Honda ST1300 Police-Colors

[Motors]

Don't get me wrong. I love the color combination of my R1150RTP (black and white), but I wondered what you thought of the obvious custom colors of some of the west coast Motors I have seen on this and other sites.

There is nothing like black when it is clean and shiny. However, for you guys who ride the black and white STP's, what do you think of it's visibility factor??? It appears from the front that most of the lower body work is black and only the top faring is white. I realize that most Motors are invisible to the public, however, making us more visible to the brain dead 4 wheelers is on my mind.

My last state Motor was mostly black with some panels (tank, faring, lower saddlebag) were white (HD FLHTP). Although it and I received a lot of positive comments, I did wonder if an all white Motor is a safer investment. The black is a lot more work (I will not ride a dirty Motor) than the white, but once again I am thinking of safety.

Thanks in advance for your kind consideration and comments.

Motors

[motorman35]

We painted our fairing black from mirrors down, as well as the rear seat cowl black, but realized visibility may be an issue. We placed retro-reflective silver striping at the color breaks (even on saddle bags) and all our decals are retro-reflective.

Our motor uniforms are yellow and black with reflective striping (back panel, etc.) to enhance visibility. Frankly it doesn't seem to make a difference as they keep pulling out, although I noticed the same thing on our all white HD Electra Glides prior to the swap to Hondas.

I am very proud of our set-up and all the attention to visibility we gave on emergency lighting also, but even with the emergency lights on...they like to pull out in front of us.

Recently one of our neighboring motor officers was chasing a violator with all his emergency lights on and a lady talking on a cell phone pulled out in front of him. The investigation indicated that she saw him coming, but didn't put 2 and 2 together while talking on the cell and pulled out anyway.

He was able to scrub off alot of speed prior to impact, bruised and battered but walked away... his new ST (with less than 3K miles) gave its life. The totalled ST was all white with reflective department logos.

[ChucksKLRST]

Recently one of our neighboring motor officers was chasing a violator with all his emergency lights on and a lady talking on a cell phone pulled out in front of him. The investigation indicated that she saw him coming, but didn't put 2 and 2 together while talking on the cell and pulled out anyway.




Did the idiot woman get fined or taken to jail? Or charged with Felony Stupid? What was her punishment for being stupid. This type of stuff really chaps my A$$

[George]

Here's a silver one from South Carolina. They have 28 of'em now, no other brands.
31582

[SoloTotoCoyote]

The shop where I work sees mostly the black & white ST's with just a few variations on what parts are black and white. We recently picked up another dept whose bikes are all white. Talking with the officers, neither seems to have an advantage over the other. But I will say that the all white one appears cleaner for longer and costs the dept less in initial purchase because none of the parts need to be painted.

[IslandCopp]

California has some pretty (i.e., VERY) specific rules about paint schemes, lighting, etc. I'm going from memory from back when I put ours together, but I believe the bike has to be either all white, or black/white with certain parts required to be white. We can have a 'contrasting' color in addition, but that's about it.

The intent is to keep non-police bikes from looking like police bikes, and vice-versa. We have a problem out here with funeral escort bike riders forgetting that (in California) they are not police officers, no matter how much they try to look like them. They pull people over, flash their (illegal) emergency lights, etc, at them, and that type of thing. It's not a widespread problem, but it rears its ugly head time and again. One of them flashed his lights at an undercover officer late one night. It didn't end well for the rider. After CHP stopped his bike and ran the VIN, they found that it used to be one of theirs that hadn't been transferred through DMV yet. To say the least, CHP reclaimed their bike...

[SoloTotoCoyote]

California has some pretty (i.e., VERY) specific rules about paint schemes, lighting, etc. I'm going from memory from back when I put ours together, but I believe the bike has to be either all white, or black/white with certain parts required to be white. We can have a 'contrasting' color in addition, but that's about it.

The intent is to keep non-police bikes from looking like police bikes, and vice-versa. We have a problem out here with funeral escort bike riders forgetting that (in California) they are not police officers, no matter how much they try to look like them. They pull people over, flash their (illegal) emergency lights, etc, at them, and that type of thing. It's not a widespread problem, but it rears its ugly head time and again. One of them flashed his lights at an undercover officer late one night. It didn't end well for the rider. After CHP stopped his bike and ran the VIN, they found that it used to be one of theirs that hadn't been transferred through DMV yet. To say the least, CHP reclaimed their bike...

I always wondered about the funeral escort guys. I know that I'm not legally (?) allowed to enter or break up a funeral procession. But I've watched these escort guys pull into the center of an intersection with lights flashing, dismount, and hold traffic (even with a green light) to allow the procession to pass through. Are they allowed to do this?

When I worked at a dealership that serviced the CHP bikes, we had an escort bike in for service. We pointed out something to the officers. The escort bike had a custom plate with an "E", a space, and then some random numbers. Around the "E", he had drawn a diamond with a marker.

[IslandCopp]

I always wondered about the funeral escort guys. I know that I'm not legally (?) allowed to enter or break up a funeral procession. But I've watched these escort guys pull into the center of an intersection with lights flashing, dismount, and hold traffic (even with a green light) to allow the procession to pass through. Are they allowed to do this?

When I worked at a dealership that serviced the CHP bikes, we had an escort bike in for service. We pointed out something to the officers. The escort bike had a custom plate with an "E", a space, and then some random numbers. Around the "E", he had drawn a diamond with a marker.

They are allowed to hold traffic cross traffic, etc., for green lights, and allow the procession to continue uninterrupted even when the signal turns yellow then red. That is the only "special" power they have.

If I saw the bike you described I would probably seize the plate and cite the rider. Depending on the paint scheme, I might seize the entire bike and let him fight for it in court. Some of these guys go too far, and quit trying to only look like a cop...

[UNTMatt]

The investigation indicated that she saw him coming, but didn't put 2 and 2 together while talking on the cell and pulled out anyway.

I just watched a video on one of the news sites about a university that had completed the first of many studies on operating cell phones while driving. The end result was that the brain flips between concentrating on the phone conversation and driving but cannot do both. They found that it takes too much concentration to hold the conversation for the brain to be able to handle another complex task such as driving a vehicle.

This is about along the same lines as the results Mythbusters ended up with.

[motor2191]

Uh how thut werk whin tipn on a compotur? LOL!

[st1300perth]

Heres our bikes

ST1100

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/danny7719/Work/000_0664.jpg

ST1300P

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh22/danny7719/Work/ST1300-1.jpg

[motor2191]

What's the "dohicky" white thing under the front blue light? Looks like a small GPS antenna...

[st1300perth]

What's the "dohicky" white thing under the front blue light? Looks like a small GPS antenna...

Yeah it is, called AVL for automatic vehicle locator

Comes in handy or not so handy hahhahahahahah

[Fireball]

They are allowed to hold traffic cross traffic, etc., for green lights, and allow the procession to continue uninterrupted even when the signal turns yellow then red. That is the only "special" power they have. ...

Can civillians do that in California? The BACA group wanted my club to assist with a poker run and do "road guard" at intersections. We believe that to be illegal and declined to do so. We still helped with the event, we just refuse to break laws.

[tommyboy]

ST1300 Perth: Now I know where Mad Max ended up! He is a motor officer in Western Australia:D
Anyone who pulls out infront of you should have their license revoked because they are blind.

[st1300perth]

ST1300 Perth: Now I know where Mad Max ended up! He is a motor officer in Western Australia:D
Anyone who pulls out infront of you should have their license revoked because they are blind.

Yeah they are pretty visable, however that still doesnt stop people trying to change lanes on us and cut us of !

[motorman35]

Here's ours:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/crf150sm108/HPIM0954.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/crf150sm108/HPIM0952.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/crf150sm108/HPIM0949.jpg

[curmudgeon]

Just wondering if management would allow you guys to have the seats redone. Hard to imagine riding all day on that stock seat.

[motor2191]

No, actually it's pretty comfy...IMO of course. Having sat on a few "Civilian ST's" our do feel a little different. Again, by the "seat of your pants" feel that is... :D

[sulley]

Ours used to look similar to this, but we've now moved over to BMWs