It’s a tough world out there for motorcyclists—higher insurance costs, rising MSRPs, pain at the pumps. But to make things even worse, we now see a rise in criminal activity targeting riders, including bike theft. Things are getting so bad that in the city of Winnipeg, the police are issuing a warning to riders: Beware of moto thieves, and double up on your protection.
In the first seven months of 2024, Winnipeg police say there were 122 motorcycle or moped thefts. The lawmen say that’s a 72 percent increase over 2023’s numbers, and a 52 percent increase over the average number of the past five years. In their publicity full-court-press on the local media, they did not announce a series of high-profile arrests to address the problem; instead, they gave suggestions for securing your bike.
First off, they say riders should double up on their bike’s protection. Don’t just rely on the steering lock; add a disc lock, a chain anchoring system or something else that physically stops a crim from literally walking away with your machine. They also recommend that riders use a satellite tracking beacon to keep tabs on their bike and help police track it down if it’s stolen—of course, they caution riders to not look for the bike themselves in that event.
(Of course, as news headlines told us earlier this year, the police themselves might not do a whole lot to re-acquire your stolen vehicle either).
With a rise in thefts already, the police say they expect things to pick up towards the end of riding season—they say they typically observe more thefts later in the summer. Maybe, if you have a garage or shed, it’s time to start wheeling the bike away and hiding it in there?
