Don’t be surprised when you see your local AA man riding a Honda Silverwing 600 scooter or an NT700VA Deauville motorbike. The AA has chosen Honda motorcycles as part of its rapid response two-wheel patrol fleet to cover Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

Motorcycles are making a return to the AA fleet for the first time since the mid-Nineties, and the Silverwings and Deauvilles are welcome additions for the AA to help tackle urban congestion and reduce breakdown response time in city areas.

Of the 50 motorcycles being introduced to the AA’s fleet across six major cities, 21 will be Hondas. The Silverwings and Deauvilles are standard machines with the addition of a model specific top-box from Honda’s genuine accessories range, although they have been adapted by the AA to carry the patrols’ toolkit and a beacon light at the back when attending breakdown duties, as well as sporting the AA’s distinctive yellow paint scheme and graphics.

The AA decided to re-introduce motorcycle patrols in to cities across the UK to tackle congestion as a new rush hour ‘snapshot’ finds up to one in seven commuters wasting time, fuel and money getting nowhere. At any time during the morning peak up to 15% of drivers on key inner city routes are stuck in queues according to a five-city ‘go-slow league table’, revealed by the AA.

The AA’s research revealed that over a third of all breakdowns are caused by either flat batteries (23%) or tyre problems (13%), often resulting in lengthy traffic jams which in turn hinder access for breakdown services. The motorcycle patrols will initially focus mostly on these and other ‘quick fix’ breakdowns such as simple electrical faults, but their capabilities extend to a wide range of other repairs. They will primarily cover the central city areas between 8am and 8pm.