Thieves steal Banks' beloved Harley bike

Former Auckland mayor and MP John Banks has had his beloved Harley-Davidson motorbike stolen from his home in a daring raid.

The $40,000 high-powered machine had just been returned to Banks after extensive modifications, and he had ridden it only once before it was stolen from his highly secure apartment.

The black Harley is thought to have been taken a week ago, early Saturday morning, not long after Banks had ridden it home to his luxury Remuera apartment from Auckland Motorcycles and Powersports in Newmarket. Harley-Davidson specialist Dave Anderson had just completed 100 hours of modification work on the bike and had increased the engine performance.

The apartment, which Banks has just sold, is down a long private driveway, and entry to the lobby is by personal key code.

The thieves used a key code to get into the lobby and from there into the basement garage. They maneuvered the Harley out from behind Banks' large Mercedes, hand-cranked open the garage door to minimise noise and pushed the Harley up a steep incline.

Neighbours say the thieves would probably have needed to bring a vehicle down the driveway to transport the motorbike because of its weight.

The bike would be easy to identify because of the recognisable one-off work which had been done to it.

Banks would not comment on the theft but is well known for being outspoken on criminal activity.