Where do all the stolen motorcycles go? Research in Police National Computer (PNC) archives, Home Office documents, rider group statistics and information from insurance companies, ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and general police records revealed that between 1971-81, nearly 45,000 motorcycles were annually reported stolen to the police and, to date, only half of them have been recovered. The fact is, however, that since 1971, 760,000 two-wheelers have never been found. To put this into perspective, there are estimated to be about 1.4 million bikes on UK roads and one could argue that half of them could well be stolen. Even worse, our annual motorcycle theft rate is almost half of the total in the US. The stealing of motorcycles has increased across the European Union (EU) by 10-15 per cent. This might be because of the recession but the fact remains that two-wheel theft is easy and the bread and butter of crime gangs across the globe. With an average recovery rate of just 45 per cent, the EU has 2.5 million stolen machines missing. Of course, in 40 years it's likely that many stolen bikes will no longer exist, having been stripped for their parts, either to be sold or used on other bikes. They also could have simply worn out or perhaps never really been taken in the first place and just reported stolen for the insurance money. What is reassuring for the owners of these stolen motorcycles is that (apart from any insurance interest) they still own them and most countries will honour that fact. If you reported a bike stolen and it's subsequently found, providing you can prove your legal ownership you have every chance of it being repatriated. But there, unfortunately, is the rub. How do you prove that a machine is yours when it's fairly certain that frame and engine numbers will have been erased or altered? It's sobering to think that as motorcycle crime is on the increase and the recovery of stolen bikes is on the wane, the UK police service is closing its specialist squads and dispersing their experts. It's hard fighting crime and after 40 years the police, having just gained the advantage over the bike thief, appear to have had the rug pulled out from under them. Dr German is a former head of the motorcycle unit at the Metropolitan Police's stolen vehicle squad and now advises bike makers and insurers.