Not a good first thread. We had planned a day out on the bike today, but on going to the garage this morning to put the panniers on I found a big empty space where my multi used to sit. Some thieving git has stolen it through the night. The police have been called, don't expect much help, and I tried to call Carole Nash to report it and get the ball rolling on sorting that out. As it's a bank holiday the department is closed and I have to call back tomorrow. Question is what can I expect from Carole Nash as I've never had to claim for a stolen bike before? The bike was 8 weeks old and completely standard with only a 1000m, will I just get market value or due to it's age do they do a like for like? The policy does mention this for anything less than 6 months old, but this was also the case for eBike insurance some years ago, but they said it was at their discretion. Anyone else's experiences after having a bike stolen? Steve Mac.
This must be a terrible wrench and I feel sorry for you. I've never been able to get into expensive bikes, why I've got a £1500 Paso is it will do the job of a new 'un and its down to me to keep up the maintenance. Having a swanky bicycle disappear is bad enough but a new £10k+ m'cycle is something that will follow you for years due to high premiums. Its a sad indication of the marketplace. With a low value machine I don't bother with Fire & Theft, if it ever goes I'll just say fuck it.
Dude I feel for you. Do you think you were followed home? Happened to my brother once. Shed he kept his bike in was not visible from the road or from looking down the side drive of the house. But some lowlife new it was there.
Not so much followed, just seen. A few weeks ago I was washing the bike in front of the garage when a transit went past slowly. At the time I knew it was sus and did start parking my car in front of the garage door. Knowing we were going out early this morning I left the car a foot further out so we didn't need to move it in the morning. Bugger. It may be that they've been past a few times and I was just unlucky last night, who knows. The thieves appear to have walked down the cul de sac a little further to check out a neighbours cctv, he sells expensive cars and sometimes brings them home, seen that it didn't point in my direction and went to work. Until the multi my bikes were transport and as they were in use every day, messing around with to many locks was to much of a faff. After years of complacency with this type of behaviour and living in a quiet small town/village I never got back into the habit of security. There's a u bolt and chain hanging on the wall, how they must have laughed. Shopping for a garage alarm now that the horse has bolted.
No way! I put a tracker on mine. Insurance will worm and squirm. Investigate etc to try to avoid paying. So get your story tight. Go through your policy with a fine tooth comb. Things like are you meant to secure with lock and chain etc are crucial.
Sorry to hear this. I had a GSXR1100 stolen many moons ago - it really isn't a nice feeling. I hop you get it sorted out and are back on the road quickly.
Bad luck mate, I had a 6 day old Fireblade pinched from outside the house back in 1996. It was chained to the rainwater down pipe, but they cut through it as if it was liquorice! As they also snapped the steering lug off the frame, the bike was totalled even though it was recovered - as I recall, under 12 months old meant a straight replacement new bike, but you will need to check your policy docs with a tooth comb to ensure they don't wriggle out of paying up? Good luck - lets hope a) it doesn't turn up and b) you get a full payout.
Steve, What area are you in, do you have some details of the bike so we can keep our eyes peeled. Keep a look out on internet auction sites for a sudden rush of spare parts becoming available.
Not so mch a case of bikes being broken in this country, a lot go in the back of a van with a couple of others to Eastern Europe :-(
happens to the best of us, I wrote a car off similar story. best advice I suggest is that the insurance claims handler is NOT your friend, they will sweet talk u before trying to rape u - nicely. stick to ur guns and its ok to ask for another offer, they wont want to keep the case open so put some pressure on. bugs
Read about a guy who had his bike taken from a locked garage that had his Porsche in front of it. They lifted the bike over the car!! Thieves will ALWAYS go after the easiest thing to nick. So make it as hard as possible for the low life plankton. Mines got a complete bottle of Selecta DNA juice all over it; contains micro dot - plus DNA coded UV liquid for £37. Insurers discount too. Also thieves will wait a month or so then go back and nick your insurance supplied replacement as they now know your lay out, routes out and security arrangements. I'm not trying to depress you but burglary victims often experience repeat visits for the above reasons. Have direct experience of the above sadly. A cheap shed PIR alarm is a good buy. They're loud and easy to use.
I can't believe how lucky I've been, but I've found the bike. This is almost comical. It seems they weren't in a van and so tried to push the bike out of the cul de sac to the main road where they could try and start it using the emergency PIN. Seems they hoped as it was so new I wouldn't have changed the pin from the chassis number. They probably had a few goes and were locked out or simply gave up and left the bike parked at the side of the road. I expect they'll come back tonight with a van in the hope that it'll still be there, it almost was. Because I was so pissed off today we haven't been out, but this evening my wife suggested an indian and so off we went. Out of the front door round the corner and approx. 30m there was my bike parked neatly at the side of the road... The PIN starter cap was off, but no other damage at all. The best bit is the police telling me that it had been circulated as stolen as they'd heard it on the way there, but they'd actually driven by it. The WPC knew nothing about bikes so fair enough, but the other guy had two bikes. I'd pointed out the panniers the thieves had left sitting in the garage so he knew it only had the topbox. Must be ten a penny these multi's, they just slip into the background. A neighbour had seen it and thought it nice, but still thought I was on an super tenere. If I's spoken to him sooner I'd have recovered it sooner. Reported nicked at 08:00, recovered at 18:00. Only problem now is to try and get/keep it off the stolen recovered index. I'll have a word with the crime desk tomorrow and see if we can get it no crime'd so I can have it removed or else trade in value will take a right hit. I also have it barricaded in the garage and thinking about making the dogs sleep in there to.
Have a look through your policy. Many have a replace for new clause if the bike is under 6 month old.
Biot, Agreed. Carole Nash insurance is supposed to be new for old if less than 6 months old so hopefully there would have been a nice new multi waiting. As above post the bike is now secured with various locks and literally barricaded inside the garage with the cars against the outside of the doors, the garage alarms have been ordered. Hopefully the fact they couldn't start it with the PIN means they'll go look else where and hopefully not come looking for the key.
Time to beef up the security now. But at least it's back in one piece. Hope you enjoyed your Indian. ;-)
From what I heard, Ducatis were not traditional targets because of the immobiliser. That seemed to have changed recently. Had my nicked. But i think security of new gen has improved. My friend's Diavel had a similiar story. It was wheeled out half mile away. He had a tracker so the cops were on to them straight away. Unfortunately, there was no evidence they actually moved it. What the cops found was a car full of electronic kit, probably to crack the immobiliser. In other words, they are taking more risks. But they also know to abandon ship so as not to get caught. Just glad they weren't ambushing you for your keys. Also now that it's reported, patrols will be stepped up, at least temporarily. Steve, congrats on getting your bike back. Get a tracker.
I would consider a cctv system, either looking onto garage or inside garage looking at the way in. Systems are pretty cheap now and can be networked to view on smart phones. I have cameras looking at garage, driveway and also onto our cul de sac. In 6 years the footage has been used to convict 3 people.
