Who says crooks are smart...? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

This is almost too weird. Tonight, my wife and I went to see a movie. It was her choice and so she chose 'Mama Mia' (not really my thing, but as I said... her choice), all-in-all, not too awful for a chick flick (at least Pierce Brosnan, ex-James Bond was in it) . It was such a nice night, we decided to take the bike (an '07 Moto Guzzi California). A neighborhood theatre, there was minimal street parking. But, there was an '07 Harley Davidson XL1200N Nightster in a space, so I decided to pull in, tail first, in the same spot. The Harley was actually chained to a lamp pole with what looked to be about a 65lb. chain with a Kryptonite lock - overkill I thought. Anyway, my wife brought a separate pair of shoes to change as she didn't want to be in her riding boots (suffering for ATGATT) through the whole film. Well, in the confusion, what with changing shoes and stashing the helmets and jackets in the top and side cases etc., we went into the movie theatre and about an hour into the movie, I realized that I'd left the keys in the ignition (I carry my house keys on a separate ring and so didn't notice I was 'light'). So, I went out to retrieve them. When I got there, thieves had cut out the light pole completely and taken it and the Harley, while my Guzzi sat 3 ft. away with the keys in the ignition !! Really dodged that bullet !! Moto Guzzi California - MSRP $15,400 HD XL1200N Nightster - MSRP $9500 Who says crooks are smart...???

You are right - you did dodge a bullet, and crooks are indeed stupid. However, movies are probably the worst place to take a bike to (at least here in the bay area). Not to threadcrap, but what I don't get is how come the cops don't do **************** about bikes being stolen. There are such a large number of bikes stolen, it has to be organized (esp. with how their 'economy' works).

Wow. Cutting a lamp post to get a bike? that seems kinda risky (I would assume there would be some traffic near a movie theater) while there are the keys to a bike right next to them. Maybe they thought it belonged to someone....dangerous? who knows

Whoah whoah whoah now. The light pole was cut and taken with the bike???? What kind of light pole can be "cut" Im thinking of a 14 in x 20 ft pile timber when I think of a light pole. What kind of pole was this? Maybe I live in a Utopian dream world where no crime occurs, but that seems a bit ridiculous.

It was a cast iron or steel Street Lamp post w/ silicon lamp, probably 12'-15' tall (I live in an area which uses 'vintage' street lamps). So far as I can tell, they must have used a carbide saw or wheel to get through it, at least that was the cop's specualtion. Why they also took the lamp post is anyone's guess, scrap value? And, if they were using a carbide saw, why didn't they just cut the chain? After the movie, we went out and the Harley owner, his GF, and the police were there. I only told them that I saw the bike there when we went in, had to go out to my bike an hour later and the bike (and light) were gone. I didn't want to advertise my stupidity, so I left out the part about leaving my keys. The owner was totally despondent, and the cop was saying that they'd "had a few of these in the past couple months". I told the owner not to fret... that's what his insurance was for, that he could have the Ins. co. call me if necessary, and we left.

Wow, I guess they were purely focusing on the Harley, maybe it has more street value? It was nice of you to offer help to the guy who got his nice bike stolen, it must be a hard time, even if you know insurance will help you out.

My uncle in Chicago always said if you want to keep your car, park it next to something nicer.

Speculation. The Nightster is hot right now. The Guzi is an unknown for the average low life stealer. Any way, you got lucky.

I have asked you guys to let this so-called issue alone. If you don't want to read Lil Bastard's posts, by all means don't. If you do, simply comment appropriately. I am getting tired of this. You guys are better than this, act your age and move on please. Enough, is enough.

Damn, that's a weird story. Cutting the lightpost - that is just weird.

This used to happen in NYC. I remember several posts on a Corvette website about guys who would claim to chain their cars to posts etc. They come out in the morning and either the chain or the post was cut and the C was simply gone. Didn't see it but it apparently it does happen in the more brazen hell holes in the USA.

Yea, the whole thing got me to thinking that maybe I should do something more to secure my bike, maybe a chain and lock. But then, it's already been proven that this doesn't work very well. Guess I'll just make sure my insurance is always up to date, and that I have the correct amounts of comprehensive. BL, true, Harleys are much more broadly known than Guzzis and there's probably a bigger parts market for HD parts. I'm sure that Nightster has already been stripped and is in boxes in some garage or warehouse soon to be on their way to their new owners.

I always thought a kyptonite lock on the front brake would be a deterrent. Naive me.

With bikes, sadly this doesn't work. Three or four guys come along with a pick up truck. They spot a 500 lb bike. A ramp, four guys. Well, you can do the math. The bike is gone is less than 60 seconds. Sad but true. Bike theft is pretty easy stuff.

Yea, it looked like a disc lock but was used to lock the chain. I didn't actually see what it locked to on the bike, I assume he put it through the frame. I'm not a huge fan of disc locks, I figure if the bad guy doesn't see it, when he tries to take the bike, he's give up and leave you with all sorts of wheel/fork damage. And, if I can forget to take the keys with me, imagine what I could do if I forgot the disc lock. I know they have those bright colored 'slinky' handlebar reminders, but I still don't trust myself. I'm thinking of a Lo-Jac. I'm gonna check them out and see if I can get a discount on my ins. with one, eventually getting a payback. That may be the way to go. Anyone else use one? It won't make the bike theft-proof, but at least it should make it more recoverable.

That Nightster was a nice looking bike, though a little too naked for our needs. No doubt, Harley makes great bikes, all the way back to 1903 (excluding the AMF years of course). But their popularity by thieves is probably just as much the marketing HD does. They're really a marketing co., just like Ferrari. They both make more revenue from licensing than they do from selling cars/bikes. I mean you can even get HD logo'd disposable diapers. And how did they convince Ford to put out an HD edition pickup... what's up with that?

OK, did some reasearch and LoJack is out! Seems installation is around $1k. And, you cannot have them locate it w/o a police report (in this community, PD reponse time for a theft is 1+ hrs., more than enough time to have the bike trashed). Also, did some searching on some moto forums and these were the responses: From a cop - " Lojac works, let me tell you. But the point of a bike being different from a car is well advised. If you activate lojac quickly and we get a signal while the guy is getting gas or parked , its an easy grab. But the downside is that like what was mentioned, your bike will prolly be dissassembled, thrashed or used in a high speed pursuit (and those never end good)" " My understanding is that LoJack works pretty good but the police must be equipped with a LoJack tracking device. Depending on where you live, your police may or may not have the capability to track the bike. Also keep in mind that the LoJack does not start sending out it's location until you activate it. If too much time elapses the bike could already be taken apart or may be in a remote location that is out of police range ." " I had a bike stolen about 10 years ago and unfortunately it was recovered. I wish the police had not found the bike because the engine was trashed but the insurance company would only pay for the cosmetic damage that the bike had ." " not all departments have lojack detection units. mostly only big citys ." and the best one - " Greetings! Here's your jacked up, thrashed bike. Good thing we didnt have to total it and pay for the whole thing. Sincerely, Your insurance company " I do like the look of the Millennium Plus GPS Millenium Plus GPS , about $449. Seems you can locate you bike anytime you want using internet access, even get a sattelite aerial photo of it's location. It does have a minimum $9.95/mo. activation charge (optional) for which you get 15 inquiries/mo. You can also get it w/ no acticvation and activate when you need it for a 1-time charge. It also works with the bikes security unit and has starter interuption. Anyone here have it? What do you think, is it worth it, or should I just let the ins. co. deal with it if it ever get stolen?

My Hog has an etching on it. The previous owner (from Canada) had a place called Spider Works laser etch almost every part of the bike. I mean every part, when I'm doing a detailed cleaning I find areas that I've dismantled with their code. The only place I haven't found etched is the lens. I'm sure it's thought of as a deterrent. With that said, if someone wants something bad enough, they will find a way to take it. And if involves tearing it up in the process just remember, it's only a material object and can be repaired or replaced.

If you don't notice the disc lock and let the clutch out, you will be thrown off the bike in some fashion, depending on gas/clutch. Don't ask me how I know. ha ha. I had a car stolen, and thankfully it wasn't found until after the 30 day period so I got reimbursement from insurance. That worked out well, even though I had to jump a few hoops to prove it was worth more than blue book [VERY low mileage]. So, when I was asked if I wanted anti theft device/s on my new car I thought no, that's what I have insurance for. And even though insurance discounts you for it, it is not near the cost, so no thank you. Good info on the lojack too. Like the Kryptonite theory, nothing prevents theft. Not even a lamp post.

Ages ago, I had a sport bike that someone attempted to steal. They cut the chains and had the brains to hotwire it but apparently not the intelligence to flip the killswitch. The police found it around the back of the apartment complex that I was living in at the time perfectly fine except for the busted out ignition, still hotwired and battery dead. I guess they gave up after not being able to push start it...