I honestly cannot make a comparison to a BMW bike, based on my personal experiance. I have owned a 1939 Indian and a number of Japanese bikes (Katana 1100, GPZ1100, etc) as well as ridden Harleys, etc.
I'll say that a Harley Davidson is a heavy bike with plenty of power. They aren't as nimble as a sport bike, but Harleys are a traditional American law enforcement platform, and you'll find a great deal of police officers who would prefer a Harley over most other bikes. They have good top-end, and can hold a corner at decent speeds, but you can't "get down" because you'll drag the foot rests (they are flexible to a certain degree, but you run the risk of digging in).
I think the one virtue the Harley has over a BMW, is that it rides lower and allows you to sit upright completely, which I think would better reduce fatigue on long shifts. That's just an observation, but if I compared my Indian (sitting upright) to my Katana (dang-near prone), I could ride my Indian far long than the Katana.
Anderson P.D. has two fairly large BMWs, and they have North American Law Enforcement fairings and accessories, though look similiar to thier German Polezei counterparts. The Anderson Officers like them and did comment about "feeling a little weird" on them at first. They were used to Harleys!
Here's a photo of me working on one of Redding P.D.'s bikes about 7 years ago...it's not the greatest photo, but you can see some detail of a typical Harley 1000. (and if you scroll up to my post with the CHP pix, you'll see an old RPD Kawasaki near the Camaro!)
Hi again GG, cool pic.
Oh God, we've managed to poke my "start motorcycle talk"-button...be warned! Beemer talk is following!
As far as the riding position is concerned, I'd take a BMW over a HD any day - my bet is that it's just a matter of training and sufficient numbers of kilometers (- or miles, for the metrically "challenged"
), before you get used to the bike and the saddle, the different type/style of handle bar, and the position of the foot pegs and pedals.
I'd say that if you ride a K1200 RS, you'd get pretty tired in both back and arms until you've gotten used to the bike, as the sitting position is very much leaning forward.
If you try out a R1200RT, the sitting position is upright.
A wee explanation:
The "S" in the RS model stands for "Sport" and therefore you get a more sporty riding style, where the "T" in RT stands for "Touring", i.e. a more comfortable riding position for the long stretches on the autobahn, like going on a weekend from Copenhagen to Paris or something like that.
Apart from that, I can very well imagine that it'll take some getting used to the different riding position when going from a HD to a BMW, or the other way around, for that matter.
About the handling of the BMWs on the road and in a curve, the experience here is that the foot pegs'll dig in before the cylinder houses will do so on the R-models.
Here's 'nother lil' lesson for those of you that are not familiar with the beemers - first two pics are my own, the last is courtesy of BMW Motorrad Deutschland:
R-models: Boxer engine = two horizontal cylinder houses w. cooling ribs sticking out, one on each side of the bike. Great for drying out wet gloves on when arriving at destination.
R-model - BMW R1150RS.
K-models: straight-three or straight-four engine, which means no cylinder housing poking out anywhere, and therefore no risk at digging in at corners and curves. At least not with the cylinder housing.
Has a tendency to heat your feet, whether you like it or not - great in winter, sheer hell during the summer. Doesn't have the same heavy vibrations from the boxer engine, which some riders aren't crazy about. I love K-models.
K-model - in this case, a K75RT. (Straight-three)
F-models: Are not talked about here, they're not born and bre...eh, made and assembled in Germany. *giggles* An austrian Bombardier-Rotax-engine...*
snorts wrinkles nose*...not that there's anything wrong with that, it just isn't a proper beemer
in my opinion then.
The danish police has got three F650 beemers which are used for chasing moped kids and doing city patrolling; they were promptly nicknamed "Ugly", "Uglier" and "Ugliest" on arrival.
F-model - BMW F650GS (GS: Gelände Sport - Cross Country Sport)
Both K- and R-models are good sturdy bikes that'll take you just about anywhere for about 124000 to 186000 miles before needing the big overhaul - that is, if you of course keep up with ordinary maintenance intervals, the occasional new set of tires, brake discs, and whatever the bike'll need.
Btw - for police work, they'll last about half the distance, which is why I usually warn people against spending money on a used cop beemer - they're usually not worth the money, unless you're planning to spend a lot more of both time and money on a lot of mech work and new parts -
and complaning about the %¤%# bike now and then.
In other words, the bikes has been
used.
Btw, do you happen to know which BMW models the two PDs has got?
It could be fun to know.
Cheers,
Maria.