Passes & Canyons Blog

If your neighbor came home about a week ago with a new motorcycle, specifically a blue 2007 Yamaha YZF R1, you might be in a position to earn yourself a nice reward. It seems a prospective “buyer” asked to look at one of those at Steele’s Cycles South, 2025 W. Union, and as the sale guy was pulling his hoodie off the “buyer” hopped on and rode away. Good-bye bike.

That’s a picture of the actual bike there. Steele’s has posted a notice on Craigslist and elsewhere that they are offering a “substantial” reward information. The theft occurred on March 15.

According to the notice, the bike (last six of vin # 007178) was taken by “a young Hispanic male about five foot nine, 135 pounds believed to own a late model Yamaha R6 and residing in the Englewood/Littleton area.”

Greg Zick, the salesman who was dealing with the guy, said he had been in previously looking at the bike, so he was pretty pleased to see him show up again. The fellow asked to have the bike turned on so he could hear it run, Zick went to pull off his hoodie, and bingo!

Now, my bet is that that bike will never be seen on the road again. If this guy already has a comparable bike, I’ll bet he figured this would be a good way to get an inexpensive parts bike. Some people are just jerks.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
AMA declares April is ‘Get Out and Ride! Month’

Biker Quote for Today

Squid: The definition of stupid.

I reported on LoJack‘s best stolen bike recoveries for 2008 the other day. Now I want to share some of the statistics and information LoJack makes available on their website. It’s ugly.

First off, they say that in 2006 there were more than 71,000 motorcycles stolen in the U.S., with a value of more than $440 million. Ouch. I know one of those guys. My buddy Bill had his Fat Boy taken from the parking lot of a restaurant where he was eating.

Additionally, motorcycle theft is up nearly 137 percent since 2000. That comes out to one motorcycle stolen every 7.4 minutes. Only about one-quarter of them are recovered.

I assume the numbers LoJack is providing are the latest available, so excuse me and them if they’re a little dated. That said, they say that in 2005 the states that had the highest rate of motorcycle theft were, in order:

1. California
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. North Carolina
5. Ohio
6. Arizona
7. New York
8. Indiana
9. Georgia
10. Pennsylvania

LoJack also make available on their website a seven-page brochure entitled “Bike Smarts: A Guide to Protecting Your Motorcycle From Theft.” It’s pretty basic information but you might find some ideas that hadn’t occurred to you, so check it out.

One other thing. At the bottom left of many of the pages on their website, LoJack has a link to what they call “Real Stories of LoJack Recoveries.” These are heart-warming stories of how folks like you and me got their bikes back and the bad guys got what was coming to them. Fun to read.

Biker Quote for Today

If you love your bike and it leaves you and then comes back – you’ve probably high-sided.