Bad news is, you probably won’t see your bike again, especially if it hasn’t got a Tracker. Miracles do happen though, speak to smiled.
What you can do in the meantime, is go on autotrader and start printing off ads of GSX-R 750s of the same age, mileage and colour as your stolen bike.
When it comes to claiming, if the insurance company tries to stiff you and pay you much less than the value of the bike, then you can refuse the claim and send them the proof that you need more because you wouldn’t be able to replace the stolen bike for the amount they are offering.
The general consensus is that you don’t accept the first offer an insurance company makes, as there is usually more to come.
So this is something you can do now so that when the time comes to claim, you’re prepared and it should speed things up.
Hope you get another bike soon and get back on the road.
I had loads of trouble with my old insurance company handlers - ELDON (August to December last year). They are a bunch of **********.
Took me around 3 months to get paid. Ended up buying bike, and waiting for my money.
They kept saying they were waiting for the Police to send a report. The police cannot tell you how long this will take, only that it can take 2-4 weeks from receipt.
Eldon also sent standard bike specs to 4th Dimension to value! I was paying for modifications. Argued the valuation and got more. 4th D were great.
Keep in there, and keep hassling them with phone calls or emails - you MUST log down your correspondance. It will help when you want to complain.
So… everyone just stood around watching, no-one tried intervening, no taxi drivers etc tried knocking them over? I guess that’s the wise thing to do as taking matters into your own hands may turn out to be very dangerous if they were armed or tried to retaliate/resist arrest/etc, and if you hurt them you probably end up being prosecuted if not by the crown, then by the perpetrators.But even so, I would have expected at least someone from that lot to have tried to do something about this. Having said that, if I were there I probably would have run away!
I hope the bike stolen from EC1 gets recovered intact btw.
Am so sorry to hear this. You must be gutted. It always amazes me to hear of bikes stolen like this, in broad daylight, in a busy street, right in front of an office and CCTV cameras. What other bikes were in the bay? Do you know anyone else that parks there? Was it chained to anything, or did they just lift it up, with the alarm blaring?
It seems the only way to stop bikes being stolen is an Almax - but they weigh a ton and carting one around with you every day is pretty nigh impossible.
Good luck anyway - am really sorry to hear about it. I am sure there might be some kind LB folks who can lend you a bike in the meantime.
Hope the insurance cough up a decent amount fast and that there is CCTV footage of it.
The bike had an Almax chain but wasn’t anchored to anything.
Received a letter from the Police today saying that they have closed the case as there is no evidence to help them out.
The bike was stolen on Friday, reported to the police Friday evening and I told them that there was CCTV nearby, they said they’d look into the CCTV. The letter is dated the 6th (Saturday, the day after I reported it). They haven’t bothered to follow up the CCTV, it’s no wonder so many bikes go missing in that area if this is the attitude of the police.
Anyway, guess what I was watching today? CCTV. I had a feeling the police wouldn’t bother to follow it up so looked into it myself. Security guard from the building opposite the bike bay let me look through the CCTV recording today. Unfortunatley you can’t see my bike as it’s just out of shot but you can see the scooter that was parked next to (I parked the bike real close to the scoot thinking it would make it harder to steal).
Van pulls up a few feet from the bike bay, waits a few seconds then drives right up to it so the side of the van is facing the bike bay. The van obscures the actual theft but 20 seconds later and it drives off. The only sign that anything’s amiss is that the scooter has been moved to allow access to my bike. And that is how quick and easy it is to steal a bike, having an alarm and security chain is a complete waste of time and money.
I’m hoping to have a recording of it tomorrow, only had a quick look at it today but it’s a white van (Iveco or Transit, will have to check). Driver was white and had a flourescent green jacket, couldn’t see any of the others as the van blocked the view.
Still don’t understand why anyone in London rides a spiffy newish sportsbike… it’s just going to get ripped off no matter what.
Get something at least 8-10 years old, as gnarly looking as possible, and never clean it. Keep it in tip top mechanial condition but let it go to hell visually. Nobody says it has to be slow, or boring to ride. Bonus points for a topbox with lots of stickers and a duct-taped-over tear in the seat, or a few cracks in the fairing mended with zip-ties. I guarantee NOBODY will ever touch that, chain or no chain.
Or, live with the constant fear, aggravation and paranoia… I know what I’d choose.
an cut straight across me
