Bike theft. It's as easy as this...

Motorcycling
1

This is a sad story. Saw it on another forum so given our recent discussions I’d post it up. I can’t help but wonder that a chain might have helped here and that the enemy, apart from the thief, is being lulled into a false sense of secuirty…I parked it by reception…Anyway here it is the theft took place at a Hotel in Middlesex that’s the only detail I have about it…(from XRV.org.uk)

and there it was - gone

Took the bike to the conference yesterday. Parked in the hotel car park right in front of reception, everything looked totally fine and secure. I even shared a bay with my Alex’s FJR.

Came out at 5.10pm, Alex’s FJR was there but no GS… denial at first. Thought it had been towed away by hotel, but no. Hotel were very helpful - called the police, made sure I was comfortable etc.

Their security guy looked through their CCTV and described it all to me: At around 3pm a rider on a black GS(!) rides around car park and leaves. At around 1530, same black GS arrives, with a pillion this time and parks next to mine. He and pillion ‘stand’ around chatting. Seven minutes later, rider gets onto his bike, pillion gets one MINE and ride away as if nothing in the world could be more normal.

The hotel were really sympathetic, and the police gave me a crime number. Ive called Bennetts and they are sending me the claim form to sign.

I think, given that the thieves appear to be more of the professional kind that I wont be seeing my bike again. Good side of it is that at least it probably wont be recovered in a burnt out wreck from some farmers field, bad side is I never really realised just how attached I was to my bike until it was taken away from me.

Im going to miss it dearly, and to be honest, I dont think a similar second hand GS is what I want to get next as it just wouldnt be the same bike.

Its a: 1150 GS, grey with two pairs of fog and driving lights. It has a H&B Gobi top box and is otherwise free from dents, scratches etc. Its reg is HK52 FNW and is reported stolen.

I dont know how long these things take to sort themselves out, can anyone give me some of their own experiences?

Yours, standing on the side of the road helmet in hand,

2

Sadly, this then confirms what Blade said about it being other bikers. Though probably most of us would feel that they aren’t bikers.

One thing that increasingly annoys me is that if somebody has something taken other people say it wasn’t protected enough. My reply to them is, it is irrelevant, who decided it was OK for the thieves to take it? According to that theory it’s OK for me to steal my weekly shopping from Tesco or if you are more posh Marks and get away with it as they didn’t nail every item down.

3

I know what you mean hon and it’s sad that the first thing I thought of was why he didn’t use a lock. However until something is done about these people then we need to do all that we can. And what’s worse about that is that even that isn’t enough.

It makes me mad.

4

What I find worrying is there’s a group of people riding around on GS’s looking for GS’s to steal… at hotel car parks?

That’s either very random, very contrived, or very much someone told them it was there.

5

I think someone told them it was there.

6

so how did they get it started? don’t they come with immobilisers?!

7

there’s some amaizing naivity going on in these threads. having stuff stolen is harsh and leaves you frustrated and angry. not taking anything away from that, and if you have done all the right things and they’ve still got it, i feel for you. however:

riding round looking for targets? course they f*cking do. they will work an area, know all the likely public places, developments and so on that they’ve seen bikes left in the past/might have machinery and ‘do the rounds’. they most likely live in the area/know people around who give them the heads up that they’ve seen a potential target (including potentially the hotel staff in this case). they work out how hard it is to beat the natural security of the place, and then the layers of security applied to the bike. if they want it bad enough, and think they can get away with it, they’ll most likely have it. they only have so much room in the van tho so if its a choice between your bike and the next one, and yours is covered to buggery in chains, disc locks alarms etc they’ll move on to the easier target. its not a personal issue, its just ease. they’ll scout the place, nudge the bike to check for alarms, disable it in stages if necessary

irrellevant? hardly. bikes are highly valuable (a new gixxer in individual parts from a dealer comes out at around 37 grand apparently), highly mobile, and non bikers dont take much interest in them. its a valid comment - do you think they’d have gone for the bike with alarms, chains etc in front of the reception? unlikely

if you park one in a public carpark, with nothing bar the ignition barrel and steering lock to stop the theives, you’re giving them almost no resistance. its not coincidence that they go for the bike the one time you leave it outside ‘for a few mins’, its either plain opportunism or they’ve been watching for you to get complacent. this is what they do, they have time on their hands and earn a lot of cash from doing this. if you have security, you have to be in the habit of sticking it on no matter how ‘quick’ you’re going to be. my girlfriend almost found this out the hard way (they made an unsuccessful attempt). one of my cars had two alarm systems and i still caught a sh*tbag trying to get into it with a screwdriver cos it was parked somewhere he wouldn’t be bothered (apart from by me running at him screaming blue murder . )

in this case they know the bike type (as they have one) and have most likely practiced on it to override the factory security so they can go steal more of them. if as charly rightly suggests they coudl have used a precut key then they should be able to tell from the video based on their activity if that’s how they started the bike. if so report it to the police and have them investigate with the dealer.

the couple had two bikes. at least chain them together???

as for watching on here for someone saying ‘i live in north london’ do you really think that they seize on this and start driving round 50 sq miles plus looking for your ride? cmon, be realistic, they dont need to do this. no one is numpty enough to say ‘i live in ‘x’ road in angel’ on here either, nor do they tell strangers at bike meets. being followed home is a possibility but in the city you should always be aware of who is around you/following you. i got complacent once and allowed someone local to follow me to where the bike was kept as he tailed me from very close to my home and i didn’t see him in time. turned out to be an interested chav but i’ve had to learn from this experience to be on the safe side. paranoid? maybe. just cos you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you

yes people shouldn’t steal, everyone should be jolly nice to each other, everyone should do charitable acts, there should be world peace, wah, wah wah. the world isn’t like that. for every good person there are 10 shtty people ready to kick 'em in the nuts. taking steps to safeguard your property does not say ‘its ok’ to have your sht taken.

8

Thats Very Worrying !

9

johnnybravo wrote:

for every good person there are 10 sh*tty people ready to kick 'em in the nuts.

Not true. For every 10 or 100 good people there is 1 ****ty person, but that is enough that you should lock up your bike wherever and whenever you leave it. You have to carry a lock, so why carry that big lump of steel away from your bike?

Duncan

10

The fact they turned up on a bike doesn’t mean they are actually ‘bikers’.

It’s the favoured form of ‘getaway’ transport for many thieves nowadays (peds included)

Most thieves don’t have a licence and the bike they are on usually stolen and on cloned plates.

I’ve nicked guys on bikes with boltcroppers under coats and one was running around on a brand new stealth gixxer having not even a provisional licence.

they are not ‘bikers’ as we know but thieves on bikes, the bikes are used purely because they can outrun cop cars easily…

They dislike cops on bikes as they are usually caught, but these are not always available.

Ebay and the like is a simplistic way for the average thicko thief to sell on stolen parts for a lot of money.

and you can have as much ‘mobile’ security as you like but two scaffold poles and a van will still remove you of your pride and joy.

11

you obviously dont live in east london mate

12

Agree, and dont rely on your neighbours either, cos nowdays they are scared to get involved as they are threatened as well…

Yesterday if it wasnt for the help of 2 other bikers? 2 (greeks i think they were not sure cos didnt know the accent to be fair?) would have had me off my bike and took it away, in the middle of the high road at 4pm daylight! One just stepped out in front of me, the other went to back of my bike and started rocking it?,…if it wasnt for those two coming up at the precise time? my bike would have gone…ONE of the guys had only a crash helmet the other didnt have anything…so obviously it was the one behind me that was gonna chuck me off and just jump on!

The bikers came up, along with all the cars in the road,(who by the way did NOTHING to help) parked up their bikes outside the pub where i was…one stayed with their bikes, the other did no more than walk over, lamp one of the pks, get me off my bike, told me to go to the other biker, took my bike and put it with theirs and told the other would be thief, hed better get his mate off the road before he gets knocked over !! got on his phone and was talking to another biker (i presumed)…so he was getting ready to bring in some other help?..(this was like something out of an american film and i was shing it)

The two ran off and the other bikers made sure i was ok, and on my bike, waited till i had gone and then pulled off themselves…(they did ask if i wanted them to come to my home, but to tell u the truth, it was so surreal i just wanted to go home)…I cant thank them enough, i didnt even know who they were but im SO glad they were there…ALL this was done, for them, so matter of factly? like they were used to it?..AND all without police involvement…but its true as one of them told me, what would be the point? what would the police do cos by the time they had got there, my bike would have been gone and the other guy would have legged it to a probable waiting car or something…all the police would have found,was me by the side of the road and no witnesses…not even the pub regulars at that time of day !!! It ALL beggars belief…im sick of it and i dont know how we are gonna over come this new trend of thief …APART from a “fight back and bugger the circumstances attitude”…But i know one thing…WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING OR WE BETTER STOP DOING WHAT WE LOVE BEST…RIDING BIKES!

13

Blade,

That’s damn scary.

You should report it though…if it is a trend it needs to be nipped in the bud, and quick.

Even if you can furnish a rough description of them it may help in the gathering of a case and prosecution in the future…

But if anyone finds themselves in the same situation (i hope to god not) my advice is to just nail it and go…

If they are stupid enough to stay in the way , well, that’s down to them.

Blade,

Glad your ok mate.

14

oh my God woman!!

whatever next!! this is getting ridiculous!!

i am so sick and tired of hearing about things like this… I may have to move back to South Africa! At least there they are professional hijackers and would ask you to get out of the car when they have a gun to your head.

what the hell is going on???

i cant understand how people can be like this?

15

Hey Blade you have absolutely no luck girl; glad you are OK if just a bit shaken still. Glad your knights in shining armour were there to help - well done whoever you are!

So we need to travel in pairs now I guess.

This damn country has gone right down hill in the last 10 years; we get aboslutely sod all for the taxes we pay!

Take care.

16

It WAS scary and IS scary cos as a woman lone rider, sometimes, i am an easy target for men to just push off my bike, once stepping out in front of me like that, i mean, i HAD to stop or i would have hit him…that was his idea though, element of surprise to stop me, chuck me off my bike and have it away, easy peasy…

If this is the way they are prepared to go on us women, what can we do to protect OURSELVES? With you guys they prob think twice? This has never in 9 yrs happened to me on a bike, EVER…yesterday seemed to bring a lot of things into perspective as far as scum will go? I remember another LBr saying that someone had a gun to their head for their bike…but THIS? and i had NO help from any cager, this was a packed high street in fact i will tell you where it was, its Chadwell Heath high road by the pub that used to be the old Police Stn, its called the Eva Hart? but right there…broad day light, packed out with people and cars??? No help except from fellow bikers… and i say again, thank god they were there !

Shall i report it, or do i put it down to experience and learn from it? Do i not go out alone, what if that had been at night? Why do i have to now think about these things before riding out?..

17

definately report it.

and then move here to Berkshire.

18

hi blade, sorry to hear about this, not much advice i can give except leave your bike in gear every time you stop at lights and open the throttle if someone gets close. if they are going to take your bike , keep key and fob seperate.take key and throw it.then it wont start and the alarm comes on auto anyway …failing that. kick the little cnuts in the balls. or always carry passenger with a chainsaw. my prefered weapon at the moment. sorry blade but this has never happened to me.but my attitude and upbringing would mean that they would have to TAKE my bike not get given it…

19

f*ck blade, that’s not good

if you have a tracker and they get the bike that way with the key you can still have it activated incidentally

those armoured knuckles are going to come in useful at this rate

20

Ok, no its not my usual route …i was there for Andrea? i saw a R6 in a bike shop, looked like one she had stolen? so i told her i would leave work and go and check it, i was on my way there when and behind a car as the road is full of traffic? Then this guy just stepped out in front of me, waving his arms etc…i was surprised, and slammed on brakes to stop from hitting him cos he wasnt moving?..then my bike starts rocking from behind? when i got over shock of guy in front got bike into neutral, looked behind me, saw that it was a man and then realised what they were trying to do, then the two bikers came along and as i said, both parked up outside the pub, one stayed with the bikes, suppose in case one of their bikes could have been nicked, one had a kawak the other a suzuki, then one came over punched the guy behind me to the floor…cars stopped, people watching etc…then he shouted at me to get off, i was in shock and followed every damn word he said, i run over to the side with the other biker, the one who punched the guy had my bike and was pushing to round to where their bikes where and shouting at the other guy to get his mate off the road before he gets hit by a car…then he got on the phone to his mates (for back up i guessed in case these guys had people in a shop or something near by)…then the 2 who tried to get my bike run off towards the road that leads to the college and A127? (cant remember name of that road?) and the 2 bikers helped me back on my bike? etc etc…

What im scared of is riding alone at night, cos i do a lot of that…damn, when im bored indoors i usually go off for ride somewhere…(hence my thread on youngsters on bikes cos i see so many of em out late riding like theres no tomorrow and they are on R1’s,gixxers etc, but thats another thread!) BUT what can i do to protect myself…this is something i have never had to think about before?..its just so not fair !!!