Edinburgh man stunned as thief ‘speeds off’ during test drive of £4,500 electric motorbike he planned to sell to him

An Edinburgh man was left stunned when a thief made off on a £4,500 electric motorbike he was allowing him to test drive before selling to him.

The suspect, who can not be named for legal reasons, stole the Sur Ron electric motorbike as he tried it out in the North Fort Street area of the city on Wednesday, July 28.

The owner and seller of the vehicle, who does not want to be named, told the Edinburgh Evening News that the same man had bought a similar bike from him just a couple of weeks before and paid the full amount.

But this time around the supposed ‘buyer’ arrived in a Mercedes car with two friends and was dropped off before the vehicle was parked further along the street.

The stolen electric motorbike.

The motorbike seller, a student at Heriot-Watt University, said: “He said ‘okay, can I take it for a test ride?’ and then sped off with it.

“He drove down the street and came back up to where they (his friends) were parked and told them police were round the corner and he was scared to go home, and his mates told him to just go. I think that was just an excuse.

“I thought at first he was just having a laugh because he had paid me for the previous bike, but I realised when the Mercedes skidded away it was being stolen.”

The man, who claims he and the supposed buyer had agreed on a price of £4,500, said he was left in shock and contacted police about ten minutes later. He said he has since tried contacting the man on social media but to no avail.

Messages seen by this newspaper show arrangements being made between the seller and a Facebook account belonging to the suspect to collect the motorbike.

Days after the theft, in another Facebook message exchange seen by this newspaper between the bike seller and a relative of the suspect, the relative says he would tell him to return the bike but that the previous bike he sold him was “faulty” and he should give him the money back for it.

The motorbike seller said: “He has two of my bikes and has only paid for one.

“If it was broken, when he test drove it he would have said it was broken. Why did he not contact me to get his money back?”

The suspect denied any knowledge of the incident when asked for comment.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police enquiries are ongoing following a theft of an electric motorbike from Portland Street, Edinburgh on 28 July, 2021."

Police are examining local CCTV as part of their enquiries.

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