BMW F800S Yellow stolen in Beijing! Plz contact if you see it.

[Lao Jia Hou]

In reality, anyone's bike could have been stolen from The Place. It is to everyone's interest for the bike thieves to be caught. Or to at least remind people that locking the steering column and also using a wheel lock doesn't ensure anything.

So true - good luck, though. You never know, it might show up. Problem might be proving it is your bike (yet another problem with unregistered bikes). However, your experience/documentation with BMW might help.

[zhu]

Well... I am Chris Pfeiffer the game maker and a fan of Chris Pfeiffer the trick rider. Both of us like the F800s.

ok quite a fan of his too and the F800 although I don't think I would want to buy one of his bikes as he certainly uses the full range of the engine rpm , mostly hovering around the limiter

[Serpentza]

I've installed and tested that GPS tracker, I'm about to write a report including a video

[Serpentza]

Okay, here's the write-up about the GPS tracker... get one folks, let's not let another MCM bike get swiped! http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...led-and-tested

[marcrbeaudry]

Bike theft - isnt unique to Beijing, but i'm curious how common it is here ?
is it on the increase ? i suspect certain brands are targetted more than others ?
does anyone have any data on this ? here- like anywhere - i suspect HD is the kind of thing thieves
are looking for ? apparently yellow BMW' s as well ...what are the usual makes getting lifted ?
and what (aside from alarms and gps) are people doing about protecting their rides ?

marc

[Lao Jia Hou]

Bike theft - isnt unique to Beijing, but i'm curious how common it is here ?

Impossible to know because I am sure much of it goes unreported (e.g., illegal bikes getting stolen). Using my own personal proxy, I know many more people in Beijing who have had their motorcycle stolen than I ever knew back home (Canada). Don't know if that says anything.

is it on the increase ?

According to meticulous fact-checking Beijing TV (tongue-in-cheek), motorcycle theft is dramatically increasing each year. BTV is notorious for being anti-motorcycle.

i suspect certain brands are targetted more than others ?

Expensive brands will provide the biggest payday, of course, but they are probably done by pros and quickly moved to other parts of China. Personally, I think that scooters are the #1 target. Very easy to steal and very easy to unload, locally. Reminds me of when everyone rode bicycles in Beijing ... there was a standing joke that your bicycle would be stolen at least once a month, and you'd have to go to the closest "used-bike-market" to buy it back.

does anyone have any data on this ?

I've never seen any data although, as noted above, I think any data reporting would be highly suspect.

and what (aside from alarms and gps) are people doing about protecting their rides ?

There are Chinese forums which have separate sections where you can post the details of your stolen bike. I have no idea how successful that is. I've heard that some Chinese know where to go look, to buy their bike back. Reminiscent of the bicycle game. The problem an "owner" has with an illegal bike is trying to prove that you actually owned it, in the first place.

Calling the police to report your stolen illegal bike (with fake plates) is akin to reporting that someone has stolen your stash. But who knows - TIC - maybe it is normal for police to get reports of stolen illegal bikes.

[prince666]

My Cf moto 650TR is safe then no one would want to nick it to many things go wrong with the bike . so i dont need a tracker just go down to the nearest breakers yard and find it dumped !!!!

I love my TR

[998S]

Bike theft - isnt unique to Beijing, but i'm curious how common it is here ?

Not surprisingly, happens here too.

I had a French acquaintance, who had a Buell XB12R.
We shared some info, as I happen to have the same one.
One day he posted it was stolen while parked in downtown Shanghai (...).

Some 9 months later, while riding home, I met a Chinese guy on a XB12R.
We had a chat while waiting in front of the red light, and we ended up at my house.
I made some pictures of his bike, he told me it was for sale.

Only after 2 days the coin felt.
We checked the pictures, and the old owner confirmed it was his bike.

He had the problem the bike was illegal, but we both checked a bit around how to handle it.
We ended up him pretending to be a buyer.
When there and after inspecting the bike, we told the "owner" he was the real owner.
The Chinese guy kind of confessed he knew it was stolen, although I still think he was most likely not the thief.

We threatened to go to the police, but offered him 10K to take the bike.
Going to the police should not have solved the problem, but he should have most likely lost it.
He accepted, bike went back to a very happy old owner.

Seemed the advised transaction of paying "some" is used more often, and it worked for him.

E.

[prince666]

Not surprisingly, happens here too.

I had a French acquaintance, who had a Buell XB12R.
We shared some info, as I happen to have the same one.
One day he posted it was stolen while parked in downtown Shanghai (...).

Some 9 months later, while riding home, I met a Chinese guy on a XB12R.
We had a chat while waiting in front of the red light, and we ended up at my house.
I made some pictures of his bike, he told me it was for sale.

Only after 2 days the coin felt.
We checked the pictures, and the old owner confirmed it was his bike.

He had the problem the bike was illegal, but we both checked a bit around how to handle it.
We ended up him pretending to be a buyer.
When there and after inspecting the bike, we told the "owner" he was the real owner.
The Chinese guy kind of confessed he knew it was stolen, although I still think he was most likely not the thief.

We threatened to go to the police, but offered him 10K to take the bike.
Going to the police should not have solved the problem, but he should have most likely lost it.
He accepted, bike went back to a very happy old owner.

Seemed the advised transaction of paying "some" is used more often, and it worked for him.

E.

Sorry have i missed something here you gave him 10K rmb to get your friends own bike back ??? sounds like a good deal i think not why not just kick the shit out of him and ask him for 10K sounds about right to me or maybe i am wrong

TIC

P.S. sorry just read you post again and your friend was French ok that is fine now

[ZMC888]

998S all these problems are caused by people knowingly buying illegal bikes. You support the thieves doing this. That french guy NEVER owned the Buell, the ACTUAL owner still lives in Hong Kong most likely. The Chinese guy that bought it never did either. They are just thieves trading in other people's property.

As someone who's had their own registered legal bikes and cars stolen, it just sucks, depression, sleepless nights, anger. Longing for your ride and searching for it. If you're lucky you eventually get the insurance payout (although not in China, because you are not covered for theft) and the wounds slowly heal. To put someone else through that shit or encourage someone else to do it is the action of an incredibly selfish asshole.

I often hear loads of excuses, 'loads of people do it', 'I wasn't sure if it was stolen'. Just nonsense, no registration, no proof of origin, possibly or likely stolen, do not touch it, guaranteed 100% illegal regardless. With 2nd hand legal import bikes, slightly niggly locally made middle-weight bikes and reliable, affordable Japanese branded made in China 125-250cc bikes there is less reason than ever to get involved in that nonsense.