Last month saw Northamptonshire Police launch a fleet of eight new off-road motorcycles in a bid to help in the fight against anti-social behaviour, and will feature as part of Op Neutrino – the force’s response to motorcycle nuisance.
Supporting neighbourhood police officers and rural crime team officers in being able to break down the barriers that previously existed, and tackle crime in the heart of their communities, the Yamaha WR 450Fs are the fastest and most agile large capacity enduro bike ever produced by Yamaha.
Woodway’s challenge of turning these top of the range off-road machines into road-legal police motorcycles required a complete new wiring loom to allow for full and dipped beams, as well as updating the rear break/tail lights. The addition of indicators and the installation of an ignition barrel helped to give the WR 450Fs the green light for their new role.
The conversion was completed with dual coloured Vertex lightheads, mounted onto the bike using bespoke housing, designed and 3D printed in-house by Woodway’s technicians.
Chief Constable Nick Adderley, said: “These off-road motorcycles are high-powered machines and have been invested in so we can match, horsepower for horsepower, some of the bikes and vehicles we are seeing being used in anti-social behaviour across the country.
“You’ve got to give the officers the right kit and the right training to deal with the changing nature of anti-social behaviour and these bikes do exactly that. For too long, the blight of people riding off-road motorcycles and vehicles with impunity across our towns has put our communities in fear – not anymore.
“These bikes will also be key in finding missing people who have gone off-road and, coupled with our drone capability, I am sure that we will be able to find vulnerable people faster than ever and get them the support they need.”
Check out the Northants Police video to see the new bikes in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcPDJfBtlqE
Full information:
https://www.northants.police.uk/news/northants/news/news/2021/june-21/launch-of-off-road-bike-squad-to-get-into-the-heart-of-communities/