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21-543: The Norton Interpol was a police motorcycle produced by the British manufacturer Norton between 1969 and 1976. The Interpol was based on the company's Commando model. The 'Interpol' name was retained for Norton's later Norton Interpol 2 rotary engined police motorcycle. Some police forces had expressed interest in the Commando. Norton's chairman, Dennis Poore , recruited Neale Shilton, who had just left Triumph to produce

42-498: A Commando to police specifications. Shilton had been responsible for the success of the Triumph Saint amongst police forces and as Fleet Sales Manager had made many contacts within various police forces. The result was the 'Interpol' machine, which sold well to police forces, both at home and abroad. The 750 cc machine was fitted with panniers, top box, fairing, radio mountings, police lights, and auxiliary equipment. The machine

63-631: The Atlas was carried over, with a modified underside to overcome the differences between the Atlas and Commando frames. Four variant were available: plain, with a radio recess, with screwed inserts or with pommels. (The bike exhibited at the Brighton Bike show had a recessed tank with a Cossar radio, with although obsolete was still in common use). The Lancashire Constabulary were one of the largest forces in England at

84-991: The Harley-Davidson FLHTP Electra Glide, the FLHP Road King , the XL883 Sportster and the new XB12XP Buell Ulysses Police motorcycle. The FLHTP Electra Glide and the FLHP Road King are also offered as Fire/Rescue motorcycles. In 2014, the Los Angeles Police Department added the Zero Motorcycles MMX electric motorcycle to its fleet. The motorcycle was praised over the traditional bulky Harley-Davidson and BMW bikes for its stealth, low operational costs, immediate tactical advantage, and low environmental footprint. BSA motorcycles Too Many Requests If you report this error to

105-672: The Kawasaki Concours 14 is being modified and marketed for police use in some markets. In Germany, BMW Motorrad is the largest provider of motorcycles for authority use. In the United Kingdom, the most common police motorcycles are the BMW R1200RT and the Yamaha FJR1300 . Some police forces also use scooters within towns for parking enforcement, or special-purpose machines such as unmarked (covert), or off-road motorcycles. Of

126-536: The British manufacturers themselves, Triumph motorcycles, built at Meriden , were used by many British (including the Metropolitan Police ) and Commonwealth police forces until 1983 when the factory closed. From the late 1940s, Triumph was also, for a time, the choice of the Parisian police, a fact promoted in a factory-produced movie, It's A Triumph ! . The police version of the 650cc 6T Triumph Thunderbird

147-541: The R1200RT-P and R900RT-P. More than 225 U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol , have BMW authority motorcycles in their fleets of patrol vehicles. The new BMW bikes outperformed the aging Harley-Davidson fleet. Harley-Davidson has maintained a long relationship with police departments and law-enforcement agencies in some countries. For the 2009 model year, Harley-Davidson offers

168-615: The UK newspaper, Motor Cycle News reported Derbyshire's Chief Constable comparing these Triumphs very unfavorably to BMW, in particular, its anti-vibration engine mounts. Supported by an article in rival publication, Motor Cycle Weekly , this criticism was strongly refuted by the factory and Derbyshire eventually accepted evaluation of police versions of the new Triumph T140W TSS in anti-vibration mounts. Norton 's Commando Interpol and later Wankel rotary engine Interpol 2 motorcycle were used by some British forces until that firm's collapse in

189-1133: The US. These bikes were transferred to the Saudi order and the bikes converted to a police specification with Norton badges. The Tridents were unreliable in Saudi Arabia and the final consignment of 130 bikes was cancelled. These bikes were sold off as the Triumph Cardinal in 1977. Police motorcycle The maneuverability of the motorcycle on crowded streets offer advantages not provided by larger, more traditional police vehicles. The motorcycle's relatively small size allows it to get to accident scenes more quickly when incidents such as traffic collisions slow down access by four-wheel vehicles, and to access routes unavailable to other motor vehicles, such as narrow streets and footpaths . Police motorcycles are also used in police escorts for parades , funeral processions , motorcades , Olympic torch relays , and other events. Police officers have used motorcycles—primarily for

210-435: The accessories such as fairings and panniers were fitted off-site. The exact specification varied dependent on the individual forces' requirement. A disc front brake was offered as an option from 1971 and make standard in 1972. Fitment of this required new handlebars so the master cylinder cleared the fairing. Reverse cone silencers were fitted in 1972, but not upswept like other models in the Commando range so as to give room for

231-525: The accessories used on the Interpol, such as the fairing and top box, were carried over to the BMW police bikes. Police radios were usually fitted to the petrol tank. There was no standard police radio with different forces using different radios. The radios were expensive and were reused when a new bike was brought, leading to a multitude of fitting requirements for the radio. The tank from the previous police version of

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252-601: The armed forces also grew, providing a stable production market for the more utilitarian machines, especially as Europe rearmed after World War I . As of 2004 police departments in the United States typically use purpose-built motorcycles marketed by Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki , or BMW Motorrad . Kawasaki police motorcycles , which were built for the US market in Lincoln, Nebraska , ceased production in September 2005. However,

273-574: The early 1990s. Other marques such as BSA were used by some forces, although only the Velocette LE "noddy-bike" model proved as popular with the police as the Triumphs. In 2008, BMW claimed to be the largest seller of motorcycles for authority use, as more than 100,000 BMW motorcycles were in official use in over 150 countries on five continents. In 2007, BMW sold 4,284 police motorcycles worldwide. BMW produces factory built police-specific models such as

294-480: The enforcement of traffic laws and as escort vehicles—since the early 20th century. Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley Police Department is credited with organizing the first official police motorcycle patrol in the United States in 1911. However, several police forces around the country reported using motorcycles as patrol vehicles earlier. Harley-Davidson credits Detroit, Michigan as being

315-543: The first purchaser of police motorcycles in 1908. The police department in Evanston , Illinois also purchased a belt-driven motorcycle for its first motorcycle police officer in 1908, and the Portland Police Bureau had a police officer who used his personal motorcycle to patrol the city as early as 1909. The role of the motorcycle as inexpensive public transportation evolved in the 1930s, and their use by police and

336-550: The footrests and giving an eyes right salute as he passed. A deal worth £1 million was agreed to supply nearly 600 bikes. By the summer of '75 Norton Villiers Triumph were liquidation and the Wolverhampton factory where the Commando was made was occupied with workers staging a sit-in . The former BSA factory at Small Heath was producing a final run of the Triumph Trident T160 of 288 bikes for Australia and 224 for

357-424: The panniers. The larger Interstate tank was fitted from 1972 Most Interpols were finished in white, but some were supplied in dark blue or black and without fairings to be used as 'unmarked' vehicles. When Norton's parent company Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT) hit financial trouble in 1975 Shilton left Norton and joined BMW . In his new position Shilton helped BMW take over the UK police motorcycle market. Many of

378-443: The time. They pioneered moving the radio from the tank to a rear box behind the rider. When the 5 imp gal (23 L; 6.0 US gal) Interstate tank was introduced in 1972 to give the bikes a longer range, this added further reasoning to use a rear mounted radio. The Pye Westminster was introduced in 1967 and became available in various car and motorcycle configurations as well as offering more features and channels. It

399-478: Was also lighter and smaller than its predecessors. The Westminster eventually became the most used police radio. Shilton travelled to Riyadh in March 1975 with the intention of selling Interpols to Saudi's Minister of Defence Prince Aziz . Shilton impressed Prince Aziz at a military tattoo by riding past the royal enclosure on an Interpol with the lights flashing and siren sounding with Shilton standing to attention on

420-410: Was first exhibited at the 1969 Brighton Bike Show and was fitted with an Avon fairing with a blue light and Craven panniers. The tank was derived from the Atlas, but with a modified underside to clear the Commando's top frame tube, and a single seat. Shilton took the bike around the UK demonstrating it to the various police forces. Once production started, the basic machine was assembled in the factory and

441-627: Was nicknamed the SAINT, an acronym of "Stops Anything In No Time". By the mid-1970s, with industrial problems and closures affecting their spares supply and service, Triumphs and other British marques were increasingly replaced by the smoother BMW R80 (and to a more limited extent, Norton Interpols ) than by then-current Triumph police bikes. In an attempt to win back orders from BMW, Meriden marketed Triumph Bonneville and Tiger models of 750cc size with anti-vibration mountings as well as electric starting but these still only achieved limited sales success. In 1981,

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