It's the beginning of June, and that means that any schools that are offering motorcycle education courses are in full swing in the northern hemisphere. That certainly goes for the ABATE of Anchorage rider education course in Alaska. Only, it's going to be more difficult now, because the nonprofit rider school just had not one, not two, but EIGHT entire motorcycles stolen earlier this week.
That's full half of the 16 bikes they have on hand to teach students. If you've been through MSF's Basic RiderCourse before, you know just how helpful it is when a school that teaches beginners already has the bikes on hand for training its students. Unsurprisingly, the school told local Anchorage news station KTUU that it's booked solid since riding season is so short in Alaska, and that it can see hundreds of students make their way through the course in a single season.
The school stores its motorcycles in locked trailers on site, which is a pretty common practice with schools that offer this sort of training. Overnight, sometime between June 7 and June 8, 2026, someone (and likely more than one person, given the number of bikes involved) broke into a trailer and stole eight of the school's bikes.
Since the initial reporting of this incident that you can see in this video, six of the eight bikes stolen have been recovered. Apparently, the last bike came with a bonus find of eight tires and a full can of gas, which is probably extra helpful given how pricey fuel is these days.
The recovered bikes have been found over the course of the week, with three turning up on Monday and an additional two showing up on Tuesday. ABATE of Anchorage is working with the local police department to find and hopefully recover all of the missing bikes.
If you or someone you know is in the area, and has any information, you can reach out to the school here. Also, if you're in Alaska and you're looking to learn to ride, you can also check out that link for more information.
