BUTTE -- Butte police officers John O'Brien and Tim McMahon are asking motorists to be extra cautious and look out for motorcycles this summer.

That's because the officers will be on two of the motorcycles this time.

The Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff's Department fired up its new motorcycle patrol Friday. This is the first summer in nearly two decades that the department has had a motorcycle patrol part of its fleet.

The department was awarded a $42,700 grant last summer from the Montana Highway Traffic Administration to purchase two Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The new patrol will focus on enforcing seatbelt and driving under the influence violations, which were conditions for receiving the grant, according to McMahon. However, the patrol also makes for good public relations too.

"This is a motorcycle-oriented community," McMahon said. "We haven't even started the patrol and people are already coming up to us and talking about the bikes."

The bikes are 1,690cc 2008 Electra Glides that were purchased from Thunderbolt Harley-Davidson in Butte. Mike Tillo of Tillo Graphics of Butte did the detailing on the bikes. The new motorcycles are more fuel efficient than the patrol cars and get about 30 miles to the gallon. They estimate that the bikes will save about $6,000 in fuel costs per year.

The department expects to use the motorcycles from April to October, depending on weather conditions. They will patrol during daylight hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

O'Brien said he hopes motorists will pay more attention to motorcycles now that he and his partner are on patrol. Motorists who get into accidents with motorcycles sometimes claim they didn't see the motorcycle before the accident.

"Hopefully, after a couple of summers of riding, people will start seeing motorcycles," O'Brien said.

The officers underwent intense training in order to be safe and prepared on the new motorcycles. Last June, O'Brien and McMahon spent two weeks in Lansing, Mich., for motorcycle patrol training at the Michigan State Police Driving School. They recently returned from Helena for additional training. Most of the instruction involved handling the bike in tight traffic situations.

"It's amazing how well you can maneuver a 1,000-pound motorcycle," O'Brien said.

Both officers said they've had some experience riding dirt bikes, but driving a powerful street bike is a different experience.

"Dirt bikes are high and light and these are low and heavy," McMahon said.