China Traffic Police - Safety Training

[CrazyCarl]

Andy,

What an awesome and unique experience! I think more of this story should be told! Hmmmm...

CC

[chinabiker]

Andy,

What an awesome and unique experience! I think more of this story should be told! Hmmmm...

CC

It surely is an experience one can't make every day

I have one more to come from last week in Guangzhou, with probably more to tell, later this year.

Can't follow the Hmmmm... though

[ChinaV]

Looks like a lot of fun Andy.......





But seriously... very interesting to see your experience with the boys in blue.

Do any of these guys ride big bikes when they are not working? Do they have a lot of interest and enthusiasm for motorcycles in general?

Thanks for the report!

Cheers!
ChinaV

[DanKearney]

Andy,

Thanks for the photos and story. This is what I like most about this web site. Not only do I find interesting cycle related stories and information, I get glimpses into everyday life in China that I wouldn't find elsewhere.

Dan K.
Black Hawk, CO

[chinabiker]

Looks like a lot of fun Andy.......





But seriously... very interesting to see your experience with the boys in blue.

Do any of these guys ride big bikes when they are not working? Do they have a lot of interest and enthusiasm for motorcycles in general?

Thanks for the report!

Cheers!
ChinaV

I was a bit tired of posing for the photographers and cameramen from some local media.

I don't think that they are riding big bikes in their time off duty, but they are interested in many motorcycle related topics.

[chinabiker]

Guangzhou, Guangdong, China - March 11th to 12th, 2009

Their fleet consists of BMW R1150RT authority version, Honda 1100ST and Honda 1300ST (ABS)

Mostly very skilled riders, particularly well in slow speed handling, well trained, very disciplined and some with good English. Very friendly officers and professional event organization.



The welcome speech


Participants


Getting ready


Officer in action


The fleet


Warming up


The crew


The group picture


Highlights
The training ground, the Apron of the old Guangzhou airport. Having been there dozens of times on a plane made it a special location.
I had the opportunity to ride the Honda bikes

Thanks for everything guys !

[DanKearney]

Andy,

What's your opinion of the ST vs RT?

Dan K.

[chinabiker]

Andy,

What's your opinion of the ST vs RT?

Dan K.

Dan,

That's a difficult one. I have quite some experience with the RT's, whereas I rode the ST's only briefly.

Here my 2 cents from what I experienced:

The 1300ST is the heaviest of all 3 - it makes it a hard job to put it on the center stand. The 1100ST and the RT are similar in weight, with the center stand of the RT being better engineered. (This was what they wanted me to test)

In slow corners they all handle pretty much the same, as you bring them easy in and out of corners. From the acceleration point, I think the 1100ST was performing best, the RT a little weaker and the 1300ST seemed lame due to it's weight.

The RTs are equipped with full integral ABS, the 1300ST with ABS and the 1100ST without. They wanted me to compare ABS performance of the RT with the 1300ST.
The ST's ABS let's the front wheel lock up before it begins to work and the rear is rattling all through the braking. Under 40 kph, the front starts to lock up frequently.
BMW brakes are clearly the better ones, with the ABS working very smooth. It took 25% less distance to stop from 220 kph

[DanKearney]

Thanks Andy,

I rode the 1100ST a few years ago and thought it was a good handler. I didn't realize that the 1300 outweighed the RT. It's a bit surprising that the Honda ABS seems so rudimentary. BMW has had 3 generations of ABS on the bikes, so I expect it to be good, but it sounds much, much better than the Honda's.

Is this your profession in China?

Cheers,

Dan K.

[chinabiker]

Thanks Andy,

I rode the 1100ST a few years ago and thought it was a good handler. I didn't realize that the 1300 outweighed the RT. It's a bit surprising that the Honda ABS seems so rudimentary. BMW has had 3 generations of ABS on the bikes, so I expect it to be good, but it sounds much, much better than the Honda's.

All three bikes actually handle very similar, and yes, the BMW ABS seems to work much better.

Is this your profession in China?

No it's not - yet . I'm doing this from time to time whenever BMW needs hold a training.