That sort of makes sense. If there is a large aftermarket of police equipment for the batwing then the sharknose would be ineffective in for their needs. I was hoping it was something practical like that instead of prejudice over looks. Batwing or Sharknose; they are shields before the rider and to the police I would imagine it would come down to function. Accessories designed for one fairing over the other. Thanks!

If there are any other possibly practical reasons I'd like to hear it. It's just speculation at the end of the day.

 

There is an RG version made , tho' I have never seen one ..

 

No place to put the donut holder?

 

I work for a municipality.

The Road King is the bike of preference for several reasons, not necessarily in order:

1. Tradition
2. After market. It is not unusual to change out the bike, and keep older ancillary equipment, so consistancy with the fleet is important
3. I would guess that Harley is tooled to produce Police Bikes in Road King. That may not be true for the other models
4. Pricing. At least in terms of list, Road Glides are substantially more expensive from Kings. 2009 Kings start at $16,999; Glides at $18,599.
5. In some cases, there are substantial discounts or incentives offered on the Road Kings, in addition to the lower list. I have heard that some dealers will provide the fleet of RK's at no cost, trade them out after a period of time, and sell them used.
6. In short, Harley promotes the RK as the Police Bike.

What does the Glide offer for Police work that the King does not have?

 

That was my first thought,the cops don't want to be seen on a ugly bike,after all they have a image......

 

WOW...I was going to say something similar but you beat me to it!!

 

Thanks for showing your intelligence levels. I'm always amazed at guys like you two who slam a Harley Motorcycle just because it isn't a "cookie cutter" version of what you own. (and I'm glad of that fact.) Give it a week and next you'll be slamming each other.. They always say that JEALOUSY is the sincerest form of Flattery! Please, don't you two guys go buy'em now because WE (FLTR riders) have an image to maintain too.


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Could just be a volume thing, not enough demand! HD does offer the Road King, Electra Glide Classic and a 883 XL Sportster in police Police models for 09.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/C...bmLocale=en_US

 

I do own an FLTC. I've had it 20 years...before they became cool. So I think I am more than qualified to tell you these bikes are butt ugly. If I had a dollar for every person that informed me of this fact over the years I'd be retired now. I also own an Ultra so I'd have to agree with you on the intelligence level thing. EG riders are extremely smart

 

Our department buys the bikes every year. The cost for their fleet of six motorcycles is about $4000 a piece per year, and they get a brand new motorcycle with practically no maintenance. The "ancillary" equipment is removed from the trade in bikes and reinstalled on the new ones, such as radios, sirens, radar, some lighting. They figure this is the ultimate management of the traffic motors.

By the way, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, they were certifying officers for motorcycle duty, and I got to watch them train. I wouldn't do to my motorcycle what they were doing to theirs. They did remove the saddlebags, and armor the crash bars, because they do fall down a lot. We run the Police Electra Glide (batwing) and the guys like them better than the Road King Police.