Yes — report it. A slow-moving van making repeat passes at night is one of the most consistent things riders describe noticing before a theft, because vans are how motorcycles disappear: two people, thirty seconds, straight into the back. Police would far rather log a suspicious-vehicle call than take a stolen-bike report next week.
How to do it right:
- Call the non-emergency line (911 only if you're watching a crime in progress). Give the street, direction, and timing pattern.
- Note details from inside: plate if you can read it safely, color, markings, dents, how many occupants, which nights and hours. A doorbell or window camera clip is gold.
- Never approach the van or follow it. Information wins here; confrontation only creates risk.
- Tell the street. A note in the neighborhood app gets more windows watching and more cameras saving footage.
Then quietly assume your bike might be the reason they're circling. Get it out of sight or under a cover, chain it to something solid, and put a motion-alert GPS tracker on the frame. If that van ever stops at your place, your phone buzzes the moment the bike moves, and police get a live location while the trail is seconds old — not a cold report in the morning.
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