Former officers help Tucson company build police motorcycles

Victory Police Motorcycles, which employs 12 people locally, operates out of a property at 1400 S. Alvernon Way, where the motorcycles are designed, manufactured, assembled and serviced. It contracts with 70 law enforcement agencies worldwide, 54 of which are in the United States and Canada.

The custom motorcycles are built specifically for each law enforcement agency’s needs, said Kenny Vaughan, a training instructor for Victory Motorcycle and a retired motorcycle officer of 28 years with the Tucson Police Department. Victory Police Motorcycles took input from more than 4,100 surveys that asked about the officers’ preferences and past injuries to design the ideal motorcycle.

“They tell us what they want and we start putting them together,” he said.

The Victory design is longer and heavier than most police motorcycles to increase safety and comfort and accommodate more storage for police equipment, including computers, radars and firearms, he said. Another feature, not common among other police motorcycle designs, is the floorboards, which move according to the officers’ feet motion.

Former traffic officers and motor instructors, such as Vaughan, were involved in the development of the Victory motorcycles’ design, he said. The idea began with a group of motorcycle officers with personal Victory bikes wanting to build the ideal police motorcycle.

The first police motorcycle was built in 2007 and the company officially launched in 2008, alongside the pre-existing Arizona Victory Motorcycles, its retail sister company.

Victory Police Motorcycles, whose parent company is Polaris Industries, is a one-stop shop, said Mike Schultz, sales director. Adding police-specific devices like radar or radio are also done in Tucson, and each motorcycle has a color-coded electrical system.

“We’re the 911 of police motorcycles,” he said. The company modeled its service after the 911 dispatch system, where customers have just one number to call to fix various issues with their motorcycles, whether it is a wiring issue, need for replacement parts or adding a component.

Since its launch, the company has entered the international market, selling police motorcycles to agencies in Indonesia, South Africa, Sweden, China and Canada. Schultz said Victory’s success is not a result of a vigorous marketing campaign but rather, word of mouth among police organizations.

In the Tucson area, the Marana Police Department and Oro Valley Police Department have acquired Victory police motorcycles.

Marana police purchased two bikes with a grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety two years ago, according to police spokesman Sgt. Chris Warren. Since then, it has purchased an additional two.

Warren said Marana police chose Victory models after researching and testing various motorcycles. Some of the contributing factors were cost-savings and the fact that Victory motorcycles were American-made.

Having the builder “right in our backyard” is a huge benefit, said Marana Officer Brad Clifford, who was stopping by Victory Police Motorcycles for maintenance earlier this week.

“It’s so much safer to ride,” he added, saying that injuries for motorcycle officers are “not like in the past.”

The Marana Police Department was recognized at the 2014 COPSWEST expo, a convention put on by the California Peace Officers’ Association, for “best motorcycle design” with its flat-black Victory motorcycles.

The Oro Valley Police Department also acquired eight Victory motorcycles in August.

The department replaced its “aging fleet” of BMW motorcycles, which had high service costs, said Lt. Chris Olson, special operations bureau lieutenant. One of eight Victory motorcycles was purchased for the department by the Office of Highway Safety and seven of them are leased from the company, he added.