Modern Vespa

You stole my Piaggio Typhoon. You've tipped, slashed the seat, and now attempted to steal my ET2 twice. I'm going to lie in wait with a very heavy metal object using my poor scooter as bait.

...I've shared this bit before, but a while back I parked my Vespa outside a movie theater downtown. It was brightly lit, crowded and busy, and I chained the scooter up. I went in to the movie, came back out, and the area was still brightly lit and crowded except my Vespa was pulled taught on the chain, on its side, and my ignition was charmingly mangled by a knife and/or screwdriver.

Well, I was pissed, especially having already had my ET vandalized and lost my Typhoon to these hoodlums.

Last night I stay with my girlfriend for her birthday, spend a leisurely Sunday with her today, finally go outside, and find that her neighborhood is no better than any other in this city. Again, thank god for the chain lock. Nice how they attempted to "repair" the ignition damage from the other thieves. Too bad they managed to mess it up more instead :-p

Sorry to hear that. Boston is quite bad with thievery. Last fall, I almost had to take another person around to look for their LX150 that was stolen. Supposedly the thief was joy-riding it around town too!

I'm guessing you're parking it in well lit areas, etc? Have you thought about putting an alarm on it?

Thanks for your sympathy man.

Last night's incident was not in the best lit area. It was a residential street in Brighton. Definitely right under a street light, but it wasn't ideal. I do typically shoot for well-traveled areas though (not that it helped in the movie theater incident).

I am seriously considering an alarm now. Folks here recommend the gorilla systems?

I have a Scorpio installed on mine and really like it. It was a relatively easy install - it even has a little pager like thing that tells me when the alarm goes off. Then you grab the baseball bat and run outside!

You can see my post on installation here:

https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic25828

I thought you could start an LX without the key. How were they able to ride it?

Is this the one where you sit a trained gorilla on your bike to watch over it while you're not there?

Yes, I kinda like that one, but I'm pretty sure most adult gorillas exceed the weight limit on ETs (and GTS' for that matter). I suspect the best thing to do would be to stick to an audible alert rather than a gorilla.

Otherwise you'd have to keep replacing that gorilla when it got sufficiently large

I'm sure there are ways. But if anyone knows it is probably best not to post it... Just don't discount your scooter as "unstealable." Always best to take precautions, from someone who, sadly, knows.

Two words TRUNK MONKEY
see youtube...

Serious viable alarm answers are also welcome

But I WOULD enjoy an attack gorilla system.

I've been thinking about getting one of these...not too fancy, not hard to install, and not too hard on the wallet (so if they just decide to pick the whole scooter up and run off with it, I'm not out the cost of a fancy alarm, too.)

http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Aerostich-Self-Contained-Alarm-p-17040.html

I think a baseball bat would compliment any alarm system nicely.

I have no sympathy for thieves.

Hm not bad. Heard anything about its quality?

Sorry about all your scooter probs that sucks big time Karma to those who did it. Have you tried covering it and threading the lock thru the cover grommets? If they really want to take something they will. However out of sight out of mind as they say. In NYC a vast majority are covered and you don't know what's under it. Could be a POS! Thieves like nice shiny things. So if they don't know what's under door # 1 they might pass. MURRAY you beat me to MARCASTER'S Trunk Monkey Just a thought. Good luck

Nope, Sorry. Just Aerostich's reputation. Gotcher Karma right here...

That sucks. I agree a cover might help. Or a lo-jack type system.
I'm not a big fan of audible alarms they don't seem to deter theft and just cause a big racket when I'm trying to sleep.
Good luck.

Awful... Sorry to hear it, man. Sheesh. What is this world coming to?

I like this, but wonder about durability. Plus, its not waterproof (where would you put it?), and it takes batteries. Would much rather have something that plugs or is visible (like the Xena lock).

That really sucks.
I had two Yamaha C3's stolen from me this past year in Boston. It is so frustrating.
I feel sorry for you. I don't think anything works to keep these thieves away.

I'm curious, do you cover it? I haven't had any issues (knock on wood) in Back Bay, JP, or Brookline.

I haven't covered my scoot, but I'm gonna have to get a cover if that is was keeps it safe.

My Security List:
Xena Lock (no alarm becasue it will have to many false alarms downtown)
Cover
Chain lock

It could be residual feelings of angst and frustration over Joe Thornton leaving town.

It is truly is a bummer that they have chosen your scoots to eff with. I like the lay-in-wait scenario. Keep us informed of the resulting ambush. I also have zee-row sympathy for sticky-fingered thieves. My mouth s watering thinking about it.

The alarm is now on sale...working blems...I'm sure quantities are limited, but here you go:

EDIT: Before you buy/try this, see my post below...10/25/2008

http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Aerostich-Self-Contained-Alarm-p-17369.html

I got mine [/i]

I actually have one of the Xena alarmed u-locks in the mail. About twice the sale price of this aerostich But I think it will work well for both my scoots...

I bought a Xena alarmed disclock a couple of years ago...unfortunately it didn't fit the disc on my ET4.

It's now a paperweight.

They didn't make anything smaller at the time and I never got around to returning it.

Yeah, I really think a cover helps. I rock a cover and the Kryptonite Fugghedaboudit chain and D lock.

At the risk of stating the obvious, why not just move? Certainly, it is easier said than done, but it doesn't appear that adding locks and alarms is going to eliminate the vandalism problem you're experiencing.

What a fantastic idea! Why haven't we all thought of that.

Yes, why not move to Beverly Hills - then you wouldn't have to worry about crime, AND you could ride around all year long. Why not buy a Ferrari while you're at it. Not sure why I didn't think of that before

You're on the right track! You just completely missed the humor. There's obviously a bit of anger you'd like to vent. This isn't the place for that sort of thing.

I missed it, too.

I can understand though: Even the thought of getting a scooter (or anything else) stolen changes my usual smugly serenely nature straight to Klingon.

I don't think Wangta was taking you completely seriously. I haven't at any rate, but to give a serious response anyway so nobody gets the wrong idea, Boston is actually a very nice place. It isn't a den of thieves as my situation might suggest, has a stable economy, lovely old-world architecture, a great mix of cultures and cuisine... I had a solid opportunity to move a year ago (and I'm at an age and in a place where I easily could) and turned it down. Boston is worth loving.

I'm still lying in wait with a bat though

Sometimes I'd like to hide in the bushes with a bat and seek retribution for wrong-doing. Thieves are the scum of the earth! People that tear apart others property are just jealous and sick. My comment about moving was about distancing yourself from those crazy people rather than try to solve the problem by adding locks and alarms. They will still mess up your scooter no matter what you do. So if it is that bad, where you are repeatedly vandalized, the only true solution is to keep your scooter out of harm's way. And that could mean moving out of the neighborhood.

Damn! Sorry to hear about your scooter, nothing worse than getting your stuff f#cked with. I've had two Toyota trucks stolen (got both back without significant damage) and it's a frustrating feeling.
My wife rides the Vespa to work and doesn't lock it up, I reckon she will from now on.

Hah - I was joking too! I love how humor is totally lost sometimes on the 'net. Half of my posts are silly/joking - the other half are stupid.

You need to install one of these.

50,000 volts should do the trick !!!!



http://www.agway.com/catalog/rural/electric_fencing/chargers_testers/agway_fence_charger_10_mile_range

"A punch without Vengeance, It's not a punch."

VESPARICAN 8)

I'm glad my story helped! She really should. I've heard of full-sized motorcycles being hauled off when backs are turned. There is nothing worse that coming out to find your baby is gone

Wow! Sorry to hear about your scoots. I would try a cover like Judy recommended. Is there anything you could electrically hook up so when someone touches it, it sends a sharp shock

I have no other recommendations but wanted you to know Karma will get them somewhere, sometime.

I received the Aerostich alarm today and after an hour of playing with it, I repackaged it and returned it to them.

According the the instructions:

There are several levels of sensitivity and several alarm lengths you can set, but there seems to be no way to determine which level you are actually on while setting. Level one: one chirp, Level two: ummm...one chirp, and so on.

The panic alarm (activated from the remote) is supposed to sound for 7 seconds and shut off, but it just kept on sounding.

The alarm should shut off from the remote, but it wouldn't.

Once sounded, the alarm should not be able to be shut off from the switch from the main unit...but that exactly what happens. So I could not turn off the alarm, but all the thief had to do was flip the switch to silence it.

I'm guessing it was a defective unit. I returned it for a refund, but I'll still lose the return shipping charges. They would exchange it, but since it was a sale item I would have had to pay the difference between the sale price and the regular price. I decided not to, due to a lack of confidence in the product.

If anyone else ordered and received the product, I hope you have better luck.

Hm I'll give a report when I get my Xena u-lock alarm. Glad I didn't go with the aerostich

Here are pics of my Xena lock and chain. One of the chain ends doens't fit very well over the bar of the lock - its a really tight fit and I have to twist the chain like crazy to get it to go high enough on the bar so the padlock can fit correctly (the other chain end fits fine). I'm considering returning the chain or asking for a new one if it continues to give me trouble. However, I did install this in the middle of the night, so perhaps I didn'do everything correctly.

I currently use it without the alarm activated, since as you can see in the pictures, other bikers use the rack and I don't want the alarm to go off everytime someone comes or goes.

One thing to note - this lock is pretty freakin big. Its much bigger than it looks on the Xena webpage. Not a big deal, but don't expect a small padlock like lock.