Stolen Motorbike

[magnusgriel]

Well, i had my motorbike stolen from my house saturday night. Its a CB 400 (super 4) see photo. It had no plates (i know i know) but a big red 'G3' sticker where the plate goes.

I realize its probably long gone, but if anyone does see it could they please contact me at - pm please- -or 087 021 5369.

I've already gone to the police etc. but who knows how helpful they'll be.

Thanks if anyone can help

[justcruisin]

Welcome to T.V

Kiss the bike goodbye,unlikely you will ever see it again,probably in parts or Burma by now.

Had a friend lose(stolen) a Cbr150 recently also.

Nothing worse than some scum taking your pride and joy.

[eek]

Oh im so sorry that happened to you. Can i ask if it was locked up in anyway or in a secure area. I only ride a scooter, but i do stick a chunky chain around the wheel (attached to something if poss), when parked at night or in an area i feel isnt safe enough. How exactly do people steal bikes though..hotwire? Or actually lift the entire thing onto the back of a pickup or what? Sorry for my naivety on this! I saw one scooter that had a neat looking wheel lock attached to it..i guess it disables/locks the wheel so it can be driven away if hotwired?

Anyway...best of luck..but sadly, like justcruisin says, its probably gone for good.

[asiascharlie]

I had a 400 stolen as well .Go to www.mocyc.com and post an ad offer a reward .I did and got my bike back .I paid 20 000 baht which was compensation money given by my apartment building .Super 4s are stolen by gangs that target these bikes because they are popular and easy to resell .Mine was recovered in Chiang Mai .A reward will get people lookin .Forget the police .They are useless.

[cmdream]

Sorry for your troubles mate, I will keep an eye out when I ride around. It was taken from your house means someone has been eyeballing it for a while. Was it at night or where you away when it happened ? I guess its time to get a big chain for the big bikes too! Dam shame, hope you recover it.

[thrilled]

I'm hearing of it more and more in thailand,fast baht.Have to make it hard on the thieves.make them want to steal your neighbors instead of yours.Sad but true.

[garyh]

Oh im so sorry that happened to you. Can i ask if it was locked up in anyway or in a secure area. I only ride a scooter, but i do stick a chunky chain around the wheel (attached to something if poss), when parked at night or in an area i feel isnt safe enough. How exactly do people steal bikes though..hotwire? Or actually lift the entire thing onto the back of a pickup or what? Sorry for my naivety on this! I saw one scooter that had a neat looking wheel lock attached to it..i guess it disables/locks the wheel so it can be driven away if hotwired?

Anyway...best of luck..but sadly, like justcruisin says, its probably gone for good.

If the chain is just through the wheel it would be easy to take the wheel off leave it there and put the scooter on a pickup. Put it through the frame for a bit better protected, there are cables that you can get also that are very hard to cut, much better than any chain and not so heavy.

[Pikey]

Sorry for your troubles mate, I will keep an eye out when I ride around. It was taken from your house means someone has been eyeballing it for a while. Was it at night or where you away when it happened ? I guess its time to get a big chain for the big bikes too! Dam shame, hope you recover it.

Agree about someone lining it up before nicking it. Can you expand on the circumstances a bit so as others can learn and maybe take some preventative measures?

Hope you get it back and if you do, or you buy another, go to Carrefour and invest 300B in a cover - keeps out prying eyes and gecko sh*t.

Also, chain it or get a dog. I have both

Cheers,

Pikey.

[eek]

Yes...would be good to know a few more details please.

garyh, my bf's son had a bicycle with a thick cable lock, but when my bf borrowed it one night, and we both bicycled to walking street. His sons cable lock was snapped in two by some heavy wire cutters, my bicycle was left behind (VERY chunky heavy loop chain). In hindsight i wish we had looped both chains through both bikes. Do you think the cable locks are decent enough? Im pretty wary about them after that.

I did see a lock like this one on a scooter in Chiang Mai:

It looked pretty neat because it didnt need to get packed away, just drops down when needed. (edit: on 2nd thoughts, might be best to move the U lock out the way..might not be safe when driving?) Do you guys think a lock like this disables the bike enough? Might be good for general use, but then a heavy lock for dodgy areas and/or locking up at night?

Any thoughts on keeping scooters/bikes/bicycles that are left outside more secure?

Edited January 7, 2010 by eek

[mcgriffith]

You might want to try one of these:

Purchased at Carrefour, was rather inexpensive at I believe 90 B or so.

It is JUST long enough to fit through the swing arm and rear wheel of both my Wave 100, and CBR 150. Probably would not do the same for a bigger bike.

Yeah, they can still lift the bike up and put on a pickup. But this kind of lock is very difficult to defeat for a casual thief, and if you put through the swing arm/rear wheel, it pretty much immobilizes the bike.

[garyh]

Yes...would be good to know a few more details please.

garyh, my bf's son had a bicycle with a thick cable lock, but when my bf borrowed it one night, and we both bicycled to walking street. His sons cable lock was snapped in two by some heavy wire cutters, my bicycle was left behind (VERY chunky heavy loop chain). In hindsight i wish we had looped both chains through both bikes. Do you think the cable locks are decent enough? Im pretty wary about them after that.

I did see a lock like this one on a scooter in Chiang Mai:

It looked pretty neat because it didnt need to get packed away, just drops down when needed. (edit: on 2nd thoughts, might be best to move the U lock out the way..might not be safe when driving?) Do you guys think a lock like this disables the bike enough? Might be good for general use, but then a heavy lock for dodgy areas and/or locking up at night?

Any thoughts on keeping scooters/bikes/bicycles that are left outside more secure?

There are cable locks that can not be cut easily, sounds like the one you had was not the same as a good one is much much harder to cut than any chain.

[BlackArtemis]

Stateside we have a product/service that is a GPS tracker. It's about the size of box of matches. Charge it up and hide it on something and you can find it anywhere.

The problem is it runs on a certain Cellphone company's satellites here in the US.

There has to be something similarly offered in SE Asia. Perhaps even one that you can hook up to the battery to recharge it.

On a side note, my friend had her Mio stolen and the cops found it 4 months later in Ayutthya. The color was changed but they kept the original papers in the bike... So on a traffic stop she got her bike back.

[Pikey]

Any thoughts on keeping scooters/bikes/bicycles that are left outside more secure?

At home, if you are serious about it, get a ground anchor and a decent size chain with a good heavy duty padlock and run it through the frame. Like I said before, if feasible, a dog is your best bet at home, either a yappy little mutt as an alarm for when you are there or something a bit more significant and intimidating for when you are not

For out and about, a U-lock will prevent a ride away but will not prevent a few guys hoiking your pride & joy into the back of a pickup in less time than it takes to read this sentence. Best to lock it to something immobile but it's a PITA carrying a chunky lock & chain everywhere. Also, park in a well populated area - thieves don't like attention.

Alarms are a good idea and the wife's Airblade has one that can also remotely start & cut the engine within a short range. There are now disc locks with an inbuilt motion detector/alarm available but I'm not sure if you could source one here in CNX. Brand name is Xena and I think they are available in BKK at Paddock or Red Baron.

Cheers,

Pikey.

[eek]

sounds like the one you had was not the same as a good one is much much harder to cut than any chain.

im guessing so. I'll look out for what you recommend. I think will be a lot better than the super heavy chain i have (particularly as i want a new lock for my bicycle).

You might want to try one of these:

Purchased at Carrefour, was rather inexpensive at I believe 90 B or so.

It is JUST long enough to fit through the swing arm and rear wheel of both my Wave 100, and CBR 150. Probably would not do the same for a bigger bike.

Yeah, they can still lift the bike up and put on a pickup. But this kind of lock is very difficult to defeat for a casual thief, and if you put through the swing arm/rear wheel, it pretty much immobilizes the bike.

mcgriffith, any chance you can show a pic of the positioning you are talking about? Sorry, im not so good at the terms and what to put where malarky!

[FolkGuitar]

Here is a very interesting and quite surprising study of what are 'supposed to be' very good chains and locks for motorcycles. All guaranteed by their makers and certified by the agency (Thatcham) in the UK that handles that stuff.

Frankly, as a motorcycle owner, it's a bit scary. Look at the video at the bottom of the page Not one of the supposedly secure devices lasted more than a few SECONDS.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-alarms/

I really mean only SECONDS to break.

[eek]

Im watching it now FolkGuitar..first chain broken under 18 seconds on a bike lock that cost 70 gbp..

[gravion]

even putting a scooter on a pick up is a huge hassle? it's heavy ass and pick up is high.

also ive seen couple of pickups carrying motosai and driving around... ofcourse some might be legit reason though.

anyone know who these gangs are? like in the UK, i saw this stuff happening on telly...

these african dudes steal cars and take em apart and ship em to south africa n stuff. back then i was assuming, auto mechanics r behind it all cuz they got garages n tools

[eek]

I suppose most of these are really just preventative methods. If you put some kind of wheel lock on and chain up the bike, then hopefully those looking to nik a bike will look elsewhere for an easier target that isnt worth all the hassle.

[magnusgriel]

thanx for all the reply's and thanx to asiascharlie idea about a reward. think i'll try that.

[mcgriffith]

eekers, I'll take a photo tomorrow when I have some light, and post it here.

(Of the U-lock on the motorsai).

[gravion]

lol tire locks would be useless in this situation

LOL dam_n

GANGSTER G

[chokrai]

My stepson had his CB 400 stolen outside his apartment last year. He went around looking at the small repair shops and found it sitting outside one already painted and for sale. Turns out it was a policeman that was selling it. He got the bike back ,cop said he bought it from someone he didnt know.

[mcgriffith]

sounds like the one you had was not the same as a good one is much much harder to cut than any chain.

im guessing so. I'll look out for what you recommend. I think will be a lot better than the super heavy chain i have (particularly as i want a new lock for my bicycle).

You might want to try one of these:

Purchased at Carrefour, was rather inexpensive at I believe 90 B or so.

It is JUST long enough to fit through the swing arm and rear wheel of both my Wave 100, and CBR 150. Probably would not do the same for a bigger bike.

Yeah, they can still lift the bike up and put on a pickup. But this kind of lock is very difficult to defeat for a casual thief, and if you put through the swing arm/rear wheel, it pretty much immobilizes the bike.

mcgriffith, any chance you can show a pic of the positioning you are talking about? Sorry, im not so good at the terms and what to put where malarky!

Here you go. Again, as noted above, no lock will deter a professional thief. But it will make it much more difficult for the casual thief.

BTW, theft insurance here is very reasonable. I paid about 2000 B for a 2 year policy, that covered about 82% of the new purchase value the first year, going down to ~65% the second year of coverage. (This for the CBR 150, which was 65,000 B new). Cheaper for a Wave, or Dream. I don't know about insuring used bikes.

You will note that the U lock is somewhat "buried"- very difficult to get at with boltcutters. And you have to cut both sides- the U portion won't rotate on the cylinder. Last photo is the key. Not a simple pin tumbler, very hard to pick this lock style...

Hope this helps.

[eek]

Really helps. Thank you so very much mcG.

Im going to buy one of those locks, but will also use a chain or cable lock to attach onto something at night time or areas im not sure about.

[magnusgriel]

quick update. We think we know who stole the bike. A rogue monk (crazy i know). going to try to find out his name/ address tomorrow. Cant wait forever for the police to get their finger out. He supposedly lives in a district outside C Mai.

oh, more info.

Engine number เครื่อง – NC23E 1376903

Chassis Number โครงรถ– NC31 1006891

Magnus

[garyh]

Perhaps if you tell the BIB there is a reward they will get there fingers out.

[magnusgriel]

/\ I did but there fingers are still firmly lodged in.

We now know the likely bugler's name is 'tossapol' nickname 'tomtam' from san kampeang. went around sk today looking and handing out posters to bike shops. fingers crossed.

[magnusgriel]

Excellent news. The police have found the bike, wooooooooooo!!! I checked it out and looks ok. Must've been the 10k reward and my landlord (ex general) having words that got things moving.

It was indeed the bad 'monk' from the temple behind my house. He showed up, back at the temple, with his parents (obviously he hadn't told them) to make merit. temple tipped off the police so they tailed him. he must of gone to where the bike was.

Now the police are finalizing paperwork etc so should have it in the next couple of days. Then off to buy a huge lock and chain.

Thanks to everyones support.

[jdinasia]

Congtratz!

[IanForbes]

That is EXCELLENT news! Thanks for keeping us informed. It's always nice to hear of a happy ending. Too many bikes just disappear forever.