BIKE MEMORIALIZES OFFICER CHOPPER INSPIRED BY CHP'S STEINER.

Byline: Kevin Felt Staff Writer

For California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Roby, a small plaque with a few words of inscription wasn't enough to honor the memory of patrolman Thomas Steiner, gunned down by a gang member outside a Pomona courthouse last year.

Steiner, 35, was Roby's first training officer, who showed the young rookie how a patrolman should carry himself despite the pressures of the job.

Thanks in part to Roby's efforts, the CHP's museum in Sacramento will display a more fitting memorial to Steiner and other patrolmen who lost their lives while on duty: a custom-built, zero-emission motorbike believed to be among the first high-speed, lithium-powered cycles developed.

``I wanted there to be a memorial to honor Tom ... He was the guy who set the mold,'' Roby said. ``The way he was murdered was pretty devastating for the Santa Fe Springs station.''

The bike's strength will capture the spirit of the department and its smog-free power source addresses a huge concern among all patrolmen: air pollution.

The bike, known as the CHP Memorial Chopper, could not have been built without the help of Nevada-based Hybrid Technologies Inc., which has a development shop in Van Nuys, and Big Bear Choppers Inc. in Big Bear.

Hybrid has donated a first-of-its-kind lithium-ion engine, along with $50,000 cash to develop the bike, which is being built with donated labor at Big Bear Choppers.

Before the two companies stepped in, Roby said he was faced with raising $100,000 to have it built at a different shop.

``I want to show respect for those guys who have died,'' said Big Bear Choppers President Kevin Alsop.

Some 202 CHP officers have been killed on duty since 1929.

The bike features a V-Twin engine and also has a custom paint job. But otherwise, ``it's all the same stuff - nuts and bolts and gears,'' Alsop said.

``Looking at it, you wouldn't know it was electric at all, but it won't make any sound or vibrate or pollute the air,'' said Roby. ``It's just an amazing piece of machinery.''

The bike's battery will charge by plugging into a wall outlet like a cell phone. It can go as fast as 80 mph to 100 mph, he said.

The bike will be decorated in artwork, including classic CHP emblems with mourning ribbons, an airbrushed painting of the memorial motorcade from Steiner's funeral, and a section from the CHP officers' creed.

It will be unveiled April 30 at a memorial at the Santa Fe Springs CHP station.

Kevin Felt, [phone], Ext. 302

kevin.felt(at)sgvn.com