A new police motorcycle will take to the Columbus streets this month, and its heated seat and heated grips will help make it a comfortable ride even when a chill hits the air here.

“The new bike is a 2013 BMW 1200RT-P,” Police Chief Chris Beddingfield said. “Its primary function is bike-safe N.C. safety training and community outreach.”

The Columbus Police Department displayed the motorcycle as one of only two from the western region of North Carolina chosen to show at the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Symposium. More than 600 law enforcement officers attended the event.

“It was an honor to be considered and allowed to display our bike,” Beddingfield said.

The department has a Kawasaki motorcycle, but when two officers needed to participate in activities involving motorcycles in the past, one of them would have to bring along his own.

“We are very happy to have two,” Beddingfield told the Columbus Town Council at their January meeting. “The BMW is much more comfortable, with its heated seat and heated grips, but for performance, the BMW cannot hold a candle to the Kawasaki. They each have their own functions.”

Beddingfield and officer Chris Ruff have been certified to ride motorcycles, and officer Mike Feagan is preparing to attend motorcycle training school, an extremely rigorous environment which has a 50 percent failure rate.

Beddingfield said NCGHSP financed the motorcycle 100 percent.

“No Columbus tax dollars were spent,” he said.