It probably has everything to do with BMW having an industrial presence in SC. In Dearborn, MI (home of Ford Motor Co) the cops even have a few Lincolns.

It's all good.

 

Cambridge Mass. dumped all of thier HD's a year ago in favor of BMW bikes and every cop I've talked to loves them, BMW even tossed in a track day at Laconia before the deal was signed just so the LEO's could see what they were getting.

BMW makes a fantastic product ( ok we can discuss the wheel bearing issue of a few years ago if you'd like) they are super quiet so they can arrived unannounced.

8/25/05
Hog-wild no more - Cambridge, MA
The all-American, tough-guy image of a cop on a Harley is a thing of the past in Cambridge.

This week, the Cambridge Police Department replaced its 14-motorcycle fleet with sleek, brand-new, BMW motorcycles, putting to rest the department's 12-year loyalty to Harley-Davidson.

"They're both excellent motorcycles," said Lt. Jack Albert. "But after extensive research on our part, the BMWs won out ... it's exciting."

The BMW bikes are more compact than their Harley predecessors, which ranged in age from 2 to 11 years. Albert said high maintenance costs for the maturing Harleys were the overwhelming factor in replacing them.

But others said they were also swayed by the BMW's feel.

"The suspension is a lot more modern and they handle better," said Officer Keith Albert. "They're more responsive to braking and turning."

 

In my area, the Memphis PD rides a mix of Harleys and Kawasaki's. The Shelby County motocops ride Harleys and my town, Bartlett switched from Kawasaki's to HD a few years ago. Supposedly, Memphis is in the process of phasing out the Kawa's in favor of the HD's. A local paper reported that while the Harley's cost more initially, they are a cheaper to maintain (no regular valve adjustments, chain adjustments, tires last longer, etc.) and have much more residual value when the PD retires them and sells them. Oh, and the officers favored Harley's overwhelmingly in a poll.

 

I am a motor cop for a SoCal police agency which has 20 motorcycle officers. We were all on Kawasaki's which were great bikes. They would take anything we threw at them. We bought a couple HD's, but then decided why put up with the heat so that was scratched. We also are only city with no freeways, so the HD's are not ideal for us city dwellers. We spoke with BMW about their bikes, but they did not want our city to do our own maintenance.

All the beemer maintenance had to be done through a BMW dealership otherwise the standard warranty that the police package bike comes with is voided. If our city agreed to that they would have two full time motorcycle mechanics sitting around with nothing to do. We tried Hondas with the ST1100 and we really liked them. They stopped making the ST1100's so we are now getting ST1300 which are really nice bikes. So far they are working out very well. I think you will see more and more LE agencies going to Hondas in the future.

Supposedly Kawasaki is also in the design process with a new police bike. We have heard it is going to be a touring type bike like Honda's ST1300, but it is going to be based on the Hyabusa (spelling?) with that huge engine output.

The silly thing is these things are already stupid fast and with all the distractions of riding a motorcycle and doing police work at the same time, I feel as though you can definitely have too much power. More is better right? Not in my opinion.....

 

The city police here got a BMW a couple of years ago, and it pretty much stays parked now. None of the officers will ride it. One of them told me they didn't feel secure on it due to the way it handled. In defense of the bike, I don't believe any of the officers here have any kind of training on bikes. The new Mexico State police have gone to BMW's, but I haven't talked to any of their motor officers to get any feedback. I understand Albuquerque PD is now using BMW's and like them. Bill Nourse or someone else from there may have more info on how A.P.D. likes them.

 

They went to BMW's cause when they arrested someone and hauled them to jail, the arrestee would be all happy and chit cause they got a ride on the back of a Harley.

 

Winchester, TN PD got 3 HD's for free from local dealer a couple of years ago.

 

California Highway Patrol is on BMW and our local PD is switching from KAW to BMW. I think some agencys are spec'ing ABS as an officer safety issue. That rules out the HD.

 

HD does have ABS as an available for those LEO agencies who require ABS. However, it's obviously a first-generation effort and given that the control module takes up 1/2 of the left saddlebag, it probably wouldn't sell well in the public market.

my $.02

 

Kawasaki is FINALLY introducing a new Concours model for 07, after 20+ years of the old design.

It is going to have a powerplant based on the ZX-14 engine. If you are not up to speed on the latest in crotch rockets, the ZX-14 is one sick bike, capable of 200+ speeds with the addition of a PC3 and a black box for the speedo. The Concours has always been a decent sport/touring bike with good ergos, shaft drive, and plenty of space in the side bags.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Kawi do a LEO bike based on the new Concours platform.