Many of the bikes have vanished, police say, snatched up by crooks who hoist them into a truck or van and drive away, often to break them down for a lucrative parts market.

Hampton Roads has become a hot spot for such thefts, said Senior Special Agent Randy D. Beeson, administrator of the Virginia State Police Help Eliminate Auto Theft program. A HEAT survey of police departments in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas found that during 2005 and 2006, Virginia Beach police reported 163 motorcycles stolen, more than any department in the two regions. Newport News police followed with 104, and then Norfolk police with 87.

Richmond police, by contrast, reported 46 purloined cycles.

Local victims include enlisted military members who leave their motorcycles outside their apartment buildings, said Detective Eric Flax of the Norfolk Police Department's auto squad. Some return from deployment to discover the crime.

In February, Flax and other police officers tracked a 2007 Suzuki motorcycle stolen from Virginia Beach to a storage unit at an apartment complex in Norfolk's Larchmont neighborhood, according to court documents. The bike had been equipped with a LoJack security device, which transmits a signal that police can track when a vehicle is reported stolen.

Three men face charges related to the investigation.

While roughly 65 percent of stolen vehicles tend to be recovered, only about 30 percent of stolen motorcycles are, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

The group recommends potential buyers of used motorcycles be wary of any cycle billed as "all custom" or as an "assembled vehicle," and recommends having an insurer inspect the cycle prior to purchase. That's because many are chopped up for parts, which are difficult to trace.

Flax recommended that riders keep records of their vehicle identification numbers, as well as their engine serial numbers. In addition, riders can etch some identifying information onto various unmarked parts, he suggested, and should also keep photographs of their motorcycles.

The HEAT program, which fights motor vehicle thefts statewide, recently purchased equipment to offer free etching to riders. For years, HEAT has been etching VINs on car and truck windows to deter thieves who wouldn't want to have to replace glass.

Trooper Agent Rick Garletts demonstrated the equipment recently at an auto dealership in Isle of Wight County. A laser marks a set of fabric stickers with VINs, and they are placed on the bike. Even if removed, police can later read the number with a special light. The lasers also etch tiny VINs into stickers smaller than a pinky nail, which can then be secreted on various parts of the motorcycle.

Beeson said etching events are being scheduled in Norfolk, Newport News and Virginia Beach, and will be listed on the HEAT Web site at HeatReward.com.