Kawasaki Motors of Irvine Signs Motorcycle Pact With CHP

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A., continuing its long tradition with the California Highway Patrol, said Tuesday that the CHP has awarded the company a $2.1-million contract for 298 specially equipped motorcycles.

The contract is the largest motorcycle deal awarded by the CHP, the company said.

Most of the new vehicles will replace older motorcycles that will be retired from the CHP’s fleet of 422 motorcycles. The Irvine company will begin delivery this week and continue shipping through the end of 1995.

Kawasaki has won 15 of the last 19 CHP motorcycle contracts, bolstering its image both with bikers and law enforcement agencies across the country, said Bob Moffat, the company’s vice president of sales.

In the 1970s, Kawasaki motorcycles were used on the television series “CHiPs,” and that exposure helped to make the vehicles popular with consumers, Moffat said. Law enforcement agencies also turned to the company, which now has contracts with 900 agencies in the United States and other countries.