot Spots.

 

It's going to depend upon the officer and the bike... I just got through buying a 2006 FLHP-I (Road King Police) from an auction for a department up near Atlanta, GA and I'm quite happy with the condition of it... I was originally thinking that I would need to repaint it, but the paint was in such good shape, I decided that I kind of like the birch white color after all... It had slightly less than 19K miles on it and the tires look basically new... For $10,500, I figure I came out pretty good, even though I've probably added a few hundred in putting a passenger seat, passenger floorboards, driving lamps, and eventually, a passenger backrest and new luggage rack... I like having the extra amperage of the updated alternator system and the bead lock type tires... It took about a week to get the wiring straightened out from the police configuration to what I considered an acceptable civilian configuration... I basically determined that at my current stage in life, I no longer have a need for a 150 mph sportbike and decided to restrict myself by getting a Harley... I've determined that having a comfortable seat is considerably more important than having a really fast bike... After a 500 mile trip in a single day, the sportbike's riding position is killing my knees and my butt is really hurting... The air ride cop seat on the FLHP-I is *so* comfortable...

 

Yeah but you forgot the best part of the San Juaqin Valley. It's 1,500 miles of roads and 1 cop for every 9 square miles. I like that ration.

 

I think our town buys 'em .. Theyre about 25k peeps in town and they have prolly 10 motor cops ..

They keep em a couple years .. maybe two or three years .. Also you figure they can put 3 or 4 bikes on the road for the price of one four wheeler cruiser ..

I personally know several of them here , and all of 'em will give ya a wave of recognition when you pass buy 'em ..

Motor Officers in Bama do traffic only ..

 

We have just four to five officers on motors daily, from about 8-4pm. They probably start their bikes 50 times a day. I would surprised they ever get hot except maybe in the heat of summer. They buy the bikes and keep them about a year. Most have between 10-12k on them by then. The city shop maintains them except for warranty work, then the HD shop does that.

All of these guys are excellant riders. I've watched them train. But they can be hard on the equipment for sure. We don't have any street or roads in town that have speed limits over 45 mph, so they probably rarely see above 60 in a shift. I would think that a used St George police bike would be a good ride, but maybe a bit scuffed up.

The motor sergeant tells me they buy the bikes for about $4000 a piece net. About $16000 for the Police Electra Glide, which they can sell for $12000 after one year's use. The city figures that is a good deal.

All these motor officers do is enforce traffic, clean up accidents, and when they have time, back up patrol officers as available.

 

I find the Motorcops in SoFla to be pretty good with other bikers. (Bikers on Harleys) I've seen Motorcops drop their radar guns as we came up to them, and we were speeding! I assumed it was a mutual biker respect thing. As long as we were not egregiously breaking the traffic laws or doing something stupid they would look the other way. BTW - These are also guys who will give you the biker wave if you pass in traffic.

 

I grew up in the Steel City (Pittsburgh). It used to be called the pothole capitol of the world. I'm surprised the bikes last that long.

I left that sh*thole in '86 and never looked back.

 

Come from a long line of Philly Hiway Patrol. Bikes are usually assigned to traffic duty which is why a large ratio of citatations. Riding in town on an aircooled bike can be pretty hard on the bike. Also it depends on who was assigned to that particular unit. Some are treated better than family while some are treated like sh!!!t. Alot of stop/go does put a strain on the drive line. Down here in SC there is not near as much traffic and even though it's hotter bikes fair better I'm sure.

 

There are at least two departments here in Georgia where motor officers have to buy their own ride. All they get is the discount Harley gives on a police edition Road King (not the "Peace Officer" one, the actual police bike.) They also have to buy their own helmets, boots and jackets.

And yes, the reason motor officers write so many more tickets is because traffic is pretty much all they do. Think about it.........when was the last time you saw a police bike at the scene of a bank robbery or home invasion?

 

I'd really like to hear some of those reasons. A Trooper I've known since he was a boy scout here said he loved getting paid to ride, although he gave it up to become a k9 unit.