[JayPrashanth]

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Patrol vehicles in India are changing with the times. Gone are the days when the likes of the Royal Enfield Bullet 350s were the only motorcycles to be widely used by the police forces across the country. The advent of powerful yet reasonably frugal and motorcycles such as the Bajaj Pulsar and the TVS Apache has seen many police forces across the nation deploying these motorcycles as their patrol bikes.



At the recently held 16th Indian International Security Expo 2013, Honda teamed up with Grand IJS Electronics to showcase a Police Model Design of the Honda CBR 250R sportsbike. Notably, the Honda CBR 250R has been doing police patrol duty in Malaysia right from its launch there. The Police Model Design of the Honda CBR 250R features the following highlights:

• High Efficiency LED Lights to minimize power consumption
• Red and Blue beacon lights
• Collapsible pole lights
• Torch light
• Police siren
• Public address system with microphone
• Utility box
• Helmet with hands free microphone

The weight added to the CBR 250R due to these accessories hasn't been revealed by Honda. Also, pricing remains unknown. The motorcycle continues to feature the 250 cc liquid cooled, single cylinder four stroke engine that outputs 25 Bhp-22.9 Nm. This engine is mated to a 6 speed foot operated manual gearbox.The CBR 250R is also available with Honda's C-ABS as an option.

The arrival of the KTM Duke 390 has put pressure on the Honda CBR 250R as the ABS equipped models of the CBR 250R are more expensive than the Duke 390, which also comes with ABS as standard. Since the CBR 250R features an engine that comes with a much lower power and torque rating than the Duke 390 (43 Bhp-35 Nm), sales of the motorcycle have been impacted by the Duke 390's launch.

The Duke 390's fully faired version, due in 2014, is expected to further add to the pressure on the CBR 250R sold in India. In light of these developments, the Police Model Design CBR 250R could give the Japanese two wheeler giant an additional avenue of garnering sales. For now though, the Police Model Design version remains a showcase of the CBR 250R's potential.

[n_aditya]

Nice move there by Honda.

Bangalore Police used to ride Yamaha RD 350's as official police vehicles back in the 80's and 90's.

However I hope the cops are given extensive training on how to use these powerful and nimble machines. One reason why the RD's were withdrawn from the police force was due to the high number of accidents, thanks to the sheer power of that bike.

P.S. I also see a Police Tata Nano in the background. This will help in squeezing in tight spaces and makes sense for the city limits.

Thanks for sharing.

[himanshugoswami]

Need to get me these accessories for my Tricolour CBR as well.....then no one will mess with me on the roads! i use a white helmet in any case!!

[bhasker]

This seems to be a very nice edition of motorcycle, meant for the law enforcement agencies. The nationwide police departments definitely need fast, powerful, light weight and easy to handle motorcycles like the Honda CBR 250R. The transition from Royal Enfield Bullets to the Bajaj Pulsar and TVS Apache were a definitely a smart move. As the times are changing, the general public has more options available in the market today. They can opt for fast and powerful superbikes, cars and SUV. Hence, the number of offences are also rising proportionally. Hence, the Royal Enfield bikes are bad choice for police vehicles since they are heavy, slightly difficult in handling, less powerful yet costly. The police department deserves even better vehicles, rather than inducting the same fleet of vehicles like RE Bullets, Pulsars, TVS Apache, Maruti Gypsy, Qualis, Mahindra Bolero, Chevrolet Tavera etc. We need more faster and more powerful vehicles like Honda CBR, Kawasaki Ninjas, Honda Civic, Mahindra Scorpio etc. These vehicles have the latest technologies and are farm more reliable. This will help the police department in high speed chases against a overspeeding vehicle, field duty capabilities, lesser number of breakdowns and servicing visits.

As far as the above concept CBR 250R is concerned, I feel that it will be a good choice to induct them. But they should have an external utility box for storage of items like, Taser Guns, Alcohol Analyzers, Cameras, handcuffs, Small Arms etc. which generally the cops will need to conduct raids and carry out daily beats. They should also integrate GPS devices for better navigation and datalink computer. Apart from this the a detailed conversion training should be carried out by experts in order to make our policemen proficient enough to handle these powerful and sporty bikes.

[Mpower]

Police bikes that I have seen over the world have always had upright seating. (cruiser, standard, Dual Purpose & touring)

The couched down posture needed to ride a sport bike is not conducive for low speed patrolling in the city & long hours on the saddle. Not sure if Honda has taken it into consideration

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Bangalore Police used to ride Yamaha RD 350's as official police vehicles back in the 80's and 90's.
One reason why the RD's were withdrawn from the police force was due to the high number of accidents, thanks to the sheer power of that bike.

Mate,
Bangalore Traffic Police got around 50 RD's in the year of 1987 when Bangalore hosted the SAARC Summit.
It was not withdrawn from service but our Cops with their pot bellies found it hard to ride them as they were used to the Bullet(Left Brake - Right Gear). With the company winding up the production shortly, BTP were forced to sell the RD's as scrap.

However there was one Inspector who took pride in riding the RD till the late 90's.
There is one Cop in Kolkatta who still rides the RD350 to this day. Will try to put his photo once i lay my hands on it.