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Thieves work on New Years Day

3K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  Griff 
#1 ·
Today I pick up the keys to my new house. My girlfriend and I are really excited. I made sure that she wait for me to get home from work before going into the house so that we could do it together. So, last night we were talking about what stuff we are going to move first. I told her that I was going to move the motorcycle first because it's been under a car port for 7 months and I want go give it a nice warm, dry garage for once. When we got home last night from spending a couple days at Donner Lake I looked at the bike to make sure that there wasn't a lot of water collecting on it from the rain. It splashes from the ground up onto it. This morning it was gone.....not the water....my bike.
I had the steering lock on it and an 80 dollar bicycle U-lock in the rear wheel that takes liquid nitrogen to break. I think the lock itself guarantees bicycles up to 2000 dollars. Not too great for a 10K motorcycle though. Oh, then I had my car parked perpendicular to the bike so they would have had to slide it out from the spot and then use multiple people to lift it onto a truck. Not an easy task at 400 lbs when the wheels will not roll. This is one time when I am glad I have full coverage on it. The police said that they recover 70-75% of them with in 2 days to 2 weeks. After that it's anyone's guess. He said that most stolen bikes are "joy rides". I don't think that some one would go through the effort to circumvent a steering lock, ignition, and U-lock for a "joy" ride in the middle of the night on New Years day in a pouring down rain storm. I don't expect to see it again. I just hope that the insurance covers most of the cost. I guess thieves work on New Years Day.
 
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#2 ·
Shit. :(

#1 I hope you find the bike or at least get enough money to replace it 100%.

#2 I hope they catch the bastards who did it so you can post thier name, number and address here so a few of our Cali members can pay them a visit. :mad:

Best of luck to ya bro.
 
#4 ·
A guy at my work told me that he knows some guys that steal sport bikes and then re-sell them. He said he would ask them. If I find out who these guys are, I am turning them in....whether they have my bike or not. They deserve to go down.
I am not ruling our the possibility that they would use it for parts also.
I guess I will look at the new R6's and GSXR750's a little closer now. Assuming I get the highest blue book I can get for it.

--kemo
 
#5 ·
Sorry to hear about your loss man. Thats rough. In the club i belong to up here, the local authorities let us know about the stolen bikes and we put all the info on oue web site. That way, anyone looking at the site is another pair of eyes keeping an eye out for anything missing. It's worked great too, we helped to bust a theft ring and recovered over 35 bikes and a few cars. Might be an idea for SBW to try.
 
#6 ·
I went to a Sacramento Sport Bike Club web site (of which I am NOT a member) and e-mailed them to ask them if they could post something about my bike. I assume they have something like that but I didn't look into their site too heavily to check it out. I doubt that the bike will ever be ridden on the road in one piece ever again though. They will probably just strip it.
Does anyone have any advice on how to get the most out of my insurance? I had 3000 miles on it. No pictures of it. It was in PERFECT condition. I had cut off the fender and re-mounted the plate higher...then added frame sliders but those were the only mods. No dings, dents, scratches, or anything. The only service info I have is for the 600 mile inspection. I did one oil change myself and that's it. I got the Kelley Blue Book retail as being 9600+...of course you can buy a new one from the lot for 8400 now. Let me know if you have any ideas...thanks.
 
#7 ·
Sorry about that Shrub! I know what it feels like! :mad: Don't expect to see your bike again. 75% recovery rate? Bull$*it!

As to the insurance company, don't take their first offer from your insurance company, (unless they blow your socks off of course!). Negotiate until you get a fair deal. If you have all your receipts, those will help you a lot. Stick to blue book, and do a price comparison of what your bike is selling for, in dealerships and in the cycle traders. Don't expect to get the full amount, but close to what it would cost you to buy the exact same bike with the exact same mileage.
 
#8 ·
Wet Shrub said:
I went to a Sacramento Sport Bike Club web site (of which I am NOT a member) and e-mailed them to ask them if they could post something about my bike. I assume they have something like that but I didn't look into their site too heavily to check it out. I doubt that the bike will ever be ridden on the road in one piece ever again though. They will probably just strip it.
Does anyone have any advice on how to get the most out of my insurance? I had 3000 miles on it. No pictures of it. It was in PERFECT condition. I had cut off the fender and re-mounted the plate higher...then added frame sliders but those were the only mods. No dings, dents, scratches, or anything. The only service info I have is for the 600 mile inspection. I did one oil change myself and that's it. I got the Kelley Blue Book retail as being 9600+...of course you can buy a new one from the lot for 8400 now. Let me know if you have any ideas...thanks.

They will only give you wholesale value if you paid cash for it. If it's fiananced Im not sure if they will pay off the loan amount or not.
 
#9 ·
Bummer :( Seems like when I lived in the Sac. area there were lots of stolen bikes and cars. What PD told you that recovery rate? I have friends that work for the S.O. and they dont even search for stolen vehicles unless it was used in a felony or part of a suspected "theft ring". Not to discourage you. Hope they find it or do not and you get that 9600.00+ from the insurance. Either way hope it works out for you.

Happy New Year thieves, may you ride straight into an oncoming big rig, punks :finger: :finger:
 
#10 ·
Sorry about your loss. Just once I'd love to catch these bastards in the act...Anyways, stay on your law enforcement agency (police or sheriff). They usually have an auto theft task force who cruise looking for stolen vehicles. Make sure your bike gets on their "hot sheet". Call them dailyfor an update. Remember, lots of cops ride, and many who do, ride sportbikes. The weather in our area has been real rainy. My guess is that your bike is in someone's garage and will be on the road the first nice day there is. Hang in there..Let's hook up and ride sometime...
 
#11 ·
I talked to the shop I bought it from (Carmichael Honda). They said that there is no way that it will be seen on the road in one piece. It is probably already stripped down into pieces. Maybe I will see the parts on E-bay or something.
The real bummer is that I have to wait 30 days before the insurance can even start processing my claim. I guess they think it might turn up with in 30 days. Luckily I have transfered the rest of the financing over to a zero interest credit card....so it is no longer financed but it was originally. I think I may have a fare well drink tonight for my poor lost baby. May she blow a tire at 100 mph and kill the bastards that stole her.
Oh...and RobG...I technically live in Sacramento County so the PD didn't handle it...the Highway Patrol did. The guy I talked to was a moron though. He kept reading from some page that he didn't have memorized. I could tell because he kept referring to my bike as a "truck" in mid-sentence.
Fast Eddie....I don't think I will be riding for a while. Sorry. Have fun on yours though and tie it to the ground so it doesn't magically fly away.
 
#12 ·
Don't forget you had a full system and chip on it. Don't take the first offer. You need to go and check on KBB or some location to find the rough value of the bike. When it happened to me, they actually looked up the wrong bike at first and gave me a value abour $2000 lower than the value of my bike. I asked WTF and then it came out they were looking up a monster 750. Oopppss!
 
#13 ·
fasteddie said:
Sorry about your loss. Just once I'd love to catch these bastards in the act...Anyways, stay on your law enforcement agency (police or sheriff). They usually have an auto theft task force who cruise looking for stolen vehicles. Make sure your bike gets on their "hot sheet". Call them dailyfor an update. Remember, lots of cops ride, and many who do, ride sportbikes. The weather in our area has been real rainy. My guess is that your bike is in someone's garage and will be on the road the first nice day there is. Hang in there..Let's hook up and ride sometime...
I DID catch a fu**er trying to steal mine one night! My roommate and I were returning home from the bars one night, and as we rounded the corner that leads up to my apartment building, I could, (through my drunken gaze), make out a motorcycle sitting sideways in the road, with the headlights flashing like someone was trying to start it. As we got closer, I could see that it looked like a blue ZX-7!
Hey, wait a minute, I'm the only one in town with a custom blue ZX-7!
We raced up in front of him, blocking his path if he HAD gotten it started. In getting to him, I was reaching for my pistol, which I always had with me, and was coming up with nothing. (I later realized that I had, for my own safety, left it at my apartment for the simple fact that I was planning on going out and getting drunk, and those two don't mix!)
All in one fell swoop, we were both out of the car and chasing this kid on foot through the backyards of the apartment complex! Jason slipped in the wet grass and fell down, while I gave it everything I had to catch the fu**er. Right when I thought I was close enough to him to jumpand tackle him, he looked over his shoulder, and just took off twice as fast! It was like he hit the nitrous on his shoes or something.
I had my cell phone, so I called two of my buddies and told 'em to load up, "We're finding this guy NOW!!" And then I called the cops. My boys showed up in a couple of minutes, while my other roommate grabbed my gun and met Jason and I out looking for the kid. The cops showed up about 10 minutes later, and my four buddies and I had already covered the entire apartment complex, looking under every car, truck, and everything else.
We went back and picked my bike up off the ground, and called it quits after looking for the bastard for another hour. (Cops finally made us quit cause we were scaring all the neighbors).
 
#14 · (Edited)
That's a real bummer, man.... :( sounds like you did everything you could!

I've been in Antigua for the past six months, a small island in the West Indies (Caribbean) and there is a significant business here of bringing in bikes that have been stolen in the US and Canada and containered down here - there's a lot of kids with money here, and no bike dealerships (other than the VW dealership selling Jinchengs :eek::barf: ). The entire island is like 10 miles by 10 miles, and yet I have seen dozens of crazy bikes here - ducati 996s, GSXR1100s, and more. Perhaps your bike is vacationing in the Caribbean? :)

I've had a car stolen - watched the guys drive off in it as we chased 'em down the street. Also lost a sizeable stereo. Both times, doing my homework (scouring classifieds) and playing hardball with the insurance co. meant that I got significantly more $ from the settlement than I could have by selling the car / stereo privately. Once the heartbreak wears off, if you're properly covered (as you suggest), you can quite possibly come out better off than you were before the bike got stolen. :cool:

As for the parts showing up on Ebay - reminds me of a thread I read on miataforum.com, it seems one of the forum members was stealing parts off other Miatas (including other forum members) and putting them on his car and/or selling them on Ebay! :eek: The boys on the forum put two and two together, tipped off the cops, and got the boy busted. Check it out here - http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=012241&p=
 
#15 ·
Shrub, give me the details on your 929.

I live in Sac', and have MANY connections with dealers, mechanics, shops, through my website.

Maybe a clue will turn up. Sometime these guys are good at stealing, but stupid when trying to get rid of parts, etc.

The Sheriffs dept caught a guy last year...... he waited 2 months after he stoled the bike (and stripped it), and try to sell the engine in the Sac Bee classifieds. The owner saw the ad in the paper, reported it, and the Deputies did a little sting operation and caught a few other guys and recovered a ton of stolen bike stuff.
 
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