Former police bike buying advice

Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
21
Location
La Center, Washington
Bike
2005 ST1300
Hello St gods and gurus, I need your input I have the opportunity to purchase a 2009 ST1300. 46 thousand miles on it ex police bike I've spoken to the officer that wrote it claims it was his baby and it was well taken care of. They disbanded his unit and the bikes been in storage for a couple years now it's available for sale up and running very well. I was just like your input I want it so I need you to talk me off the ledge if necessary thanks for your help
 

jfheilman

Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
459
Location
South Carolina
Bike
2007 ST1300A
Not the same I know but I purchased a BMW R1100RT Police bike. I was not the first to buy it, sold via a dealer in Greenville, SC. I had no issues with the bike that were not common for a BMW of that vintage. In other words, it was just like any other bike of that year and model you might purchase. Oh except for the second seat had the police radio box. I converted it to a two seater.

Anecdotally, in conversations with my local Honda dealer who services the HP fleet here in SC, I believe they are maintained as per Honda requirements. Probably better than I do with my ST.DSCN0746.jpg

Regarding abuse, that might be an issue, but, as for my experience with the BMW, the potential abuse did not translate into any additional issues.

The bike was known to have issues with the crankshaft sensor and the final drive (rear end), both of which failed as expected. The bike had 47,000 miles on it when I got it and 65,000 when I sold it and got the ST and year or so later.
 
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Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
437
Location
San Jose Ca
There are plenty of civilian St's out there with low mileage for a better price
What's the asking price ?

Police Bikes have what we call IDLE TIME WEAR AND TEAR Traffic stops and Traffic control
 
OP
OP
Floattubr
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
21
Location
La Center, Washington
Bike
2005 ST1300
I was looking to go pick up an 05 in real good shape for 3,300 with 5100 miles. And then saw this one which is 4 years newer with abs
 

sky.high

Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
599
Location
Calgary
Bike
The Honda of the day
STOC #
9052
The Vancouver Island cops gave an awesome presentation one year at WeSToc, they we're really great and did talk about sadly letting go of their ST1300 fleet, they were really sorry to give up the ST performance. They also made jokes about some of the potential buyers when they said 'look at this one, it's only got XXk miles on it!' saying little did the buyers know the engines had hundreds and hundreds of hours on them collected whilst left idling on the side of the road and they gave every indication the 'few' miles the bikes did have were abusive but the ST just kept on rolling along. Just saying
 
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Trapperdog

R.I.P. - 2022/10/14
Rest In Peace
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
304
Location
Los altos Ca
Bike
09 ST1300 PA
I bought my first ST 15 months ago, an ‘09 Police with less miles. Ended up having many leaks (fixed), a bit banged up, and developed a major electrical problem in an area no one here even knew existed. (Honda-ST-Team had to tow me home a couple of times. ) Not sure I’d buy a used duty bike knowing what I know now, but the again, knowing what I know know I know how to fix them. I only bought the bike to run cones, as I wouldn’t care about dropping it. I did buy another civilian model three months ago for Touring. Unless you like the novelty, run cones, or just collect bikes, I’d stick with a civilian model. Just my 2 cents.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
7,062
Location
Arizona
Bike
2007 Honda ST1300A
Something to consider, most, if not all, police motors that are sold either at auction, or private sale, besides having alot of wear on critical parts such as alternators, and wiring harness, brakes and suspension, will all have one thing in common....
Most departments do not have motorcycle trained mechanics and are simply serviced by the motor pool mechanic who repairs their cars and SUV's, this may or may not be a concern, however, one important thing to consider is when they take the motors out of service, someone simply takes a pair of side cutters and chops off all the lights/horns/sirens/and accessories, often leaving the wire harness open/damaged/exposed. Before you pull the trigger on a police motor (pun intended) I would completely check the unit over from one end to the other, checking for bent or damaged rims/forks/steering stems (jumping curbs) brakes (often neglected) and condition of the main wire harness etc.
As others have pointed out, you can get a much nicer civilian model with ABS and less miles for the same or lower price. Its a buyers market out there right now for ST's.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2016
Messages
4,759
Location
Northumberland UK
Bike
VStrom 650
As you've spoken to the rider I would be less concerned about abuse, although many are abused to within an inch of their life.
Wiring is a Biggie and also the length of time laid up. But then again, most bikes are laid up for long periods anyway.
Re Larry's comment on the mechanics, don't take it for granted that the bike didn't have dedicated mechanics working on the bike. My own service bikes were only ever worked on by Honda trained bike specific chaps, and usually just one chap who only worked on limited models of bike, it might be the maintenance was better than average. Then again in might not.
Police bikes if used by one officer are normally good bets, especially if you've been able to assess he wasn't a pillock.
Upt'North.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,112
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
You guys are always so much help to us thanks again for taking the time to help us.
Please let us know what you finally do. And keep us updated on problems or lack thereof that you have with this bike if you do purchase it. This all adds to the knowledgebase.
 

Trapperdog

R.I.P. - 2022/10/14
Rest In Peace
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
304
Location
Los altos Ca
Bike
09 ST1300 PA
As you've spoken to the rider I would be less concerned about abuse, although many are abused to within an inch of their life.

Police bikes if used by one officer are normally good bets, especially if you've been able to assess he wasn't a pillock.
Upt'North.
Ha, had to look that up. From Wiktionary;
[FONT=&quot]The origin of pillock is believed to go back to the 16th century meaning [/FONT]penis[SUP][1][/SUP][FONT=&quot] from the Norwegian word [/FONT]pillicock[FONT=&quot], presumably akin to the slang [/FONT]dickhead[FONT=&quot] meaning inept [/FONT]fool[SUP][2][/SUP][FONT=&quot].
[/FONT]But I suppose it’s all moote as this will probably be deleted now.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2016
Messages
4,759
Location
Northumberland UK
Bike
VStrom 650
Glad it kept you busy Trapperdog.
Not really that offensive as a term over here, although I did know its origin.
I'd probably use it if a mate rings up to tell you he's just put the garden fork through his foot, or he's managed to drop a tin of white gloss paint all over his carpet or whilst on holiday found his cat had ensconced inside his caravan for about 250 miles and had to take it back home.
Upt'North.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2017
Messages
191
Location
Wisconsin
Bike
2006 Honda st1300
I personally wouldn't buy a police bike. I would have a motorcycle mechanic check it out before purchase.
 

BakerBoy

It's all small stuff.
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
5,454
Location
Golden, Colorado
STOC #
1408
I'd be cautious given the unusual conditions such Law Enforcement bikes experience whether believed to be 'babied' or not--does the officer really know how well it was maintained, how well the mechanic knew the bike? Not likely unless he was doing the servicing himself. I'd be asking a lot of questions and inspecting it very closely. But we're not in your shoes, with your wallet, nor are we seeing the bike firsthand. As others have mentioned, there are many ST's available (any of which can be abused or not maintained well).

I've done bike inspections for others looking at buying a local bike ... there is a huge range of seller's claims of things like "excellent condition", "babied", "well maintained", etc. Some bikes are clearly much rougher than others when you look past the polish, and some are truly in excellent condition. Some owners have no idea what maintenance was done (still calling it "well maintained", others have it clearly understood and managed. So you judge it on the spot, or perhaps get another nearby ST owner to inspect the bike with you and give you their input.

Good luck, whichever way you go!


Hello St gods and gurus ...
Did anyone step up and claim either of those roles?!
:D
 
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
588
Location
Virginia
Bike
2004 Honda ST1300ABS
STOC #
8954
Last May I bought an 04 ABS model(non police) with 70k for 3500. It came with Givi top case, aftermarket windscreen, custom seat, heated grips, and under mirror auxiliary lights. Only maintenance I've done to it since I got it were to replace the master and slave clutch cylinder and tighten up the hose clamps. Another one I looked at was an 04 ABS model with an aftermarket seat and 12,000 original miles being sold by the original owner asking 5500. Yours looks like a good deal to me.

On police vehicles, I can speak of abuse. Those of us who have a vehicle assigned only to us, do tend to take better care of our vehicles than one that is assigned to the fleet pool of cars . But as long as the factory maintenance was all done you should be fine. The police models also top out at 20 mph than the civilian models, but who needs to go 160. . . Lol


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
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Joined
Nov 8, 2017
Messages
7
Location
Ohio
The most important thing to consider when buying a Police bike is the maintenance schedule. City governments have zero problems spending the taxpayer's dime on the correct upkeep. The only fault I can find is, you mention it sat for a few years. Keep an eye open for leaks from dried/cracked seals or gaskets.
 
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