Team Rees Motorcycles’ stolen race bike has been recovered in a damaged state after the person riding it crashed into a car.

The custom-built 2023 Honda CBR650R was found on the side of the road after the rider went around a roundabout the wrong way and hit a car Tuesady last week.

Tony Rees understands the rider ran from the scene before being caught.

When told the bike had been found, he told the caller not to leave it.

“I just said to the guy, ‘don’t let it out of your sight, please. I don’t want to build another motorbike’.”

The bike was taken from a Rotorua signwriter’s place between 7pm on Wednesday and 6am on Thursday, September 3.

When it was recovered, it had been painted black, had bent handlebars, a scraped exhaust and damaged fairings. The fairings had also been painted black.

The custom-built 2023 Honda CBR650R was red before it was stolen.

Rees picked the bike up from Rotorua and it is now back in the Team Rees workshop.

The team had been preparing to build a replacement bike but had not started the work.

Rees said he was relieved to have the bike back; building another race bike would have meant more time and expense.

“I don’t want to build another motorbike, you know, because a fair amount of work goes into building from a road bike to a race bike.”

The stolen bike had about $10,000 in parts added, with upgraded suspension, fairings and exhaust among the modifications.

It will need a couple of days of work to repair the damage before its fairings are repainted and the bike is sent back to the signwriters.

The bike is expected to be up and running before race season starts for the Honda race team.