Glenn said: “There is a need for a publicly accessible listing of stolen motorcycles, both registered and unregistered and I started www.stolen dirtbikes.com.au in 2006 as a way for the owners of the stolen bikes to tell the general public about their loss.
“While that site was intended for just Australian thefts it has proven increasingly popular internationally so it is only logical to take it to the next step and include all forms of motorcycles and introduce the international component.”
The Stolen Motorcycle Directory is already populated with listings from the UK, the US, Canada and the Netherlands and now provides a collective source of theft data that is otherwise not available.
“We don’t have every theft listed and we cannot tap into the databases of the police or insurance companies and in fact, privacy laws actually work against recovering stolen bikes by being a barrier to getting information,” said Glenn. “So the only way is to have the owners themselves provide the data for the public and that is why the Stolen Motorcycle Directory exists.”
The website includes all the relevant details of each stolen bike and the theft locale. It also lets you attach a picture of your bike.
“There is a small fee to list your bike and you have to register with the site,” said Glenn. “Then adding your bike is as simple as clicking on the brand and filling in the fields. I’d love for it to be a free service but for about the cost of a couple of cups of coffee it allows us to keep the site going.”
The site also has information about protecting your bike and you can search the database for VIN and engine numbers if you are thinking about buying a bike. Visit www.stolenmotorcycledirectory.com
