Randolph Palmer So, your bike has been stolen. Once you recover from that initial disbelief—and the punched-in-the-intestine feeling that follows—you could experience helplessness. Your favored element within the global has been taken. Your method of having around is gone. Your faith in humanity has been shattered. What’s left but to curl up on the sidewalk and wait for the crushing despair to subside?
But now’s not the time for panic or self-defeat. It’s the time to spring into action. Think high quality and operate below the belief that you may recover that motorcycle. (Like a sure person in Taken, you have a specific set of talents—talents that make you a nightmare for motorcycle thieves.) There are lots of resources that may assist you. Take a moment to shake your fist at the sky, after which observe those nine recommendations to return your bike to your possession correctly.
Get the Serial Number
Did you document your motorbike’s serial quantity? This is your first-rate chance to monitor and report the theft. If your bike hasn’t yet been stolen, forestall studying this newsletter now, find your serial-wide variety, and write it down. It’s normally located on the bottom bracket (though once in a while, it’s determined on the top tube, rear dropout, or some other place on the bike). Once you’ve got the variety, sign in your motorbike with Bike Index, the most successful motorbike registry in the world regarding recoveries.
While you’re at it, take pictures of your bike and any other documentation you might have, like your receipt. This isn’t overkill: No one ever thinks robbery will happen to them until they’re staring at a broken U-lock dangling from an empty bike rack.
File a Police Report
Notify neighborhood cops that your motorcycle has been stolen. Have an officer come and take down the report, if you could, or visit the station along with your records, which include the motorcycle’s serial number, and make a version and snapshots for the report. If you have any video footage of the incident—or understand any surveillance cameras within the location—include that information with the record.
Register the Theft
Register that your motorcycle becomes stolen at Bike Index, the National Bike Registry (these days merged with 529 Garage), and any nearby registries in your town. Bike Index is your fine bet: Not only does it solid a much wider internet, but it uses an open-information API that can be pulled into any internet site, and, without problems, accessed via all of us, so more and more city registries and police departments are pooling their information there. Include as many statistics as you can. (Again, write down your serial variety now so that you’ll have it later.)
Spread the Word
Share news of your stolen motorcycle a ways and huge for the duration of your social networks. Post a photo of your bike on Facebook and Twitter and get your buddies to repost. The more eyes you have on the streets looking for your motorbike, the more likely you are to locate it.
Use Google Alerts
Set up more than one Google signal with statistics matching your motorbike. In that manner, you’ll be notified if it turns up for online sale—or if a neighborhood chop shop gets raided.
Do Some Detective Work
Scour Craigslist for your stolen motorbike. Visit flea markets. Any area where you’ve seen used motorcycles for sale is a capability location for your motorbike to come to be. If you do control to find it, contact police—don’t set up a sting operation yourself. If you find it indexed on Craigslist, make a throwaway electronic mail cope with, pose as a fascinated customer, and try to get the seller’s touch info to pass it on to the police.
Two popular income apps, OfferUp and LetGo, are modern hotbeds for stolen bikes because they don’t pre-display listings or provide customer support for complaints. Bryan Hance at Bike Index says motorcycle thieves previously on Craigslist have almost exclusively moved to these apps. If you discover your motorcycle indexed on OfferUp, LetGo, or a similar online market, notify the police. Again, do no longer try to confront a vendor yourself. There were instances of human beings being assaulted or killed trying to get their stuff returned.
Join a Bike Recovery Group
There’s an amazing threat if you live in a metropolis with a huge motorbike network: locals have installed a Facebook institution to recover stolen bikes. Hance points to one particular organization in Edmonton, Canada, with an engaged user base, a solid courting with nearby police, and a verified music document: Last year, the organization helped return more than 400 bicycles to their rightful owners. Cities like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle have similar groups with large, lively communities.
Get the Right Bike Lock
Now, you must focus on preventing future thefts by investing in pinnacle-notch protection. No, higher locks can’t guarantee that your motorcycle didn’t get stolen—any lock can ultimately be broken, given the proper equipment. But what the high-quality bike locks can give you is time. Present sufficient challenges to a criminal with a bolt cutter, and they’ll likely be trying to find less difficult targets, like a cord-locked mixte commuter or a 29er left unlocked in someone’s backyard.
U-locks like the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini are the gold requirements for easy-to-tote protection, requiring strength equipment to bust open. To up the ante, twine around your wheels and lock them with the motorcycle body. A chain lock like the Hiplok Original lets you secure the wheels and frame with one lock, although it’ll be much heavier and more awkward to haul around. Please avoid any wire or wire locks that allow basic equipment to break open in seconds.
