Motorbike school will 'push on' despite robberies

A miltary veteran and former motorcycle racer who bought adapted bikes to start up a disabled training school "to give people's lives back" has said he will carry on despite two "devastating" robberies.

Chris Ganley, owner of CC Motorcycle Training in Cheltenham, has was robbed twice in the last year, losing bikes worth thousands of pounds.

Ganley, who lost his left arm in a crash in 2014, wrote a letter of complaint as he felt the way police dealt with it was "disheartening".

Gloucestershire Police said it had collected forensic evidence from the scene and was still investigating the case.

Ganley said so far four motorcycles have been recovered by police - two in Manchester, one in Newport and one in Northampton.

Ganley said riding and racing motorbikes gave him his "purpose back" after losing his arm.

"I lost everything all in that moment. It was like going back to being a kid again - doing things like learning how to button up my jacket," he said.

"The second I got back on my bike I never felt like anything was wrong - motorbikes are my therapy. They make me feel normal.

"They brought me back from an edge I don't think is a position anyone should be in."

During his racing career he said he would get messages from others who had also lost limbs or where disabled asking for "direction" and help.

Looking back at these moments he knew he wanted to do something to help others who had also become or had been born disabled.

"There's a lot of people who think they can't ever ride a motorbike or would never be able to do it again," Ganley said.

"That's why I'm trying to create a disability school where we can work out a way to make a bike work for them and we could be in a place where we could give someone's life back."

But the robbery at his training centre"put a stop on everything".

"I don't know who to express how much it's kicked me," he said.

The site suffered its first robbery in July in 2025, where he said police failed to register all the motorcyles that were taken as stolen and "lost" forensic evidence.

Ganley said he decided to put in extra security measures to stop it from happening again including CCTV, a floor safe, extra locks and trackers installed on all the bikes.

But in May more bikes were stolen.

Overall 10 bikes were taken in the two robberies including an adapted one - all worth thousands of pounds.

"I think it was targeted. They took all of our right-handed gloves [in the second robbery]," said Ganley.

"The way the police have dealt with this I find is disheartening. They treated me like I was the criminal.

"It's easy to rollover, but I will push forwards," he added.

Gloucestershire Police confirmed officers had gone to the scene on 11 May to investigate the stolen motorcycles.

"Officers were able to locate trackers on the bikes elsewhere and searched the area, but could find no trace of them," the force said in a statement.

"House-to-house enquiries were carried out at this location as well as around the community centre.

"Forensic officers attended the scene and were able to collect evidence which is currently being analysed. Unfortunately there was no working CCTV covering the area of the break-in.

"The victim has been kept updated throughout the investigation.

"Enquiries are continuing and anyone with information who has not already spoken to police is asked to contact the Constabulary through the website, quoting occurrence 53260033984."

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