Rare Harley stolen from Invercargill motel

'PRICELESS': Tokoroa man Thomas Lee's 1997-model Harley Davidson Softail custom was stolen from outside his Balmoral Lodge motel unit in Invercargill overnight on Saturday.

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A Waikato man who rode his customised Harley Davidson to Invercargill for the Burt Munro Challenge was forced to fly home on Sunday after his pride and joy was stolen.

"I'm devastated," Thomas Lee told The Southland Times from his Tokoroa home yesterday.

His 1997-model Harley Davidson Softail custom was taken from outside his motel room overnight on Saturday – prematurely ending his trip south.

He parked and locked the motorcycle outside his unit at Balmoral Lodge in Tay St after returning from the tent city set up to accommodate rally-goers at Oreti Park, he said.

His room-mate discovered the bikewas missing on Sunday morning.

Neither he nor his room-mate had heard anything, Mr Lee said. "There's no way they could have started it – not without smashing the ignition."

After reporting it stolen to police, he combed Invercargill streets looking for the bike, before admitting defeat and booking a last-minute flight, Mr Lee said.

The 51-year-old said he had owned the bike – the only one of its kind in New Zealand with the distinctive Viking-themed paint job – for more than seven years. "I worked very hard to get the money to pay for it – to me it's priceless."

Like all collectables its value was relative and, while it was insured, a replacement was not the same, he said.

"Look, I just want it back."

Senior Sergeant Maggie Windle, of Invercargill, said police were investigating.

The bike's Viking insignia, on both sides of the fuel tank and on the front and rear guards, made it distinctive, she said. Its registration number is 31YRQ.

- © Fairfax NZ News