Motorcycle Thefts Continue to Decline: NICB

June 9, 2014

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released a report on motorcycle thefts in the United States for 2013. A total of 45,367 motorcycles were reported stolen in 2013 compared with 46,601 reported stolen in 2012—a decrease of 1.5 percent.motorcycle thefts

Since 2008, annual motorcycle thefts have seen significant decreases, but that trend appears to be leveling off. The following graph shows the trend using 2007 thefts as the baseline number:

Year Thefts Difference from previous year Percent change
2007 65,678
2008 64,492 1,186 -1.8
2009 56,093 8,399 -13.0
2010 49,791 6,302 -11.2
2011 46,667 3,124 – 6.3
2012 46,061 606 -1.3
2013 45,367 694 -1.5

The following graph shows the top five manufacturers in 2012 and 2013 whose motorcycles were reported stolen. Their ranking remained the same:

Rank Manufacturer 2013 2012 Percent change
1 American Honda Motor Co., Inc 8,557 9,082 -5.8
2 Yamaha Motor Corporation 7,038 7,517 -6.4
3 American Suzuki Motor Corporation 6,378 7,017 -9.1
4 Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. 4,736 4,839 -2.1
5 Harley-Davidson, Inc. 3,907 3,755 +4.0

The top five states were in the same order as in last year’s report with California and Texas posting increases:

Rank State 2013 2012 Percent change
1 California 6,637 6,082 +9.1
2 Florida 3,735 4,110 -9.1
3 Texas 3,407 3,400 +0.2
4 North Carolina 2,490 2,574 -3.3
5 Indiana 2,199 2,334 -5.8

When ranking the top five cities, the top four are identical to last year’s report. In fifth place this year, however, is Los Angeles replacing Miami:

Rank City 2013 2012 Percent change
1 New York 1,001 903 +10.9
2 Las Vegas 899 757 +18.8
3 San Diego 700 633 +10.6
4 Indianapolis 576 584 -1.4
5 Los Angeles 545 514 +6.0

Motorcycles are generally a seasonal mode of transportation making them most susceptible to thefts during mild times of the year. Most thefts occurred during the summer months and the fewest during the winter. July had the highest number of reported thefts in 2013 with 5,360. August was next with 5,288 followed by September with 4,793. The fewest thefts were reported in February with 2,124 followed by December with 2,546 and March with 2,674.

Source: NICB

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