An adventurer who completed a near round-the-world bike trip from Edinburgh to Sydney recently has had his bike taken by people suspected to be thieves.

The man, Gavin Frances, 32 of Albion Road, was said to have parked his 1982 BMW R80rt motorcycle outside his friend’s house in Montgomery Street after the completion of the trip.

But when he went out to check on the vehicle he discovered it was no longer there. The bike had been driven through some of the most lawless countries in the world, Mr Francis claimed, adding that it survived travels through Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan and South East Asia.

Police, however, were able to recover it nearby, although it had been vandalised.

Its security chains on the front and back wheels had been cut through by thieves who moved it to a more quiet location and tried to hotwire it. But the bike was abandoned when they failed to get result.

It’s no longer roadworthy and police said they were impounding it. And Mr Francis said police told him they would have a word with his bike insurance company before releasing it.