Our police story is changing for good. Days of our cops roamed the streets in their shiny Harley or Indian cruisers are going to be a thing of the past. They were huge and bulky and weren’t much practical for police duties. A few Japanese models and Beemers were incorporated by few of the departments in different states now, and the trend seems to be catching on hard.

Introducing the Yamaha FJR1300P, America’s newest cop bike. Taking a fresh take on a century-old concept, this new police bike is coming to change the picture from broad and bulky to a new, stylish sleeker image. This bike already taken on police duty for many European and Australian forces, and is now jumping the pond to this side.

Previously, all police bikes either got dealer-added packaging after purchasing the stock bike, or they had to hand them over to one of the private-third-party workshops which gave turnkey solutions to convert bikes. They were expensive and took a lot of time. Well, Yamaha seems to have the perfect solution here.

With an imminent launch of this police spec cruiser, the American Police force will be ditching their ceremonial cruisers and pickup Yamaha’s biggest sport-tourer that received a major upgrade recently. Along with all the bells and whistles, the 1300P will come hardwired with performance and the features required in the line of duty.

A plethora of police equipment gets kitted onto the civilian FJR. The police-spec FJR will come standard with pre-wired electrical connectors for those red-blue flashes we all enjoy seeing in our rear view, sirens, speakers, radio and the works. Electrically adjustable windshield will protect the officer from gusty winds for high-speed chase situations (20mm higher than the civilian version).

The officer gets more protection in the form of knuckle visor and foot shields. The engine bay also receives an engine guard for protection against falls along with crash protection bars at the rear. The three-part instrument panel (multi-dot LCD) emulates the styling of a luxury sports car, and the handlebar gets light controllers, police handle switches, and heated grips.

Powered by a 1298cc inline-four, the shaft-driven FJR puts out around 145 horsepower and 102 pound-feet of torque and comes with a six-speed gearbox with a new, Assist-and-Slipper clutch for smooth and effortless riding for hours at ends. Multiple riding modes and traction control give for peace of mind when on the road. (The stock civilian FJR power figure: 141.5HP and 99ft-lbs of torque).

Detachable side cases and a large rear box can hold police equipment like strips, wires, spikes, etc. All of this will add a hefty weight to the already 610lbs bike (hence the slight bump in power). Apart from these, the standard issue LEDs all around, cornering lights, ride-by-wire will remain but miss out on the electronic suspension and instead stick to traditional forks and mono-shock units.

Yamaha calls this “The epitome of performance and reliability, wrapped in the features essential in the line of duty.” Yamaha will begin directly supplying made-to-order FJR1300Ps to police departments around the United States. In addition this FJR1300P, the Japanese maker also offers the XJ600P and XJ900P police vehicles made at the factory.

Apparently, the Michigan State Police tested the FJR1300P against Harley, BMW, and Zero Motorcycles last year and were impressed with the speed and acceleration runs (top-speed: 143 mph, 0-60 mph: under 4 seconds).