Police officers have used motorcycles since the early 20th century primarily for the enforcement of traffic laws and as escort vehicles Harley-Davidson says Detroit, Michigan as being the first purchaser of police motorcycles in 1908. Evanston, Illinois also started using motor cyles 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 maneuverability of the motorcycle on crowded streets offer advantages that larger, more traditional police vehicles do not have. Motorcycles can 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. We honor all service members on Memorial Day (last Monday of May) and hope you will enjoy our selection of photos.

This book, revised and updated, is a catalogue of American police motorcycles from the earliest days of use to today, with chapters covering the decades chronologically. From the early days of machines with no front brakes, 1913 Harley-Davidson VLs, rows of Indian Police specials lined up to leave the factory, armoured ones with machine-guns fitted to fight the gangs of Al Capone, the introduction of women police motorcycle riders and their machines for the first time, and much more.

Police officers have used motorcycles since the early 20th century primarily for the enforcement of traffic laws and as escort vehicles Harley-Davidson says Detroit, Michigan as being the first purchaser of police motorcycles in 1908. Evanston, Illinois also started using motor cyles 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 maneuverability of the motorcycle on crowded streets offer advantages that larger, more traditional police vehicles do not have. Motorcycles can 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. We honor all service members on Memorial Day (last Monday of May) and hope you will enjoy our selection of photos.

Includes models from Harley Davidson, Indian, and lesser known manufacturers like Pope and Ace from the early 1900s into the 1980s.

In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. When a “confidential informant” made contact with his boss at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, offering to take an agent inside the San Fernando chapter of the Mongols (the scourge of Southern California, and one of the most dangerous gangs in America), Queen jumped at the chance, not realizing that he was kicking-starting the most extensive undercover operation inside an outlaw motorcycle gang in the history of American law enforcement. Nor did Queen suspect that he would penetrate the gang so successfully that he would become a fully “patched-in” member, eventually rising through their ranks to the office of treasurer, where he had unprecedented access to evidence of their criminal activity. After Queen spent twenty-eight months as “Billy St. John,” the bearded, beer-swilling, Harley-riding gang-banger, the truth of his identity became blurry, even to himself. During his initial “prospecting” phase, Queen was at the mercy of crank-fueled criminal psychopaths who sought to have him test his mettle and prove his fealty by any means necessary, from selling (and doing) drugs, to arms trafficking, stealing motorcycles, driving getaway cars, and, in one shocking instance, stitching up the face of a Mongol “ol’ lady” after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of her boyfriend. Yet despite the constant criminality of the gang, for whom planning cop killings and gang rapes were business as usual, Queen also came to see the genuine camaraderie they shared. When his lengthy undercover work totally isolated Queen from family, his friends, and ATF colleagues, the Mongols felt like the only family he had left. “I had no doubt these guys genuinely loved Billy St. John and would have laid down their lives for him. But they wouldn’t hesitate to murder Billy Queen.” From Queen’s first sleight of hand with a line of methamphetamine in front of him and a knife at his throat, to the fearsome face-off with their decades-old enemy, the Hell’s Angels (a brawl that left three bikers dead), to the heartbreaking scene of a father ostracized at Parents’ Night because his deranged-outlaw appearance precluded any interaction with regular citizens, Under and Alone is a breathless, adrenaline-charged read that puts you on the street with some of the most dangerous men in America and with the law enforcement agents who risk everything to bring them in.

5000 Miles At 8000 RPM is the story of how CSC Motorcycles brought the Zongshen RX3 250cc adventure touring motorcycle to America, including detailed, behind-the-scenes reports on Zongshen's manufacturing and quality assurance, the US Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board certification processes, CSC's dealer-free path to market, and the planning and execution of CSC's customer-centered adventure touring approach. The book includes detailed tales from the 1700-mile CSC Inaugural Baja Run and the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride, along with a no-holds-barred review of the RX3's strengths and weaknesses. 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM includes more than 70 color photographs. If you are a motorcycle enthusiast, this book is one you don't want to miss!