In the last 8 weeks, 8 of us Londoners from the KTM Forum have had our bikes stolen. Two have been recovered, and one was only an attempt.
West End Central Police recently created a specialist Vehicle crime unit, headed up by DS James Harman and DC Natalie Morrice who have handled some of the W1 cases, but other cases have taken place outside W1 from Covent Garden, to Old Street to Hackney to Islington and Kings Cross. The Kings Cross theft invloved a violent bike jacking incident.
The Police have made one arrest, and we are aware of one of the local gangs, working on bicycles out of the Kings Cross area. ā¦although I suspect theyāll be let off with a slapped wrist.
If this many KTMs are being stolen, all in London, and all known to one small niche forum, this MUST be the tip of the iceberg.???
Iād like to know how many other London bikes have been taken over the summer, and if there are a significant number of us, I think itās time to make a joint complaint to the London Police Authorties via the London press, especially in the light of charged motorcycle parking that promises - but does NOT deliver as yet - extra security. :rolleyes:
I know you lot are a pretty cynical bunch (being both bikers AND Londoners) but I would ask that anyone who has had their bike stolen, or knows persionally of a London theft, replies to this thread and allows us to gather a group of pissed-off bikers in enough numbers to cause a stir.
If you canāt be arsed, weāll do it anyway. Time to choose whether youāre do-ers or chatters.
Either way, Iām having none of this ******** anymore and intend to do something about it.
ā¦had a bike nicked two years ago a week before christmas in north east london. Happened within half an hour from outside my sisters house. Can I join?
Hello,
Well here goes, Grey and Silver Metallic GSXR 750 K7, 3000 Miles, LG08 GXR.
Stolen 18th June 2008, from Southwark. SE1 8HP at 12 lunch time outside my works office in private car park.
White Ford panel transit van gang, 4 guys caught on CCTV, Cloned plates. Another bike was stolen after mine on the same plates. (Iāll dig them out) EJ57ā¦
Never recovered, never even had a phone call from the police about the bike to follow up. Iāll get the Crime ref numbers as they are at home.
Excuse the rim tape, I was having a bit of a funny turn.
i think your efforts to promote awareness are admirable
we need to be careful about how much information we post about ourselves, or at least compensate for the fact that we do.
i know a couple have gone from round this area - one in sun street.
i can see my bike (and othersā from this forum) from my window - i take solace in keeping an eye on them, despite their being chained upā¦ ive seen people even sniff those bikes and im down there like a flashā¦ i think they think im a weird old lady lolā¦ but it annoys me when people think they can just sit on some random bike - i think theyd disapprove if i sat in their unlocked car! i dont care what they think if it wards people offā¦
this is a good thread to start and I hope it produces some results, can we please keep it serious without smartalec comments, so that we can see if a pattern or specific area is more liable to have bike stolen from
If the bikes are stolen, then info and crime ref details are not gonna do anyone any harm.What I want is to connect the real victims of bike crime together to create a credible group of us that can:1. Get some headlines in London papers, 2. push Boris and the London Plod-Force into action3. and make Westminster put their sodding money where their mouth is by putting locking points by London bike bays, so we can get some benefit from these new charges.
Fair point, Duct - I recetly contacted Westminster council. I tried to initially contact their m/c rep, but GIVEN THAT THEY DONT HAVE ONE!! I contacted their cycling rep. He then got confused as to whether I was riding a bike or a cycle. If Id have been riding a cycle, they could help - but it seems we have no voice on that councilā¦
The first biker āmarchā last year produced a few biker MPs, notably a Conservative MP that rides an interesting hogā¦will see if I cant dig up some details for contactsā¦focus groups are fine, but we need a voice in parliament, in addition to Boris, in my opinionā¦
Thanks PPG.As for the forum connection - not when you look into the detail. Too many different MOs and circumstances, and we know of at least 3 sepreate gangs involved.
Also, none of us could be connected to our actual bikes or locatiosn via our posts or usernames.
ā¦even if someone were to say online āthere is a KTM parked up near Wardour street this weekā it would hardly be a surprise as theyāre blimmin everwhere in Soho and I can probably go walkabout now and see about 5 of them.
2004 - Aprilia RS125 stolen from Mossford Street in Mile End
2006 - Yamaha R6 - attempted theft from Mansfield Avenue in Tottenham - Bike fell out of moving van as the c*nts that stole it didnāt have enough space in there with all the other bikes they got that night.
2008 - Yamaha R1 - stolen but recovered.
Expecting the next one in 2010 :rolleyes:
For me, I donāt leave the security of anything I want to keep down to anyone else.
To keep a bike relatively safe in London requires:
A garage with an installed ground anchor (or just an anchor with the bike fully covered up outside if you have to).
An Almax chain through the bikeās swing arm and through the anchor.
A proximity alarm inside the garage or near the bike
A pager connected to the alarm to alert you.
And if it all goes wrong and the c*nts still get your bikeā¦
A Tracker Monitor so youāve got a decent chance of getting it back.
You wonāt get much change back from 2 grand for that little lot, but if you want to keep a 8 grand + easily movable possesion out of anyone elseās hands, then there you go
Great idea! It will be an even greater achievement to get some face-time in the london news. As already mentioned, there are plenty of quango jobs being created in local councilās, and yet nothing so much as a representative for motorcycles.
I think a key point is the fact that Westminster are introducing bike bay parking fines and charges, and yet you would find it just about impossible to find any eveidence of them actually improving the parking situation.
Security in these areaās is extremely substandard, and this is what needs to be pointed out to Boris and his borough councilās! I thoroughly back anybody wanting to start a campaign/petition, and think a few letters to your local council and Boris isnāt a lot to ask. In fact, Iām going to go write one now! Might even drop a quick line to some of the local ragās, Metro etcā¦
Count me in, I am still smarting from having my R6 knicked nearly 2 years ago.Maybe, KTMs are the new R6/R1? Know what I mean? The scumbags seem to go through phases of liking certain types of bikes?
PPG, good on you for keeping an eye out. We could always start a club of the weird old ladies; we might make the Hells Angels look kind. I do the same and if somebody hangs around a bike who just doesnāt look right Iāve gone up to them to see what they are up to. I only asked one the other day if I could help him when he was hovering around my bike, cheeky git told me he was just checking on his bike. I told him that I thought his comment was interesting as that bike belonged to me. He decided to leg it after that. Sadly, I am a crap runner and didnāt get a piccie of him first.
Just a quick observation. London is awash with cctv- have none of the thefts been caught on camera? Would it make any difference if there was a cctv camera at each bike bay? You would expect there to be a better detection rate when the police know that there is likely to be another KTM nicked in the next week from the same square mile!
Hmm - from what I can see, I wonāt get much change from around 260 grand for that lot - I cannot for the life of me find a house in London that I can afford with a garage!
too many thieving scumbags out there would like to relieve us of our pride and joys :w00t: