Gone In 60 Seconds - The Bike Crime Wave

[999zip999]

I had my bike stolen sat. march 26 at san juan capistrano. It was a apline 500 with a bmc600 silver motor and a 48v20ah ping battery. I having a hard time reporting it. Sunday a called the police and was transfored to a another # that was only open on m-f. I called and was told to go back to S.J.C. and call a # and have a police unit come out. this was after 4 phone calls. to report it on monday. They have don't know what is the procedure for a stolen bike. And don't think they care much about it. The police in my city of Dana pt. says lock it or lose as his new crime fighting slogan sent out on all the flyers. Yes it was locked with a u-lock. He will need a chargher. This hurts

 

[Ykick]

I had my bike stolen sat. march 26 at san juan capistrano. It was a apline 500 with a bmc600 silver motor and a 48v20ah ping battery. I having a hard time reporting it. Sunday a called the police and was transfored to a another # that was only open on m-f. I called and was told to go back to S.J.C. and call a # and have a police unit come out. this was after 4 phone calls. to report it on monday. They have don't know what is the procedure for a stolen bike. And don't think they care much about it. The police in my city of Dana pt. says lock it or lose as his new crime fighting slogan sent out on all the flyers. Yes it was locked with a u-lock. He will need a chargher. This hurts

Sorry, my condolences - I HATE theives!!!

Keep an eye on eBay/Craigslist. Perhaps even run a couple listings/ads for the charger as a form of bait?

My brother had a guitar stolen from his truck last year. We searched ads/listings for 2 months and one day, there it was on eBay and he was able to identify and retrieve it. Police were little to no help until we had that lead.

 

[mabman]

There is an old saying that "locks only keep honest people honest" and the videos support that theory.

I saw one person mention a motion activated/sound device and I think that method actually has merit if it was designed properly and this would be my wish list:

150db siren
remote activated
5 second warning beep followed by constant activation if further movement detected
GPS tracking
Notification to phone/computer of activation
weather proof

Of course this type of theft prevention has been in use for years on automobiles but why can't it be useful for two wheelers?

That said my favorite inner city bike is a fixed gear. Hard to ride is hard to steal.

 

[999zip999]

This is hard 7 phone calls later and going back to S.J.C. to report it. I don't there is much they can do. There's no money in it for them.

 

[Joseph C.]

On a related note. Has anyone considered insuring their bikes? If so,
what quotes have you obtained?

I watched all of that documentary and it left quite a sinking feeling.
No more so, than when it made a mockery of bicycle lock security. I
use a motorbike lock on my bike but I have the luxury of a large
trailer to haul it. Other's don't have that option. I then use a thick
15mm combination lock to secure the trailer to the rear wheel of the
bike. A small padlock is used on a frame bag and two larger padlocks
on a aluminium box that is bolted to the trailer.

However, I am now under no illusions as to how quickly people, if they
want to, can steal your bike. Fortunately, though I don't live in a
city such as London.

Bike insurance still appears to be the best option.

 

[auraslip]

People in rural areas don't even seem to look at bicycles I mean really they think we're invisible.

Yup... no worries in my small town about theives. And even if they do... they won't be able to sell the bike or components online with out me seeing it and they won't be able to ride around town either.

WRT to locks - I was of the understanding that chains and u-locks require two separate tools to defeat so if you lock a bike up with both it should be pretty safe.
And of course our controllers have alarm functions as well as wheel lock functions, which are something I'm going to use on my next builds.

This is hard 7 phone calls later and going back to S.J.C. to report it. I don't there is much they can do. There's no money in it for them.

Call them and tell them your motorcycle was stolen. I mean...technically it IS a motorcycle right

On a related note. Has anyone considered insuring their bikes? If so, what quotes have you obtained?

VERY GOOD QUESTION

 

[Matthijs]

In Holland there are around 800.000 bike thefts per year. Thats why most people commute on a "junker". I have one in front of my house. (Found it with 2 flat tires and a green saddle from the moss because no one used it, it even had a key in the lock) I changed the 2 inner and outer tubes. I also have a bike at a train station. (Got it for free from a friend) But the station is monitored so there it won't be stolen. But you can even park it overnight for $1,- at every train station or rent a bike there for $4 per 24 hours. In my city you have free guarded bike parking. But that is closed at night so I don' t use it much. It' s only 100 meters from my house and an even bigger one 800 meter from my house. All free. They are planning to have 8 of them in the coming years from 5 now.

Recently they moved all the bikes at the station in a city nearby because they were installing new bike parking spots that you can close off. Double decks. It' s funny to see that in Holland we go up and in Japan they move into the ground for parking.

 

[recumbent]

On a related note. Has anyone considered insuring their bikes? ....
Bike insurance still appears to be the best option.

I checked about insuring my bike last year, they said "it's not worth it" because of the obvious "high theft product". Bottom line is, you have to pay $500 for each claim deductable, thats after paying extra on top of your $130 property insurance.

I also live in a smallish town, and bike theft is not a big issue here. Besides, My bike is so odd looking, and heavy, they'd think twice.

 

[amberwolf]

A couple years ago (I think), I tried checking out insurance on my bikes, and I coudln't get any insurance companies to give me a quote. I got a lot of runaround, of "talk to this guy over in this department" and such,

One company that I forget the name of did offer to "insure anything" but like the above post notes, the deductible would've been more than the cost of the bike itself. Theirs was much more, at $1500, which basically means I'd have to pay out of pocket $1500 worth of the cost of stuff before they'd pay anything for it.

Plus they required a physical inspection of the item to be insured, at their offices, none of which are in the Phoenix area. When I asked they guy how they expected me to ride the bike all the way to another state for that (and back), he said "I don't care", and that's when I hung up on them, as that's a heck of an attitude.

I never tried again, or any other companies. It just isn't worth dealing with that kind of people. And he wasn't the first with that attitude; one of the people I spoke with at a local company actually said "dude, it's just a bike, who cares if it gets stolen?". I bit back the obvious retorts and just left, as they're not worth my time.

 

[999zip999]

They have Lojack for computers. motorcycles, ect.

 

[Xrain]

Get a 12 gauge wire and two locking connectors.

Next, get a battery, linear actuator of some sort, and a case.

Then get a siren and a expired Marine emergency smoke bomb.
http://www.defensedevices.com/smoke-bomb.html

Run a sensing current through the wire, wrap the wire around the pole as well as your bike lock. And arm the system with a good key switch
When theif comes to steal your bike, he has to snip your cable, as well as your sensing wire.
As soon as the circuit is broken have the siren blare out an alarm.

Then 15-60 seconds later have your actuator puncture the foil on the smoke canister.

If the thief still has your bike, he now has a 70,000 cubic feet of bright orange smoke coming up from between his legs.
If he is still able to breath I can guarantee he is running the hell away from your bike. And you can now easily find it by following the giant pillar of orange smoke.

edit: I have a box of these emergency smoke bombs, since they expire from our boat every few years, and the Coast Guard mandates we keep emergency equipment up to date.
I think I might do this if I ever get around to making an e-bike, as well as add a micro-controller and an accelerometer to detect if someone is trying to use a hammer to defeat my security system... Or just a reed switch or something of that nature.

 

[recumbent]

... giant pillar of orange smoke. .

That's the best idea ever!!! Get a smoke actuating canister, connected to our battery. Thank you

 

[Joseph C.]

Matthijs wrote:
In Holland there are around 800.000 bike thefts per year. In my city
you have free guarded bike parking. But that is closed at night so I
don' t use it much. It' s only 100 meters from my house and an even
bigger one 800 meter from my house. All free. They are planning to
have 8 of them in the coming years from 5 now.


800,000 thefts per year! How many bicycles are there in The
Netherlands? You only have a population of 16 million give or take.
That means that, on average, virtually everyone will have their
bicycle stolen during their lifetime!

Supervised parking is a great idea. Sadly, there isn't enough people
using bikes in Ireland for this to be viable. That, and geographically
our population is too low and the area too large to make it a
nationwide feature. I'm sure other countries have the same problem
too.

 

[Joseph C.]

recumbent wrote:
Joseph C. wrote:
On a related note. Has anyone considered insuring their bikes? ....
Bike insurance still appears to be the best option.


I checked about insuring my bike last year, they said "it's not worth
it" because of the obvious "high theft product". Bottom line is, you
have to pay $500 for each claim deductable, thats after paying extra
on top of your $130 property insurance.

I also live in a smallish town, and bike theft is not a big issue
here. Besides, My bike is so odd looking, and heavy, they'd think
twice.


That is quite steep. It will be interesting to see what quotes I get.
Having said that, if my bike and its equipment is worth over €2,000
I would pay the €500 to get the cheque on the post if my was stolen.
But the quote Amberwolf received was ridiculous.

€100 to €150 would be reasonable amount to pay and it should be
enough to deter fraudulent claims. Provided of course that your bike
is worth tenfold that figure.

Looking at the prices online it seems quite reasonable if you get it
under the house insurance. It's around €50 or so - with the full
price of the bike paid out. There are renter's options too but I would
envisage that being more expensive.

 

[Matthijs]

In Holland there are around 800.000 bike thefts per year. In my city you have free guarded bike parking. But that is closed at night so I don' t use it much. It' s only 100 meters from my house and an even bigger one 800 meter from my house. All free. They are planning to have 8 of them in the coming years from 5 now.

800,000 thefts per year! How many bicycles are there in The Netherlands? You only have a population of 16 million give or take. That means that, on average, virtually everyone will have their bicycle stolen during their lifetime!

Supervised parking is a great idea. Sadly, there isn't enough people using bikes in Ireland for this to be viable. That, and geographically our population is too low and the area too large to make it a nationwide feature. I'm sure other countries have the same problem too.

In the Netherlands we have around 18 million bicycles (and rising). We travel around 13 billion kilometers per year per bike in total. From personal experience I perfectly fit into the statistics. I had my bike stolen 3 times. 2 good ones and one junker. But because there are so many bikes you often just find one that needs minor work and you can use it. It' s also normal to see junkers that are no longer in use and are just wasting away because they are still chained to posts. Mostly they are removed and scraped.

Well I think ones you lay down the infrastructure people will start to ride the bike more often. We even have cycle highways so you can do very long distance biking in comfort and safety.

 

[hydro-one]

"virtually everyone will have their bicycle stolen during their lifetime!"

havent you all? ive had two stolen, both NICE

 

[Matthijs]

On a related note. Has anyone considered insuring their bikes? ....
Bike insurance still appears to be the best option.

I checked about insuring my bike last year, they said "it's not worth it" because of the obvious "high theft product". Bottom line is, you have to pay $500 for each claim deductable, thats after paying extra on top of your $130 property insurance.

I also live in a smallish town, and bike theft is not a big issue here. Besides, My bike is so odd looking, and heavy, they'd think twice.

That is quite steep. It will be interesting to see what quotes I get. Having said that, if my bike and its equipment is worth over €2,000 I would pay the €500 to get the cheque on the post if my was stolen. But the quote Amberwolf received was ridiculous.

€100 to €150 would be reasonable amount to pay and it should be enough to deter fraudulent claims. Provided of course that your bike is worth tenfold that figure.

Looking at the prices online it seems quite reasonable if you get it under the house insurance. It's around €50 or so - with the full price of the bike paid out. There are renter's options too but I would envisage that being more expensive.

Reading your post I did some online insurance quotes and if I want to insure a 2000 euro E-bike with 100 euro accessories I would pay 134,- euro,- per 3 years. For full value and theft. 161,- euro incl. damage. The full package for 5 years in 234,- euro. (hmm strange if I fill out a quote for a 4000 euro e-bike I get the same prices :? )

 

[recumbent]

Reading your post I did some online insurance quotes and if I want to insure a 2000 euro E-bike with 100 euro accessories I would pay 134,- euro,- per 3 years. For full value and theft. 161,- euro incl. damage. The full package for 5 years in 234,- euro. (hmm strange if I fill out a quote for a 4000 euro e-bike I get the same prices :? )

We had two bikes stolen from our condominium (apartment) 4 years ago, and they were both not pleased with the claim result. You end up paying $500 (depending on your clause) for the claim (deductable) and then your next years property insurance is hiked-up. Read the fine print, or just ask a real insurance person about this. Might be different where you live.

Think about it, would you want to own an insurance company that insures bikes?

 

[Joseph C.]

Matthijs wrote:

Reading your post I did some online insurance quotes and if I want to
insure a 2000 euro E-bike with 100 euro accessories I would pay 134,-
euro,- per 3 years. For full value and theft. 161,- euro incl. damage.
The full package for 5 years in 234,- euro. (hmm strange if I fill out
a quote for a 4000 euro e-bike I get the same prices )


Those prices are quite good. The same price for both bike values is
quite puzzling. It must be a mistake but if it is - they would still
be bound to pay out if your more expensive bike got stolen.

Yes, you are partially correct about building the infrastructure.
There is a highly successful bike scheme up in Dublin where you rent
bikes (I'm sure it is based on a model employed by other countries).

The second aspect, and perhaps the most important of all, is the
culture. We have a culture in Ireland that is heavily prejudiced
towards the car to the detriment of not only the cyclist, but also the
pedestrian. It should be the reverse - in towns and cities, people and
bicycles should come first. From an economic and tourism perspective
this makes sense. If you simplify, people don't spend money on goods
and services when they are driving, they do this on foot. Residents
have to deal with this, but tourists don't. They don't have to return
to Ireland or to that particular city. Obviously some places are
better than others. (Thankfully, I don't live in Dublin.)

There are two main extensions to this when it comes to cycling and
bicycles. The first is that they need to feel safe and secure. Cycling
in Dublin is anything but safe. One man, who was writing about his
experiences with the aforementioned bike scheme was either cut-off or
knocked down on three occasions during the course of just one
afternoon. Needless to say he won't be cycling there too soon.

However, I am certainly not advocating compulsory bicycle paths like
in The Netherlands. Often these paths are poorly designed and poorly
maintained. Statistically, they have far higher accident rates at
junctions. A bike's place is still on the road.

Well designed and thought out bicycle lanes are a great bonus.
However, poorly designed ones will be more dangerous than normal roads
especially if they are less than 1.8 metres (six feet). [Here is a
good piece on cycle paths and lanes
http://www.myra-simon.com/myra/bike/bik ... etherlands]

The second part is what this tread is about, bicycle theft. Having
their bicycle stolen can stop many people from using a bike again. I
have never had my bike stolen - thankfully. My brother had his stolen
last year and he hasn't been on one since. I am sure that this applies
to many people. They feel violated and vulnerable when their bike is
stolen as most people love their bicycles, no matter how old they are
or what price they have cost.

As for insurance companies involved in the bicycle industry, they
aren't charities, if there wasn't a profit to be made these businesses
would not offer their services. This is a profitable niche or else
there wouldn't be reputable companies that cater solely for bicycles.
To offer insurance you have to pass stress tests - so you have to have
enough money (liquidity) to cover your liabilities. If you can't do
this then you face serious consequences and large fines. This is what
happened to the richest man in Ireland, Sean Quinn, he probably is the
most heavily indebted now.

But still, as you pointed out, Recumbent, reading all of the terms
(and understanding them) is crucial.

 

[bandaro]

this sounds really bad, but i can personally say that nobody will pull you up for doing something like that. If you look like you are supposed to be there, you can get away with anything. I have got into so many places by pretending im allowed, got drunk and stolen many, many street signs ( think several young lads knocking over a post in the dark), dozens of milk crates, empty kegs from out the back of pubs, even stumbled about 2km home the other night after we went on a maccas run and came across a pallet round the back of a supermarket. We were noticed and all they said as they drove past was "never know when you need one do you?"

I also do a lot of parkour, so that involves wandering up to restricted places and climbing down, climbing onto rooftops and back, through construction sites, anywhere that looks interesting, including statues/large outdoor artwork. Admittedly, Parkour doesn't hurt anyone (and if we break something, we fall, so everything is checked first) but people see us, know we are not supposed to be there, and either turn away or take a seat and watch the show. Only security guards will tell you to move on, for insurance reasons, or mums giving us dirty looks because we are using the playground, even if it is empty.

Given the lack of second hand bikes in Canberra, and the fact that at least 50 bikes have been tied up at university for over a year, i would say canberra doesnt really have a problem, but i am looking for a cheap $50 bike or something to take into the city and leave overnight/ride home early hours when i don't want to drive. Either that or a decent bike, spray painted psychedelic colours with a cheap enamel