Motorcycle thefts fall along with sales Clutch and Chrome
When Japanese manufacturers took over the American motorcycle market in the 1960’s a popular slogan was ‘you meet the nicest person on a Honda’.
According to the latest report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), that Honda rider may just be a motorcycle thief. The Japanese brand topped the list of the top five motorcycles stolen in 2009 which actually came with some caveats of good news for bikers of every type of ride.
The top five most stolen motorcycles were all the Japanese brands; 1) Honda, with a total of 13,688 bikes; 2) Yamaha, 11,148; 3) Suzuki, 9,154; 4) Kawasaki, 5,911. While companies usually prefer not to come in last, Harley-Davidson was probably proud to linger in at number five with only 3,529 bikes taken. When the top five are all combined, they accounted for 43,430 thefts, or 77.4 percent of the total.
Not surprisingly, the states with the most population and better weather (which leads to more motorcycles to steal from) topped the list with the most motorcycle theft activity. The Golden state of California was number one with 6,273 thefts; 2) Texas, 5,526; 3) Florida, 5,009; 4) North Carolina, 3,045; and 5) Georgia, 2,067. These five states accounted for 21,920 thefts, or 39 percent of the total.
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