HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
Novice
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From:
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
I've done this three times over the years as a minor way of protest. Since the police departments are paid for by the US taxpayer, if I get stopped by one driving or riding a piece of 4N crap, I go to the bank and draw a check in 4N currency based on the where the POS came from. I will say that two of the states were ones I was in for business and haven't returned to.
Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 660
Likes: 2
From: Schaumburg, IL, near Elgin, IL
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
ORIGINAL: virtualmike13
The officer smiled and said "It's OK for long rides, very comfortable. But it won't do for city riding with all the stop and go we do. About 20% of the LA Harley fleet has had starter failures. We contacted the factory and they said to us "Don't stop so much!" We told them we can't do that, the job demands lots of stops and starts. So now we are trying to get out of our contract with Harley! We want to replace them with BMW's"
The officer smiled and said "It's OK for long rides, very comfortable. But it won't do for city riding with all the stop and go we do. About 20% of the LA Harley fleet has had starter failures. We contacted the factory and they said to us "Don't stop so much!" We told them we can't do that, the job demands lots of stops and starts. So now we are trying to get out of our contract with Harley! We want to replace them with BMW's"
2) In any big organization, stories float around. It's unlikely that the cop on the street would know what HD really said to LA's fleet manager. "Don't stop so much?" is awfully unlikely.
3) If HD loses the LA fleet, they should fire somebody. Maybe have a public hanging.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,167
Likes: 7
From: FL & SoCal
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
Thats a horrible story considering that an American police forcewill beprotecting American streets on German bikes. Go figure. I have no problems with German products as I own a BMW auto myself because of their awesome engineering. I also own and have owned several American vehicles, however,BMW's bikes and cars downright Rock! I hate hearing that American companies such as Chevy, Ford, and Harley do not want to step their engineering and manufacturing processes up to match and beat out the foriegn companies. I know America is quite capabable of competing if they want to. Just look at the Corvette Z06. It'sa supercar for half the price of the least expensive Ferarri. I love Harley and I think they are a great company, however, sometimes their thinking really appears to be a bit warped. If competing with the rest of the world means water-cooled or some other technically advanced gimmick, than so be it. Let's just not get beat out by the rest of the world. My .02 
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
i live between fl and nc. the rtp's are everywhere and anyone who thinks the flh is even comparable obviously hasn't seen or ridden the bimmer. the flh is antiquated technology which just happens to be exactly what h-d owners love about them. there's nothing wrong with loving an air-cooled pushrod v-twin as long as you realize it is what it is. if h-d wants to be a player in the police bike business, the only shot they've got is to produce a vrscp. even so, they're gonna have some serious competition from not only the rtp but honda's stp v-4 as well.
http://www.bmwmc.net/uploads/tm7/R11...20Brochure.pdf
http://powersports.honda.com/police_cruiser/index.asp
http://www.bmwmc.net/uploads/tm7/R11...20Brochure.pdf
http://powersports.honda.com/police_cruiser/index.asp
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 249
Likes: 3
From: South, Louisiana
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
Just a small point of clarification. I am not here to defend HD. Most of what you said is correct. But it is not correct that HD does not address the starter problems on police bikes. I own a 2007 Police bike that I was able to purchase brand new. the 2007 and later models come with a 103 c.i. engine. the compression on these motors was blowing the starters out. HD did a recall and replaces the heads with new ones that have know coz they did it for my bike for free.
Banned
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 542
Likes: 1
From:
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
sounds like they didn't put compression releases on those bikes?
man, that's retarded!
man, that's retarded!
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Southpaw Super Glide: A Left-Hand-Drive 1979 Harley FXE Built to Fit the Rider
Verdad Gallardo
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,027
Likes: 4
From: Eastern NE
RE: HD Bikes in LAPD, may be end of an era!
Around here, the MoCo is having the dealers install compression release's on the new 110ci engines for that exact reason, starter failures.
