Stolen!

[CheGuevara]

A postive word about the Corby Police: I really wasn't expecting much for this sort of crime, but these guys have bent over backwards to help.

- The person who took the initial call was friendly, polite and helpful with advice regarding preserving the scene.

- A forensics van was sent out mid-day Friday, just a few hours after it had been reported. The woman who attended was also polite and friendly, and made a real effort to try and obtain some usable fingerprints. She took the time to show me what she was doing -described that the nature of some of the smudges indicated they might have been wearing latex gloves (assuming those weren't mine from when I'm working in the garage).

- A community support police officer showed up later that afternoon -again a really nice guy. He took notes and then started knocking on doors to see if anyone had seen or heard anything. He came back the other day to collect a CD I'd burned with detailed photos of the bikes - to save me having to bring it down to the station.

- I've had an early morning phone call from the officer in charge of the investigation, EVERY morning to update me on what's being done to find the bike (quite a lot from his description) -how he's distributing the info, chatting about what sort of scenarios might be likely, things I can try to help find it, steps I can take for improving security and so on. He lives in my area and told me how when he heard a thumper ripping up the streets last night while he was cooking his dinner, he bolted outside to see if it was my bike. Turns out it was some knob on a black and white bike standing on the seat "surfing" it down a residential road with a lot of children, parked cars, and blind intersections/driveways -idiot.

Anyhow, while I've certainly had a rocky relationship with the police (in Canada) where motorcycles are concerned, and have tended to be a bit skeptical about how much value they offer, I do believe that credit is due to these people for going above and beyond what I would consider to be a reasonable effort. Even if the bikes are never found it has definitely helped ease the stress of the situation.

Feedback: AAA++++ If your motorcycle is going to be stolen, you could do worse than have it happen in Corby

It could be something to do with the amount of experience they have in this area!

I do hope you get them back though.

tham KTM is lush

(hope you get it back)

[CheGuevara]

Originally Posted by speedplay

It could be something to do with the amount of experience they have in this area!

I do hope you get them back though.

He did seem to think that given the unique nature of the KTM, there's a reaosnable chance it could turn up if it's still in the area. It's pretty useless/dangerous as a dirtbike (70hp, slicks, and relatively tall gearing), and riding it on the road would tend to be a bit of a heat-score (it registered 106dB last year at Cadwell, with a dB-killer installed, and that's not in now) -so not sure what they'd do with it. I've started distributing reward leaflets, and will be ringing the local paper on advice of the police. If it's kids -eventually someone will blab, and hopefully someone will get wind of it and know about the reward...

i would think the KTM will get broke for parts, i would be checking all the usual places for bits, as that looks to have some unusual extras

[CheGuevara]

Originally Posted by speedplay

It could be something to do with the amount of experience they have in this area!

I do hope you get them back though.

Almost forgot - went back down to Skew Bridge on Sunday on the SV. I couldn't believe how many bikes were there (sadly not mine though) -they even had a catering van set up! It was like the most disorganised organised event I've ever seen, with bikes running every possible direction, most of the riders without any sort of protective gear at all (including helmets)... it's a wonder there aren't regular deaths.

Its being built on soon so all that will be stopping ...

Ive been past there some weekends and you cant get anywhere near the place for vans and cars.

It used to be ok over there but then it got way too busy.

Originally Posted by CheGuevara

Hard to tell from the pics, but does the base bolt inside or outside the garage? I've got a plastic gutter running directly in front of mine, so nothing to bolt to for the first few inches outside the door.

Ah you might be out of luck then, the base plate has 2 ground ancoring bolts that you then hammer ball bearings into the top of these are then covered by the locking unit so it simply cant be removed with out and angle grinder.

I'd be tempted in your case to find a way round the gutter problem, maybe just fill it in or move house you know something simple lol.

Originally Posted by flymo

I was in two minds wether to fit one of these or not on the basis that I didnt want to advertise the fact that there was something worth nicking.

You've got me thinking again.

Fanstastic thing, we had a laugh when we decided a new garage door was needed. We thought lets break into our own garage to see how possible it is:
Using manhole lifting bars, a tool kit and 3 20yr old lads the best we got after about and hour of ****ing about was enough of a space for one of us to squeeze in but we couldnt even get the lawn mower out. plus had it been night time we'd have woken the street up with the noise we made.

So although it advertises having something worth nicking it also tells a robber they've got sod all chance of getting it.
However I did decide to paint the garage defender white, as the big red bar at the bottom of my white garage door may have stood out a little too much lol.

Another note, I never locked the new garage door. No need to the lock on the door was redundant because of the defender.

[CheGuevara]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

Ah you might be out of luck then, the base plate has 2 ground ancoring bolts that you then hammer ball bearings into the top of these are then covered by the locking unit so it simply cant be removed with out and angle grinder.

I'd be tempted in your case to find a way round the gutter problem, maybe just fill it in or move house you know something simple lol.

I've ended up installing one of the Motrax sliding bolt things - at the bottom and into a hole in the concrete (the few inches that are exposed before the gutter). Probably not as good as the Defender, but certainly better than before. I'll add a second one later on, and I also have the spare car parked up tight agains the garage door so they'd have to break into that (alarmed) and move it out of the way to get in.

I picked up one of those wireless Motrax alarms as well -but it's junk - a total waste of money. I think my alarm clock is louder. I'll leave it in for now as it's better than nothing, but I'm going to try and sort out something based on a car alarm and car battery, using maybe 2 loud sirens and a strobe light -and mount the whole system up in the loft of the garage where it can't be easily reached to shut it down

2 "U" shaped brackets fixed to the wall either side and slot a scaffold pole the width of the door in at the top behind the closed door...as long as you have another access door to get out of.

I'll dig out a pic when I'm home.