A SUPERBIKE rider was left devastated after thieves stole the £60,000 machine he built from scratch.

Luke Hall had ploughed his heart and soul into constructing the Yamaha R1 race bike at his Hockley home.

But thieves broke into his garage and took the prized possession - which he had planned to race at national level next year.

Mr Hall, 33, said: “It took me six months to build the thing. It’s a lot of effort and money and unfortunately it’s not insured against theft.

“I’d really been hoping to race it this season, especially as my racing career will be over in a couple of years because I’ll be too old.”

The thieves also stole a Suzuki GSXR600 road bike worth about £6,000, which Mr Hall believes was the main reason for the raid. He had advertised this bike in trade magazines and received a call from someone who wanted to view it.

That day, his garage was broken into, and the man never made the appointment. Now he is unlikely to be able to race this season, which is particularly upsetting as he had hoped to make a come-back after years off with a shoulder injury. H

e explained: “It’s what I’ve always done, it’s what I’ve always known. People don’t understand why I do it, it’s like a drug addiction - it’s highly addictive, costs lots of money and it might kill you but you still come back for more.”

Mr Hall, who works as an engineer, had even made many of the parts himself over the course of the last eight months.

He said: “All I’m left with is debt. I always knew I was getting into debt but you can clear most of it by selling parts off if you have to, but I haven’t got that luxury anymore.”

The bike was stolen from the Greensward Lane area on November 8. Anyone with information should call Det Sgt Lucy Shewring on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.