2015 Police Motorcycle and Car tests

2015 Michigan Police Vehicle Evaluation Test Book (PDF)

I ain't sayin' Harley got a whoppin. But the results sure are! Ouch!

On the other hand, if you see a cop on a Hog and you are in a stock ND you gotta shot...

The Moto California was right there with them though. Those braking numbers on the HDs are scary!

^ that's a purty police bike.

Where was the Victory Police models?

That was cool. Thanks for sharing.

I'm surprised that Honda doesn't have a Cop Bike, or any of the Japanese builders, for that matter. There is guy somewhere in my area that has an old CHiPs style KZ1000 police bike still running, I see it a couple times every summer.

Also, most of the bike mounted cops in my area are riding middle sized dual sports for patrolling the 'hood.

HappyAndy wrote: I'm surprised that Honda doesn't have a Cop Bike, or any of the Japanese builders, for that matter. There is guy somewhere in my area that has an old CHiPs style KZ1000 police bike still running, I see it a couple times every summer. Also, most of the bike mounted cops in my area are riding middle sized dual sports for patrolling the 'hood.

Yeah, for city patrol, I don't know why a middle to big adventure tourer isn't the answer. Curb hopping, stairs, yard cuts, and respectable (very much so compared to the Harley apparently) highway manners all seem to make it a great police option. Seems like the KTM 1190 Adventure and BMW R1200GS would rock this (I have seen R1200GS policed out before too. called the R1200GS-P)

There could be other police bikes out there (I know Michigan tested the ST1300 one year) that just didn't get tested this year.

The Harleys were terrible but everyone already knows that. How about that Can Am Spider? It was the worst of the bunch in every category. "Beaten by an Electra Glide" is one of those statements you never thought you would hear even if you were driving a 60's era F-100 loaded with mulch at a dragstrip.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

It did stop better than the Harley...

I noticed that the spider is an alternative to the mega touring bikes for people would trike them anyway. It has the performance just behind a stock Miata.

Flight Service wrote:

HappyAndy wrote: I'm surprised that Honda doesn't have a Cop Bike, or any of the Japanese builders, for that matter. There is guy somewhere in my area that has an old CHiPs style KZ1000 police bike still running, I see it a couple times every summer. Also, most of the bike mounted cops in my area are riding middle sized dual sports for patrolling the 'hood.

Yeah, for city patrol, I don't know why a middle to big adventure tourer isn't the answer. Curb hopping, stairs, yard cuts, and respectable (very much so compared to the Harley apparently) highway manners all seem to make it a great police option. Seems like the KTM 1190 Adventure and BMW R1200GS would rock this (I have seen R1200GS policed out before too. called the R1200GS-P) There could be other police bikes out there (I know Michigan tested the ST1300 one year) that just didn't get tested this year.

For urban stuff I think I'd rather something smaller - like a KTM 690. Locally the police don't use the big Harleys outside of the downtown so their fat asses would probably be more effective on mountain bikes, horses or even on foot. I think there are probably a couple guys who like to get paid to ride all day and they have seniority. Otherwise it makes as little sense as using a car in city traffic.

The Philadelphia PD uses Harleys for Highway Patrol and some of the cops ride around on DR650's near Fairmount Park and in the inner city neighborhoods.

In reply to 92dxman:

Philly also has at least a couple of BMWs, I see them over in the MSF training lot on Bartram ave regularly, along with the DRs & H-Ds. I'm fairly sure they are K bikes, and I think that I saw an F bike in Philly PD livery too, next time I see them, I'll stop and see if I can get pics.

I wonder if HD ever addressed this issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmw6QppXnEY

My bike has done that a couple times. The first time it's a big deal, after that you realize you can ride out of it so it's much less dramatic.

Watched a friends 2009 'Cuzzi California do that in front of me at 90mph.

Apparently they've found that the mid-sized windscreen causes it on the California.

It won't do it with a tall screen or the little flyscreen.

Oldie but goody

https://youtu.be/ZbUbGwB_tMA

Have a care with the graphs from that report. They are misleading, making the differences seem larger than they are.

For example, at first glance, it appears the Caprice is twice as fast as the Impala around the course since the bar is only half as high (page 40). Actually, the Caprice is actually only 5% faster than the Impala. What is shown as a huge difference in the graph is actually rather small.

The braking graphs on page 72 are even worse. It looks like the Tahoe can't stop, while the Charger is 4 times better. Look at the details, the Charger is only 10% better. The graph deceptively makes it appear like the Charger is at least 4 times better than the Tahoe.

Also, look at the data points. Pages 100 & 101 for example, someone apparently can't figure out how to launch and accelerate a Harley. 14-23 seconds for a 0-100 mph acceleration? That's a mighty big variance and a strong indicator of test error. They had similar trouble launching the Can-Am (page 102), just not as much.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Yes, you need to read the scale on the left. The graphs don't start at zero.

So if a bunch of professional testers, people who do this every year and send this report to law enforcement around the country can't get a consistent performance out of those vehicles. Is that commenting on them or the vehicles?

Flight Service wrote: So if a bunch of professional testers, people who do this every year and send this report to law enforcement around the country can't get a consistent performance out of those vehicles. Is that commenting on them or the vehicles?

I'm rather inclined to suspect the wide variance shown on some vehicles is due to the testers trying different launch styles and shifting points attempting to find the best or fastest way to do it.

If that is so, then the data would have been clearer and more consistent had that been resolved in tests and practices prior to these demonstration runs and comparisons.