LAKE MARY, Fla. -- A typical police motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson, costs $16,500, but a new breed of police bike made by Honda costs only $14,000. The city of Lake Mary says the bikes can save police departments a bundle, especially in a time of budget cuts.

For Lake Mary, the Harley was costing $2,700 a year per motorcycle in maintenance, while the Honda will cost just $520 a year in maintenance. That's a big savings that is driving the department to get rid of the Harley all together.

Officer Chris Dye has been a motorcycle cop for five years and he's always had a Harley, until last November. The last four months he's been patrolling on a Honda ST-1300. It's a slick-looking bike, but that's not why Lake Mary police invested in the $14,000 motorcycle.

"Forty-two miles to the gallon compared to 30 miles to the gallon. [With] gas $3 a gallon, gosh, that's a pretty big savings to the taxpayer, I would say," Dye told Eyewitness News.

That's just the beginning. Going from Harley to Honda is expected to save the department $2,000 a year in maintenance alone per motorcycle.

Eyewitness News checked and Orlando Police Department has 35 Harley Davidson motorcycles on patrol with no plans to change. Florida Highway Patrol has 10 motor units in the Orlando area and 50 statewide. They maintain a Harley is safer.

"Crashing a motorcycle in any way is a dangerous thing. No bike is going to out perform in a crash," Dye said.

Dye said, after working with both bikes, he would call the Honda a faster, safer, better-performing motorcycle that's cheaper.

Officer Dye said he does get a backlash from people who think he should be riding American-made. He said the Honda motorcycle was built in Ohio and many parts of the Harley's came from other countries.