Motorcycle Theft Predicted to Rise in New Year

Motorcycle Theft Predicted to Rise in New Year.

The cost-of-living crisis has had many, varied and profound impacts on almost every household in the UK since it first cropped up at the end of 2021. Rising energy bills and food shop costs have eaten significantly into the average family budget, while fuel cost rises have made travel prohibitively expensive for many – and led to a great many bike enthusiasts reluctantly hanging up their leathers for the season prematurely.

But bikers have more to worry about than the increased cost of their weekly jaunts to the local racer café. As costs rise across the board, so too have instances of theft, but not just with regard to staple foods and other essentials. Numerous local news outlets have been reporting growing rates of motorcycle theft in their region, as criminals target dirt bikes and motorbikes in increasingly-invasive attempted robberies.

Luckily, the cold winter is already upon us and many bikers have taken it upon themselves to retire their bikes for the season. But even behind a garage door, your bike could be at an increased risk of theft. What can you do to reduce the likelihood of losing your bike?

Garage Modifications
Your garage should be the most secure place for you to store your bike, but with criminals getting bolder in their theft attempts, there is no telling how quickly a team could get through your garage door. With this in mind, there might be some simple modifications you can make to your garage to make it safer in the long run.

Your garage might be attached to your property, but not connected by doorway. Knocking through from a utility space to give interior access can allow you swift entry if you think you hear interference; a plasterboard-ed stud wall could buttress up against the breezeblocks to keep your home insulated, and to minimise weakness for entry to the home.

Careful Locking
Any bike owner will tell you the sheer importance of buying good-quality locks when thinking about bike storage. Common and commercially available chain locks are often too weak to be truly safe, and can be defeated with little more than a crowbar.

Heavy duty chains and industrial padlocks are a must for parking your bike in public, and tougher, less portable chains a necessity at home. You should also invest in proper disc locks for your bike’s wheels as a last resort, to prevent criminals wheeling the bike into a van after potentially defeating your first line of defence.

Floor Bolts
You could also fit industrial-sized eye-bolts into the ground of your garage, to which the bike or its stand could be affixed when stored. This way, the bike and stand cannot simply be lifted out of the garage, and the criminals would have to engage with the chains locking it in place – buying you time to call the authorities.