Police Motorbikes and Harley Davidson - By: Wayne Powell

A Short History
The the past of Harley-Davidson Police and Fleet sales is lengthy and rich - and approximately as mature as the Motor Company itself. Before there was yet a commercially produced Harley-Davidson V-Twin, policemen were patrolling on Harley-Davidson® motorbikes. Through the economic ups and downs of the Motor Company's history, the police and fleet businesses have helped maintain the Harley-Davidson product thriving.

The Beginning
The original Harley-Davidson police motorbike was delivered to the Detroit Police Department in 1908. Right from the start, police departments acknowledged the tactical gain provided by a maneuverable vehicle such as a motorcycle along with Harley-Davidson's name for consistency.

Through the Teens
Harley-Davidson motorbikes accompanied General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing in the quest of Pancho Villa after he attacked Columbus, NM in 1916. Harley-Davidson motorbikes proved their usefulness as military hardware. Shortly after the Mexican foray, the U.S. was drawn into World War I - as were something like 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Motorcycles were a great aid in dispatching messages before the arrival of reliable radio means of communication. A large amount of these motorbikes had sidecars which could be fitted with machine-gun mounts if desirable.

The Roaring '20s
Back on the home front in the 1920s, state law enforcement forces were being formed in more than a few states to guard country areas from anarchy and to enforce Prohibition. The power-driven means of transportation of selection on furrowed rural roads was the motorbike. In 1921, six troopers kick-started their Harley-Davidson motorcycles and the Washington state troopers were in business. In those days, taking into account the territory officers had to cover, a motorcycle needed to be dependable. In Louisiana, for instance, a force of only 16 men on motorbikes patrolled the entire state.

By 1920, Harley-Davidson was the leading motorbike maker in the world. As mass assembly increased the numbers of cars and motorcycles on the street, and most speed restrictions were not enforced, highway fatalities skyrocketed. In 1926, a special agency for fleet sales to law enforcement was established. Harley-Davidson published the aim of helping law enforcement "curb this tragic traffic slaughter." Being quicker and more maneuverable than nearly all automobiles on the highway, Harley-Davidson motorbikes gave police the upper hand against speeders. By the conclusion of the 1920s, in excess of 3,000 police departments and government agencies used Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The Great Depression
As with the majority of manufacturers, the Great Depression hit Harley-Davidson sales powerfully. Starting with the stock market crash of 1929, sales fell each year until 1933. But even in that year, Harley-Davidson aggressively marketed its product as "The Police Motorcycle" and supported countrywide campaigns for traffic safety. The three-wheel Servi-Car, introduced in 1931, became very popular with police force departments for traffic and parking enforcement and lasting to function as a Harley-Davidson regular for 41 years.

World War II and the 1950s
Throughout WWII, Harley-Davidson created 88,000 motorbikes for the combat effort, including the horizontally opposed, two-cylinder, shaft-drive XA 750 model. (They were in no way sold to the public and just 1,000 were made.) For its loyal hard work, the Motor Company was awarded four prestigious Army-Navy "E" awards.

In the 1950s, adolescents took to street racing in hopped-up jalopies. To slow this tendency, the Pittsburgh Police Department fashioned its Harley-Davidson bike officers into a Hot Rod Squad. The appearance of a motorbike cop parked at the rear of a billboard became an icon of Americana. And the idea that a police officer would sit on anything except a Harley-Davidson wouldn't be conceivable until the 1970s.

An essential affiliation developed in the 1940s and remains to this era as Harley-Davidson and Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety (formerly the Traffic Institute at Northwestern) have worked together for more than 60 years to supply officer training.

Recent History
In the last five years, Harley-Davidson police sales have more than doubled. Today, just as in the late 1920s, more than 3,400 police departments ride Harley-Davidson motorbikes in the U.S. alone. Harley-Davidson Police motorcycles are also used in 45 countries. This is a dramatic intensification from the Motor Company's 80th Anniversary twenty years ago, when merely over 400 state, provincial, county and municipal police departments were equipped with Harley-Davidson motorbikes.

Following the tragic actions of September 11, 2001, Harley-Davidson donated 37 motorcycles to the New York Police Department, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York State Police.

The Future
During the years, police and armed forces organizations have realized the advantages of using Harley-Davidson motorbikes. Today, benefits such as elevated resale price and the capability of the motorcycle to boost community associations (vital to community policing efforts) keep on to expand our police / fleet business. "There is something definitely justified about a cop on a Harley-Davidson."

"There is something indisputably appropriate about a cop on a Harley-Davidson."

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