ST1100 Honda Pan European

Has anyone got any pics of Honda Pan Europeans in British Military service,used by Army,Raf anf Marines Police,Raf and Army Bomb disposal and RLC Escort bikes.(mainly after RLC bike pics please)

The Pan European is a fantastic motorcycle. I never rated them (through ignorance) until I had to borrow one from a friend to do a trip when my ZX10 R let me down at the last minute. It was a revelation and I would recommend one to anyone!!!!:-)

The Pan European is a fantastic motorcycle. I never rated them (through ignorance) until I had to borrow one from a friend to do a trip when my ZX10 R let me down at the last minute. It was a revelation and I would recommend one to anyone!!!!:-)

I love mine,its like riding an armchair with 100bhp!!! Trouble is you have to rein it in sometimes,being a sports tourer she wants to kick her heels and go sometimes!!

Thanks Recymech,seen the last 3 before but the first ones a cracking shot,i hope theres not a Scammell or Oshkosh trying to keep up with the bike in that shot!! I wonder if there s a convoy somewhere behind the bike and its charging up the road to slow oncoming traffic,or put a block in,something that i love doing on mine.Thanks for the pics.

hi. i have 2 of these at moment but not in use, i have had problems with the police about them. i have been stopped and made to remove any blue lights and sirens ect by the roadside,also been fined for illegal beacons! let me add that the lights were covered and all emergencey equipment disabled at fuses. this was not satisfactory to the police, as they did without my permission disasembled the electrics and made some of the circuits live, i could do not do anything about this as i was in the back of a car answering the same stupid questrions for the 100th time, at this point a traffic officer was called and i was transfered to his car, the other 7 police then left. i was then told that he know nothing about what the other officers had done to my vehicle, only that it was in operational condition when he attended(called me a liar in fact). he threatened to seize it and have it crushed, although it was taxed,insured,moted and in perfect condition, i was also threatened with arrest for impersonating a police officer? i was dressed all in black? after some time he finaly fell back on the excuse of the antiterrorist laws? seams this is the trumpcard when they are wrong?

The road traffic law Cleary states that no one other than authorised authorities may use blue lights, and that a lamp is not a lamp if covered– except if it is blue! It also states if fitted it counts wether or not it is connected/working. It also states that any material cable of reflecting light can also be classed the same. So yes you were breaking the law by having the blue lights fitted and covered. The simple solution is to have a set of either yellow or clear lenses fitted, I would suggest the yellow as it is more obvious that you are showing you’re not impersonating (remember impersonation can be described as what someone sees- i.e. just because you’re wearing black is not a get out various police forces use all black with just a hivis band over the shoulder and round the waist. What I believe to see compared to someone else can be so different.)

Does the bike have any wording on it? If so is it clearly crossed out or better still signs on the bike saying out of service or film unit – providing you use it in film or TV work- proof maybe needed for this.

We use to run 5 pans for various reasons, all were marked correctly and used yellow lenses on public highways, yes we did have various stops, but never any issues, we have even worked with various police forces whilst escorting private/classic military vehicles/convoys and abnormal loads (not just classic military).

So my advice would be, take the blues off show the yellows clearly and cross out any signage with black tape or better still get some stickers saying out of service to put over any wording. Carry any documents to prove what you use them for.

Good luck and safe riding. For the record we still have these type of bikes in the club only now they are the newer BMW’s and still without issues.

hi fluf. in answer to you. 1 the bike was fitted with the modern leds and clear lenses, the covers were for protection. 2 i run for the blood service, 3 the bike is plain white with orange stripe, no wording at all! in fact the bike is very plain! 4 the use of amber lights is restricted to very large,slow,recovery,maintanance and vehicles clearly marked and dedicated only for escort work. 5. i was carryng and showed the police the guidlines set down by both pcuk and pebec, these being the 2 largest clubs for ex police vehicles in the uk. what more could i do? the week before i was at a blue light show and made the mistake of not putting my show plates on as there was a blue light run, i beleive a marker was put on the bikes no and i was stopped the next time out! and then they tryed until they found somthing, the fine i received was for fitting an illegal beacon, this being any colour, even amber! i had no reason for beacons at the time! pretty pathetic, but still a pinch! 6, the point of what i was wearing, this is just basic kit, how many white/silver cars.bikes are there on the road? the police ect all dispose of surplus kit to the public! and then say it is you that is a criminal if they say so! 7 police for more than 2 hours and 1 for about an hour, what a waste of time? what i would like to say is that there is a lot that is at the discretion of the police, but they also will not let go if they take a dislike to you, or have a bad day!

Just as an after thought -

Do forum members realise that even having Battenburg markings on a non-emergency vehicle is ilegal?

I sympathise with you scammellmark - but the law is very clear on what is allowed and what is not allowed.

I'm dumb-founded when I see ex-military vehicles with Military Police signs / blue beacons being driven on a public road - it's asking for trouble.

I used to blood run too and looked into the possibility of obtaining a bike with reflective markings and emergency equipment to advertise the service. Good PR.

Unfortunately I was advised by a good friend of mine that this would be breaking the law - and it boils down to the fact the motorcycle could not be classed as an official emergency vehicle as it would be registered in my name and not the name of the charity.

It really is a bag of bolts when you have a vehicle that impersonates an emergency vehicle.

I know people do it (Military Police, fire engines, MP bikes, etc), and it's not for me to tell people what to do - but if people are going to do it - then expect to be pulled and have the Police get the hump.

Oh by the way scammellmark - I fully appreciate you had taken all the precautions you felt were appropriate and it would appear you have encountered some over - zealous Police Officers so I'm not having a dig at you - just the clowns who totally ignore the law, take the p--s, and ruin it for the people who do try to play the game.

Markheliops

I ve never had any problems with the old bill down here in sunny Sussex,the only run in i had was on the M23 whilst late for a doo and was....uh hummmm say doing a tad more than the legal speed limit (52mph over to be exact) looked in the mirror and saw two police bikes coming up behing on blue lights,i thought,their not going very fast on a blue light run ,then i clocked my speed.The lead bike pulled up along side and fearing a point to the hard shoulder and licence please,thank you were look after that for 6 months,he merely pulled up alongside and told me to "slow down a bit!!" Mind you i was wearing full bike kit with an ESCORT hi vis,I know i was a very lucky boy!! My ST1100 goes next week and an ex RLC ST1300 is coming in its place.I ve been told by a friend whos a Sussex traffic cop,as long as your sensible and dont take the mickey,they ll leave you alone.I ve even got written permission from Sussex to use Blue lights if part of an organised prossesion on a closed public road...don t ask you dont get,or thats what i keep telling the wife! Two pics are me on a road run in September last year on the ST1100 and the second is the new ST1300

hi everyone. hope this works. here is a couple of pics of one of my bikes.

Is that an ex military bike Mark,looks like the Bomb disposal set up on the pod. Neil

yes the bike is definately ex military police, have release form and some history. the pod on back is the 70s/80s stop police sign, but the police part is covered with a sticker stating military police. the bike was fitted with cleartone repeater vhf/unf and clansman was fitted to the rack on hump. my other pan was ex mod police and is equiped a little differently. i have blue and amber lenses for strobes and leds with clear lenses for road use,as you will see i have covered the blue reflective strip that borders the orange stripe. and there is no police signage at all!!

MY ST1100 has now gone,px d it for a ST1300,again,ex RLC,3 Tank Transporter Squadron,8 Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps,based at Bulford Wiltshire

Ive just bought what i think might be a ex RLC ST1100, still got the decals and Amber strobes, how could i confirm if the bike came from the MOD or the Plod ? its had 3 owners before me on the V5.

I think I am correcting is saying only civi police have the calibrated Speedo fitted, so that may well be a clue, most of the MOD ones have the blackout switch.

got any photos? especially of the Speedo head, and switcheson the left side

Great bikes and great pictures, really good to see them.

Is anyone aware of the type of radio equipment the RLC escort 1300 Pans use Please. I have a rear 'pod' from one of these bikes and it has a radio aerial and I am trying to find out what type it is.

hi bazza. concerning the radios for the pan. they would have been fitted by sonic communications in birmingham. best if possible to ask in person,very friendly guys in vehicle instalations. but please be aware that these radios will need a licence to broadcast,but not to receive only. do you need the radios to work? or just to fill a gap? you can try 'ex police radios' they have monthly tender sales. hope this helps. mark.

Sadly there are cops out there who use the law to suit themselves by means of interpreting things as the mood takes them and being an ex-military Police officer i know what happen out there. Luckily i live in a country where 'most' of the cops are human still and have a sense of humor and a few brain cells left upstairs. We are also not allowed blue lights, but if they are on a vehicle such as an ex Police bike and it was covered whilst in transit to a display or venue then it is ok (as common sense would dictate).

I have actually ridden the Indian up behind a cop with lights and siren on. Yes they pulled over and were far to busy laughing and holding their sides to actually take offence. They thought it was all in fun (which it was) and the driver being an ex motorcycle cop ended up taking it for a quick ride up the street and back, which really made his day.

Police have NO jurisdiction in 'tampering' with automotive systems as they are not trained mechanics. As usual there is give and take in all situations and it just takes an idiot on either side to upset the balance.

Good luck with your project and stay upright.

The MoD Pans first appeared during the early 90s, taking over from the Norton Interpol rotary.......

They were equipped differently according to the particular user...........MoD Police examples, were white with orange stripes edged with narrow reflective blue.........calibrated speedos were frequently fitted to these, and should carry a calibration cert on the dial face marked "IRS Nottingham"...........these Pans were used at the AWE sites in Berkshire for convoy escort, Naval Dockyards in Hampshire, Devon and Scotland, plus use in central London..........the MoD Police examples are truer to standard police spec due to the Force being a Constabulary under the MoD Police Act 1987......the MoD Police bikes were generally marked-up by the vehicle branch at their HQ in Essex.......

Radio kit varied, with most of the Force using the MoD Cougar system as personal PRs for much of the 1990s, so bike base units may have been of compatible type.......

Pans supplied to other branches of the MoD, such as RLC, RAF & RMP, etc, were not as fully "plod-equipped".........apart from the RAF examples, the Army jobs usually had the pale green/yellow stripes on the sides rather than orange/blue.....calibrated speedos were not usually fitted........the RAFP and RMP have a rather limited policing role in the UK and on public roads hence little purpose in being all dressed up with nowhere to go....although the situation was different in Germany......

By the early 2000s, some MoD Police Pans were now in blue/yellow battenburg......the other MoD examples generally remained in the earlier markings until around 4 years ago now when battenburg began to appear on some RMP Pans....

The above from my own encounters during nearly 27 years as a civvy plod.......

hi bazza. concerning the radios for the pan. they would have been fitted by sonic communications in birmingham. best if possible to ask in person,very friendly guys in vehicle instalations. but please be aware that these radios will need a licence to broadcast,but not to receive only. do you need the radios to work? or just to fill a gap? you can try 'ex police radios' they have monthly tender sales. hope this helps. mark.

Thanks for that Mark.......yes we do have radios fitted, they are the 'taxi' type radios, I have mounted the set in the pannier and have changed the 'whip' for one trimmed to our freqs, I need to know if the aerial base has a loading coil or anything similar......it does allow the radio to receive, I have not used it to transmit as yet as I am a bit reluctant to risk blowing up the set should there be a mismatch with the aerial.