Somerset Blood Bikes charity reunited with trusty Yamaha Tracer following shock theft

Life-saving charity Freewheelers EVS Blood Bikes Service are celebrating the swift return of one of their Yamaha Tracer 9 GT delivery motorcycles, after it was stolen from the driveway of a volunteer rider in broad daylight.

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According to an official statement from Avon and Somerset Police, the three-cylinder Yamaha was reported as being abandoned in Victoria Park, Bristol just after 10.05am, by a member of the public.

It sustained a broken steering lock, and the panniers had been forced open, however the charity are confident it will return to active duty soon.

“Yes, the bike will return to service,” charity Vice Chair, Joe Tooker told MCN. “It was escorted back by the rider who had the bike at the time, and members of our bike maintenance team.”

The bike is one of two Yamaha Tracer 9s on the charity fleet and holds a special place within the group after being dedicated to former member Richard Reeves, who passed away last year.

“They didn’t actually get to start the bike, so when they took the bike from the driveway, all they did was snap the steering lock, which then allowed them to push the bike,” Tooker continued.

“It was infuriating, and I must admit I was quite shocked,” the Vice Chair added. “To my knowledge, in the 31 years that Freewheelers has been operating, this is the first time we’ve ever had a theft of one of our bikes.

“It was quite a naïve theft to try and take a fully marked bike. After that, it was the frustration and the anger that someone would do that to a charity.”

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Alongside the public reports, members of the Freewheelers team were able to track the location of the bike, thanks to the installation of Scorpion trackers on all of their 18 fleet machines. They are now also considering the installation of additional physical security such as disc locks; however, this will likely come at a substantial cost.

To support the charity, visit the Freewheelers website today.