‘Make it less attractive to steal’

We spoke to four RIDE readers who had their bikes stolen about the experience, how they felt and what they do differently now

‘Now I have multiple locks and a tracker’ ADE JONES ‘It was infuriating to watch my pride and joy being taken’ ANDREW SIMPSON

“I had my Triumph Tiger 1050 stolen in 2017, overnight in London, where my office is. I had a disc lock on and alarms fitted but it still went. I walked down the road in the morning to find the remains of the lock, nothing else. The police response was to be expected; is there CCTV footage? Are there any witnesses?

“I was gutted. Angry too. It was my first big bike and I was so proud of it. I think I was madder at myself because I thought I should have done more. My insurance paid out really quickly though, even if it didn’t cover all the mods that I had made.

“I found another Tiger, liked it, paid and picked it up. The next day I got a call from the police to say my stolen bike had been found.

“I’m still pissed off but now I have multiple locks and a tracker and am much more aware of the potential of someone having a go. I need to make my bike less attractive to steal than someone else’s.”

“I had my Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5 stolen from outside a hotel. Two little scumbags on a scooter pulled up, snapped the steering lock and pushed it up the road, using their scooter, with the alarm going. The immobiliser was useless of course, as they didn’t try to start it. Two couples watched it happen but didn’t do anything, as I guess they were too afraid and didn’t want to get involved.

“The police weren’t remotely interested and just offered me a crime number. Even though it was caught on camera, they didn’t bother chasing it up. I’m about £1000 out of pocket with add-ons to the bike and the sat nav that was under the seat, which the insurance company refused to pay for.

“It was infuriating to watch my pride and joy, which I worked hard to afford, taken by someone who just didn’t give a shit.”