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Mark Hinchliffe·
NewsMotorbike news
··19 Comments·3 min read

Motorcycle police ramp up riding gear

Victoria Solo Unit motorcycle police uniforms pandemic fines
Victoria Solo Unit motorcycle police uniforms

Gone are the days when motorcycle police rode around in jodhpurs and a leather jacket with no protectors.

International Workplace, Health and Safety standards now require police to have certified safety riding gear.

Most seem to be complying in a more responsible example to all riders.

Queensland Police last week unveiled their new DayGlo yellow motorbikes and jackets to make them more visible on the roads.

So we contacted all other state services to find out what their motorcycle police gear included, but only NSW and Victorian police replied.

NSW Police

NSW motorcycle police
NSW bike cop (Photo supplied by NSW Police)

However, NSW Police did not provide any details, only some photos.

A NSW Police spokesperson simply said: “NSW Police continue to outfit motorcycle riders in approved riding apparel that is fit for purpose. NSW Police will continue to review new trends on the market when selecting the most appropriate rider apparel.”

NSW motorcycle police
NSW motorcycle police (Photo supplied by NSW Police)

Victoria Police

Victoria Solo Unit motorcycle police uniforms (Photo supplied by VicPol)

Victoria Solo Unit motorcycle police uniforms (Photo supplied by VicPol)

A spokesperson for VicPol replied with a list of their motorcycle police gear and a plea for “all riders to ride within their limits, wear the right gear and ride within the conditions of their licence”. 

“Motorcyclists are a highly vulnerable road user group and each rider needs to do everything they can to make themselves as safe as possible,” the spokesperson says.

“Yes, it’s mandatory to wear a helmet, but really it should be common sense to ride in full protective clothing. 

“Victoria Police encourages all riders to wear protective boots, pants, jacket, gloves and helmet at all times when on their bikes.”

Victorian motorcycle police road uniform consists of the following: 

Motorcycle police VicPol road uniform
Victoria Solo Unit road uniform (Photo supplied by VicPol)
  • Helmet = Shoei Neotec Flip Face and GT Air Full Face sourced from McLeod Accessories
  • Jacket = Custom-made sourced from Glanda International
  • Shirt = Normal police uniform shirt and or police bicycle shirt
  • Leather Pants = Custom-made sourced from Tiger Angel Motorcycle Apparel
  • Leather Boots = Alpine Star Gran Torino Gore-Tex sourced from Monza Imports
  • Gloves = Alpine Star summer and winter sourced from Monza Imports

Victorian motorcycle police off-road uniform consists of the following: 

Motorcycle police VicPol off-road uniform
Victoria Solo Unit off-road uniform (Photo supplied by VicPol)
  • Helmet = Arai VXPro 4 sourced from Cassons Imports
  • Jacket = Rally Cross 3 DriRider sourced from McLeod Accessories
  • Pant = Thor summer and winter sourced from Gas Imports
  • Boots = Alpine Star Tech 8 sourced from Monza Imports
  • Jersey = Custom-made sourced from Impact Sports
  • Gloves = Thor summer and winter sourced from GPS imports
  • Knee Braces = Pod K8 sourced from Monza Imports
  • Body Armour = Thor or Dianese
  • Backpacks = Kriega r30 sourced from Egress Solutions 

Queensland Police

DayGlo Queensland motorcycle Police
Queensland Road Policing Operation Inspector Peter Flanders

Queensland Road Policing Operation Inspector Peter Flanders says the new DayGlo jackets will increase visibility to other motorists of the presence of police and make motorcycle police safer.

“We had to strike a balance between workplace health and safety on reflective material and making the jackets protective for the rider,” he says.

The jackets were made by G-Moto by Glanda to special Queensland Police specifications.

They replace hi-vis reflective vests that were worn over the previous black motorcycle jacket.

“So we can hop off the bike and don’t have to waste time putting on a reflective vest,” he says.

“If we had to give chase while wearing the vest, it would fly up in your face.”

DayGlo Queensland motorcycle Police
DayGlo Queensland Police

Peter says he would like to see riders follow the lead of the police and take responsibility for their own safety with proper motorcycle gear.

“After 30 years of campaigning, the community now thinks drink driving is bad. In the same way, I’d like to see the riding community view riding in shorts and thongs as bad.

“But these things need to be decided within the riding community not imposed from without.”

  • What do you think of the motorcycle police riding gear? is it a suitable example for riders? Leave your comments below.
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Mark Hinchliffe
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19 Comments

    1. Yep, they should have checked out Motoport Airmesh. Stronger and longer lasting than leather and keeps your bits practically sweat free all summer 🙂

      1. So why aren’t all the MotoGP riders wearing it ? Perhaps you should let them know they’re wearing the wrong stuff 🙂

  2. As a Ulysses member we encourage our members to ride with the appropriate protctive gear, I myself have a yellow Dri-Rider jacket. This jacket is supplied to us at Australia Post for our posties to wear to make us more visible to the motorist.

  3. Now they want ‘us’ to follow their example… Ha, they are catching up if you ask me with the majority of riders wearing appropriate gear for a long time. I’d also question the use of textile jacket… And anyone who knows anything about WHS and HiVis, knows that over time it becomes less effective as people get use to it.

  4. It’s worth noting that there’s another problem with protective clothing for riders, that being the ability to either insulate, or shed heat as the season requires.
    A gripe often expressed by serving members is their jacket usually keeps them hot and sweaty in summer, yet damp and cold in winter.
    Perhaps the people who source apparel for riders, should be selected from a pool of current riders?

  7. I would like to ask the question.. What are the other Queensland Motorcycle police wearing, you know the ones they ride unmarked 1400 Kawasakis, 1300 Hayabusas and I think they have a couple of BMWs, I don’t see them wearing hi-vis.

  8. “International Workplace, Health and Safety standards now require police to have certified safety riding gear.”
    Do they? So why aren’t police complying? Everyone’s seen police sneaking around on unmarked bikes wearing unmarked gear.

  9. In last 10 years, 444 pedestrians were killed in Victoria.
    http://www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/statistics/summaries/pedestrian-statistics

    In last 10 years approx 2,000 pedestrians were killed in Australia
    & approx 27,000 were hospitalised.
    https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2015/is_070.aspx

    Speed was a factor – if they weren’t walking, it wouldn’t have happened.

    In order to reduce the staggering pedestrian road toll, many of them children,
    all pedestrians crossing the road or on the footpath should be required to wear a high-vis vest.

    First offence 3 points & $1,000 fine, 2nd offence disqualified from walking for life.
    Double penalty for parents of children without a vest.
    Triple penalty for policemen because they should be setting a good example to our children.

    yours
    Fred the Hi-Res Vest retailer

  10. They are hypocritical bullshit artists. They promote fluro coloured bikes, cars and uniforms, yet they have a large fleet of unmarked cars, bikes and black uniforms.

    1. Most marked police cars have been replaced by unmarked. When people see a marked car they behave themselves which is good for the community but bad for the policeman as he doesn’t get to charge someone with an offence & bump up his numbers for promotion.

  11. Reply to Gary. Ulysses need Hi Vis is as they ride so slow they need to be visible to other vehicles especially semi trailers and every other road users who pass them as they wobble down the road at 90 kmh. They ride so slow there a danger to themselves and other road users.All they’re good at is rules.

    1. & they all crowd together staggered formation blocking the road & making it difficult/dangerous to pass.

  12. That’s interesting that police are now required to wear certified safety gear that is not just a helmet but a jacket, pants, gloves, and boots as well. Having the police force wear this can help better enforce the law and make more people riding motorcycles safe. It’s good that they still make sure that their protective clothing still has police emblems so it can differentiate them on the road form other riders.

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