My ebike got stolen :(

L

lcyclist

10 W
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
96
My ebike was stolen today. It was locked to a tree with a cable lock. It got stolen in front of a busy restaurant during lunch hour....Wild Flower Bread Company... Tempe, AZ corner of McClintock and Guadalupe. Just got too confident/complacent with my cable lock...filed police theft report but I have no hope of ever retrieving it....

My daily rider gave me so much joy...just over 15000 km. I will miss it.... :(((

lcyclist_ebike.jpg
 
Sorry to hear about your loss :(

I won't park my bike outside unless i can keep a watch on it. I'll take a junky pedal bike instead.
I've had 2 pedal bikes stolen to date :/
 
Had my ebike stolen last mo. called around. One ebike retailer said he sold 2 bikes and the guy got home went inside to open the garage and pee, and the bikes where gone. Out of a pickup. Not even a test drive.
 
I had an ebike get stolen last summer. The guy tried to sell it on craigslist so i set up an arrangement acting like I wanted to buy it. I called the police and he was caught.

Funny thing is that an ebike is completely useless without the battery or charger. I still had both.

Keep checking craigslist. Check it daily. My bike was stolen in July of 2010 and I got it back Dec 2010.
 
For fairly new posters who just arrived this past year, there is a older thread around here somewhere about using a hidden pay-as-you-go cellphone with GPS as an E-bike Lojack to trace the location before it gets too far away. There were also tips on how to incorporate a motion sensor to activate an alarm and/or page you with a text.

I will look for it when I get my lunch break...
 
Owch! For sure, spring is bike theft season. No telling how many people watched that frocker clip your cable lock. There was a fascinating thread awhile back about bike theft in london . They put a camera watching the bikes, and had a tracker on them. A few hours later they'd track down the bike and accost the guy with it cameras rolling.

It was sickening to watch, both how easy clipping the lock was, and how passers by just ignored the guy ripping the bike.

Next build, mabye something that looks like crazybike? or dayglow avenger?

I follow three basic rules. The bike is always in my garage, or parked at work which is secure. Parking at stores is done only before 9 AM, before the thieves have even gotten out of bed. So far so good. Later in the day, at a restaraunt perhaps, or bike shop, I MUST be able to watch the bike while inside.
 
My question is:

How in the world are they going to deal with an E-bike? They're going to get it somewhere and realize this isn't a typical animal.

What will they do then?

Thieves would have a real tough time with my setup. It weighs well over a hundred pounds (Worksman Tricycle) with the SLA batteries, hub motor, and the beast itself.

I just unplug the battery when I pull up somewhere and chain the wheel to the frame.

If they want to be dumb enough to pick the whole thing up and throw it in a truck, so be it. They'll have a heck of a time with it, though, and won't be able to ride it anywhere without me seeing it eventually and aiming my truck at it. :)
 
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9486

http://mystolenbianchi.blogspot.com/
 
Cruise the local pawn shops and bring a cellphone with you with the number for the cop that took the police reports number with you. Don't just look at the floor displays look at the holding area as well.
 
lcyclist said:
My ebike was stolen today.
Click to expand...
That sucks; I'll keep an eye out for any that might look like it and post here if I see one (I'm up by Metrocenter most of the time).

I'd keep an eye on Craigslist for any bike-related stuff every day, if I were you, for all the valley areas. If you see one that looks like your bike, setup a "sting" to go see if it actually is or not, involving the police if you can.

wineboyrider said:
I follow Dogman's rules plus I have the ugliest ebike there is so that helps... 8) 8) 8) 8)
Click to expand...
I dunno, I'm pretty sure CrazyBike2 wins that. :p
 
Guys, thanks for the support.

I did wonder if the low life who stole it realized what he got into. My bike uses lipo with rat nest of a charging setup. I hope it catches on fire.

Anyway, I still have my Sunday rider so I am not out of the e-bike loop; just makes me sad/mad that the motor is one of the few rare BMC direct drive.

I am keeping an eye on Craigslist and local ads here. I posted it here in the sphere in hope that the person interested in buying from the low life is e-bike savvy and is familiar with the sphere.

Thanks Amberwolf for keeping an eye for it in your area!
 
:evil:

Thats a nightmare!! good luck you might get it back? well worth keeping an eye out for it though as a lot of bikes that are stolen end up very close to where they were stolen from, the thief that took this will most likely try and off load it as an electric bike but missing the charger sort of deal.

I always use the same lock its a Yamaha motorcycle lock U lock with the secure flat key system, I also use a cable lock sometimes as thief's very often only go equipped to steal one type of lock, bolt cutters for cable locks or hacksaws and grinders for u locks, I never leave my batteries on the bike though they always come with me.

Good luck with getting it back
 
Given the cost of most ebikes, it could be worth it to put a dogs tracking collar under the seat, or someplace less obvious. Not that much range though, and there you are, walking, trying to keep up with a bike.

Wouldn't it be such fun to catch up with the guy, with some bear spray in hand.
 
That is awful news, I'm sorry. It may well be that the person who took it new something about ebikes and that is why you go hit. I would think that they will strip it and use the parts for their own bike or part it out for sale. Like others have said, keep an eye on the pawn shops and craigslist.

I've had a bike stolen too that was locked with a cable, it was in the middle of the day and it was locked up on a rack with a cop car parked right next to it to boot.

I'm thinking that my ebike will get a heavy duty chain lock like the NY fahgettaboudit chain lock from Kryptonite and a heavy U lock too. Chances are that any theif, I hope, will be carrying either a bolt cutter or a prybar and not both. I like the idea of a one year replacement value policy that comes with the lock too, I'd buy a new one every year just for that alone. I've never done any reading to see if they actually pay out on that though. Maybe I'll do that right now actually.

Regards
Richard
 
dogman said:
Owch! For sure, spring is bike theft season. No telling how many people watched that frocker clip your cable lock. There was a fascinating thread awhile back about bike theft in london . They put a camera watching the bikes, and had a tracker on them. A few hours later they'd track down the bike and accost the guy with it cameras rolling.

It was sickening to watch, both how easy clipping the lock was, and how passers by just ignored the guy ripping the bike.

Next build, mabye something that looks like crazybike? or dayglow avenger?

I follow three basic rules. The bike is always in my garage, or parked at work which is secure. Parking at stores is done only before 9 AM, before the thieves have even gotten out of bed. So far so good. Later in the day, at a restaraunt perhaps, or bike shop, I MUST be able to watch the bike while inside.
Click to expand...

We have a bike thief on my beat/patrol/patch, I'm looking into the best way of using a bait bike with a locator in it to catch the bugger. Needs to be cheap but work if I am to convince my bosses to let me do it.
 
Folks never spend enough on locks, cable locks just aren't worth a dime, some of these ballsy thief's carry bolt cutters that are almost as big as they are, these things cut through even the fattest cable locks in no time, U locks are the best option but go for one with a flat key not the round key ones, the round key krypto locks can be open with a certain brand of pen just by jamming it in the lock and turning it, just google it :roll: Go for a good quality U lock and spend as much as you can afford, I mean if you have spent 1000 bucks on your ebike don't spend 10 bucks on a lock for it? look at spending at least 100 bucks for a lock, you have to base it on a percentage of what the bike cost you.

And before anyone says that any lock can be cut or broken, sure they can but most bike thief's are just after the best bike that they can steal the quickest so if your bike is parked up next to others that are of a similar spec but locked up with inferior locks they are more likely to try and steal them than yours.
 
knoxie said:
Folks never spend enough on locks, cable locks just aren't worth a dime, some of these ballsy thief's carry bolt cutters that are almost as big as they are, these things cut through even the fattest cable locks in no time, U locks are the best option but go for one with a flat key not the round key ones, the round key krypto locks can be open with a certain brand of pen just by jamming it in the lock and turning it, just google it :roll: Go for a good quality U lock and spend as much as you can afford, I mean if you have spent 1000 bucks on your ebike don't spend 10 bucks on a lock for it? look at spending at least 100 bucks for a lock, you have to base it on a percentage of what the bike cost you.

And before anyone says that any lock can be cut or broken, sure they can but most bike thief's are just after the best bike that they can steal the quickest so if your bike is parked up next to others that are of a similar spec but locked up with inferior locks they are more likely to try and steal them than yours.
Click to expand...

Some time ago we were talking to the police about starting a block watch program in our neighborhood, unfortunately we could not generate enough interest so it didn't happen. When I was talking to the officer about it after a meeting on the program we came to the topic of securing your home against burglary. His suggestion was to make your place harder to break into than your neighbors, he also said nothing was guaranteed but if it's more work for a thief to hit you than it is them, then they are likely to go next door instead.
 
:) Amen.. its like just fit a dummy red box on the wall and the chancer burglar will always go next door where there is no box on the wall first
 
This was posted a few weeks ago: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1051734209/tigr-titanium-lock-as-cool-as-your-bike/comments
If you got the 1.25" version w/ a $100 dollar donation I'd have already done it.
I think the $2 ebay bike alarms are a no-brainer. There's also some sort of motorcycle alarm that has a key-chain pager to notify you if your bike is jostled or moved. A little too expensive ($120) and the pager was a little too big for my liking.
 
My bike got stolen when i was 10 years old and i still remember the pain.I know how you feel... try to forget about it and move on.
a big hug
 
Something else I've been thinking on along with locks is how to secure things like wheels and the seat etc to the bike and make them as theft proof as I can. The answer I came up with is to use as many security fasteners as I can, this company makes a full range and I think for me it'll be money well spent. http://brycefastener.com/pentanut.htm

Here is an example that could be used for a wheel.
pentanut.jpg


I also just Googled up this article from GPS Magazine on various child trackers for parents, I'm sure something here could be adapted to work for a bike.
http://gpsmagazine.com/2008/05/the_ultimate_gps_child_trackin.php Okay just read the article, maybe not all ideal but a few could work, subscriber fees are involved.
 
Something to consider if you have somewhere you can hide it. This one is only for Australia but I assume there are similar devices available elsewhere.

http://www.itrack123.com.au/index.php/vehicle-gps-trackers/56
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Car got broken into, how to prevent my ebike from getting stolen
2
Replies
27
Views
2,395
eCue
eCue
23skidoo
the end of my first ebike
Replies
6
Views
1,923
The fingers
The fingers
set
My Ebike got stolen today.
2
Replies
42
Views
3,422
needWheels
N
Back
Top