Modern Vespa

Hey all,

been a lurker for some time and unfortunately my first post is to say that I had a GTS 300 stolen during the early hours of new years eve from the front of my flat, and think that I'm going bi-pedal again. A professional outfit, seemingly, cut a chain, removed a disk lock (alarmed) and barrelled the ignition to ride away.

This is the 2nd Vespa GTS I've had stolen in two years and have foiled at least five attempts during that same time. This is North London btw. I think that it's just untenable to own a scooter at the moment in this town unless garaged. Once they've sourced it you're best off just selling up.

I think I'm now basically uninsurable - for theft at least. I used it to ride to work year round and it will now at least triple the time and cost it takes me to commute, not to mention how much I'll miss riding. But the prospect of the same thing happening again is just too much unfortunately, both financially and for my piece of mind, as I don't believe that you can prevent it, especially with hot bikes increasing the risk thieves are prepared to take. I guess I'm saying that I'm done. I definitely won't miss running outside with a bat in just my pants in the middle of the night, but I will miss sunny rides to Brighton.

North London people, keep your bikes locked down, the police said there's an epidemic.

dawale - welcome to MV. I'm sorry to hear about your stolen scooter.

These thieves seem to know what they are doing to cut chains and disable disc locks and get away in a short period of time. That really sucks. I hate thieves.

Have the police tried any type of sting operation where they track the bike or arrest the thieves as they are taking the bait?

Oh joy! Another London theft.

Can't say I blame you for giving up on Vespas. Have you thought about a geared bike instead? Are they are better for insurance and theft?

Hi Strick, thanks for the sympathy.

The police didn't even seem interested in speaking to my neighbour who alerted me and who saw them ride off. He and I gave chase unsuccessfully before I called the police.

I mean, I think it'd be a really great and productive thing for them to do. But a honey trap operation for motorcycle thieves is seemingly a long way from the thoughts a the Metropolitan police force facing further budget cuts. The police who came to take details were nice enough, to give them credit, but it was really a matter of note taking.

I was imminently going to sell the GTS too, or get a tracker and further security in light of recent posts on here. There's a point though where either you have a scooter for what it represents or you accept it's not a great idea to have one right here and now.

"Have you thought about a geared bike instead? Are they are better for insurance and theft?"

Good question. Can anyone chip in here? I'd rather continue to ride but I'm just not sure if that's realistic...I can't really change circumstances so if I were to replace I'd need something both insurable and pretty unattractive to would-be thieves.

I'm pretty sure they'll roll through pretty regularly over the coming months to see if the GTS gets replaced with anything worthwhile.

I can't believe the insurance companies are not doing anything to fund the police in finding the thieves.....
Here, in the States, the insurance companies are funding the police to find stolen vehicles, chop shops (where they part out hot vehicles), and stings to catch the crooks.....
I guess the insurance companies are loosing a bunch, and are raising the rates a lot......The dealers are happy though, selling replacement Vespa's, fixing recovered ones, but it will go so far, when like you, will give up and avoid buying replacements.
Maybe, the police will do a crackdown, when thieves use stolen scoots on more daylight robberies, like they tried before.

You really just need any bike that's a bit unfashionable. Medium power, geared, commuter bikes won't appeal to them but obviously it depends on whether you're happy with a geared bike. The great thing about this type of bike is you can buy them cheap 2nd hand. Depending on budget an NC700X might be worth looking at or an old CB500. A large proportion of these scooters are being used in daylight robberies all the time. Once the police declared they wouldn't chase after scooter riders (if they didn't have a helmet) it kind of made them the "go to" item for any modern criminal. Obviously our criminal won't go and buy a scooter, he'll take yours.

It's a sad world where one can't risk riding what one wants to...but I would keep on scootin'...even if it's on something less attractive to thieves.

There are a lot of good non-Vespa scooters. Can you find one that has a lower theft rate in London?

Good luck!

You just have to walk past a bike parking bay. Ignore bikes below 125cc as they cost more as they're learner legal. Then decide which bike looks reliable but one that no self respecting rider would ride. That's your new bike! An MZ 251 would be an ideal choice

PS I always secretly liked the MZ

What chain did you have?

Heavy gauge wouldn't fit through between the rear tyre and the brake disc so I had to opt for a smaller chain than i'd have liked, but it was a very respectable one for the size - I remember it cost £80-£100 and was shorter than 1m. Sorry, I don't remember the brand, it was supposed to be bolt-cutter proof but then at that width it never really is.

I had the alarmed disk lock on the front, and a stern wind would set that off. I didn't hear it though, unfortunately I was working on headphones at the time. But it was the leo vince exhaust that alerted my neighbour and he said he didn't hear the alarm go off.

I have sunk a ground anchor but the landlord said no dice.

Hi guys this all seems crazy the police have been instructed not to chase any motorcyclist not wearing a helmet, not just scooter thieves but i personally think if you steal a bike then take your helmet off you lose your rights,like criminals voting in prison !!!!!!!!!what ever happened to being responsible for
your actions and being punished
george

PS:cant remember what the punishment for horse theft used to be but i think it involved a rope

Hi dawale,

Was the bike on the street or visible from the street. (I'm in W.London and about to get a Vespa)

Hi Dahoum, it was parked behind the 5ft wall at the front of the terrace house where I live. Obstructed but visible. It was almost certainly marked and then they came back for it knowing what needed to be done, I'd say.

I do regret not going to town even more on security and was going to when I had more money. If you can don't scrimp - you'll just kick yourself if you end up losing a scoot by being overly thirty on this.

Highly recommend jamesUK's post from June (https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic139826.3):

"I have a 5 metre long Pragmasis Protector 16mm chain and it's the ultimate chain, the Pragmasis chains are even stronger than the almax chains, anyway.....

The pinch pin works well and if you use it make sure it's through the "rear" wheel and not the front as locking the front wheel is pointless
as all they do is remove the front wheel and bolt another one on.

The way I lock mine up is like this, I run a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini lock which is 18mm thick through the rear wheel and I feed the lock
through one of the links on the chain which it wrapped around the lamppost, that way it's bolted to something solid.

Then I put an Abus Extreme 59 lock through the front wheel, but I feed the abus lock through the top of the front wheel so it feeds through the forks so that way
they cant even remove the front wheel as the wheel is locked to the forks.

The thing is love about the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini is that it's 18mm thick and any links 16mm and over can not be cut by bolt cutters even the 5ft ones,
the only way to cut it would be via an angle grinder which makes noise. Also when you run the kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini through the rear wheel it's fits so snug and tight
as it's a small lock so you cant get anything into to open it, I can just about feed a link from the chain through it.

You hear so many people talk about there GTS being stolen and there chain was cut, well you can bet it's because the chains links are to small, most chains even the claimed
heavy duty chains are around 11-13mm thick and 5ft bolt cutters would cut them like butter, the key rule is you have to go 16mm and above when it come to chains or a link on a shackle.

The key thing to remember with locks/chains is when you buy a chain or D-lock you want it to be 16mm or over as handheld boltcutters wont cut anything over 16mm, the only way is via an
angle grinder or by using a plasma cutter of some sort.

Here are a list of the best locks/chains you can get for the GTS, yes they can cost a lot but i'd rather have them than have no scooter.

All these Oxford lock/products that are sold to the masses via your big motorcycle stores are crap along with disclocks as one hit and they just pop off as the pins inside them are to small only 6 or 7mm.

1: Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini 18mm (rear wheel) (evens cycles £62)
2: Abus Extreme 59 u-lock 19mm (front or rear wheel) (Amazon £96)
3: Pragmasis chain 16mm or 19mm
4: Abus chain 16mm or 19mm


Where I live in London I see people all the time two up on other vespa GTS's driving up to my scooter to try and steel it and everytime I watch them through the window
and once they see the locks the just drive off, I have seen first hand people eye up my GTS over 20 times and I see them pointing and looking at the locks then they drive away.


On a side note: With The 16mm chains being so thick you can only just about get one link through the rear wheel, the chain will not feed all through as it's to big."

Thanks - lots of useful info there. Where I live the bike will not be seen from the main road at all and we have CCTV all around the building so hopefully my 'luck' will hold.

It'll be parked at work all week in a secure area.

So sorry about your situation. Hope you find a good solution.

That's really sad to hear about your scooter Dawale. It sounds like you did what you could in regards to keeping your scooter secured but there is one thing a friend always told me. It might sound kinda lame now but he always said out of sight out of mind, and what he meant was keeping a cover on it.

If someone is scoping out Vespa's specifically they probably wouldn't notice a scoot that's covered or even think about checking it out.

Hey Maxgt33,

Oh, it did have a cover on it. Ironically I replaced the old cover on the day it was stolen (there went an additional 20 quid) as the clip was snapped earlier that week in what I thought had been the high winds. Might in hindsight have been people checking it out.

I agree that it goes a long long way. I also think that's probably why it managed to escape attention for a year and a half.

I suspect that if you electrified the bike, and the thief were injured while trying to steal it, you would be charged with setting a "Man Trap" and have the crap sued out of you.
This happened in my area several months back (only with an e-bike).
It would seem the perps (toe rags) are better protected than the owners of the vehicles.

Too bad that a law abiding person cannot pursue enjoyment in this regard.
Good luck, going forward.

I had mine stolen from the front of my house about 6 months ago. Same scenario - chain was cut, steering lock broken, and presumably it was ped-pushed away.

I've been pretty much without transport since then and am considering carefully whether I want to get another scooter at all. According to a friend on the police force, anything automatic in the 250-300cc range is fair game - and 125s aren't immune either. My neighbour had a Honda SH300 stolen from out front his house just over a year ago, and six months later had the replacement SH125 stolen from Romford market in broad daylight - it was carried off by a pair of thugs in balaclavas with the alarm shrieking away. A market full of people and nobody lifted a finger.

If you're already licensed to ride a geared bike, and are determined to get back on two wheels, then that's the road I'd go down. At the moment there's no such thing as a scooter that toerags aren't interested in.

Don't count on luck. Do yourself a favour and invest in some serious locks and chains - any of those listed in jamesuk's post will do the job. Don't be tempted to buy a chain with less than a 16mm link - it can be cropped in seconds with a cheap set of bolt cutters. Lock the scooter to an immovable object.

If you get another scoot, look into getting the anti pinch pin. It goes through the rear wheel and allows you to use the pragmasis/almax 16/19mm chains - no chance of being cut with conventional bolt croppers.

Basically get all the security measures you can afford. And use them! Many bikes have been stolen with the chain and padlock still under the seat or in the topbox because the owner was only 'popping out'.
Unfortunately the thieves seem to thrive on our mistakes.

What about geared scooters? Thinking PX or older Vespas. Are they attractive to thieves do you think?

I haven't had a scooter nicked yet...but with three in my back yard now and constant posts about thefts on here and on my scooter/bike groups on Facebook, I'm getting quite nervous

Might take up Strick's idea of setting up a sting...potentially take out some future thieves before they have chance to nick my wheels

No garages over there?

Not many actually, and any property in London is very expensive indeed. Garages in the centre of London can cost as much as houses in the rest of the country!

Wow, how much is a secure car park a month?

So sorry to hear of this (yet another London theft).

It makes me thankful that I live in Somerset where although bike thefts obviously happen they are not so regular as up there.

That said I am fortunate to have a garage and a ground anchor as well as a disc lock and a chain and I use them all.

I sincerely hope that things turn out well for you somehow.

somerset

Within 3 miles of my office (pretty central), renting a parking space is around £100 - £130 per month (about $150 - $190 USD). Buying one starts at about £40,000 upwards ($75,000 USD roughly).

Oh thats too bad. If someone is curious of whats under the the cover its not gonna stop them, just more of a visual deterrent.

Do you Londoners chain the bodies of your scoots, as well as wheels? Not much point trying to take the wheels if you can't take the body.

I run a braided, sheathed cable around the floor, sufficiently short and tight that it can't be slid up over the legshield (and around the front wheel) even if the scoot is moved. A thief would have to cut the cable and braided steel can't be cut easily (or at all) with bolt cutters - the braided cable squishes flat in the jaws and so won't cut.

Would that help in London? Just an idea, FWIW.

My cables are to satisfy an insurance condition* rather than to prevent theft directly, and I cable the the bodies because it's quicker to get cables on and off than it would be to fiddle with wheel locks. Also, the sheathed cable is more paint-hand-friendly coz I'm a klutz with chains. (I run a similar cable through the frame of my BMW bike.)


*My insurer has several simple requirements, and these keep my premiums low so I'm happy to comply. My scoots are in a secure underground park so not visible - they simply have to be locked to a fixed item.

OK, All these London thefts have finally inspired me to improve the security of my GTS 250, how I do it now really isn't good enough despite not having a GTS stolen in about 8 years using this method.

I live in zone 1, just south of the river but on a very nice, quiet garden square with no passing traffic, I can only think that's what's saved it from the evil thieves up to now.

That rack is soft steel that can be cut (or unscrewed) in seconds. Heck, you could yank the rack off with a good jerk!

You need to fix your lock to wheels (preferably rear) or around the center waist of the scooter.

Very sorry to hear about the theft. Maxi-scooters, even the 125cc versions, seem less desirable than Vespas - something like a Piaggio X8 or X9.

It's difficult in central London as we use bike bays which are designed for the bikes all to be standing in a line. If you parked sideways to lock the chain to something solid then you'd be taking away others parking. I suspect that cable can be very easily cut.

Hi guys all this make my blood boil so much effort to just own a bike when the culprits are the criminals ,petition the government i'm sure all uk motorcycle owners would sign

https://petition.parliament.uk/

how bad does this liberal cr*p have to get ,you cant put up a fence as the burglars might cut themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!we need leaders with a bit of
backbone not just feathering there nests

george

I'm fortunate to have a garage but For those of you in central london, check out Q-park.

They have 10+ car parks and offer 24hr free secure motorcycle parking in most of them. I've only ever used the marble arch one as it's a decent size and easy to jump on a taxi.

And as majority of them are underground, your bike/scoot will be out of sight.

Video of a few of them (not my video):

Not entirely true. My local council (Southwark - Zone 1 London) often has garages to rent for very reasonable sums, and has had for several years.

Absolutely (touch wood).

Also, I've got to say that there are several scooters who park in the same bay as me regularly (Westminster - central London, just off Oxford Street) and have done so over a period of years.

None of them are GTSs....

I've been on the waitlist for a local garage to rent from Lambeth Council for three years now and still waiting, I'm currently 4th from the top of the list. A secure parking space near me in a shared (underground or gated space) is £250/month to rent privately. I have a new £100K car arriving in March, if I Lambeth don't come through with a garage by then I'll be renting a space that the GTS can share with the car until I get one from the Council.

Well, I guess we can't all be lucky enough to live in Southwark

Seriously though, hope you get to the top of the list quickly. Renting a private space around me is about the same sort of cost as you mention.