Could iconic police motorcycle sidecars be taking their final rides? Ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn into office, new presidents have made their way from the Capitol to the White House escorted by D.C. police officers riding Harley-Davidsons fitted with sidecars. But the two-wheeled pod or torpedo-shaped cars, which help stabilize the motorcycles and give a nostalgic nod to the inaugural pageant could become obsolete. Harley stopped making sidecars in 2011 and then built the newest model motorcycles without a way to attach the pods.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said her agency is working with Harley to come up with a fix. If none can be found, police will ride older-model bikes in the upcoming inauguration. But police in the nation’s capital worry that a tradition dating back to the 1900s, one that they take seriously, will soon be lost. “Inauguration wouldn’t be the same without sidecars,” said Steve Tritt, a police vehicle enthusiast who lives in Florida and collects histories on a website called Policemotorunits.com. He said Harleys, sidecars and new presidents simply go together. “Harley is looked on as a tradition, and when people see the sidecars coming with the president, it means something,” said Tritt, who spent three years as a police officer in South Carolina but credits his father, a longtime sheriff, with his interest in motorcycles. “That’s the way it always has been. That’s American history.”
Police Chief Lanier said the department has 55 motorcycles and a stockpile of 65 sidecars, many of them never put on the street. The problem now is finding enough older-model motorcycles with hardware to accommodate the sidecars. She said the most significant issue is that the automatic braking systems on the new motorcycles is not compatible with the brakes on the sidecars. The Park Police turned to a husband-and-wife-run company in Seattle called Liberty Motors and bought six custom-made sidecars that replicate the Harley sidecar used during President Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961.
Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson stopped sidecar production in 2011, ending a 97-year run, citing declining sales, and promised to support existing warranties and to make repairs. The decision to drop the line touched off anger and angst among sidecar enthusiasts and motorcycle clubs across the country. Police departments, too, were in a quandary, particularly those in cold-weather regions where sidecars are a must to put motorcycles on the streets year-round. D.C. and Park Police keep their sidecars on the streets from October or November through St. Patrick’s Day to account for winter weather. In slow-moving parades and some escort situations, the extra wheels also help riders avoid tipping over when their speed is slower than a slow walk.
Police motorcyclists are in many ways like other two-wheeler enthusiasts — a club within a club, steeped in history and proud of the way they can intricately maneuver their 800-pound machines, such as the sharp, slow-speed turn called the “little general.” They participate in competitions, and in the St. Patrick’s Parade in Washington, the District force allows its motorcycle officers to ride with their children in sidecars, one of the rare times those seats are filled. U.S. Park Police celebrate the motorcycle unit’s 100th anniversary in 2017.
Words by Peter Hermann (2016), via : The Washington Post
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