Police take Pan Europeans out of service
Death crash causes Scottish police forces to take action
SCOTTISH police forces have taken over 30 Pan European police bikes out of service following the death of an English police biker.
The police motorcyclist from Merseyside was crushed under a lorry after falling from his Honda ST 1300A.
Strathclyde Police have withdrawn all of their bikes from operational use, 31 in total. A risk assessment will be carried out before they are re-introduced. Central Scotland Police have taken their three bikes out of service and Lothian and Borders Police have already modified their 10 bikes restricting them to a maximum of 100mph.
An inquest into Constable Shreeve's death in 2005 found he crashed after his bike began shaking violently as he reached about 110mph.
The inquest in April heard that the problem, known as high speed weave, only affects the police version of the motorcycles as they are fitted with extra kit which affects the bike's centre of gravity.
Following Constable Shreeve's death, an examiner fractured both wrists and broke a leg after experiencing similar problems during a test.
On Friday, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recommended that they should be withdrawn from use.
A Honda spokesman said: "Following the recent inquest into the death of David Shreeve, the coroner recommended that the Honda ST1300 should not be used in excess of 80mph. Ten days ago, Honda met with the ACPO working group to discuss this, and it was jointly agreed that the bike should be withdrawn from service immediately in the interests of safety, pending further investigation and tests."
