Modern Vespa

Stolen Vespa GTS 300 SS Matt Black

My beloved Vespa was stolen from Elmira Street/Prendergast Vale College, SE13, Lewisham, London on 27th November between 14.00 - 14.05.


Front and rear chrome crash bars
Footrack in matt black by Classic Racks
Vespa top box with 1 deep scratch above the lock
Mini fly screen with VCB, VWD2012, Grand St. Bernard and Modern Vespa Polska stickers
A lot of Italian stickers under the seat
Sat Nav holder attached to the letf mirror wing
Lighter Socket on the left knee panel
VIN: ZAPM4520000064164
Engine: M454M 1026058

REG NO: LY12JZT


Please all Londoners especially keep your eyes open. Any info will be much appreciated.

Wankers...

Gutted for you mate.

I no the Area well got a good few freinds around there and it's a shit-hole, but so gutted for you i rekon the scooter was lifted rather than nicked by the youngers due to
the immobiliser and the youngers are not into them as they aint wheelie machines, they want 2stroke gilera's and typhoons which can be nicked in seconds if you no what you are doing.

My bet is that it was lifted by proper people for parts or for ringing, there are LOADS of rung GTS's in london at the moment loads.

There is fast becoming a demand for Vespa GTS's and LX's now as they sell by the bucket load for your everyday commuter, office worker, city workers etc etc and a load are getting nicked and then rung with smashed up crashed ones then put back on the road.

I no there is a group of boys in chelsea/fulham nicking GTS's i see groups of them all the time 3 or 4 at a time always on GTS's and you no they are up to no good as they slow down by every bike bay looking, i rekon they are stripping for parts to sell on or to sell to shops, as belive me shops are the WORST, trust me dealers will buy anything stolen they dont care no matter what you might think, bike shops are crooks....I no two dealers one main and one not main within 10 mins of me and they will take anything as long as they no you well as in really no you, it's all money to them.

They just put the parts on a smashed up stolen recoved scooter they have brought for £100 that they have had sitting out the back for a while then thew will strip the stolen scooter and put everything onto the frame on the old beat up scooter so it looks fresh then sell it for proper money as a CAT D stolen recovered scooter that's been fixed up.

Not familiar with the UK term, "for ringing.".

???

It involves replacing the VIN number on the bike with one off of a similar bike that has been written off, then 'adjusting' the documents to match.

I'm gutted for you OP, i really hope it wasn't stolen to order as then i'm afraid its a goner

Ringing, street slang for swapping a car/motorcycles I.D, as in changing chassis frame numbers etc etc....

Example:
You buy a smashed up wreck of a scooter say a GTS300 or 125 for very cheap or whatever that has been smashed up, then steal the same model scooter from the street that is like new, then all you do is file off all the numbers from the stolen one and put all the numbers from the wrecked one onto it so it looks like the smashed up has been fixed up then it's sold on as crashed repaired and then it will go for good proper money, it's been going on for years and it still does to this date..

And most will then be up for sale on places like craigslist or ebay where 90% of the time people wont do a HPI check or whatever to see that the as new condition GTS they now own was smashed repaired before hand or even the fact it was even stolen in first place, places can change the I.D's so well now you would never no.

I knew a scooter shop about 10 years back around 1999-2002 when the in thing was Gilera runners and typhoons all 125' and 180 2strokes, and for years about 90% of there scooters were ringers, they used to buy all stolen recovered scooters from the poilce auctions for say £100 then get the younger lot to go out and nick the same model scooters give them £100 for the scooter then swap all the numbers over then sell what would look like a brand new gilera or typhoon for say £1200 which gives you a proffit of a grand on every bike.

Shops are the worst, i no a good few private second hand dealers and main dealers and i can tell you now most are crooks once you get behind the sales desk out of the public eye here in london, you could take a brand new GTS to them and they would never blink an eye about buying it off you for parts, as long as you no them well as in known them for years like freinds in a way.

PRIME EXAMPLE: anyone from southeast london remember a shop called pedshed years ago who were in catford, they would go around lifting scooters "all kinds" into there own vans, every single scooter they sold were ringers.

The way they done the I.D's on them you would never ever tell, they looked like the real thing you could never tell.

I'm sorry to hear about this.

I'm hoping for a good ending but fear the worst.

somerset

That's absoloutely awful, so sorry......

expect it to get worse as the recession bites deeper. i was in Franchi buying a bloody great eye bolt to attach Bill's scooter to the front of the house when he visits, and the bloke at the counter said that he's been selling more of these in the past year than he has in the last five years. 'Sign of the times', he said.

my scooters are physically attached to my house, alarmed, and situated under the watchful eye of a surveillance camera. it's getting so bad out there that if I'm going somewhere with a bad rep for scooter theft, I'll just take the bus instead kinda defeats the purpose of having a scooter.

Oh bums, I'm sorry. From the photo, you and it have shared some good times - how horrible if it has to end with the poor thing stripped for parts.

I'm a South Londoner so eyes will be kept out.

That sucks. I'm generally not big on violence, but I think people who steal things like that should be shot. Maybe like in the arm or leg.

That's terrible...I'd be gutted if this happened to me or my bike.

I am so so sorry and man it only took a few minutes. Hopefully your insurance will treat you right but from what i've seen on here the likely hood of you getting it back is nil. They went thru a stage over there of stealing them, joy riding and then torching them. I don't think there's enough karma for these folks. Hang in there. Miracles can happen.

Oh mate I'm so sorry to hear this.

You didn't deserve that.

I hope they all get genital herpes...... a lot.

Sorry Fella.

Bill X

Stahh,

So that we can all learn, what was happening that you know it was stolen between 14:00 and 14:05?

thats a shitter .....

mick told me about his mate in london ... theres 8 bike riders at his work n 14 two wheelers have been stolen this year

Sorry to hear of your theft. I hope it turns up unscathed and the perps get their due. Such a shame to live in a world where people don't respect other peoples property. I hope karma catches up with them. Good luck.

Hooked





GTS 300 Super

Joined: 09 Jun 2010
Posts: 332
Location: San Francisco, California



Wed Nov 28, 2012 6:49 amflagquote


That sucks. I'm generally not big on violence, but I think people who steal things like that should be shot. Maybe like in the arm or leg.





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Ditto that, but don't hold your breath....the do-gooders will howl and insist that life is more important than property, which in part, I agree with. However, I do have my limits....especially when the bad guys know the prvailing sentiment (and laws) and exploit them to the max with impunity....not worrying about any harm coming their way.

This is how it was done.

oooooooooh! the dreaded 'ped push' amazing how easily they broke the steering lock.

Naive but curious question... they bust the steering lock AND bumped started it? Or used the original bike they turned up on and some crafty leg action to push the stolen bike away from the scene and into a van?

No kidding! That's seriously scary. I think I will be looking into a Kryptonite lock or something to at least keep the possibility of a ped push reduced. Hell, this kind of stuff doesn't even happen that much around here (that I hear about, anyway), but with my luck, it would to me...

Apparently you can't bump start this bike, so I am guessing they pushed the bike away and packed it into a van.

I don't wish cruel punishment to these theives, but a good beatdown is in order. So sorry about the GTS.

What in hell is going on in London? It sounds like scooter thief heaven!

That's what I figured. Pleased to hear you're now back on an orange 300 Stan?

[quote="PeterC"]What in hell is going on in London? It sounds like scooter thief heaven![/quote]

last year approx 27,000 bikes and scooters were stolen in the London area

They tried to get my Sport City the other week. Put a D-lock through the back wheel. Its a common way of doing things. You have to leave the bike and they come back for it. Fortunately I know our maintenance guys and they freed my bike with bolt crops.

Yeah I know vigilante justice is bad but...

Been following this post and have to say im shocked by the amount of Scoots that easily get stolen in London, I have quite a few types of locks but very rarely use them, i take it for granted when i travel into London and just assume my scoot will be safe.

Will be investing in a heavy duty chain as i tend to use the grip lock on most occasion but not practical when you have bar muffs.

Does anyone have info or a link to a map where the biggest hot spots are or best avoided?

F%&king

Sorry for the loss. It's a pretty rotten feeling. Karma will get him, but may not get your wheels back.

Hopefully insured, but this stuff really has to drive rates up.

It's not nice to wish evil on an innocent scooter but it would be nice if every scooter and bicycle thief got to experience being run over by all 5 axles of a max gvw truck.

the dumb cops here would charge the vigilantes, the courts would give the little shit a pat on the back and let him go (probably even give him victims of crime money) and send him on his way!

The term "vigilante" was coined back in the days of the American frontier, when official law enforcement was either non-existent or severely limited. Citizens formed "Committees of Vigilance" to protect themselves against criminal activity. Sometimes, justice was a bit exuberant...a quick trial and a rope from the nearest tree, or tar and feathers and a ride on a rail out of town, but it was all the justice that was available at the time.

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