Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The "Vexel" Art of Russ Schwenkler.


"Vexel" is a term that's been coined to describe the fusion of Vector and Pixel forms of illustration. Vexels are not Vector - scalable - mathematically derived images based on paths and fills as one would produce in Illustrator or CorelDRAW or perhaps Flash. Nor are they pure painted images as one might create in Photoshop or Painter.

My Vexels include elements from 4 disciplines: Digital photography, Vector path definition, Digital Painting and 3D modeling.

A typical Vexel starts with a high resolution digital photo. Most often, in my case, of a car. I'll analyze the photo and determine what elements I want to add, modify or enhance. I typically begin by defining Photoshop vector paths that provide the basis for the line art that I use to add a stylized "toon" look to the finished piece. These paths are stroked with Photoshop paintbrushes of various widths.

Body paint, headlights and other details are systematically added using vector based paths that I use as selection sets for painting those elements. Doing the body color highlights, shadows and reflections plus the various details like intercoolers, lights, grills interior details typically requires 120 layers or so - and not a few hours of patient work."


External link: dangeruss.net

Zen Moment.

Ky Michaelson's rocket powered tricycle.

(The meaning of "moment of zen"? -Ask Metafilter)

this looks like a job for...

Via Cool French Comics
"Written by Italian comic writer Corsini and Art by Luciano Bernasconi. Phenix is the secret identity of Chicago socialite Patricia Hope. As the masked, leather-clad, bike-riding Phenix, Patricia fights drug dealers, terrorists and other kinds of urban menaces. Phenix was originally published by Editions Lug as a mini-series in "Special-Rodeo" Nos 74 to 78.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Bosch power tool ad.

The motorcycle in cinema-Full Throttle.


(link)

Via lovehkfilm.com

"Andy Lau stars as Joe, a motorcycle street racer who takes part in illegal racing all over Hong Kong. One night he meets younger racer (David Wu of MTV Asia) and the two become friends. But, Wu is a professional racer being sponsored by Lau’s estranged dad Paul Chun. Joe wants to prove he’s the best, so he and Wu go at it until something absolutely awful happens, causing Joe to re-evaluate his life. New star Gigi Leung is the girlfriend who tells Andy not to race again.

Yes, this film looks and sounds mighty predictable, which it unfortunately is. Think Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder, sub Andy Lau for Cruise, motorcycles for stock cars, and the streets of Hong Kong for Daytona and you pretty much have it. With that in mind, many of the film's great dramatic moments can be seen a mile away. The film does provide a better outcome than the usual Hollywood ending, but the steps it takes to get there could have been produced by Paramount Pictures.

Thankfully, the film concentrates on some Hong Kong-specific characters that Derek Yee seems to have made his specialty. Like C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri, the characters in this film are generally of the lower classes, and their daily lives and personal struggles are of primary concern of the storyline. In that, Full Throttle is a rousing success, as Yee creates likable, human characters that you grow to care about.

It helps that the actors do a fine job, particularly Chin Kar-Lok as Joe's racing buddy and Tsui Kam-Kong as an ex-racer. Andy Lau does a fine job which is a definite step up for him, but he still doesn't have the dramatic weight of a Chow Yun-Fat or Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. If there's a weak link among any of the actors, it's newcomer Gigi Leung, who's remarkably wooden. Most of the time it seems as if she's just reading lines instead of actually acting.
Ultimately, winning the race is the least important thing in Joe's life, which should tell you a lot about the film's aspirations. The big action payoff is not what Derek Yee cares about, and his characters follow suit. Joes choices don't necessarily reflect the genre's usual path, but the outcome isn't any less satisfying. Derek Yee's solid work is technically superior and artistically ambitious, and for that it should be lauded. (Kozo 1995/1997) "

The trafffic Light of the future.

Via Grinding
"Hanyoung Lee’s clever “virtual wall” traffic light concept provides a visually strong barrier that would hopefully prevent motorists from blocking the box. And if the visual barrier isn’t incentive enough, perhaps they could up the wattage of the lasers…."

Music: The Fine Young Cannibals "Good Thing"


(link)
Via burningtheground

Fine Young Cannibals were a British band best known for their 1989 hits "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". They were formed in Birmingham, England, by vocalist Roland Gift and former The Beat members David Steele and Andy Cox. Their name came from the 1960 film All The Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.


"Good Thing" is a song recorded by Fine Young Cannibals. The song was their second number one, topping the Billboard Hot 100 on July 8, 1989.

The video features many scenes with motor scooters, both at rest and in motion as well as scooter culture. The scooters featured include stock scooters, as well as highly stylized scooters and minimalist cutdown scooters.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Worth 1000's dream vehicles.

"float on thin air" by mallebabs

"Motorcycle to jet" by jacksonwagner


"Terminator Bike" by exorcist

Worth1000 (also w1k.com) is an image manipulation and contest website. Worth1000 opened on January 1, 2002 and hosts over 340,000 unique images made in theme contests such as "Rejected Transformers", "Invisible World", and "Stupid Protests". In mid-2003, Worth1000 began hosting similar competitions for photography, text, and multimedia.

The website was designed by Avi Muchnick and Israel Derdik. Muchnick named it after the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words".

Saturday morning cartoons: Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch.

Wiki
"Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was a 30-minute cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired for one season on NBC from September 7, 1974 to August 30, 1975. It aired on Saturday morning from 8:30-9:00 am, opposite the popular The Bugs Bunny Show.


The series focuses on Wheelie, a red Volkswagen Beetle, and his girlfriend Rota Ree (a pun on both the "rotary engine" and Ruta Lee).Wheelie made his living as a professional- and quite successful- racing and stunt car. Wheelie didn't talk (Unlike the other characters in the show)but emoted by honking and displaying symbols across his windshield showing his inner thoughts such as a heart for love or a lightbulb for an idea.Wheelie could also produce any form of prop needed from his trunk thru the use of special mechanized hands, much like Inspector Gadget would later. Wheelie's regular nemeses were a 4-member motorcycle gang called the Chopper Bunch which included the leader Chopper, Who was jealous of Wheelie and had a spiked motorcycle helmet for a head, Revs, a sputtering three- wheeled motorcycle who often mixed up his words ("Chight,Rhopper"-"Oh,I mean, Right, Chopper!") Hi-Riser, who was tall in body but shorter in brains, and Scrambles,a small minibike who acted more like the good kid caught up in the wrong crowd. Scrambles would constantly try to warn Chopper that his plans were about to backfire only to be rebuffed ("Muffle it, Scrambles!") and end up taunting his sullen leader once they inevitably did.

Two other characters were used on occasion to keep the Chopper Bunch in line. They were Captain Tough a hulking Police car, and Fishtail,who was literally a motorcycle cop. The show was the subject of a seven-issue comic book from Charlton Comics, published from July 1975 to July 1976"

deviant Art: snipergen.

snipergen's first 3D concept car/bike, for his exams css.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Mike Pendergast's Spacebike.

"In the not too distant future earth has been devastated by nuclear war, but a few scattered communities remain on this our sceptred isle. Violent mutant gangs hide in woods and dark places, but one scientist hero, who has taken it upon himself to record new species that have emerged since the flame deluge rides a contraption previously undreamed of - the Spacebike!

External link: Mike Pendergast

Ben J. Poss Gulak's Uno.


"The Uno and its inventor, 18-year-old Ben J. Poss Gulak, hung out in a booth neighbouring the show's special guest, Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles and was the ultimate in contrast of custom creations. In fact, heavily tattooed Mitchell was seen riding the Uno around the show on Saturday evening. Ben, as you would expect, fielded a multitude of questions about his strange vehicle once people got over his young age. As Ben will tell you, the most common question was, "What's your background, how did you get into doing something like this?" A worthy question, and also my first question to Ben.

Ben grew up around his grand-father's basement machine shop. While he doesn't have any formal training, yet, Ben has spent much of his life making projects like 'model trains, rockets and other cool stuff.'

The education he gleaned from his grandfather, who was an engineer, and from simply being a tinkerer prompted Ben to enter into a grade nine school science fair with a 'real simple magnetic car that shot around a track using accelerator coils.' This is where I started to worry that this guy is going to start speaking a language that is way over my head. He must have noticed my eyes starting to glaze over and came back to earth for me. He did well at the grade nine science fair, and as a result, he was chosen to move up to the Regionals, then to the Nationals. He was then chosen to represent Canada at an International level.

"Team Canada consists of 18 people that compete against 54 other countries. The judges at this level all carry PHD's in their respective fields," Ben said. The 18-year-old continued, "There were astronauts and Nobel laureates speaking to the kids in attendance. It was a real eye opener, and after the competition I realized I really wanted to get into engineering."

About a month after the competition, Ben's grandfather passed away and his machine shop was willed to Ben. He continued to compete in science fairs with progressively more complicated projects thanks to the increased knowledge he gained as every year of high school passed.

A 2006 trip to China prompted Ben to consider a project in electric transportation after seeing the damage done by the internal combustion engine. "The smog was so thick, we never saw the sun," Ben said. He then realized that some form of electric transport was desperately needed in the same compact form as a motorcycle or bicycle to help ease congestion and save the environment.


Since Ben had competed at the International level of the science fair before, he was able to apply to Team Canada directly without going through the Regional and National levels of competition. It was this competition that he submitted his first Uno. A simple frame made from angle iron and mountain bike wheels, which were of course powered by electric motors.

The Uno model you see here, Ben's third prototype, was unveiled at the National Show. After many hand drawn sketches and complex drawings, he began the machining work of building the basic drive/suspension assembly. He didn't know CAD software, but instead used the free Google software called Google SketchUp. Ironically, a salesman came knocking shortly after, trying to sell SolidWorks, a 3-D CAD software package. Ben explained he couldn't afford anything like that, but he did show the salesman what he was working on. The next day a copy of SolidWorks and a SolidWorks for Dummies book arrived, (smart salesman, he probably has a customer for life now).

While Ben did all the work to get the Uno this far, he was in need of some help. He needed tires mounted on his custom-made wheels and had heard of Motorcycle Enhancements in Oakville Ontario. Ben called and spoke with owner, John Cosentini. It must have been fate as this was a call that would have a major impact on the finishing touches of the Uno. Cosentini, a well-known figure in the Oakville motorcycle scene, and an accomplished custom bike builder, mounted the tires and since he has an inquiring mind, he began asking a few questions. Ben sensed the curiosity and a couple of days later brought in his project. This time, with questions of his own for John. Ben needed a frame to complete the skeletal structure of the Uno and John suggested a Yamaha R1 frame because of its width between frame spars, a requirement needed to hold the drive/suspension portion of the Uno.

Ben also needed a body to wrap around the framework. Cosentini, a mechanic and never being one to turn down a challenge, took on the project. John and Ben began by making a simple frame which they could mount Styrofoam onto. They carved the Styrofoam into the general shape they were looking for and then began to apply drywall compound over top of the styrofoam. The drywall mud was used for a couple of reasons; if fiberglass was applied directly to the styrofoam, it would chemically melt it; also, the drywall mud could then be fine tuned by building up and sanding for the final shape. Latex primer and paint was applied to create a smooth surface and the latex would also allow for easier removal of the fiberglass from the mold.

The molding took six weeks to complete and only two hours to destroy once the fiberglass was set. The body was then cut in half and sent to Roger Pouw at Extreme Measures Kustom Paint for final bodywork and paint.

Ben was now well on his way to having a physical entity, but had a lot of fine-tuning to do on the computer side of things. He had programmed the software to understand what the digital gyros were feeding into the ECU (electronic control unit) but couldn't quite get it right, after all, it's a pretty grey area. Soon he was on a plane to meet Trevor Blackwell in California. Blackwell is a robotics and gyro expert. After a couple of visits to Blackwell, Ben had the Uno in full operation mode. Ben claims a single gyro was easy to program, but this project was more complicated because the Uno has two gyros, one for forward and backward motion and the other is for turning, while keeping the forward or reverse momentum constant.

Operation of the 54.4 kg (120 lb) machine is simple, in fact it's so simple there are no controls except for an on-off switch. To go forward you simply push your body weight forward to tilt the machine. To back up, just lean back on the seat to tilt it backwards and back it goes. The farther you lean, the faster it accelerates. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel."

Via: motorcyclemojo Via makezine

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Comics: Black Summer



Kathryn Artemis-"super-motorcyclist"

Wiki:
"Black Summer is a comic book mini-series written by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, and published by Avatar Press starting in June, 2007. The plot revolves around the consequences of a superhero, John Horus, who kills the President of the United States and several of his advisers.

Kathryn Artemis (above) is one of the members of the somewhat defunct supergroup, The Seven Guns. Her status is not completely known by issue #1 of "Black Summer" by Warren Ellis. However a news reporter states that Kathryn Artemis and Angel One have been spotted on the streets since the President's murder by their former team member John Horus.

Kathryn's enhancements include a gun like all members of the Seven Guns but she also can undergo a transformation which includes her motorcycle. As far as her powers go, there may be something feral about Kathryn Artemis. During her transformation,her eyes become red and catlike and her helmet takes on a wildcat shape. Her wildcat logo are on the front and back of her enhanced red and black motorcycle outfit.

Her agility with the bike is impressive as she weaves through bullets, however when faced with having to defend herself against the US Armed Forces, her marksmanships takes out the entire platoon while she is not even scratched."

External link: Black Summer


Diversion.


(link)
We all need to get away sometime...

From The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook #35-Ride a bike.


"The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook is a fun little book, meant to connect with a younger audience via tongue-in-cheek suggestions, practical advice, factual information, and imaginative, bluesky solutions for climate change."


Wednesday, April 23, 2008


(link)

Grog has an Epiphany...

Via kettenkrad.de
"The Kettenkrad was designed as a small tractor (or prime mover) to tow a trailer or a small gun (20 mm AA or 3,7 cm AT). It carries a crew of three soldiers. The driver and two passengers. The passengers are facing backwards. The Kettenkrad is not armored and not armed. Some versions have three riffle holders to carry the riffles of the crew.

.NSU produced only one cylinder engines with up to 600 ccm, which were not powerfull enough for the Kettenkrad. To save the work and the time for the developing of an own engine, NSU took the reliable OPEL OLYMPIA car engine from its stock. The OLYMPIA car was in Wehrmacht use as well, so the mechanics in the field knew the engine.

The Kettenkrad steers like a motorcycle with sidecar, if you turn the handlebar a little bit, it turns only the front fork with the front wheel. If you turn the handlebar more, it engages the steering brakes of the tracks."

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Repurposed IKEA Messenger Bag,

AfricanKelli, shows how Kelli turned a 99-cent IKEA tote into a stylin' waterproof messenger bag.



The Art of Matteo Gentile.

Escaflone concept

Aprilia Creatura Concept

BMW F45-Z Concept

Matteo Gentile's complete porfolio can be see at coroflot.com

Monday, April 21, 2008

Game on-Namco's Cyber Cycles.


(link)

5 tokens for a dollar: Namco's 1995 Cyber Cycle arcade game.

Mind the gap.

Handle Bar Adaption in Lagos.

Via Street use

"In Lagos Nigeria the traffic so bad and thick that the handle bars on the ubiquitous motorcycles are pinned back to make it easier for the bikes to navigate fast between rows of stuck cars."

The Art of Matthew Alan Clarke.

Matthew Alan Clarke's concept bike illustration "The future's equivalent to a Dyna glide, or a pan head"

Ben Wilson's Monowheel.

Via dezeen
"Designer Ben Wilson has produced a monowheel - a cycle where the rider sits inside a large, spokeless wheel. The cycle was commissioned for the XXIst Century Man exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo.



Ever since cycling for the first time without stablisers I have been fascinated by human propulsion. Over the years the myth of the monowheel has become an equal fascination.


Since the 1860’s many patents have been filed in the monowheel’’s name and today there are even rumors of a production monowheel in China, but as it stands there is nothing currently available. As we couldn’t buy a monowheel we made one. We don’’t suggest for one moment that a functioning human powered monowheel could ever provide an improvement on the modern bicycle. Instead its value comes from the discourse and ideas generated as a result of this research.”

Sunday, April 20, 2008

NSU Lambretta promotional film.


(Link)

Thanks to 2strokebuzz for the tip!

The Art of Alex Andromeda.

Via Alex Andromeda

"This motorcycle is tough-built model and like all other artworks is built out of original parts found in old computers without any additional fabrication of parts. The wheels are the magnetic discs from old computer hard drives. It represents the spirit of independence and “ unlimited drive ” means “thousands of giga-byte of Hard Drive” to be driven on the internet data highway."

ENV bike may be 'too quiet'

wizzzzz, or maybe a pre-recorded "vrooom vroom"
Via BBC News

"The world's first purpose-built hydrogen-powered bike could be fitted with an artificial "vroom" because of worries its silence might be dangerous.
A prototype of the motorbike, which could cost more than $8,300 (£4,500), was unveiled in London on Tuesday.

The problem with the "fuel cell" bike, which produces no polluting emissions, is that it is too quiet. But anti-noise campaigners said they welcomed the prospect of a motorbike without the usual excruciating roar.

For their part, manufacturers said the fake engine noise device, which could be switched off, would help alert road users.

The motorbike, known as an Emissions Neutral Vehicle (ENV), has a top speed of 50mph (80km/h), a range of at least 100 miles (160km) and can run continuously for four hours before the fuel cell needs recharging.

Its water-vapour emissions are so clean that they are drinkable, according to its designers. But with a noise emission equivalent to an everyday home computer, motorcycle enthusiasts thought the "exhilaration" factor was missing.

"They can add all the noise they want, it will still lack the va-va-voom serious motorcyclists look for," Jeff Stone of the British Motorcyclists Federation told the BBC. Concerns were raised that the motorcycle was too silent and might not be noticed by other traffic and pedestrians.

Harry Bradbury, chief executive of the bike's British manufacturers Intelligent Energy, said: "What we are doing is introducing flexibility into it, so that you can have ambient noise that is tolerable - low-level noise sufficient for safety reasons - but which can be switched off when desired."

Peter Wakeham, director of the Noise Abatement Society, who said motorbikes were among the worst noise offenders, welcomed the idea of a quiet bike. "But it kind of defeats the purpose of designing a silent bike only to then add an artificial noise device," he said.

Dr Bradbury said the bike's detachable briefcase-size cell filled with high pressure hydrogen, or "core", could eventually be used as a mobile energy source, with the same cell used to power different objects.

He said the prospect of producing mobile hydrogen energy from a variety of sources, including crops such as soya or sugar cane, could benefit remote communities or developing countries, where large electric grids were not economically viable."

Miroslav Jasko's Virus Ama.

Student of the Bratislava University of fine arts transportation program, Miroslav Jasko shares this unique gyro bike the "Virus Ama" design he created for a short film he is working on.


The "busher"(below) is a mix of enclosed motorcycle and walking robot. Its always thrilling to see unchecked imagination running at full speed, where nothing can stop the ideas from flowing, and then leaving us with these incredible results we see here.

Topps Chewing Gum cards.


Via deadlicious
"In 1980, Topps bubblegum issued the Weird Wheels 55 cards sets. 22 images were painted by Norman Saunders, who was also the artist for the famous "Mars Attacks" gum card series."

Saturday, April 19, 2008

At last, motorcyling made totally safe-Airbiking.



Well, almost totally safe..
(link)

Via The Airbiking blog

deviant Art: Shadowgrail.

Shadowgrail's quick look at the future of motorcycles.

Erik Björk's wooden bicycle.

Via coolbuzz
"This lovely wooden bicycle by Erik Björk was showcased in “Future Living” exhibition which took place at Telefonplan in Stockholm on 6-10th of February. Erik Björk Industrial Design is a small independent design company based in Stockholm, Sweden. “My mission is to design innovative and sustainable products for companies with the aim to improve their business.”

Erik Björk.com

The lost Space bike.

Background prop by Fingertip Fabrications from the 1996 film Space Truckers. Made to satisfy unknown motorcycle sponsors who pulled out of the production, so it was never filmed. The model was created in only 2 days.

flickr: Urban Lambretta.

Brilliant work by Mad_T, edited with Photoshop and using a Lucasart filter

Saturday morning cartoons: Storm Hawks


Wiki:

"Storm Hawks is an animated television series created by Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment in conjunction with Cartoon Network and YTV. It premiered on Cartoon Network on May 25, 2007. It started to air on YTV in September 2007. It started to air on Cartoon Network in the UK in 6 August 2007. In Poland it started to air on Cartoon Network on 10 November 2007. Internationally, it first aired on ABC1 in Australia on 26 February 2008 and on Hero in the Philippines on March 12, 2008

Buy me that!-The Storm hawks toy bike.

Storm Hawks is set in a fictional world called Atmos, a largely mountainous world consisting of scattered landmasses known as terras. Because of the geography, travel is largely dependent on flight. The technology of Atmos is based around energy-generating crystals, used to power the various devices in the series. Patrolling the skies of Atmos are the Sky Knights, groups of warriors who pilot motorcycle-like vehicles that can semi-transform into flying machines. These warriors are loosely managed by the Sky Council."

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Art of Julie Bell.


Via Boris and Julie.com

"Julie Bell's credits include creating advertising illustrations for the elite of the corporate world, such us Nike, Coca-Cola and The Ford Motor Company, painting book covers for the major publishing houses in NYC or doing album covers for artists such as Meat Loaf. She was the first woman ever to paint Conan for Marvel Comics, which paved the way for many other commissions from Marvel, DC, and Image Comics to illustrate superheroes in fully rendered paintings. Her first published cover for Heavy Metal magazine broke ground for other illustrators with the introduction of her now legendary Metal Flesh. Her hyper-realistic style is known for its sexy, powerful images of warriors and amazons and a sensitive, exquisite use of color and texture.

Born in 1958 in Beaumont, Texas, Julie has known herself through the identity of "Artist" for as long as she can remember-art comes as naturally to her as does breathing. Though early in her life she moved and lived in 12 different locations, she consistently kept her art at the center of things. She attended 6 different colleges and universities to continue her passion for art, always focusing her studies on the human figure and life drawing.

Julie and fellow painter Boris Vallejo were married in 1994 and are busy living happily ever after."

The future of Bicycle parking in Japan.


Via japanprobe
"Customers who come to the station by bicycle need only place their bike on a small platform and hit a few buttons, and the system will automatically store their bike in an underground parking garage that can accommodate 9,400 bikes. When the reporter asks the machine to retrieve his bicycle, it only takes 23 seconds to accomplish the task. The parking system costs 100 yen for a single use, or 1,800 yen for a monthly pass."

A brief history of the Police bike.

An example of Spain's Motorycle Patrol officer.

Via crazyleaf design blog:

"It seems the first time motorcycles were used by police forces was ate the beginning of the 20th century. Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley, California Police Department is credited with organizing the first official police motorcycle patrol in the United States in 1911. However a few police departments used motorcycles before 1911. It’s documented that the first Harley-Davidson police motorcycle was delivered to the Detroit Police Department in 1908. Also, the police department in Evanston, Illinois purchased a belt-driven motorcycle for its first motorcycle police officer in 1908, and the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau had a police officer who used his personal motorcycle to patrol the city as early as 1909.

Back on the home front in the 1920s, state police forces were being formed in several states of the US to protect rural areas from lawlessness and to enforce Prohibition. The motorized vehicle of choice on rutted rural roads was the motorcycle.

A motorcycle cop we can all love-The Lego version

Police motorcycles in the United States typically use purpose-built motorcycles marketed by Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki, Honda, or BMW. Kawasaki Police Motorcycles, which were built for the US market in Lincoln, Nebraska, ceased production in September 2005.

In Germany, BMW is by far the largest provider of motorcycles for authority use.

In the United Kingdom the most common police motorcycles are the BMW RT series, the Honda ST series and the Yamaha FJR1300, although most forces have withdrawn the ST1300 Pan European since the death of an officer was blamed on the machine. Some police forces also use scooters within towns.

In 2004, BMW claimed to be the largest seller of motorcycles for authority use, as more than 80,000 BMW motorcycles were in official use in over 150 countries on five continents. BMW produce police-specific models such as the R1200RT and R900RT, the latter not available to the general public. More than 140 U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, had BMW authority motorcycles in their fleets of patrol vehicles.

Harley-Davidson has maintained a long relationship with police departments and law-enforcement agencies. As of 2007, Harley-Davidson offered the FLHTP Electra Glide, the FLHP Road King and the XL883 Sportster in police and fire/rescue editions."


love it or hate it..we had to mention "CHiPs"