WARNING: Is YOUR area seeing an increase in motorcycle theft?

Seeing how criminal gangs move their operations around the UK can help motorcyclists realise the importance of locking their bikes, and be more prepared when thefts rise in their area.

This map shows the increases and decreases of motorcycle and scooter thefts by comparing the last full month’s data with the month before that. Remember – this is a MONTHLY overview.

Open the tab below the map to show the data in full, as the colours represent the CHANGE to theft rates reported by each Police force, not the quantity.

This month's theft stats explained

Motorcycle thefts have increased most significantly in the centre of England, with the number of Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) stolen rising from 20 to 39 in Cambridgeshire during May compared to April. Nottinghamshire went from 38 to 46, and West Yorkshire climbed from 55 to 73. South Yorkshire is close behind – with a more significant increase of 100% – rising to 70 from 35.

In Wales, Gwent climbed 114% from 14 to 30, and neighbouring Dyfed and Powys jumped to 200%, though the total number of thefts is a relatively low six. South Wales Police have tightened their grip on crime, dropping the number of thefts from 23 to 22, while North Wales dropped 67% from nine to three thefts.

Central Scotland recorded a 300% increase, though this is arguably an infinite increase as it went from zero thefts to three.

These stats help us all to understand where crime in on the increase, giving a valuable insight into where gangs are potentially focussing.

Fife saw the greatest improvement in Scotland, dropping 71% from seven to two, and Strathclyde saw 10 thefts after suffering 11 the month before.

It’s still the Lothian and Borders area (34 up from 21) that sees the highest theft rate, with Dumfries and Galloway’s 100% increase only representing a single theft, and Tayside suffering two. Grampian’s red represents just three thefts, so things aren’t as bad as they might appear, though any increase is always a concern.

Northern Ireland reports as one area, and PTW thefts dropped from a total of four in April to one in May.

Across the UK there have been notable improvements, with North Yorkshire Police reporting a drop of 16 PTW thefts to eight. Hertfordshire stands out too, dropping from 44 to 29 and Kent’s gone from 55 to 40.

The West Midlands remains a serious issue, though it did see a 1.46% drop in PTW thefts in May, down to 135. This is still the second highest by region in the UK, with the Metropolitan Police force reporting 586 PTW thefts, up from 497. Keep in mind of course that this region has the highest density of PTWs by far, with many of them being delivery scooters.

The importance of locking your scooter or motorcycle cannot be understated – a huge proportion of these numbers are scooters, and with most having lots of space under the seat there’s really little excuse not to carry a lock and use it.

Total PTW thefts May 2025: 2,079  (up 264 from April)

Top story: 24 stolen motorcycles recovered in one hit

Working with the Metropolitan Police’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit, motorcycle tracking company BikeTrac has recorded its biggest ever recovery haul after tracking down one customer’s stolen motorcycle and finding a further 24 in the process.

The team was first alerted to the theft of a customer’s stolen R1200GS from Richmond on Thames, tracking its location to a site in Essex. “Initially this recovery looked like a fairly conventional scenario,” said BikeTrac’s Bill Taylor. “But quickly the bike was moving around, which meant we had to keep tabs on its location before it eventually stopped in a large container yard and was then moved to Tilbury Docks.

“Thanks to our Radio Frequency technology we were able to prove to the authorities that not only was the bike there, but exactly which container it was in. We had no idea what we were about to find though…”

Working alongside the Police, the BikeTrac team was granted full access and when the shipping container doors were opened they were met with hundreds of bicycles and several cars. “As soon as these started to be unloaded,” says Taylor, “the first motorbike came into view. And then another. And another and another, with motorcycles even hung from the container ceiling. A total of 20 stolen motorbikes were eventually discovered, but amazingly it didn’t end there.”

The Met’s Organised Vehicle Crime squad found further evidence of this haul being linked to BikeTrac’s successful recovery last month with West Midlands Police. A visit to a previously identified location from tracking data led to the discovery of a further five stolen bikes, bringing the total recovery to 25 stolen machines, all taken in the last three months across a wide range of locations including London, Essex, Sussex, Dorset and Cambridgeshire.

“We have been attending the scene of recoveries for more than 15 years now,” said Taylor, “but this was without question the biggest we’ve ever witnessed. The number of bikes, the value of those machines and how these had been hidden and loaded, ready to leave the country was immense.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the authorities for having the faith in our product to allow access. This is very much down to the Radio Frequency technology that we have stood by as a must-have on our product since the very beginning of BikeTrac. It’s incredibly gratifying that just one bike fitted with a BikeTrac unit has led to this. A big thanks from us to all involved in this truly monumental recovery.”

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Our data shows that using even a basic disc lock can reduce the chances of your motorcycle being stolen by a factor of three, and using heavy-duty security at home can make it less likely to be stolen than the average car.

High-value car crime has the attention of thieves, but while the odds are that you WON'T have your bike stolen, crime has and always will be a sad part of life. By taking some simple extra steps to secure your motorbike, you can make yourself far less likely to fall victim. Check out our regularly updated and totally unbiased guide to the best motorcycle locks here.

You’ll find the previous months’ maps at the bottom of this page, which will help to see how the gangs move around. The figures are obtained from the Police National Computer, and while there will be small discrepancies due to recorded times and other factors, the data gives a clear indication of where crime is at its worst during different times of the year. Please do need to keep in mind that an improving region could still have relatively high rates of theft. Equally, a region that's suffering might be coming from a low base.

Accessing this data costs, so it’s thanks to the support of the two leading motorcycle tracking companies – BikeTrac and Datatool – that we’re able to bring you it.

In order to maintain our editorial independence, we asked these both of these two competitors if they’d like to support it together, and they jumped at it. Professionally monitored trackers can give the fastest possible alert of a theft, which can result in the safe recovery of your motorcycle extremely quickly.

The excellent relationships with Police forces around the UK that BikeTrac and Datatool have can result in action being taken quickly as officers aim not just to secure the stolen bike, but also potentially perform an arrest.

If speed of response and location accuracy are important to you, a monitored tracker can offer the best chance of getting your bike back quickly and with the minimum of damage.

Previous theft data

Over the coming months we’ll add the previous maps here, so you can quickly and easily see how the patterns of crime move around the country at different times of the year.

Why is Scotland's data not broken down to all regions?

Since 1 April 2013, Police Scotland has been responsible for policing across the whole of Scotland, covering 28,168 square miles. It's a third of the UK's landmass, though is home to around 5.5 million people, compared with 8.9 million in London .

The most granular detail readily available (without wasting the Police's time with freedom of information requests that would be out of date by the time responses were received) is the quarterly management reports downloadable from Police Scotland, however, these still don't provide us with the information that would allow us to separate PTWs thefts by council area.

Northern Ireland's data is reported as a group too, being covered by PSNI (Police Service Northern Ireland), and with a total population of 1.9 million.

We've now got some extra data in our Scotland reporting, which is helping to see some of the hot-spots.

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