Stolen motorcycle - or shop mistake?

[ScottRNelson]

My wife informed me that she had read on Facebook that a neighbor's motorcycle was stolen. He's my insurance agent, by the way. I called him up to check on it, to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to me. I was hoping to use the line: "I hope you have good insurance." :laughing

Turns out that a shop in the area mistook his bike for some other one that they were supposed to pick up to take in for service. It was only gone for an hour or two, then they brought it back and apologized profusely. No damage or anything.

He mentioned to me that he never uses the steering lock, which might have prevented it from going missing in the first place. Lately I've been in the habit not bothering to use the steering lock on mine as well, since I never park it outside of my garage longer than it takes to eat at a restaurant or something similar. I'll probably get back in the habit of locking the steering when not in my garage.

Anybody else have stories of bikes "stolen" due to mistaken identity, then returned?

 

[bpw]

Not a bike, but I know a Yacht broker who took a client out for a sea trial on the wrong boat.

I don't generally use the steering lock, they are trivial for a thief to break and can cause more damage if the bike tips over.

 

[afm199]

I left my old Hurricane out with the key in the ignition after a crash, and somebody stole it. Drat.

 

[Pushrod]

My riding buddy always leaves the key in his Buell. No luck so far.

 

[gixxerjeff]

My riding buddy always leaves the key in his Buell. No luck so far.

Tell him to cover the Buell decal with a Suzuki decal.
That should help.

 

[295566]

Theft requires intent to permanetely deprive.

 

[bigpoppa]

Back in 1996 I had a CBR600F2 stolen. I never got it back (not like I expected to) and for the next year or so every purple and yellow CBR600F2 I saw I would try my key to see if it fit (if the bike was in a public place).

I lock the front forks on my EsseEsse9 but mainly because electrics will free roll when powered off. I combine the locked front forks with a front brake loop to keep it from rolling if I happen to park it on a slight incline/decline without realizing it.

 

[Shaggy]

Theft requires intent to permanetely deprive.

Not true.

§ 10851. (a) Any person who drives or takes a vehicle not his or her own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the vehicle, or any person who is a party or an accessory to or an accomplice in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing, is guilty of a public offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

In this case, there was no intent at all since it was a mistake of bike identity. If there were damage, it would be a civil matter to be handled through the small claims process.

This is also assuming the OP was in California, which I don’t believe to be the case.

 

[ScottRNelson]

Thanks for the clarification.

This is also assuming the OP was in California, which I don’t believe to be the case.

Meridian, Idaho, although the shop was out in Caldwell or Nampa or someplace. Don't know if they got all the way back to the shop before figuring it out or not.

 

[ratsblast]

i have heard the term universal Japanese motorcycle, guess same in the looks department. Some Harley's have the same color schemes for 50 years so if you didn't know the difference a 2015 and 1975 look about the same.

 

[matty]

My old Toyota van was stolen and recovered, but SFPD failed to tell SFPD that it had been recovered and I got pulled over, that was really exciting. Bonus, the thief left a basketball in van. Also, my old gs450l was stolen and recovered and stashed between the tank and the frame was this sweet knife that I still have

 

[Maddevill]

After having a bike stolen I always use my ignition lock and a disk lock when the bike is parked, unless I can see it. For example , sitting at Alice's at one of the outdoor tables with the bike right there.

Mad

 

[dravnx]

I have never tried it myself but I've always been under the impression that the ignition lock can be defeated with a good hard flick of the handle bars.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I have never tried it myself but I've always been under the impression that the ignition lock can be defeated with a good hard flick of the handle bars.

So go out and try it on your bike and report back. We all want to know... :laughing

 

[BillSmith]

I have this covered. Own a Harley. If it is ever stolen, there will be a trail of parts I can follow.

 

[Maddevill]

I have never tried it myself but I've always been under the impression that the ignition lock can be defeated with a good hard flick of the handle bars.

True, the fork stops can be ripped off. But anything that causes a thief to take any additional time is a deterrent. When my bike was stolen it had the ignition lock and a disk lock on it. Unfortunately it was not locked to my other bikes and I had it on a rolling tray. I was planning on rearranging things. They came with a few guys and bodily lifted the bike and the tray into a van I'm guessing.
Now, all the bikes are ignition locked, disk locked, heavy cable locked to a pole and covered with a locking cover. Haven't had any problems since I started doing that.

Mad

 

[solarae]

Years ago, I went home sick from work. It was raining and I left my bike there and took the company truck since I felt really crappy. This was Eureka in the 80's. Different world. Next day it was gone. I called it in as stolen but found out the machine shop next door had pushed it inside out of the rain. Being young and irresponsible, I never called the PD and told them that it was recovered.
My next speeding ticket was and interesting experience though.