German Military and Police Motors: Part II

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Our last blog on German Military and Police Motors: Part I ended with a photo 0f good buddy Ben’s his personal bike, and I thought a good way to start Part II would be with another photo from Ben…one showing a vintage Swedish police BMW…

When I wrote the Complete Book of Police and Military Motorcycles, I guess the word got out and I received a number of police motorcycle photos.  As you might imagine, many of these photos were of police BMWs, as BMW has been a dominant force in the police motorcycle world for decades.   BMW has offered several engine configurations over the years, and nearly all are represented in their police motorcycles.

BMW’s early K-bikes used 3 or 4 cylinder engines (the photo below shows a 4-cylinder model) that were oriented in an unusual manner. The crankshaft was parallel to the frame, and the engine was oriented with the pistons moving in a horizontal plane (the engine laid on its side). The cylinder was on the bike’s left side. BMW tried to enter the US market with these motorcycles, but they made little progress until they offered the 1100cc boxer twin.

The photos came in from all over the world.  Here’s one from good buddy Ian in the UK…

And another from my old stomping grounds in New Jersey…

Here’s a great photo from my CBX friend Ian Foster of Hong Kong showing two BMW R1100RT-Ps and two Honda VFRs in Hong Kong. How about that…Honda VFRs as police bikes!

And good buddy Danny send us a several photos from the Netherlands…

When I wrote Motors for Rider magazine back in 2009, I took a bunch of photos of police motorcycles.  Here’s a cool shot that made the cover of two BMW-mounted Motor Officers in La Verne, California…

When police BMWs are retired from service, they are picked up by civilian motorcyclists. Although the bikes may have a few miles on them, they have usually been meticulously maintained, and they in excellent condition. Converting a police BMW to civilian use is straightforward…the blue and red strobe lights, the police radio, and the insignia come off, and it’s ready to go.  Most civilian riders also remove the police BMW’s extra battery to save weight.

So that’s it for now, folks.  Our next bit on police motors will feature Kawasakis, but that’s another time and another blog.  In the meantime, if you would like to see our other police motorcycle articles, please check out the ExhaustNotes Police Motors page!

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