It's been a long morning. Truthfully, you’re already running a bit late and you’re pushing your car just slightly over the speed limit. Besides, you looked around and there was nobody around…particularly no police cruisers, so all is good and you decide to push the pedal that much further to the metal.

Up ahead, you see a large sign. It’s erected amid some trees and bushes to the side of the road. It’s a sign for the new Bay City Condos that are going up in the field just past the Rollins Farm. You take note of it and remember to tell your wife about the site and how a move might be an order. You pass the sign and feel happy to be making good time, when all of a sudden you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror.

Impossible! You checked around for cops. But when you look closer, you see that it’s a motorcycle cop. It came from nowhere, you think to yourself, and then in a flash you remember the sign. How could you have been so thoughtless?

You pull over and watch the cop walk towards you and despite the fact that he’s about to give you a pretty hefty ticket, you marvel at his class and the fact that he pulled you over on that sick Harley-Davidson. Cops are pretty cool—especially the ones on TV—but let's be real: cops on motorcycles are cooler. Join us and let’s take a look at these modern cowboys of the road and their trusted steeds.

25 A BIT OF BIKER COP LINGO

Like any other organization or group, motorcycle police have their very own terminology. It's kind of like a club or an elite group, like say, surfers. They have a vocabulary all their own, and though the same can be said for cops in general, motorbike cops, specifically, have their own dialect. For example, in the US, a police motorcycle isn't called that at all. In fact, a police bike is called simply, "a motor." The units are called "motor units," and the police officers who ride them are called "motor officers." Pretty cool, but at the same time not that difficult to come up with. We were expecting something a tad more incognito, but still rather interesting.

24 RIDING BECOMES ADDICTIVE FOR OFFICERS

We can definitely understand that riding on the force can become rather addictive for the officers that serve and protect atop a motorbike. This can become a particular problem, as was the case with officer Katherine Anderson when she made quite a bit of news a few years back in Garden Grove, Orange County.

She was one of only five female motorbike officers in the area.

As is the case in Garden Grove, the department there rotates officers out of units every five years. She is currently serving her 3rd tour as a motorcycle officer but when she was rotated out after her second tour of duty, she claims to have gone through some pretty serious depression. A motorcycle enthusiast all her life, she's extremely grateful to be back on the bike, wearing blue of course.

23 FIRST ELECTRIC BIKES ON THE FORCE

Technology has sure come along way and has been moving at a break-neck speed as of late. Police departments around the world are trying to keep up—if they're not unleashing the best technology a lot faster than anyone else, that is.

After all, they need to stay ahead of the game, because nobody can afford the best toys like the criminals in town.

It was in 2014 that the LAPD unleashed the first Zero Motorcycles bike onto the streets and the world was impressed, as it was an electric motorcycle. But Zero Motorcycles has been making bikes since 2006.

22 ADVANTAGES: ALLOW COPS TO GET TO DIFFICULT CRIME SCENES FASTER

Sometimes, crimes can happen in the oddest of places and not out in the open like, say, on a highway intersection or parking garage rooftop. Sometimes crimes can happen deep within the forest or in some deep and muddy valley.

In such cases, regular police vehicles are unable to get to the locations in a timely fashion.

Police know how important a crime scene can be and they need to get there as soon as possible to protect the integrity of any evidence on site. That's why some of these bikes are key in getting to such destinations on time. They can navigate the difficult terrains like nothing else, especially bikes like the one pictured here.

21 A BIGGER FLEET OF COPS ON THE STREETS - ADVANTAGES

But despite the unfortunate incidents that occur with so many officers on bikes on the mean streets every day and night, there are still some rather glaring advantages to having them out there, revving up and down our roads.

With more and more bikes popping up on fleets over the years, more and more municipalities started seeing that the cost of having a lot of patrolmen on the streets has gone down.

This way, they could have a larger force at a lower cost, because there were fewer cars to have on the road. This was exceptionally good for areas that didn't experience any harshly cold weather and snowfall, as they could have a year-round fleet. And bikes are cheaper than cars.

20 AFTER ALL IT WAS JUDGE DREDD'S VEHICLE OF CHOICE

And of course the influence of police motorcycles has long since made its way into literature and Hollywood films. The iconic persona of a motorcycle cop is, in and of itself, a classic representation of the law, and that fact hasn't gone unnoticed by writers and Hollywood directors. The motorcycle cop was employed by writer John Wagner and designer Carlos Ezquerra when they wrote and designed the super hero Judge Dredd back in 1977. He first appeared in 2000 AD, a weekly anthology comic book. He was not only law enforcement, but he was also judge, jury, and executioner. And of course he was given a most impressive ride, the Lawmaster. Films were later made based on the character: Judge Dredd (1995) starring Sylvester Stallone and Dredd 3D (2012) starring Karl Urban.

19 A HUGE PRESENCE AT POLITICAL MOTORCADES OR OTHER EVENTS

If you've seen any political motorcades on TV then you know that the police bike is never all that far away, a lurking presence at the head of the motorcade and yes, even at the back. This is so because should some disaster occur, the bikes can move around the traffic and pandemonium much quicker than any vehicle. In some cases, the bikes can also be used as a quick getaway for key members of the motorcade, but the situation must be extremely dire for this to be even tried. Police bikes are also seen at wedding caravans as well as any marches, both for politics and for amusement such as parades and peaceful demonstrations.

18 FIRST POLICE MOTORCYCLE: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, 1908

We see them every now and again in our daily lives. They're surely not as commonly seen as the Dodge Chargers speeding here and there every day on our busy roads and streets, but you're likely to see one pretty frequently.

But have you ever stopped to wonder: When did the first police motorcycle hit the streets?

We have, and you'll be surprised to find out the answer. As it turns out, the first police motorcycle ever to be commissioned was for the police department of Detroit, Michigan back in 1908. And yes, before you ask, it was in fact a Harley Davidson very much like the one pictured here. It's true, The Motor City or Rock City was the first to have an official police bike on fleet.

17 THE FIRST ORGANIZED POLICE MOTORCYCLE PATROL: BERKELEY PD

So, Detroit may have had the very first motor unit, but it was in Berkeley, California, that the very first complete fleet of biker cops were sent out on duty. The year was in fact 1911. Just think of all the citizens who heard the first fleet go out on duty. The neighbors who lived in the same area as the precinct. Perhaps it was even big news in town that week. We wonder if people went to watch the scene unfold...all those bikes taking off from the precinct at one time to go out on patrol. What a sight it must have been. And we wonder as well, did the criminals of the era tremble in fear of those bikes and the revving of their engines, fearing that these bikes would bring forth an even more efficient crime prevention?

16 MOTORCYCLES USED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS (1) - HARLEY-DAVIDSON

Of course the top bike on our list of motorcycles used by police departments has got to be the big dog on campus, the definitive monster on two wheels, the Harley-Davidson. After all, we did just learn that they were the first to build a police motorcycle.

And over the years, police force after police force all over the planet have turned to Harley out of trust, loyalty, and dedication.

After all, the bikes have a name and reputation that cannot be knocked, no matter how hard anyone tries. Harley-Davidson motorcycles are, in fact, epic bikes that deliver time and time again.

15 A BRIGHT IDEA IN PORTLAND, OREGON

Well, it was in Portland, Oregon, that an officer was so inspired by the inception of the police motorcycle in Detroit, that he, not working for a department that had commissioned bikes of their own, actually used his own personal motorcycle to patrol the neighborhood when on duty. That's right. He revved that engine in his own garage, dressed in his uniform, and got ready to work. It must have been something. We'll bet his neighbors felt pretty safe having him around, especially when something sinister was going on. We wonder only if his department sprung for the fuel bill?

14 FIRST BIKE EQUIPPED WITH A RADIO RECEIVER (1939)

We thought that this, too, was a pretty interesting fact, so we included it on the list. After all, the equipment that a police motorbike comes with is part of what makes it so fascinating and cool, don't you think? We sure do.

So, as it turns out, the first ever motor unit ever to be fully equipped with a radio receiver was in Cleveland in 1939.

Seems pretty early, but it's true just the same. And this feature probably only aided the police force in Cleveland in doing their job day to day and more efficiently, now being able to better communicate with each other as well as the station.

13 MOTORCYCLES USED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS (2) - 1959 INDIAN

As respected as the Harley Davidson is, there's probably another name that motorcycle enthusiasts trust just as much, if not a bit more so (at least, a few do). And that's the marvelous brand of Indian Motorcycles. The Indian when used as a police motor unit started popping up just after the first Harley bikes started becoming prevalent in various fleets around North America. Indian Motorcycles were founded in 1901 and their bikes are definitely just as historically relevant and dependable as the Harley bikes that were starting to flood the precinct garages back in that early portion of the 20th century.

12 FLEETS ALL OVER THE WORLD (1)

And of course, it wouldn't be long before motorcycles on police forces around the world started to be seen. Perhaps, police units and squadrons the world over started to see how effective the addition of motorcycles made other fleets around the world, so they too jumped on the band wagon.

In some vintage shots of the UK police force, or even some other places in Europe, the earliest bikes on the international forces can be seen as early as the early 1930s and 1940s, as well. It may have been earlier, but regardless, there are many advantages to having motorcycles on fleet (and we'll get to them soon) but the world was starting to take notice, as well.

11 MOTORCYCLES USED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS (3) - KAWASAKI

So cruiser motorcycles are very impressive to see, especially all dressed up in police colors and logos. They're powerful and able to withstand long hours on duty and the wear and tear of the road.

But what if they need to go up against a Maserati in a chase?

No doubt that cruisers would have quite a bit of difficulty catching up to the likes of a race car or even a souped-up muscle car, despite how amazing cruisers are. So, the police forces around the world started featuring more powerful bikes. And when we say more powerful, we mean faster. Enter Kawasaki and all its horsepower.

10 A DANGEROUS JOB

But not all is positive about the police motorcycle. Perhaps the only drawback, really, is that it's very dangerous to drive a bike in the conditions cops see almost every day. The speed issues are enough to worry almost anybody, but that's not all. The other issue is that the cops that ride these motorcycles are rather susceptible to much more injury than any other cop, especially cops riding inside of vehicles where they're more protected. Cops on bikes are more exposed to serious and fatal wounds because they're out in the open. But that's what makes them so impressive: their courage to face any and all danger.

9 MOTORCYCLES USED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS (4) - BMW

BMW is a trusted name in the motorcycle fabrication universe. Not only do they make top-of-the-line cars that have won awards and hearts for many generations now, but they definitely make a mean bike as well. And of course, the police departments that employ them on fleet know this to be fact, because there are in fact more and more BMW bikes popping up at precincts everywhere.

BMW started back in 1916 and back then, they fabricated engines for aircraft. As time went on, they branched out, eventually making motorcycles in 1921, then moving on to the car in 1932. The first BMW bike was the R32 and the first car being the BMW 3/20.

8 A DEFINITIVE PRESENCE AT POLICE FUNERALS

Police funerals are definitely sad and terrible to witness. This is so because usually the police officer in question has either perished on duty or was a definitive member of that particular force or precinct. His or her hard work, courage, and dedication is often honored on such occasions in the most respectful, yet grandiose fashions, as should be expected. After all, he or she gave of themselves and made the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect and serve. At such occasions, police bikes and motorcades are definitely always in sight for the occasion.

7 MOTORCYCLES USED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS (5) - YAMAHA

Much like the Kawasaki, the Yamaha brand delivers police officers something they crave: the need for speed, obviously. Yamaha was founded back in 1955 and their reputation for building a pretty quick ride is known by one and all. Reasons for going with Yamaha or Kawasaki probably come down to price. Depending on models, some Yamaha's are cheaper, especially when purchased in bulk, so the various precincts would definitely be thinking about costs to the city, or perhaps the mayor is, especially near election time. The cheaper the better.

6 THE MODERN "RIDER"

And what are they, these police officers riding atop these awesome machines, but the modern cowboy atop their trusted steeds, ready to save the day? Is this the allure that comes with these officers of the law? Is this why we look at them and still say: "Wow!?" No matter how old we are, we're still impressed, still in awe of these men and women who ride day in and day out to protect and serve us, no matter what the dangers and peril to themselves. And of course, it does make sense. As citizens, we're trained to respect the badge, but as people who were once kids who loved the cowboys we saw on TV, we see more than just a badge and a bike. We see a hero.