James May: "Kill bike thieves"

Former host of Top Gear and motorcycle nut James May has come up with a solution to the problem of motorcycle thefts. Kill all bike thieves.

May made the suggestion in an article on DriveTribe, where he also states he is ‘vehemently opposed to capital punishment and any other form of state-sponsored murder.’

TOP STORIES

• Roland Sands’ Cafe Tracker: ‘Watch your a** with no front brake’
• Gallery: Yamaha MT-10SP vs KTM 1290 Super Duke R
• Norfolk Police offer training to bikers
• Honda CRF250 Rally: A great lightweight adventure bike
• Bike of the day: 2005 Honda Fireblade

May doesn’t have too much of an issue with people who steal out of desperation, May’s hatred for bike thieves is driven partly because he’s had motorcycles damaged by thieves, but also because they’re driven by greed and profit.

“I hate the idea of people nicking my stuff, but in all honesty, I’m pretty well off. If a genuinely desperate man on his last gasp nicks my coat from the pub on a freezing night, well, he’s welcome to it. It’ll change his life, mine’s only inconvenienced by having to buy another one.

“Even a truly desperate drug addict can have my coat. He’s made a mistake somewhere in life and I haven’t, which is my good fortune. But the people we’re talking about here are just wankers nicking bikes for profit, so we should kill them.”

May’s column comes after several motorcycle thefts and attempted thefts have been filmed by passers by. In one incident in 2016, thieves threatened the public with hammers and power tools.

Of course, we’re sure he doesn’t mean it. Right, James?

Oh.

You can read the full DriveTribe article here.

London bike theft on the rise

In the last two years crime involving mopeds has gone up by more than 600% in London, with Scotland Yard statistics showing there have been 7,668 crimes involving mopeds to date in 2016 – up from 1,053 in 2014 and 4,647 in 2015.

With the rise reportedly due to teenagers stealing mopeds, the Met said the rise was a “huge concern” but denied that the problem is “out of control”.

Looking for the perfect two-wheeled companion? Visit MCN Bikes For Sale website or use MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.