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Collection: Transportation
Accession #: 2009.14.1
Source: Gift of the Grand Rapids Police Department

This 1988 Harley-Davidson motorcycle is one of the most impressive recent additions to the Public Museum’s collection. Harley-Davidson has been manufacturing police motorcycles like this model with powerful V-Twin engines, sturdy frames, heavy-duty shocks, and of course sirens and flashing lights, for over 100 years.  In fact, “the first Harley-Davidson police motorcycle was delivered to the Detroit Police Department in 1908.” Grand Rapids put police officers on Harleys by 1917.

Police Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson: A Short History

The 1988 bike’s flashing blue lights guided thousands of visitors into the Memory Diner during the 2008 WHODUNIT! exhibit run.  After the murder mystery exhibit closed, the Public Museum asked the Police Department if they would be willing to turn the temporary loan of the Harley into a permanent gift, as the motorcycle had been such a hit with Museum visitors.  The Police Department agreed, and the rest is, literally, history!

Now, as part of the Public Museum’s Permanent Collection, the Harley-Davidson Police Motorcycle will be accessible to future generations of visitors as a tangible object which tells the story of law enforcement in Grand Rapids.  Motorcycles offer law enforcement personnel numerous advantages over traditional police cars because of their small size, high speed, and excellent maneuverability.  This particular motorcycle was used by the Grand Rapids Police Department for regular law enforcement duties during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Related Items at the Public Museum:
193968 – Motorbike, Indian, c. 1913
124293 – Photograph, Motorcycle Squad, Grand Rapids Police Department, 1917
1983.76.11 – Motorcycle Toy

Collection Tags: police, motorcycle, Grand Rapids, Harley-Davidson, permanent collection, new acquisitions, exhibit, WHODUNIT
- Alex Forist, Associate Curator of Collections

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