Which Motorcycles Get Stolen Most?

United Kingdom - named models

Freedom of Information data compiled by Anglo Scottish from UK police forces and the DVLA, 1 June 2025 - 31 May 2026. 16,585 motorcycles were reported stolen in that period, a 3.5% decrease on the year before.

"Licensed on UK roads" is DVLA's own currently-taxed stock count for that exact model, 2026 Q1 (df_VEH0120_GB), not just a rough estimate - excludes SORN/off-road-declared bikes. "Theft rate" is thefts divided by that stock: roughly what share of every one of that model in the country was stolen over the year.

This answers the obvious objection to a raw-count list: yes, there are far more 125cc commuter scooters on the road than 1000cc bikes, so of course the raw numbers favour them. But the rate closes that gap and then some - several of these models had somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 5 of every registered example stolen in a single year. For comparison, the BMW R 1250 GS Adventure TE - a genuinely popular, expensive, "desirable" bike with 5,427 licensed in the UK - didn't place in the FOI top 10 at all, meaning its theft count was under 155, capping its own rate below 2.9%, likely far lower in reality. Every model on this list is a Honda or Yamaha commuter scooter of 125cc or less. Nothing resembling a sportbike, naked, or adventure bike appears anywhere in the UK's actual top 10, by count or by rate.

United States - national trend

National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), 2022 data, published August 2023 - the most recent annual NICB motorcycle theft report. NICB does not break 2022 down by manufacturer or model.

Florida and Texas round out the top three states. The recovery rate is the notable figure here: fewer than 4 in 10 stolen motorcycles are ever found, well below typical car-theft recovery rates, because a bike can be broken down into untraceable parts far faster than a car can.

Australia - by brand

National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, financial year 2020/21 - the last data this body published before it closed in September 2021. No newer official national breakdown exists; treat this as historical rather than current.

Honda and Yamaha lead by a wide margin - consistent with the UK pattern of high-volume, everyday brands being targeted more than any specific "desirable" model.

The actual pattern

This is not just a numbers-game artefact of there being more commuter scooters on the road. That's the first objection anyone reasonably raises, and the UK table above exists specifically to rule it out: dividing each model's theft count by its actual DVLA-licensed population turns a raw count into a real rate, and the rate tells the same story as the count, only more starkly. Several of the UK's most-stolen models had roughly one in six to one in five of every single registered example stolen in a single year. A comparably popular, far more expensive bike like the BMW R 1250 GS Adventure TE - with over 5,400 licensed in the UK - didn't rack up enough thefts to even place in the top 10, capping its rate below 3%. Scaled for population, these scooters aren't just stolen more often because there are more of them - they are stolen at several times the rate, model for model, registered example for registered example.

Across all three countries, theft risk tracks how common and how easy to move a bike is - not how desirable it is to an enthusiast. Small-capacity commuter scooters get stolen constantly because there are huge numbers of them, they're light enough to lift into a van, and their parts fit thousands of other bikes on the road. A rare or high-performance machine is actually harder to fence: it's more conspicuous, its parts are less interchangeable, and a buyer for stolen high-end parts is a much smaller pool. None of this means expensive bikes are never stolen - it means the everyday commuter bike, not the poster-worthy one, is where the real theft numbers concentrate, in both raw count and adjusted rate.

Reducing your own risk

None of the security measures below care what model you ride. A £15,000 adventure bike and a £2,000 commuter scooter are defeated by the same lazy parking habits, and protected by the same basic layers.

• Two physical locks, not one. A disc lock stops a quick roll-away theft; a hardened chain or cable through the wheel and a ground anchor (or an immovable street fixture) stops the "lift it into a van" theft that dominates the scooter numbers above. Thieves move on when a bike costs them time.
• A tracker, not just an alarm. An alarm scares off an opportunist; a hidden GPS tracker (Datatag and similar UK-registered marking schemes tag a bike's individual components too, so even parted-out pieces stay traceable) is what actually gets a stolen bike found - relevant given fewer than half of stolen bikes are ever recovered in every country covered on this page.
• Park somewhere a thief has to be seen. CCTV coverage, a well-lit spot, or simply within sight of a window measurably cuts theft - most bike theft is quick and opportunistic, not planned around a specific target.
• Don't leave the keys anywhere near the bike. A large share of home thefts happen because a spare fob or key was reachable from a porch, hallway, or unlocked car - relay and reach-in thefts both rely on the key being closer to the bike than the owner thinks.
• Photograph and record your V5C, frame number, and any distinguishing marks now, before you ever need them - it materially speeds up a police report and an insurance claim, and makes a recovered bike easier to match back to you.