Many motorcycles cost $20,000 or more, making them a valuable target for thieves who either sell stolen cycles whole or strip them down in chop shop-like fashion for parts resale. Motorcycle parts, including frames, can be more easily altered, reused and camouflaged than car or truck parts.

In the United States, one motorcycle is stolen every 8.3 minutes. Approximately 25-30 percent of all motorcycles stolen are recovered. In comparison, 65-70 percent of motor vehicles stolen are recovered. The difference is that motorcycle thieves can change the appearance of and/or hide motorcycles more easily as compared to cars and trucks.

Stolen motorcycles are usually sold intact or stripped down for parts resale or reconstruction into another cycle. In addition, higher end motorcycles are sought after luxury items worldwide, stimulating a large export market for stolen cycles.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), 60,763 motorcycles were stolen in the U.S. in 2008. As indicated in the figures below, motorcycle theft in the U.S. has been declining in recent years.

In addition to theft, criminals also target motorcycles with fraud scams. One of the most common scams occurs when criminals assemble a motorcycle using replica aftermarket parts, and then sell it as an original brand-name product to consumers interested in purchasing a used brand-name cycle. This is known as a "cloned" cycle and is an age-old method of ripping off unsuspecting motorcyclists.

For more information, view the entire white paper in the ACPI Document Library.