Why bike identification is key to combatting bike theft!

Bike theft is a problematic high-volume crime, with upwards of 30,000 bikes stolen each year in Australia and less than 10% recovered by police and returned to their rightful owners.

Whilst some bikes are taken by opportunist thieves who steal bikes that are left unlocked or poorly locked, there is a growing trend of recidivist bike thieves who target bikes for financial gain, prowling streets and stealing high-value bikes from commercial and residential storage areas.

Quality bike locks like the VAULT premium range - ‘D’, Folding and Chain lock when secured to a solid object, will defeat most opportunists, unfortunately, on their own, they are less effective when it comes to the recidivist bike thieves who are known to carry tools, including in some cases battery operated angle grinders that can cut through any lock.

To combat recidivist bike theft requires addressing why bikes are targeted

Targeted bike theft is fuelled by the ease that thieves and black-market traders (knowing handlers of stolen bikes) can profit from selling stolen bikes to unsuspecting purchasers, with little to no fear of the stolen bike being identified and them being caught and prosecuted by the police.

Rapid advancements in bike technology and the growth of the ‘E’ bike segment has led to ever-increasing bike values. This means greater profits for thieves and black-market traders and fuels an even stronger motivation for theft.

The cure to stopping the recidivist bike thieves and black-market traders is to make bikes too hot to handle.

Identification is the key and BikeVAULT in partnership with DataDot Technology have the ultimate solution.

RELATED: The tools used to reduce car theft by 75% can work to reduce all property crime

Protect your bike ID and ownership - starting with FREE registration on BikeVAULT!

Much more than just a simple database to store your bike details .......BikeVAULT part of PropertyVAULT provides a FREE expert service to both victims and police and a comprehensive online solution to combat bike theft before and after a bike is stolen, providing:

A secure custom-built portal enabling bike owners to comprehensively record their bike’s details and ownership.

A transferrable online date and time-stamped Log Book with blockchain encryption ensuring the bike’s identification and provenance is secured for life.

A registered bike sales platform that connects with buy and sell platforms and enables potential buyers to conduct a provenance check prior to purchase; potentially adding to a higher resale value when competing against bikes with no recorded history.

In the event of theft BikeVAULT is a powerful recovery tool that provides:

A custom-designed public and police accessible stolen report and search portal ensuring that a suspect bike can be searched and identified; regardless of where and when it was stolen and eventually located.

Tools, know-how and online victim support and advocacy from BikeVAULT’s police trained admins, who are experts in bike identification and asset tracing techniques. 

Social media connectivity and support from BikeVAULT’s large online community made up of like-minded stolen bike spotters who match and report advertised bikes with stolen listings on our portal. 

The manufacturer's frame serial number is not designed to defeat thieves!

The manufacturer's frame serial number, whilst adequate for warranty purposes is not designed to defeat thieves.  The majority of modern and high-value bikes now have a single frame serial number label, which some of the more cunning thieves exploit by either altering it or removing it altogether.  In some cases, they replace it with a totally counterfeit label which can be very hard to detect by an untrained eye. 

To strengthen your bike identification, BikeVAULT in partnership with DataDot Technology offers a range of advanced bike identification kits that provide Overt, Covert, and Stealth identification to your whole bike, making it virtually impossible to de-identify it.   The kits can be purchased from our online shop or from one of our participating bike shop dealers. 

Don’t Delay – Register Now

On average a bike is stolen somewhere in Australia every 20 minutes.  Protect yours before it's too late - Join our growing community of concerned bike owners and help fight back.  Sign up for your FREE account and click the ''ADD TO VAULT" button to begin.

BikeVAULT is part of PropertyVAULT – Australia’s No.1 FREE online community platform protecting assets vulnerable to theft.

Bike thieves are cunning - some alter and remove the bikes frame number and change parts to avoid a stolen bike being identified and them being caught.

The BIKE ID KIT+ with DataDotDNA® micro identification and high security labels with Ghost ID, makes it virtually impossible for the cunning thieves to de-identify your bike!

Not just advanced bike identification - the BIKE ID KIT+ ($34.95) sold separately and provided complimentary with VAULT premium locks also comes with the added bonuses below!

BIKE ID KIT +

$34.95

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WHAT'S IN THE KIT

DATADOTDNA® MICRODOTS

1,000 (0.5mm Ø in size) coded microdots applied with DataTraceID® adhesive providing stealth identification to your whole bike.

VAULT SHIELD

Alerting thieves your bike is marked and protected by BikeVAULT.

QR CODE LABEL

QR provides quick scan VAULT status (SAFE - STOLEN or FOR SALE) with the addition of Ghost ID* hidden identification visible by black light if the label is removed.

MINI ID LABELS

Allow for discrete component identifcation.

*UV Trace - Hidden Footprint and Ghost ID may not perform on all painted/clear surfaces including e-coat, uncoated aluminium, steel, carbon fibre and plastic.

Not just the ultimate bike identification protection!

Your BIKE ID KIT+ includes:

LIFETIME FREE REGISTRATION

Lifetime free registration on BikeVAULT with the extra upload storage of 20 ID photographs when registering.*

PERSONAL THEFT RECOVERY SUPPORT

In the unfortunate event that your bike is stolen, BikeVAULT's recovery experts are here to aid you and the police in identifying and recovering your bike.*

TRAINED STOLEN BIKE SPOTTERS FOR 6 MONTHS

BikeVAULT trained stolen bike spotters search for your stolen bike online for 6 months.*

BONUS THEFT EXCESS REFUND

Recover your theft excess if your bike is stolen!  The Bonus VAULT Theft Excess Refund applies when you purchase a bicycle insurance policy with Velosure using the BikeVAULT10 - 10% discount code.*

*Terms and Conditions apply - see here.

A few happy former bike theft victims that BikeVAULT has helped!

Go to the PropertyVAULT News Page to read a sampling of the hundreds of stolen bike recoveries that BikeVAULT has aided victims and police with over the past 6 years.