Police Bikes to Ride on Dunlop

Following an evaluation by the Thames Valley Police Driving School, Chiltern Transport Consortium has selected Dunlop to be tyre supply for its fleet of BMW R1200 RTP fully homologated, police specification bikes. The BMWs will run on the Sportmax Roadsmart, a tyre predominantly aimed at the sports touring bike sector.

The collaboration comes after initial testing by Grant Goodings, senior motorcycle instructor at Thames Valley Police. “It is extremely important to equip our fleet with the best possible tyres. On a bike, tyres are crucial to safety and overall performance,” commented Goodings. “The police bikes have to deal with intense riding to get to incidents safely. Being on a bike allows officers better manoeuvrability through congested traffic conditions and busy roads.

“In total we have 17 bikes on our fleet covering approximately 200,000 miles a year. As bike tyres do not have the same life cycle as a car tyre, mileage was one of the key drivers for us,” the senior motorcycle instructor continued. “When you are on a bike it is important to have full confidence in your tyres. The Roadsmart tyre allows our officers to concentrate on their precision and safe riding on all road networks”

Highlighting the tyre’s features, Dunlop says the Roadsmart utilises the latest in bike tyre technology; MultiTread Compound. This uses two new compounds with different types of tailor-made silica in order to optimise the balance between wet grip and mileage. The combination of grip and new durable polymers offers longer tread life and maximum grip, Dunlop reports. Tests performed by the tyre maker show that the Roadsmart tyre “offers superb mileage for a sports touring tyre.”

“We are thrilled to have been chosen as sole tyre supplier to the police fleet of BMW bikes,” said Austin Scully, police fleet manager for Dunlop. “For such a prestigious organisation to choose our product really proves its worth on the road.”