Motorcycle thefts in the United States have fallen 8 percent since 2011 even as motorcycle sales increased, according to a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Hondas continued to top the list of motorcycles most often stolen, the report found.
In 2014 there were 42,856 thefts, nearly 4,000 fewer than in 2011, says the report, released Friday, Oct. 16.
Frank Scafidi, the National Insurance Crime Bureau's director of public affairs, said it was not clear why the number of thefts had dropped. He said indicators point to a falling number of motor vehicles being stolen overall.
"Motorcycles are just reflecting on a smaller scale nationwide with what cars and trucks do," he said.
Hondas had 8,045 reported thefts in 2014, compared to 6,728 for Yamaha Motor Corp., 5,987 for American Suzuki, 4,497 for Kawasaki Motors Corp. and 4,146 for Harley Davidson.
California was the state that reported the most thefts, seeing 6,355, while Las Vegas, Nevada, had the highest count for a city: 1,163.
U.S. & World
Nearly one quarter of all thefts in 2014 occurred in the warmer months of August and July, but both months also saw the largest number of stolen motorcycles recovered, the report said.
As of the end of June, 41 percent of motorcycles stolen last year had been recovered, according to the report.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau, a non-profit organization in Des Plaines, Illinois, was created by the insurance industry to address insurance-related crime.
