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DES PLAINES, IL – After a nine-year decline, motorcycle thefts rose in the United States in 2015 with a total of 45,555 bikes reported stolen. That’s a six percent increase from the 42,856 stolen in 2014. Thieves preferred Japanese models and Honda was the brand most stolen, according to a recently-published study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Overall, though, motorcycle thefts have declined 32 percent over the past 10 years. There were 66,774 motorcycles stolen in 2006.
The state with the most thefts was California, while the city with the most thefts was New York, which saw thefts increase 30 percent over 2014.
South Dakota had the largest percent increase (96%) in motorcycle thefts from 2014 to 2015. The top five states with the most reported thefts in 2015 were California (7,221), Florida (4,758), Texas (3,403), South Carolina (2,160) and New York (1,902).
The top five cities for motorcycle thefts in 2015 were New York (1,340), Las Vegas (1,042), San Francisco (729), San Diego (717) and Miami (713).
The top five most stolen motorcycles in 2015 by manufacturer were Honda (8,674 thefts), Yamaha (7,214), Suzuki (6,065), Kawasaki (4,920) and Harley Davidson, Inc. (4,416).
The most motorcycle thefts occurred in August (5,269) and the fewest in February (2,093), which continues to reflect a weather-influenced pattern that is consistent with previous years.
Of the 45,555 motorcycle thefts in 2015, 17,678 or 39% of the motorcycles were recovered from Jan. 1, 2015 through Feb. 2, 2016. Analysis found Honda to be the manufacturer with the most (3,352) recoveries in 2015. Manufacturer Triumph had the highest rate (60%) of recovery in 2015.
