Maybe Harleys Aren’t the Best Police Bikes?
Back in Chicago, motorcycle cops were few and far between. Every so often, you’d see a cop on a motorcycle somewhere in the city, but that was only really on days when big things were happening such as parades, or visits from foreign dignitaries. Now living in L.A., motorcycle cops are absolutely everywhere, and it’s easy to see why. Traffic sucks. And yes, that may sound like a stereotype, but seriously, after living here for almost a year, traffic is the biggest problem besides figuring out which pair of shorts you want to wear today.
Getting anywhere in L.A. is a nightmare, and if you own a car, requires you to leave at least two hours earlier than you think you need to leave. That is unless you own or ride a motorcycle. Then it becomes an easy trip of lanesplitting all the way to your destination. That makes motorcycle cops absolutely invaluable to police departments, because a robber, or god forbid a murderer, isn’t going to wait because the cruiser is stuck in traffic.
Motorcycles are necessary, and motorcycles that are agile and fast are even more so. Harleys just don’t fall into that category. Our friends over at Jalopnik’s Lanesplitter recently did a post on a review that the Michigan State Police did with five separate motorcycles the department has at their disposal, and you know what they found, the Harleys aren’t that great.
Besides the all-electric Zero motorcycle the department uses for places louder, larger bikes can’t go, the two Harelys are the lowest scoring bikes they have. Whether that’s in acceleration, or stopping, or a number of other tests, the Harleys provided poor ratings. Here in L.A., there aren’t many cops riding Harleys, definitely more BMW adventure type motorcycles. Now it’s clear why. Maybe it’s time for Harley-Davidson to build an Adventure type motorcycle or else potentially lose police contracts. What do you all think?
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