Motorcycle theft is a growing criminal activity in certain parts of the world. Things in London, however, is in a different level altogether. There were over 14,000 motorcycle thefts reported in London the last year, and 23,430 crimes were committed using motorcycles that were stolen of course.

On an average, 65 bikes are stolen per day and the latest victims reported have been the folks at ZERO Motorcycles. And the irony is that the bikes were stolen from the back of a transporter van while they were on “theft tracking” tests.

Mopeds happen to be the soft targets since they are very easy to get their handlebars unlocked and ignition started easier than motorcycles. An alarming 620% of scooters were stolen compared to the previous year. The rampant theft rate has prompted rider protests asking for Greater London to install more ground anchor points for riders to chain their bikes.

But that doesn’t make thieves any less susceptible to motorcycles. Although, honestly, starting up an electric motorcycle will not be as easy as having the petrol engines started, which is why the thieves had in fact hidden the ZERO motorcycles under a tarpaulin a few meters of their actual location.

And how did they find them? All hail to the stupidity of those thieves who thought they could just whisk away a bunch of electric motorcycles while they were on anti-theft device testing duties. ZERO had partnered with British bike security firm-Datatool- just a day before this theft occurred.

Yes, the theft occurred the very same night the two firms signed an agreement to test the anti-theft device on electric bikes. The theft was then reported at the Met Police’s stolen vehicle squad at 8.00am. And Datapool’s records showed that the bikes were actually stolen at 3.37am the same morning.

The technology gave a pinpointed Google map and exact coordinates of the stolen bikes which were retrieved from under a tarpaulin a mere meter away from the van in which they originally were housed in, all within a couple of hours.

A couple of months back, London Mayor Sadiq Khan invited a few manufacturers to a summit on moped crime at the City hall a couple of days ago. He spoke about manufacturers incorporating better anti-theft measures into their products to make it difficult for people just to whisk away bike without authorization.

What better PR could these guys have asked for. An actual bike theft solved within a few hours of its report. Datapool and ZERO have got this nailed for them and will show it to the world how it’s done. If you are a thief, and reading this… it is time to look for a new career choice my friend.