My mates 2002 R1 was stolen from his garage back in 2011.
Uninsured at the time, he reported the theft to police and we spent the next year or so keeping an eye on trademe, wreckers etc, but nothing turned up.
Almost forgotten, last week he got a call from the local cop to say his bike had been recovered, picked up when a rider was stopped for speeding.
The bike is now red with a horrible home made paint job (originally blue) and has a few bits missing, but mechanically seems okay. Odometer has increased only ~3000km (in 4 years) so possible it was stored for sometime after theft. No attempt had been made to disguise or remove/replace VIN.
Rider is claiming he only recently purchased and had no idea the bike was stolen, however his story is full of inconsistencies - the bike had a number plate from a car that had been modified to remove the last number. He said he bought it in ChCh, however he was caught speeding in BOP, only 30km from where it was stolen. However police said unlikely he will be processed for receiving stolen goods as "probably too long ago"... At least traffic fines from incident will be significant, and bike was confiscated on the spot. Even if innocent, he is an idiot, speeding on a bike with no mirrors and an obviously bodged number plate.
On brightside, mate stoked to have bike returned (that R1 still his favourite bike he's owned to date) looking forward to returning it to former glory, and plans to keep (supplementing his ZX14).
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