So here's how this works in MOST areas -

1. Buying a bike from a pawn shop gives the BUYER good title to the item. The principle here is that if we can't assume bricks and mortar retail is legitimate, no one can do any business.

2. In MOST areas the pawn shop is required to vet sellers and record them - and the pawn shop IS on the hook for buying stolen merchandise. They are LIKELY civilly liable to you for the item. This isn't always true (unfortunately) - in my area, pawn shops are effectively encouraged to buy stolen property because if/when caught, they are entitled to their buying price from the victim, and the victim in turn has to pursue civil liability from the thief. Blood from a stone obviously. Then you have to count on the DA to pursue fencing charges...often not likely.

You need to find out how your area treats pawn shop purchases...but often they absolutely are responsible for buying stolen merchandise (and they should be) and it should be up to the pawn shop to recover the money from the thief, not the victim. Cops in my area typically want to do as little as possible and use "it's civil, nothing I can do" as a default position. Research YOUR laws, and be preapred to be pushy, obnoxious and escalate the theft.

Bottom line - even if your area gives preferential treatment to pawn shops, like mine does, the shop is usually still on the hook for recording information on the seller, and the police have an obligation to follow that information up. The value of your bike was over $500 in my opinion, which makes it felony theft in most areas...pressure the police to follow up with SOMEONE. Don't settle for their BS...keep making calls.