Motorbike stolen, found and returned in hectic 32 hours

IT WAS an anxious 32 hours for Mathew Brown, after thieves broke into his business and stole his racing motorbike as Cyclone Debbie began bearing down.

REUNITED: As the storms started raging early Thursday morning thieves broke into Mathew Brown's shop, stealing his custom racing dirt bike and some other goods, but thanks to social media he was quickly reunited with the bike. Picture: Patrick Woods

IT WAS an anxious 32 hours for Mathew Brown, after thieves broke into his business and stole his racing motorbike as Cyclone Debbie began bearing down.

As the powerful system moved across the Coast, in the early hours of Thursday morning thieves broke into Frameless Shower Installations on Wises Rd, where Mr Brown said they helped themselves to his $4500 2007 Yamaha YZ250 2-stroke racing motorbike, a Makita drill and driver set, electronic fish finder, a set of drill bits, his road bike helmet and jacket and five sets of spare keys.

He took to Facebook to spread the word, offering a $1000 reward to get his beloved bike back.

Mr Brown believed the thieves must've been determined, having to scale about a 1.8m high fence and then wedge a garage door up to get in but once they were he suspected they would've simply ridden the bike "out the front doors".

He said it was the first time he'd ever been broken into and he couldn't understand why the spare keys were taken as well, the cost of replacing them frustrating him.

Mr Brown said friends reported hearing a bike similar to his being ridden in Glenfields early Thursday.

A chance spotting of the bike by a friend in Beerwah led to his bike being found and returned after police attended a Beerwah industrial property yesterday.

"It's (the weekend) looking brighter already," a grateful Mr Brown said late yesterday.

A police media spokeswoman said in a few days police expected to charge a 29-year-old man with receiving tainted property and they hoped to charge others over the theft and break-in.

Originally published as Motorbike stolen, found and returned in hectic 32 hours