Harley-Davidson stolen under Central car park security's watchful eye

The expatriate businessman thought his HK$160,000 Harley-Davidson would be safe while he was out of town. It was parked, covered and locked in a car park in Central equipped with closed-circuit television cameras and manned by security guards.

But when he went to pick it up on Monday, it was gone. CCTV footage showed an audacious thief pushing the bike out of the Star Ferry Car Park into Edinburgh Place in the early hours a week before, after removing the cover and breaking the locks.

"No driver in his right mind would ever push his bike out of a garage [instead of driving it]. It should appear very suspicious indeed," said the businessman, who declined to be named.

The case is the latest in a string of thefts of luxury motorcycles fuelled, dealers say, by rising demand on the mainland.

One dealer said at least three such motorcycles owned by his friends were stolen in August and this month. He said machines such as Harley-Davidsons, Ducatis, Triumphs and KTMs were hot targets. "There is a big demand for such luxury motorcycles on the mainland because mainlanders are now well off," he said.

A police source said one or two luxury motorcycles were stolen each month, mostly those that had been parked unsecured in the street.