Swinton Bikes, a motorbike insurance broker, is warning consumers to be vigilant when purchasing a new motorcycle following a rise in the number of dealers unwittingly accepting stolen bikes in part-exchange for new machines.
As a consequence of the recession, motorcycle dealers are now under much greater pressure to secure sales and this has led to lax security checks and as a result, they are accepting “ringers” which are stolen bikes given the identity of legitimate machines.
Anthony Aronin, Head of Swinton Bikes, said: “Riders incorrectly think that they will be covered by their motorcycle insurance policies if they buy a stolen bike but this isn’t the case. They have absolutely no legal rights to keep the bike as it is generally still the property of the original owner and, if seized by the police, the machine could be returned to the original owner or the motorbike insurance company .”
Mr Aronin urges all riders to check that all the paperwork is in order before handing over any money for a new bike.
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