Norwalk police showed off their new Harley-Davidson motorcycles to the Board of Police Commissioners on Monday, and Police Chief Harry Rilling was quick to note that city taxpayers didn't even have to pay for them.

The city now has two Harleys, decked out with the department's insignia and with front, rear, stationary and mobile radar. The two were paid for from a federal Justice Department grant, and the city is getting one more, financed through drug-asset forfietures, Rilling said.

Traffic enforcement will be the main job of the motorcycle patrol.

"It'll be another tool to slow people down in this town," Mayor Richard A. Moccia said of the motorcycles.

Moccia, a member of the Police Commission, said he'll be pleased that the motorcycles will also be used at ceremonial events and events such as funerals to represent the city. Moccia said he'd always felt a bit embarassed that the city didn't have motorcycles at those events, as other nearby departments do.

The department received the first two Harley-Davidson police edition Road Kings on Thursday. A third motorcycle is still in the process of having a radar installed. 

Sgt. Joe Moquin will be the senior officer in the three-member patrol, which will also include Police Officers John Haggerty and Dan Fitzmaurice. The officers underwent three weeks of training on police motorcycle patrolling, Moquin said. Part of the training, including one test, took place in the rain, he said.

The motorcycles might be used at large events in Norwalk like the Oyster Festival, the SoNo Arts Festival and fireworks displays, Moquin said. A motorcycle "is much more versatile" than a patrol car, because the two-wheeler can go where cars can't — in confined pathways at crowded festivals, for instance, he said. They can also drive on sidewalks and paved paths at schools and housing complexes, where it can be difficult to get a patrol car in, he said.

Other area cities and towns with motorcycles are Stamford, Darien, Fairfield, Bridgeport and Trumbull, Moquin said.

The motorcycles cost about $15,000 for the basic model from Harley-Davidson, Moquin said, but with all the added equipment, the cost rose to between $23,000 and $24,000, he said.

The machines can turn around in a circle about 16 feet in diameter, Moquin said. At the state police training site, the motorcycles have been driven at least as fast as 110 mph, he said.

Their 102-cubic-inch engines have six speed gears and get about 40 to 45 miles per gallon, he added, and the Harleys are rugged enough to have been dropped hundreds of times by officers at the training academy without major damage, although, at more than 800 pounds, officers quickly learn that they don't want to be dropping them too much.

Moquin said that with the additional police equipment added to the motorcycle, it weighs more than 870 pounds. Standard information on the police edition of the Road King can be found on this Web page at the Harley-Davidson website.

The motorcycles will be part of the police patrol unit, he said.

Correction: The article originally said the weight of the motorcycles is 400 pounds each. In fact, as the article now states, they are more than 870 pounds, including the weight of police equipment. The article also originally stated "mph" (miles per hour) when "miles per gallon" was meant.

Editor's note: See Patch's other articles on Norwalk police vehicles:

• "Norwalk Police Buying Eight of the Final Batch of Crown Victoria Patrol Cars"
• "Marine 1: Norwalk Police's Big, Rugged Lifesaver"