Stolen Ducs – Update

So this afternoon and this evening have been a not so fun adventure lesson in how you feel when your bike gets stolen. Here’s a brief run down of what’s gone on so far (most of which I’ve posted on the Ducati.ms forum – so if it looks familiar, that’s why).

1:49 pm – Now this really sucks, but MotorMilt & I just got home after a two week long trip for work only to turn the corner in our now not-so-beloved parking garage and notice that both of our basically brand new 749′s were gone. Vanished into thin air. The only trace of their existence was one baxeley bike stand turned on its end. The covers, locks, bike lock chains, and everything else was completely missing. Forgive me for the rant, but I have never in my entire life felt so violated. Granted we live in LA and it’s a big city and all that jazz, but seriously this is the worst feeling. And to add insult to the lose, everyone we call is taking their sweet time to call back (insurance agent, police department, etc.)… If anyone’s got any advice on what we should or should not say to the insurance agent, I’m all ears. I’ve never had anything stole like this so this is a completely new experience to say the least…

approx. 3:00 pm – 2 police officers showed up to take down our information on the stolen Ducs. Didn’t exactly get the sense that they held out much hope for finding the fellows who took them, but who knows. As awful as I feel about losing the bikes, my bigger concern is with the insurance. I really don’t want to find out that my basically brand new bike is now not worth what I paid for it. That would really tick me off.

I’m trying my best to keep all of this in perspective. Obviously it would be much worse if T (i.e. the dog) ran away while we were gone or god forbid someone got seriously hurt – at least motorcycles can be replaced. I’m just annoyed that I have to deal with it. Especially since the engines were just about to be fully broken in…

5:15 pm – Here’s the deal as it stands now, the police (god bless them) ran the plates of our two missing bikes and called to tell us that they found my bike stripped in Carson, CA. Maybe 15 miles away, or there abouts. MotorMilt’s 749 is still MIA. Don’t know yet how my 749 was found (i.e. could have been a raid on a shop or maybe someone just the frame tossed away on the side of the road, I don’t know)…

It’s obvious to me that whomever stole the two bikes clearly was a pro at it. Milt & I kept the 2 ducs locked up to their respective baxeley wheel stands and then ran a second set of kryptonite NYC locks threw the back rims with a kryptonite chain connecting the two. Our two Beemers are locked up in the same fashion sans the wheel stands & locks on the front wheels, sitting right next to them and they were not touched. Nor for that matter was the BMW R1100RT owned by a guy down the hall that parks a few spaces away with no locks. (To give you some background we live in a decent apartment building in marina del rey – not exactly a bad part of town, not the greatest either – the structure has one main garage for all the tenants. You need to key fob to get access, but apparently there is only video cameras on the front door to the building).

The really scary part in all of this is that we take locking the bikes up very seriously and since we only ride them on the weekends, they’re covered the rest of the time in non-descriptive covers. So for someone in the building to know that they are Ducs they would either need to see us take the covers off – usually 5 minutes before we start a ride – or when the bikes are cooling off afterwords. Otherwise they look very bland to the average eye. Obviously these guys had much better vision as they not only didn’t touch the beemers, but left no traces of their visit. No scraps from cutting a chain, no dings or dents on the beemers, nothing. The scene of the crime was spotless. The cops couldn’t believe anyone could be so neat… Personally I didn’t find that fact nearly as fascinating, but I digress…

Maybe it’s the way your mind deals with things like this, but Milt & I have been spending the afternoon trying to figure out how to a) make owning a duc safer and more secure and b) trying to come up with some idea who might have taken them.

On the first point, if anyone has any ideas beyond mass kryptonite locks we’re all ears… Right now every option I come up with seems to involve some sort of lock, which because of this afternoons developments seems like an entirely too easy to break system.

As for the second of those two points, I find myself quickly rationalizing that either someone caught us riding out of the garage on the last weekend we were here in LA and then scoped out the place so they could nab the bikes or they already knew we had the bikes here. Now none of our friends here ride and we really only ride together, so I doubt it was someone within the circle, shall we say… And there are no ex wives or girlfriends or otherwise angry folks pounding down our doors that could be coming back to haunt us either, so that leaves me with the sinking thought that on July 15th when Milt & I dropped our bikes off for 600 mile services someone at the local dealership tossed our address towards one of their friends on the side. Maybe I’m being emotionally vindictive, but it’s the best explanation I can come up with as of right now.

6:30 pm – We’re waiting on our insurance agent to see what happens next. We use State Farm for everything (cars, bikes, office, home, etc.) and have been with them for quite some time with no incidents, of course today’s the first time anything been lifted. We’ve been very clear with our agent that we didn’t do anything negligent… What worries me about this deal is the potential for depreciation. Both Milt & I picked up left over ’03 749′s for well over what Kelly Blue Book seems to think that a low mileage one goes for. Obviously it’s a bit of an apple’s to orange’s discussion because what KBB is offering is not a low mileage, full factory warranty, basically brand new comparison – rather a used 2003 model. Right now I’m worrying that someone at State Farm will say here’s the KBB price, you come up with the rest… That would really suck.

7:15 pm – Doug K from forty years on two wheels (www.40on2.blogspot.com) shoots me a note suggesting that perhaps this is the chance for Milt & I to move up to 999′s. Nice to get the note, definitely an idea that’s been kicked around, note sure if it’s financially feasible, but working on a plan…

8:55 pm – The latest update in this continuing saga – which btw is starting to feel like a murder mystery getting pieced together – is that Milt just got off the phone with the West Covina police department. Seems that the original police report was a bit off as my bike was found in West Covina not Carson… They found the bike at 12:01 on the morning of August 14th, frame and engine only. Everything else stripped. Apparently when they entered the police report today the VIN popped up… I have to give the police some serious props because they apparently have already sent out letters to the loan company and myself since the bike wasn’t immediately reported as missing… Not a bad turn around IMHO… Still no word on Milt’s bike.