Common enough that experienced touring riders have a whole routine for it. A motel parking lot is a near-perfect theft setup: an open lot right off a highway, full of out-of-state bikes whose owners are asleep, will check out in the morning, and won't be around next week to work with local police. Thieves in some areas are known to cruise motel rows during riding season for exactly this reason.
Loaded touring bikes are doubly attractive — the luggage alone is worth stealing, and a bike wearing full bags is obviously owned by a traveler.
The road-trip parking routine that works:
- Ask for a room facing the lot and park directly outside your window.
- Park under lights and near the lobby camera, not in the convenient dark end.
- Lock it every night — alarmed disc lock minimum; a chain to a post or another rider's bike is better.
- Strip the bags — take luggage inside, even when you're tired.
- Some hotels will let you park under the front canopy — it never hurts to ask.
And carry a tracker with motion alerts. Eight hours of sleep is a long head start to give a thief; a phone alert at minute one takes it back.
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