SAN DIEGO -- The City Council's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Wednesday advanced a plan to purchase up to 65 new BMW motorcycles to replace the San Diego Police Department's obsolete fleet.

Assistant Police Chief Bill Maheu told the committee the motorcycles could be on the street by July 1 if the full City Council approves the purchase.

The department will initially buy 55 motorcycles at a cost of about $1.1 million -- paid for by an unlicensed driver vehicle impound fee, Maheu said. Each BMW motorcycle will cost $19,531.

The average life of a police motorcycle is six years or 60,000 miles, according to a city manager's report. The department's fleet of 72 Kawasaki motorcycles now averages 56,346 miles, with 38 motorcycles over 60,000 miles.

Kawasaki has stopped manufacturing police motorcycles, complicating the department's ability to maintain its fleet because of a lack of available parts, according to the report.

The BMW police motorcycle was selected over models by Honda and Harley Davidson, according to the report.

The committee voted unanimously to forward the proposal to purchase the new police motorcycles to the full City Council.