Hi guys,

Thanks for all the feedback.

When I bought the bike, I was told I would get a plate and blue book. I did indeed get them a few days later - yet they didn't match. At the time, it was my very first bike and I was pretty accustom to seeing non-plated cars and bikes everywhere. The bike was stolen within 3 month of when I got it; it was the BaoAn at Suncity apartments. They got fired; I got my bike back. They unsuccessfully attempted to hotwire the bike. So, the computer was locked. I had to call BMW-Germany to get it reactivated, that included providing my passport info, the VIN, and talked with people at BMW in both Germany and in Beijing. BMW-Germany gave BMW-Beijing the required information to reactivate the computer. At that time, the bike was (at least in BMW's eyes) mine.

All has been fine for the last 1.5 years. Now, some guys in a white van (from talking with people around the area) took the bike. I certainly would like to have it recovered - even my helmet and gloves are in the box. I understand the arguments stated above; and with that said, my next bike will be directly bought through an authorized dealer. The ability to drive anywhere outside of Beijing with zero concern is too big a benefit.

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.