Man on ‘dream’ round-the-world trip has bike stolen while travelling in the UK

A motorcyclist from India who was 15,000 miles (24,140km) into a round-the-world challenge has had his bike stolen while travelling through the UK.

Yogesh Alekari had travelled more than 17 countries across Asia and Europe since setting off on his motorcycle challenge from Mumbai on 1 May.

The 33-year-old said his KTM 390 Adventure motorbike was stolen – along with most of his belongings – while parked at Wollaton Park in Nottingham at about 11:00 BST on Thursday.

Mr Alekari, who has been documenting his journey on social media to thousands of followers, said the theft was “painful” and had left him with a “broken heart”.

He said he had previously planned to continue his journey with hopes of riding through Africa next, but was now stranded and left only with the clothes on his back.

“I was in Nottingham for a biker event and was about to head to Oxford,” Mr Alekari said. “I stopped and parked my bike at Wollaton Park.

“I locked the bike up and it was a busy area with children playing so I thought it seemed like a safe place.

“I crossed the road and went to have breakfast but within an hour, I came back and everything was just gone.”

Video footage captured by a visitor at the park showed Mr Alekari’s motorcycle being ridden away, flanked by two moped scooters.

The full-time content creator – who has more than 180,000 Instagram and almost 16,000 Facebook followers – said the value of the stolen belongings was more than £15,000.

He said the storage boxes on his bike also included his MacBook laptop, a spare mobile phone, two cameras, cash and other items, like his passport and clothing.

“I was totally shocked,” he added. “I just broke down and started crying when I realised what had happened.

“They stole my motorcycle but this wasn’t only a motorbike – it was my home, it was my dream, it was my everything as a traveller.

“How can this happen? Suddenly I’ve lost everything.”

Mr Alekari said he called the police shortly after his bike was stolen, but added no-one was able to attend the park, which is run by Nottingham City Council.

“I called the police and it seemed so strange that they just sent me a crime number,” Mr Alekari said.

“I was told they would call me back, and I waited in the park, but they never did.”

He added: “I wanted to go from Spain to Morocco, and then to the western coast of Africa, Cape Town to Kenya and then fly back to India.

“My dream is to ride around the world on a motorcycle. I spent a lot of money to get here and I don’t want to stop now.

“I have travelled from India to here and I went through places like Iran and Turkey, which people said weren’t safe – but I felt safe there.

“People warned me about the UK, but I thought I was away from London and it would be OK in Nottingham.

“I never experienced any incident like this anywhere else.”

Nottinghamshire Police said teams had been conducting “local inquiries” but had so far not been able to locate the bike.

Sgt Daniel Sheasby encouraged anyone with information to contact the force.

He said: “We completely appreciate how much upset this will have caused to the bike owner but want to assure them the police are taking this seriously and are doing everything we can to try and return their property to them.”

The city council has been contacted for comment.

Additional reporting by Viraj Soni.