BMW manufactures the largest number of police motorcycles in service worldwide. In the United States, however, use of the BMW motorcycle by authorities really has not occurred until recent years, perhaps largely stimulated by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). In 1997 the CHP selected the R1100RT-P as its duty motorcycle (see photo below), supplanting all its Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It now operates some 415 R1100RT-P BMW motorcycles on the state's highways and interstates.

It has been estimated that 35% of police motorcycle crashes would not have occurred if the officer involved had been riding an ABS-equipped motorcycle!

What do motor officers themselves say about the BMW RT-P? Read that here!

In December 2001, CHP Commissioner “Spike” Helmick noted that the Department [of Public Safety] has not lost an officer since BMW was first awarded a contract to provide motorcycles, and he added that the ABS brake system has reduced the number of injuries suffered in motorcycle-related accidents.

So why do other authorities continue to this day to purchase motorcycles without ABS brakes? Is not officer safety somewhere in their equations?

My own “civilianized” R1100RT-P.

Todd Bernstein's very yellow RT-P

Alachua County Sheriff, Florida.

California Highway Patrol R1100RT-P.

Above is a local example — a very colorful county sheriff's R1100RT-P in service in Florida. In the town of Oro Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Tucson, Motor Officer John Teachout (see photo, right, riding in a Tucson police motor rodeo) was not satisfied with the Kawasaki police motors he and his fellow motor officers had been provided. Their downtime for repairs were extensive, and per-mile maintenance costs were too high, in his opinion. On his own, he researched the marketplace and determined that the BMW R1100RT-P was the motorcycle his department should use. He assembled information from the CHP and elsewhere and presented his proposal to his superior officers. Convinced, they authorized issuance of a town purchase order to Tucson's Iron Horse Motorcycles for one R1100RT-P. Today, it has been joined by three more R1100RT-Ps, and all town Kawasaki police motors have been retired from duty.

The nearby town of Marana, Arizona, now has also acquired a pair of R1100RT-Ps.

Auburn, California, Motor Officer Dave Lawicka rides an RT-P during his work. He has designed and made up some Badd Dawg Motor Squad pins, which is sells though the internet to RT-P riders. Click on the drawing in the center above to go to his web page. There you will see a photo of Dave astride his Beemer and be able to order his pins.

A South Carolina Highway Patrol R1100RT-P is shown in the right photo above. Note the use of cross-spoke wheels, as found on the BMW R1150GS and some versions of the R1100R, and the standard civilian R1100RT sidestand. BMW of North America has developed a special locking police sidestand for R1100RT-P service duty.

Unfortunately, in Tucson the police department, like so many others, looks only at initial purchase price and not at cost over the life of the motorcycle nor at the officer safety provided by ABS. It continues to order the cheapest option out there, the Kawasaki KZ1000. I have been told that some other police departments insist on Harley-Davidson police motors because of departmental tradition and/or they "look tough." One officer with whom I spoke objected to BMW police motors because, he said, “they don't have floorboards.” If the choice is floorboards or handling and ABS, is there really a choice?