Road users will start seeing new police motorcycles next year, as the Traffic Police rolls out a new fleet of BMW motorbikes.

The police told The Straits Times last Thursday that the new motorbikes are part of a vehicle replacement programme for its older Yamaha Diversion XJ900P motorbikes, so that officers have "better and safer equipment to carry out their jobs professionally and effectively".

Online sites such as Roads.sg had first identified the new police motorcycle as the 2019 BMW R1250RT, capable of a top speed of over 200kmh.

It is believed that more than 150 units of the manual-transmission BMWs will be delivered to the police. The single-seater BMW motorcycles, known for their sport-touring capabilities, should be ready for patrol duties from April next year, the police added.

Both the police and BMW Motorrad Singapore - the distributor for BMW motorcycles - declined to confirm the model.

The Straits Times understands that the new 1,254cc motorcycle is equipped with contemporary safety features, such as traction control, and anti-wheelie and anti-lock brake systems.

But the police model, which has a black box called a speed tracking device, will differ slightly from commercial ones.

It would have to accommodate operational loads like LED strobe lights, crash bars, cameras, side boxes and a siren. It will also use a spare battery to power an in-vehicle video recording system.

Despite the additional weight, the 136bhp BMW motorcycle is able to accelerate from 0kmh to 100kmh in under 4.4 seconds.

>150

Number of new motorbikes that will be delivered to the police.

The police declined to reveal the cost of the motorbikes or the total number of its new fleet due to operational reasons, adding only that the older motorbikes have already been in use for the past 16 years.