OP
@raettig avatar
UTC

Enthusiast
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
 
Enthusiast
@raettig avatar
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
UTC quote
overnight into tuesday my beloved vespa was stolen from home. i discovered it had gone in the morning and did the obvious things. phoned the police and the insurance.

i then recalled that i had an apple airtag on the bike. these aren't designed for theft tracking and it therefore wasn't particularly hidden. it's mostly there in case i forget where i parked. these work by broadcasting their exact location in a way that other apple devices can pick up. if they do so, that device passes that information along so you can see where it is on a map. if you're within bluetooth range you can then track it down to the foot and it'll give you realtime distance and direction.

we saw it was reporting a location at a house 12 miles away. in an area that is known to be a little rough. a neighbour and i decided to drive past and see if my phone would give me an update. having done so i was able to get within 9ft of at least where the tag was - we didn't know if it was still attached to the vehicle. there was a van parked outside, a shed, and some tarps in the garden covering... something. meanwhile the airtag kept reporting 'low battery'.

that was obviously as much as we wanted to do without risking our safety or breaking the law. i phoned the police, but they could only promise to drive past within 24hrs. we went home.

a little later the police phoned to say they would be going by within the hour and would report back to us. we inadvisedly drove back and parked round the corner. not long after that we saw two police cars turn up. the police then phoned me and asked us to go away. which is reasonable! by the time we left we could see four police vehicles and flashlights being shone around. the police phoned to say they found my vespa and another bike. they said it generally seemed in good condition and still had the dog carrier bungied to the rear rack. they gave me the option of coming by and riding it home. but i was quite adrenalised and they also couldn't confirm whether it was actually ridable. so instead i let them recover it to a police facility.

so that was tuesday. on wednesday i jumped through a bunch of hoops and was then able to go to the police facility where it was. they offered to give me directions, but i said i still had the tracker on the bike and could see where it was.

they can't let any civilians into the facility but i was able to give them the key and advise them where to find the vin which is the one thing they needed. they, too, reported that the bike generally seemed in good condition. i had the option to pay £150 (for the recovery to the compound) and take ownership again. however in obtaining the vin they discovered that the key didn't work. and the steering wasn't locked. it also had no registration plate - i could have quickly got one made had that been the only issue.

it made sense, then, to go home empty handed and phone the insurance to see how they'd prefer to handle it. they have a third party who will handle recovering the bike from the police and doing a repair estimate. insurance will then make a decision whether to write it off or repair it. then it'll be a bunch of waiting for parts and repair i expect. and i'm sure i'll need to pay £400 which is the excess on my policy.

i'm somewhat hopeful that they'll repair it. though it obviously depends what else they find on closer inspection. my guess is the thieves wrenched the handlebars to break the steering lock and either that's enough to prevent the key working or it's broken some ignition gubbins.

it has been a stressful couple of days. but hopefully it's /kind/ of good news in the circumstances. i absolutely didn't expect it would be recovered. my airtag has earned a fresh new battery. and my dog would like her chariot back.
harley on the vespa, in less stressful times.
harley on the vespa, in less stressful times.
@mauro150lx avatar
UTC

Hooked
ex 1986 Vespa PX125, 2007 Vespa LX150
Joined: UTC
Posts: 219
Location: Italy
 
Hooked
@mauro150lx avatar
ex 1986 Vespa PX125, 2007 Vespa LX150
Joined: UTC
Posts: 219
Location: Italy
UTC quote
What an adventure! I'm glad you found it....the worst is in the past....tell me, how does this air tag works? Care to share a link to the maker? Thx
@jess avatar
UTC

Petty Tyrant
0:7 And counting
Joined: UTC
Posts: 36806
Location: Bay Area, California
 
Petty Tyrant
@jess avatar
0:7 And counting
Joined: UTC
Posts: 36806
Location: Bay Area, California
UTC quote
Mauro150LX wrote:
What an adventure! I'm glad you found it....the worst is in the past....tell me, how does this air tag works? Care to share a link to the maker? Thx
It's an Apple product: https://www.apple.com/airtag/
@steelbytes avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2019 GTS300 Supertech E3 57,000km
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5117
Location: Batmania aka Melbourne, Australia
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@steelbytes avatar
2019 GTS300 Supertech E3 57,000km
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5117
Location: Batmania aka Melbourne, Australia
UTC quote
🤗

nice

reminds me that I probably should get an airtag or similar. the reason I haven't is that I use Android
@fledermaus avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2007 LX150 2015 GTS (on the bench) 2017 BV 350
Joined: UTC
Posts: 11929
Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@fledermaus avatar
2007 LX150 2015 GTS (on the bench) 2017 BV 350
Joined: UTC
Posts: 11929
Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
UTC quote
Not exactly a happy ending, yet, but at least a bit of closure...and justice.
UTC

Addicted
Vespa GTS 300
Joined: UTC
Posts: 934
Location: Germany
 
Addicted
Vespa GTS 300
Joined: UTC
Posts: 934
Location: Germany
UTC quote
Congratulations that it turned out reasonably well. The worst is over...

Why should you pay the deductible? The causer (thief) should have recourse, right? Also the towing to the police station should be a problem of your insurance (and not yours).

Keep fingers crossed that the rest won't be too stressful. Good Luck!
@ks7877 avatar
UTC

Ossessionato
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2337
Location: So Cal
 
Ossessionato
@ks7877 avatar
Joined: UTC
Posts: 2337
Location: So Cal
UTC quote
I hope the worst of it is behind you and the rest of the saga is not too costly. Your adorable pup deserves to go riding.
OP
@raettig avatar
UTC

Enthusiast
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
 
Enthusiast
@raettig avatar
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
UTC quote
the only reason i would have paid the £150 to the police is if there had been no damage i could have ridden it home. my excess on the insurance is £400 so i'd just have been waiting around for the insurance to complicate things and i'd have had to pay that amount anyway as it was less than the deductible. at least my costs are limited to £400 if they don't write it off. but it's a waiting game now.

the police likely won't tell me if they caught the suspects, though that seems likely. i got the impression nobody was home at the time of the recovery so they were nurse-maiding the bikes until they recovered them, and were likely waiting around for anyone to come home.

if they have enough evidence to prosecute they might be in touch for my co-operation with that. and at that point you'd think i may be able to talk about compensation for my physical if not my emotional costs.

i've now seen a slightly blurry picture of the bike just after they pulled it off the thieves driveway. in general it does look alright. the dog carrier was bungied to the back and it looks like it's stacked on the front. i'm hoping there's no actual damage to that. something seems a bit strange near the ignition and curry hook and it kind of looks like the flyscreen isn't there or is broken - but those could all be tricks of the light and the angle. best i just wait for insurance to assess it.
OP
@raettig avatar
UTC

Enthusiast
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
 
Enthusiast
@raettig avatar
Vespa 2018 SuperSport (matte yellow). Vespa 2014 Sprint 125 3V ABS (Yellow)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 81
Location: Wiltshire, England
UTC quote
also, needless to say, i'll be upgrading my security at home.
@steelbytes avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2019 GTS300 Supertech E3 57,000km
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5117
Location: Batmania aka Melbourne, Australia
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@steelbytes avatar
2019 GTS300 Supertech E3 57,000km
Joined: UTC
Posts: 5117
Location: Batmania aka Melbourne, Australia
UTC quote
steelbytes wrote:
reminds me that I probably should get an airtag or similar. the reason I haven't is that I use Android
yesterday I got around to buying a couple of Tile Mate which work with Android and are considerably cheaper than Airtags but of course don't have as large a network* so not as ideal.


* Eufy make a tracker tag call 'Security SmartTrack Link' that does share access to Apple's network while still working with Android and is cheaper than Airtags but it isn't currently readily available in Australia so I didn't buy it, maybe next time.
UTC

Addicted
2015 BV350 2007 GTS(sold) 2003 BV200
Joined: UTC
Posts: 773
Location: nyc
 
Addicted
2015 BV350 2007 GTS(sold) 2003 BV200
Joined: UTC
Posts: 773
Location: nyc
UTC quote
if the keylock is broken, I wonder if it runs. Make sure you have your keys if it does not run you will need your keys.

sorry to hear about it being stolen, I had that happen here in the states. For whatever reason in the states they are not able to get them to run without the chip in the key. The immobilizer comes at a premium.

John
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